hi there everybody this is the mark mo show podcast
and this is fireside chats we do this about two
or three times every season we get a interesting
guest from the community and uh well heck we
talk about just uh whatever we want to talk about
and i have a great guest this week and uh he
is a musician uh he is an artist sergio jovalani
how are you man I'm doing great. Thanks for having
me on, Mark. Absolutely, absolutely. Now, I've
known this guy a while, but my audience here,
there's a really good chance that you don't know
him, but now you're going to know him. He's a
fantastic musician and artist, and I figure I'll
just have Joe talk a little bit about himself,
but more importantly, just what he's doing in
music and art these days. Cool. All right. Well,
yeah, that's that's kind of my main thing. And
if you're checking me out, it's like, Sergi Joe
music and artworks, which took me a little while
to kind of figure out how to do everything because
everything in this modern world wants a social
media page and people like concise marketable,
you know, single issue kind of pages are nice.
So but I, you know, I'm into a lot of different
stuff. So I try to make it as concise as can
be. And so it's music and artworks is kind of
what I love to do all the time. So that being
the case, from the artwork perspective now, I've
followed obviously I've Followed your music a
little bit longer than your art, but there was
a show recently here in Valparaiso Where there
was art on? skateboards Which I found to be awesome
by the way So maybe talk a little bit about that
because that was At least for me, from a show
perspective, like an art show, that was kind
of my introduction to your art. So maybe just
talk a little bit about maybe that project and
the things you love to paint. Yeah. Well, when
I was a kid, I loved skateboard. So I was always
kind of artistic. grew up kind of that way. My
sister was really good at art, and I remember
just wanting to be good at art like she was.
So I always just tried a little, you know, and
continue with that. But then in middle school
and stuff, we're talking 2003, yeah, somewhere,
no, 2002, yeah, around this area. Moved to this
neighborhood where everybody skateboarded all
the time, and they were always... They were all
really good at it. And so that was kind of what
you did. And especially if you wanted to hang
out or have any friends, you should probably
not suck at skateboarding. So I learned and did
that for a long time. And I still kind of do.
They built a skate park across the street from
my house. So now I go over there and get injured
every once in a while in my 30s now. And it's
not. Not as fun, but Anyway, I always just enjoyed
it and with with skateboards you get artwork
on the bottom So I spent a lot of my probably,
you know school hours like looking at these skateboard
magazines and like fantasizing about all the
cool skateboards that I would want. And of course,
everybody has their favorites of ones that they
think are cool. I remember sitting in class very
vividly and being like, man, whoever makes these
skateboard designs, that would be an awesome
job. So years go by. For a long time, I didn't
paint. I just didn't really have a place to do
it. And I guess I started kind of getting back
into it around 2016 and 17. And each year since
then, I've produced more paintings than the year
before. Yeah. Yeah. So I was going through ideas
over the few years, trying developing a little
bit, trying just having fun. And then I was like,
it would be cool to do a skateboard. Yeah. And
so I was talking to my my friend and he kind
of enjoys my paintings too. And he's like, I'll
buy you two skateboards, like blank ones, and
you do your paintings on them as long as you
give me one. And I was like, all right, deal.
And so he bought the two skateboards, sent them
to my house. He was very patient. And it took
me pretty long time to do the first one and the
second one. Each painting I do takes, on average,
I'd say 30 to 40 hours, somewhere in there. I'm
getting a little faster. I'm getting that hour's
number down a little bit. But I did these two
skateboards, and they turned out sweet. They're
all on my Instagram page, if you ever want to
check it out, Sergijo Artworks. And yeah, these
skateboards, one was all in blues, one was all
in reds. So they build a skate park across the
street from my house. learn that the skate shop
is going to open. And I'm like, hey, you know,
I'll just like reach out and say like, you know,
hello. And, you know, that I do skateboard art.
And maybe I was thinking that maybe he would
want to hang up those two that I did. And he
would just hang them up. Yeah. So I met him and
he's a shout out to Ty over at Havoc Skate Shop.
And thank you so much for being a great supporter
and an awesome community member for all skaters
and beyond. But we met and we just kind of chatted
about art and stuff. And then he ended up hitting
me up around the springtime and he said he wanted
to do a skateboard for his shop. And I was like,
awesome. And in this case, like, I do paintings
for myself. I do paintings for commissions. And
they work differently. And depending on who's
commissioning it, we kind of negotiate how the
project should look or turn out or whatever.
So he is very creative, too, and is a great writer
and just imaginative. So he had this creature
in mind that goes along with this kind of comic
book style series that he calls Midwestern emptiness.
And he gives me this idea of the Godel. The Godel
is like a turtle, frog, toad creature with antlers.
And shows up during puberty. And each person
has their own slightly different Godel that kind
of like, I don't know, accompanies them through
this time. Okay He could explain it better But
okay, so what's fun and challenging about taking
a project like that is you hear something like
that and you're like, okay How do I turn this
into a single image a picture that embodies all
of that? And so I have this little process I
do I just kind of sketched out some stuff. He
told me and he was you know, he told me what
what he, the parts that he liked and the parts
that maybe should be this or that. And each person
that I work with kind of has a different level
of expectations of how it might be. And I have
known some artists that are not very good with
that. It's like, well, I made this. And like,
they don't kind of want to go back and forth.
I don't mind it. I like it a little bit. It's
challenging, you know, gives me something to
like go for. And I don't ever feel like anything
that I make is perfect anyway, so I can always
do better. So I may spend a long time, do this
Godel, it turns out, really nice. Lots of processes
involved in learning how to go about this, how
to proportion it so it's going to be right for
a skateboard and all that. Little bit of measurements
and math and stuff, which is not my strong suit.
But I finished this project, and he likes it,
and it's awesome. And then, and that was it.
And then he hit me up. He's like, hey, would
you like to do three more? And I was like, all
right, let's do it. So he gives me three other
characters. We got TV the Kid, we have the Grizzle
Lug, and we have the Gray Giant. And these all
kind of exist in the same universe. He was kind
of worried about you know making sure that they
all go together and I was like I have a painting
style and I'm not Leonardo da Vinci so like everything
that I paint looks like I painted it and So therefore
they will they will connect. Yeah, and Was interesting
I gave him each one. So I spent the summer doing
this series of four skateboards and But I'm not
on skateboards right wooden planks to be transferred
onto skateboards later So it's like paintings.
And I gave him each project as it was finished
and never saw them together on the wall, which
would have been cool until that opening night.
And that was the event. And then I went into
the skate shop and he had them all four. And
I was like pretty happy with how it all turned
out. And then somehow like my dream, my childhood
dream came true because I was a skateboard artist
then. And even then, I was saying, what's really
going to be the best payoff is when I go over
to that skate park and there's some people skating
my boards and they're just, you know, they have
no idea of the story behind it. So that already
happened multiple times. People dig him. He's
selling a good amount of skateboards. So that
was that one. And then I was like, OK. That was
a lot of painting. I took a couple of weeks off
and then kind of moved on to the next thing.
That's awesome. Yeah, and and that that show
is really great I had a great turnout and I know
everybody liked it and as you said and I found
this interesting when you had said like you have
a style you totally do and Whether it's your
skateboards or like some of the other artwork
you do no matter the medium It's like always
this futuristic dystopian kind of theme that
you have with a lot of your painting Which I
think is really cool I consider it like all practice
in a way because there's at you know that I when
I was getting going I was like I can't wait until
I have 10 but now I have like probably 35 but
that seems like a small number to me still like
yeah I only have 35 so haven't tried all even
the ideas that I have so I just like have all
these other ideas so at this point yeah and like
what I'll do is I'll get onto like a tangent
and I'll do the same thing with like movies and
stuff it's just kind of go down this this vibe
until I feel like I've thoroughly explored it
yeah and so there's a few that have like this
dystopian kind of sci -fi feel and it it comes
from movies too because I just have such a love
for them I like to do my thing with the paintings
and kind of imply, you know, some kind of cinematic
quality. But, you know, that was just once. And
my most recent one doesn't really have any of
that. And it's got, it's a little bit more down
to earth and trying some different things. And
I'm kind of excited to see where that goes at
this juncture. That's really great. Now, do you
envision Any art shows anything like that in
the in the near future? Is that something you
would even like to do? Yeah, I've I've done a
few It's really interesting with artwork and
doing music at the same time. They kind of work
in tandem and experiences in one field can kind
of inform what I might want to do in the other
kind of field and I feel like With music, I have
just as much experience. I've been doing it for
just as long. But I feel like I have to work
harder at it. And I have to seek it out and make
sure that it's happening. Otherwise, I feel like
I go through a dry spell or something. So that
requires a certain amount of upkeep and effort
to go out and make sure that you're getting some
gigs or you got some projects on the horizon.
But in the reverse, artwork has come to me fairly
smoothly since I started doing it. I don't know
where all the listeners are, but here there's
a cafe in town, Uptown Cafe. Shout out to Uptown
because of great breakfast and coffee. Absolutely.
I would go in there years ago, you know, before
2016 when I kind of really got into this, and
I would notice that they would do rotating art
shows. And I was like, you know, ultimate dream
would be like to just have enough paintings to
do an art show here. That would be so cool. And
so I do have some paintings. I start a little
Instagram and kind of post this. Literally Uptown
Cafe gets a hold of me. And I'm like, hey, would
you like to do an art show? And I was like...
Heck yeah. Amazing. I was like, yeah, totally.
And at that point, I was stretching. I was like,
I'm going to have to use every painting that
I have in order to fill enough wall space in
this pretty big cafe. And anyway, it went off
really well. I really dug it. They let me do
it the whole month of September. I was up for
a whole month. sold some originals, had a good
showing. It also motivated me and helped me get
organized to have like some prints available
and kind of set some prices of what I want to
get for some of these. It's always sad to me
to sell a painting. I'm getting better at it
though, letting them all go because I know that
other people put them up and enjoy them. So they're
out there. And as long as I have a print, I'm
okay with it. I have like a memory of what it
was. So yeah, that show went off, and it was
awesome, and all of a sudden my dream was accomplished.
And I was like, dang, I should dream a little
bigger. And keep going. So fortunately, just
about the skateboard project, as soon as that
was done, somebody hit me up for the next thing.
And as soon as that was done, somebody hit me
up for the next thing. Right now, I have a project
that is happening and I'm gonna get onto that.
And every once in a while, I get to do a painting
for myself. And yeah, so it's the right amount
of busy. But those projects seem to come to me
and that is nice. And that just makes me feel
like, you know, people are digging it and kind
of enjoying them and I am enjoying making them.
But yeah, music, sometimes you gotta like go
out and seek it out because I feel like there's
less tradition. There's all kinds of different
artists, but I only know a few people who do
like paintings. But there's a lot of musicians.
Yeah, there are, for sure. Well, that's a great
segue because I definitely wanted to talk about
your music as well. So maybe just tell me a little
bit about... What sparked your interest initially
and some of the projects you're working on now?
Well, I've been playing music initially I kind
of consider myself starting around 2003 or so
2002 so that has been over 20 years now, I think
and I fell into music Looking back I can remember
very early childhood memories of having this
little Kermit the Frog keyboard and I would sit
there and they were kind of color -coded and
now I know that these are octaves, right? But
I would just sit there and play like octaves
And like just listen I played a lot on that keyboard
I guess yeah, but I really didn't do anything
with music. I kind of fell into it by accident
In like 2001 2002 I went over to a friend's house.
I was just gonna hang out with my friend her
brother Was like way into guitars and like had
like a big half stack and my AC DC posters all
up he had all these Gibson's and flying V's and
Les Paul's and he like Got one out and he sat
me down on his bed. He put a Gibson flying V
in my hands, huh? And he's like here. Here's
how you do it. I didn't ask him to do any of
this Right just like look at this guitar play
this and I was like, this is all cool And he
was very passionate about it. So he kind of inspired
me So I got a guitar. It's like a lot of people.
It sat in the corner undetuned for quite some
time. I had another friend who was kind of starting
to learn guitar and I think she had like two
guitar lessons and so she was going to give me
my first guitar lesson. It didn't take, you know,
and there it sat in the corner again for a good
spell. And then a stroke of luck, this kid Don't
know his last name Dan Moves across the street.
He was older than me. He was like maybe 17 and
I was 13 or 14 okay, and I remember being out
skateboarding and we listen we would hear this
wailing guitar going on and Became friends with
him Told him I had a guitar he kind of like yeah,
I don't know I got started some guitar lessons
And he just challenged me a ton. He started bringing
over all the 80s bands, all the Guns N' Roses.
That's still even today. You got to kind of pay
attention when you're playing Slash. And all
the Ozzy, all the Dream Theater, all this stuff,
all the Metallica. Boston goes on and on and
on and Eventually it started to kind of pick
it up. He just kind of expected that we Understand
like you better get he would just and but he
wouldn't get frustrated He would just like continue
to work with us until we were doing it. Yeah,
there's no giving up we're just gonna keep doing
this until we can all do this and And so I started
to kind of get with the program a little bit.
And then eventually we were doing like little
contests. We were like, okay, we'll see who can
learn this Metallica solo better in 30 minutes.
Go. And then we'll have a little contest at the
end who got the solo closer. And he would always
win, but like he would, he pushed me so much.
So he showed me what it was to practice, showed
me what it was to drive, showed me what it was
to just press on. And after he maybe moved away
or something like that, I was just in it and
been into it ever since. That's amazing. Yeah.
And I know you have a lot of styles that you
can play, which is It's really great. I have
a nephew and he really truly is like a session
musician and he can play a lot of different types
of music. So he's always finding gigs with a
lot of different bands and stuff, which I suppose
is pretty great, right? To be able to do that.
In your case, I know that you've had some solo
gigs or where you, you know, have another musician
come along with you. I saw you up at, there's
this venue right overlooking Lake Michigan. It's
absolutely gorgeous. One of the best views anywhere.
And the rooftop is kind of this swanky little
barb thing that's up there and they have musicians
and whatnot. So I saw you play up there, kind
of like a jazzy. session Yeah, as much as possible.
Yeah, I really I was able to dig that now Is
there a type of music that you prefer to play
like just a certain type where you're just like,
yeah This is this is my stuff. I am liking jazz
more and more all the time. Yeah, but you know,
I didn't start there And there's even some jazz
that I find challenging and like it's not something
that I put on so music is all over the place
for me So yeah, like what I listen to is not
necessarily what I tend to play and then what
I played live is Not always my favorite You know,
but it but I try to kind of strike a balance,
right? Yeah, so I'll play a good amount of you
know, I would say we'll just I'm not they're
not top 40 hits, but I would say, you know, familiar
tunes, a lot of familiar tunes. I try to be creative
with those tunes and not, it's not my goal to
like do Prince like Prince. I just, I'm never
going to do that and it shouldn't be the goal.
So I just do it like me, but make it sound good
and do something with the tune as in a way that
like you would do that with a jazz song. You
kind of improvise on it. You play it in your
way, right? Guitar mentor for many years, Marco
Villarreal. Shout out Marco, just the wizard
of music, at least in these parts for sure. Yeah,
I've heard him live, he's great. I was sitting
with him recently and I asked him about fingerings
because just looking at notation you don't necessarily
know the position on the guitar and that's kind
of one of the challenges of that instrument.
And so I asked him, do you ever look up the videos
of these guys and kind of see where they play
this stuff so you can kind of find the easiest
route through it? And he's like, no. He's like,
why would I do that? I'm not trying to sound
like him, I'm trying to sound like me. So I take
that as a good philosophical framework towards
any music that I play. Don't be lazy and skip
over parts because they're too fast and complicated.
But play the essential parts and you don't have
to necessarily do every note in the Van Halen
solo. Unless it's like... beat it, which you
should probably just play the Van Halen solo.
Yes, you should. It's all about being in the
moment and making a good and tasteful decision
for what's needed. But my favorite has become
Jazz Fusion, because it's challenging. I just
feel it has a little bit of everything in it.
It's groovy, it's funky, it's interesting, it's
different, it's creative. can be rock, it can
be Latin, it can be bluesy, it can be country.
When you say jazz, people have a preconception
about maybe what they think jazz is. There's
so many kinds. So it's a big term. But I do like
this almost if I had to give it a genre, like
a jazz fusion kind of thing, where, I don't know.
Maybe I'm describing it wrong. But for me, it
feels a little bit more open. There's not as
many rules. And almost anything goes. You can
have vocals. You can do guitars. Guitar is not
even a jazz instrument so much traditionally.
It's mostly horns and lots of piano and bass.
And maybe if you're a guitar player, we might
let you play, as Pat Metheny would say. That's
where I'm at, and I try to do, I'll do that in
any combination that I can, whether it be by
myself or just with one friend, a small little
group or a giant band. Right, exactly. Yeah,
I enjoy all of it. That's amazing. And we'll,
at the end of this interview, we'll talk a little
bit about... the band you're playing, the upcoming
gig, that sort of thing. But what I wanted to
get together, and Joe and I can talk about so
many different things, but one thing we definitely
have in common is that we are definitely movie
buffs. And we definitely connected on that level.
I do have the review preview article that I write
for the entertainer magazine and also do a little
bit on the Mark Moe Show about movies. And my
son has one called While You Were Sleeping, which
is a really cool segment where he comes up with
movies or shows or just any sort of multimedia
experience that maybe he's slept on and he brings
it up, which is kind of neat. So in this particular
case, I just wanted to talk to you about, more
importantly, like lately on your social media,
you've been kind of doing some reviews and not
necessarily like what's at the theater now or
today. These are like some old classics or cult
classics that you've been kind of revisiting.
And I've just like, I thought that was really
cool. So I'd love to hear a little bit about
some of these that you've revisited. Yeah, there's
not great service in here, so I can't flip through
them all. But I got a good amount that I've watched
recently that I definitely remember. For me,
I don't post on social media a lot unless it's
a painting or a show, flyer. Not very often do
I put out an opinion or something. Sure. I just
don't. So I don't know what what sparked it.
I watch all these movies all the time all the
time. Yeah, just constantly Anything that pops
into my head and somehow becomes like an obsession
until I watch that movie Whether it's been a
hundred times or whether it's been one time So
I don't know how I quite came to it, but I was
like, oh, that would be fun. Maybe some people
will also like this movie, and I'll have like
two or three comments, and it'll be like a very
small movie discussion. And there's no... Regimented
format for for it, but I just kind of whatever
movie I'm watching I put currently watching I'll
put the movie I try to find an interesting still
never the movie poster just like a good moment
from the movie and sometimes I'll sit there and
scroll through I was like there's a good like
a great a beautiful moment from the movie, but
not the one that everybody thinks about and then
I think usually I just kind of give my two cents
on the movie real quick. Yeah or either why I
love it or what I got out of it this most recent
time, you know, or why I keep coming back to
it. Yeah, so what has been recently, we did,
or I did, Encino Man. Yes. I have like, I think
an affinity for these great... 90s movies. There's
been several great eras of movies. Not just the
90s, but the 90s were a great time for movies
and there were so many good ones. To me it was
that special time between where they had enough
technology to kind of make what they wanted,
but not so much technology to where they just
use it for everything I suppose. Yes. They had
to do a lot of practicality. So last night I
watched two, actually. I watched the 1990 Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles. Oh, yeah. And that movie
is exactly what I'm talking about. It's gritty.
In the movie, when it came out, it was probably
just a kids movie. Right? Sure. It really wasn't
meant as a serious film. But when you look back
on it, it's got a ton of charm. Like even the
opening, that great synth. And it's just like
really good textures on the pipes. And then the
suits and the faces. And the mechanics that go
into making those specific suits, they had it
down because there was so much tradition built
around Frank Oz. Jim Henson and what George Lucas
did and Yoda and the Muppets and all that. So
and the Dark Crystal and all these great like
puppetry like advancements and practical effects
were at their peak right there. And then same
era. Also last night was Death Becomes Her. Oh
yeah. Classic. I mean like that's one that...
I think it's because my mom always liked Meryl
Streep. I always like Meryl Streep. And that's
probably my favorite Meryl Streep movie. And
I've been learning more about it throughout my
life, but I remember watching it as a kid. And
I was like, what's that one where she's got a
hole in her stomach? And, you know, just see
these scenes, you know, there's a lot of really
good picturesque scenes. And then I grow up and
I'm like, oh, that's why it's by Robert Semeckis,
who makes very Memorable movies. Oh, yes, he
does. Yeah, and he's he's become one of my favorites
He doesn't have a ton of movies, but they're
all I remember watching contact and I always
go back to contact just because I love Carl Sagan
of space and And it was like the tenth time.
I just never watched That it's a mecus. Yeah,
I was like, yeah, that's that's what it is Yeah,
so I kind of became aware of like the the directors
that I like, you know, a little later on, but
there's something gravitational about some of
these guys and women, directors who just like,
just they have a way with their lens that it
sticks in your memory a little bit more. I was
kind of looking for that in a movie and it doesn't
have to be like a serious movie. Ninja Turtles
or something like it's just that some of them
have it and some of them kind of lack I feel
Now do you and I get different answers with fellow?
Friends and whatnot that are movie buffs. I get
different answers to this all the time if you
have a preference To kind of like be in your
own element in your home your TV put the movie
in You know blanket bowl of popcorn on your favorite
chair and just kind of chillin taking this movie
and or do you prefer the movie theater in the
fancy lounge chair with your snacks and that
sort of thing. Do you have like one of those
is like a favorite over another or is this kind
of it just kind of depends. Okay so of course
it depends on what your goal is with the movie.
I think that's an important thing that maybe
some people don't get. It's like it's not the
movie that you like it's like what is right for
tonight What's the perfect movie for this for
this power? How we're both feeling how we're
how I'm feeling that is is gonna just like maybe
connect Yeah, so I think about that, you know
and that when I think about you know If I show
a movie to another person I'm like are they in
the right headspace for this movie right now
or should we not watch this movie right now and
put on like, you know Mr. Bean or something But
I gotta say if I have that ultimate viewing experience
and it just got a wish list Yeah, easy. It would
go I would go to the music box theater in Chicago.
Hmm, and I would see you know, probably some
What is it 78 millimeter 72 millimeter? I think
78 millimeter film. Thank you and there is one
that poked out in my mind and actually, you know,
so I watched start watching some of these YouTube
videos and these these guys kind of almost write
video essays on certain movies and some good
commentary and I'm watching one on Stanley Kubrick
and this the narrator comes in he breaks in he's
like I went to Chicago the music box theater
and saw the 78 millimeter of 2001 a Space Odyssey
for its 50th anniversary I believe and I was
like me too I also saw that screening. And it
was, yeah, we saw me and my friend Brendan went
to Chicago because we knew that they were showing
it and stuff. I was like, we need to go to Chicago
and see this movie. And so we went there. Because
I had watched something, a Stanley Kubrick documentary.
I forget. It was something about his henchman.
He had a henchman. He's an actor, too. He's in
Barry Lyndon. Anyway, I forget his name, but
he, now that Kubrick has passed away, is like
the caretaker of the nobility, the, you know,
the authenticity of all the films. So he's kind
of has all this. So I knew that this was like
a sanctioned screening. This was like the 78
millimeter print of 2001 A Space Odyssey. Went
to the music box. You can like have a cocktail
while you're at the theater. So that's nice.
Got some popcorn and we watched that. And two
memorable moments. One is just the opening scenes,
which are really just still photographs essentially.
The color, the beauty of those opening couple
of credits was shocking. I was like, dang, this
is different than any other viewing experience
that I've ever had. ever and since watched the
whole you know first half of the movie and I
forgot that there's an intermission and they
took the intermission so that was awesome we
all got up we all like kind of refilled and stuff
and kind of came back and then watched part two
and it was like Epic. It was so epic. It was
my best movie viewing experience ever. So I always
try to go to the theater to see a movie that
I know is going to be awesome. Because I can
go back through time and be like, oh yeah, I
saw that in theaters. I saw this in theaters.
I saw this in theaters. Sometimes I'm the only
one there. But I'm like, I'm going to see this
one in theater. Exactly. In fact, we spent, I
got two good examples. This Christmas, Christmas
Day, we spent. Christmas day, not with the family,
we went to the movie theater and saw Nosferatu.
I love that. That's awesome. And that was a great
Christmas movie. Yeah. And then a couple of years
ago, on my birthday, like on the day we went
and saw the lighthouse. Oh, wow. Oh, they're
both Robert Ericers movies. But yeah, I just
have this way of like, I'm like, that's going
to be a good one. Need to see that one. So I
usually will have something in mind months ahead
of time. I'm like, I'm waiting for this movie
to come out so I can go see it. That's awesome.
Yeah. So Sinners, I got to just do a shout out
was the most recent one where I was like, so
happy that I saw it in theaters. And that one
was weird because it got a natural buzz. I had
no idea about this movie before it came out.
And then people started seeing it, and everybody
agreed that it was good. And I was like, I guess
I'm going to see this movie. And I went in completely
blind, not knowing anything about what it was
going to be. And I hadn't been that refreshed
and surprised by a movie in a long time. So that's
what sticks out. But I haven't seen it. I only
saw it the one time. I haven't seen it again.
Interesting. Interesting. But I agree with that.
And I love the fact that there are a lot of theaters
now that are taking like more older classic movies
and bringing them back into the theater because
there might be a movie from the 70s or 80s that
you didn't see on the big screen and probably
always thought, oh man, I bet that one really
cool to see on the big screen. All of a sudden
it's there. So like perfect example with the
t -shirt you're wearing today, they're having
the 50th anniversary release, which might be
this weekend, I think. of Jaws and That is an
epic movie. I think if people put like their
top 10 top 20 list together Yeah, I think it's
on most people's lists somewhere. It is it is
somehow that's a week There's a number of perfect
movies. That one's a weird perfect movie, but
it kind of is perfect Yeah, and was plagued with
so much problems in making it but yet is so good
Which like I also love that. It doesn't need
to be high -tech or anything, doesn't even need
to be high budget to be really, really great,
you know? Yeah, there's so many parts of that
movie that are perfect, as you say. Like, for
example, when the orca is leaving dock and it's
going out, the way they take that camera angle
through... the shark teeth in the shop and you
see the boat like you just sit there be like
did they do that on purpose or was that just
a wonderful accident because that was such a
great shot well i think that's uh i've kind of
watched a little bit about how kubrick would
do things and i think spielberg does it the same
way is like that's the good director because
you're just in the set right and you're you're
doing and you don't necessarily know how the
shot is gonna go uh unless i mean there could
be a uh a storyboard but i've seen them kind
of messing around with the angles in the moment
and then like settling on like yes the right
the right zoom out the right camera move to get
there you know oh for sure yeah you know that
and then i i just feel like robert shaw's monologue
on the boat um is just phenomenal uh and and
it's what leads up to it's great because you're
waiting for that buddy moment between these three
guys and you're finally getting it you're finally
getting these guys to connect a little bit and
then there's that one scene that never gets talked
about again where they're talking about their
injuries right and so they're going back and
forth and so Roy Scheider pulls up his shirt
a little bit, so it looks like a gunshot wound,
but he doesn't say anything. It's obvious what
it is. But he looks at it and just puts it back
down. He just doesn't want to share that. I didn't
know that guy was British until recently. Yeah.
Isn't that something? Oh, man. He has the best
little... He's not quite a pirate, but he has
the best sailor voice ever. He really does. He
nailed it. I was like, man, it's amazing to even
think he's... maybe Scottish or something, or
British for sure. Yeah, oh yeah. And with your
point, like bringing back some of those old movies,
I thought, you know, COVID was an okay time.
You couldn't go to a movie theater, but we live
in Valpo where there's a drive -in, and you could
go outside, and they weren't making any new movies,
and so they were just only showing old ones.
And so we saw so many good old films, like in
the old style at the drive -in. Had a car at
the time that had a pretty decent stereo and
it was a convertible so we went out there in
the convertible really good stereo and I heard
parts they did a Spielberg double feature and
it was jaws and Jurassic Park and that's fantastic.
Yeah talk about like epic experiences, right?
There's a couple of really good they were doing
these like great pairs, you know, I wish they
would do even more It's a fantasy, a dream of
mine to own a theater and then do it right. Yes.
I would agree. I will say I'm not a big fan of
the new style movie houses. And I miss the old
theaters. When I was really young, I grew up
in Vincennes, Indiana. And we had the downtown
street, and there was a theater with the old
marquee. And that was the movie theater. Which
would be considered like an art house theater
or something. Yeah. I mean, essentially these
days it would be considered that because that's
how movie theaters were. All of them were kind
of like that. Not quite a movie palace, but definitely
with the slanted rows and the sticky floors.
I love it. And all of that. And I saw a ton of
movies there in the 90s. Anyway, if I were to...
You know be able to do things my way. I would
like own a theater like that like the crown theater
used to be Restore it sell cheap Concessions
and show like probably old movies Right. Oh,
yeah, absolutely these like little themed nights
and stuff. Yeah, I love I love the old movies
and it's matter of fact last year I saw two Hitchcock.
I saw north by northwest and rear window cool,
so I saw both of those on the big screen and
Grown up you just your color TV in your living
room. That's that's where you'd like WGN would
have like a Saturday afternoon matinee and my
dad would always watch them so I'd watch them
with them it was all movies like that and Any
time a movie theater promotes that I I just go
I have to do this I went through a little Hitchcock
spell very recently. Oh did you I've seen rear
window before but it had been a long time So
I watched that one and what's the other one vertigo?
Vertigo's good. That's cool. That one's a little
different. It is different. It's kind of a wispy
vibe, you know? Kind of like this lady who's
going out to the Golden Gate Bridge every day
and staring out into the ocean. It's just a little
different than some other Hitchcock stuff. I
love that he worked so much with Jimmy Stewart
because Jimmy Stewart was kind of, especially
earlier in his career, was just kind of that
aw shucks. kind of guy and roles that matched
his personality a little bit. But when he would
get with Hitchcock, man, that was different characters
for him, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking
along the same lines. And I was saying that a
little earlier. There's been multiple really
great eras for movies in Hollywood come up and
down. And of course, that was like a golden age
in that time. They're like, I don't know when
those movies were coming up in the 60s. Yeah,
right. All throughout the 60s. And I was like,
yeah, Jimmy Stewart's, you know, a list actor
at that time. And he's kind of he kind of found
his Tarantino of the time. And Tarantino used
him in three or four or five, you know, kind
of like Samuel L. Jackson. He said he went through
a whole cycle. And then there's a bunch of people
who are just not even hip to Jimmy Stewart or
Hitchcock. I know he's got a lot more that I
haven't seen. And I haven't seen North by Northwest.
So I have to check that one out. Yeah, you might
have to check that one out. That one's pretty
good for sure. Well versed in the movies you
like a lot of different genres and things of
that nature but i know you love the historical
movies movies based in history. And sci -fi as
well so i kind of want to do a little bit of
a game these are some segments that i take from
some of my older radio shows and things of that
nature so there's there's one. One segment that
I used to have is called rapid fire and I used
to do this a lot on the sports show I used to
have and so I would like throw Terminology out
there. I throw a name. I throw a city. I throw
a team whatever out there and it's supposed to
invoke a quick brief or response to whatever
that might be and so I have picked it's very
short but List of historical films, okay And
want to get your take it can be as short as a
word or two It can be a full -on sentence and
sometimes that's hard to do it might be tougher
than you think But we're gonna get started and
we're gonna start it with Schindler's list Spielberg's
Movie about his his culture and it was difficult
to make fun I love it. Good job. Good job. That
was good. Milk. I was unaware of it. And then
Sean Penn. And I still didn't see it. But I am
at least aware of the politician now. Got it.
Got it. Well, that'll be the challenge, too,
in the fact that I know you've seen a lot of
movies. But there still could be a few. You know,
I know that it's out there. But it's not one
that. that I have gotten around to yet, but I
know it is there. Yeah, no, it's a good movie.
It's one of those things where Sean Penn's one
of those actors that kind of can rub people the
wrong way. Doesn't have... I'm not a hater or
a lover, but he's got his moments. Exactly. This
was definitely a moment for him. It was a very
good movie. The Express, which was a sports historical
film. about Ernie Davis from Syracuse. Murder
on the Midnight Express. There you go. Okay.
I'll take it. I'll take it. I will take it. Didn't
see that one. No, that's okay. Good movie, though.
I recommend it. Argo. Tarantino should have got
the award. Ooh, I like that. That's a hot take.
That's a hot take. I love that. Do you know what
the moment I'm talking about? I do know. Tarantino
spits his... Champagne out? Yes, I do. Yes, I
do. And rightfully so, because it was against
Django, which was a brilliant movie. It was phenomenal.
Yeah. It was really great. Tora, Tora, Tora.
Ah. Just in the classic, I bought a trilogy and
it included that and The Longest Day and... a
third World War II movie, so it just reminds
me of that VHS set that I have. Oh, that sounds
like a great set. Zero Dark Thirty. I watched
it, and it was fine. OK. This is like Black Hawk
Down. I feel like they're just all too similar.
Yeah. Although Black Hawk Down is pretty good.
And kind of at that time, they were like two
or three or four movies OK. They were very similar
that way. It's also like The Hurt Locker. I don't
know. I just kind of. I was like, all right.
Titanic. Just absolutely brilliant. And the level
of detail, I feel like I was there. Yeah, level
of detail was great. And all I'm going to say,
Rose, you should have moved your ass over. There
was. plenty of room on that. What was it? A headboard?
It was a door, I believe. It was a door. Well,
OK, so Cameron, I know this is too long. Well,
we're just talking about it. Cameron, this is
his worst moment in all of his movies because
he gets no more criticism than on that moment.
And so he did like a whole thing. He did a little
TV special where he puts him back in the water
tank and two people, and they both get on the
board. And yes. there is enough room but the
weight of the two people because he used the
exact same prowl the weight of the two people
pushes the board down into where they're basically
both in the water and they would have both died
so i'm gonna i'm not it sounds like i'm defending
cameron now i was about to say you're letting
him off the hook i don't know i i'll look past
it because the rest of it was so great no oh
no doubt no doubt all right the last uh one i
have 12 years a slave There's these certain movies
that I think I can only just watch one time And
there's a there's a couple and that one is so
brutally and just like honest true story and
Michael Fassbender goes to the darkest place
ever And I can only just it makes me think about
how that was probably real because he wrote that
book and that's what he's talking about So I
was like, dude It just reminds me of the importance
of teaching history to people. Absolutely. Which
I know is a love of yours as well. Yeah. I've
grown a love for it. Yeah. And learned a lot.
And the topic of slavery and what happened with
all of it is something that I talk about very
bluntly and openly and in detail. Good. Yeah.
Yeah. That needs to be done. Yep. To the point
where I'm like, I don't care if it's uncomfortable
or whatever. It was like word This is what this
is the topic of the day. Yeah, that's awesome.
I love that Now before we move to our next segment,
I wanted to ask you Is there like if somebody
said hey Give me a recommendation and maybe you've
got a couple give me a recommendation of a historical
film that you think really embodies that period
of history. Now, I know no movie's perfect in
terms of accuracy necessary, because films do
take creative license. And quite frankly, some
things might just not look good on the screen,
and they take some license there. So if someone
were to come up and be like, hey man, I was just
kind of looking for a cool historical film, what
would you recommend? Okay, a clarifying question.
Should I suggest a movie that really nails the
time period or one that I think is that you're
gonna enjoy? How about both? Okay. Nails the
time period. One that comes to mind for me is
Black Death. You see this movie? I have not seen
Black Death. It is a little bit of an independent
film. It does have, whoever plays, I think his
name is Aragon in Lord of the Rings. Okay. No
one just walks into Mordor. He is a knight, and
it takes place in the Black Plague, the Black
Death, the Bubonic Plague, in what we can assume
is maybe England or perhaps somewhere else in
Europe, maybe France. And they're called upon
to go to this village that is free of the pestilence.
And so they go there. I think maybe they must
have suspected something because there's all
these warriors go along with him and they have
these torture devices and There's weapons and
stuff and yeah, they go and I think they're free
of pestilence But I think that they there they
feel that there's a witch And so they are taken
in and you know chaos ensues we'll say for no
spoilers, but you know that movie just like with
the the tone of it, the portrayal of the dark
ages. It probably is a little maybe overhyped,
but from some of the historical pictures that
I've seen, it might be very accurate, actually.
And just, yeah, the whole idea of the history
of burning witches and all of that atrocities
that have happened, as far as a movie that's
kind of, for whatever, badass. Oh, for sure.
You know, just because it's cool and the way
the movie turns out is like, whoa. Yeah. Black
Death is really good. Yeah. And that one almost
checks both boxes because it feels very to the
period, but is also enjoyable. And not that many
people have seen it. So it's like, in a way,
did you watch Nightcrawler? Yeah, yeah, it's
like a little independent a little bit but still
pretty good and high quality over same kind of
thing for for black death That would be maybe
a historical Another one that I just got a shout
out though is dances with wolves. I don't know
if that's Based on a true story. I feel like
it's not it is based on a book. Yeah, and but
I just love that movie. I think about it like
daily. It's just something about it. It's not
your typical western. It doesn't feel like a
John Wayne movie. I just grew up with that one.
As far as a historical time period that I just
enjoy and think about, everything that happens
in that movie is, in my opinion, just captivating.
Yeah, so dances with was the music the everything
about that movie. Oh, and it was Kevin Costner's
directorial debut It was and he hasn't really
been able to match that but he nailed it. Oh,
he nailed it He's cool. He is so cool. He is
so cool That's really great. And thank you for
for answering that we're now on to something
I call Not what I call, it's what it is, tier
listing. And it's something that I've done on
the Mark Mo Show podcast many times. And we've
actually, Aidan Moloney, who is my co -host on
the show, we just got done doing a two parter
on retro gaming. So we did everything from the
Atari 2600 games all the way forward. We really
didn't get up to like 360. It was more like,
PS2 kind of game. So we did a lot of games in
that genre of gaming and it was really good.
It was really interesting and I didn't necessarily
put all the classics because then you're just
gonna load up your top tier and it's just not
gonna be very interesting. So I picked a couple
of sus games along the way. So I figured if I'm
gonna sit down with you and we're gonna chat
movies. we're of course going to include sci
-fi. And we're of course going to tier list some
sci -fi movies. And they may not all be top tier,
but maybe they are. We're gonna find out here
in just a second. So I'm gonna name these movies.
We're gonna have a discussion. It's not like
rapid fire where we're doing like a sentence.
I mean, we can discuss these in length if we
care to. So what we're doing is we're grading
them. So S is the top tier, that's superior.
Then you have A, B, C, D, and then F if you're
just like, yeah, that movie's kinda trash. So
we're gonna have that discussion and the kicker
is we have to agree. So maybe we'll be off a
little bit and we just kinda have to sell our,
where we're at with these movies. And I'm gonna
start with the original Star Trek movie. Original
Star Trek. Just called Star Trek. It's just Star
Trek. It's with... Remind me what happens in
this one. I've seen a number of them and I kind
of get the, especially with the ones with Shatner,
like the plots I get a little mixed up. Yeah,
it's Shatner and Nimoy and the original one,
it's vastly different. So it's not the search
for Spock or Khan or any of that, but it happens
before all of those. And it's... Basically just
like a glorified episode of the TV show What
is the main villain or the problem in this in
this one? I can't even remember Okay, so it's
been a hot minute. Yeah, it's private 20 years
since I've seen it. Okay, Star Trek Well, I don't
know how to respond but I wouldn't kind of tear
this one on the lower side just because it doesn't
have a place in my heart as much I Star Trek
was not something that I got into until later.
J .J. Abrams to thank for that. There you go.
Yeah. Yeah, so I'm kind of maybe one of those
guys. I remember when I was a kid, it was Star
Trek Next Generation with Patrick Stewart. Yes.
And I would watch that show and I'd be into it.
But I guess I was always more of a Star Wars
guy. Sure. And never really got the concept of
what Star Trek is. Then I was aware of the old
show and I was like, okay Star Trek and then
The movies came out and I was like, oh these
are gonna be terrible Reboot makes and so I didn't
watch them and I came back to him later a friend
of mine Showed me the Star Trek movie. It kind
of almost sat me down and it's like watch it,
right? He's like if you don't Pick up on like
why this is cool Then I can't help you And then
I watched it, and I was like, oh, I do get it.
I get what Star Trek is. I get what the universe
is about in Star Trek, which I didn't understand
before. Right. The Gene Roddenberry kind of vision
of it. Correct. Oh, that's way cool. And now,
these days, I could say I think I like it more
than Star Wars, just because I agree with it
more. But those reboot characters and especially
the reboot Spock, who I'm ashamed to say I don't
even know his name, who plays Spock in the J
.J. Abrams Star Trek. But I love that movie.
Zachary Quinto. Is that Zachary Quinto? Yeah,
he nailed it. He did. And the plot was cool and
exposed me to a lot of Star Trek and I kind of
watched the sequels after that and then went
back and started to dig into the Shatner movies
and all the Star Trek stuff because it's an extensive...
show. Yeah, so that if we're just tearing it,
and we've gone all the way back to the original,
I gotta say I just don't not as familiar with
it for it to be a tear for me. So I will give
it. It's not a bad movie though. So I'll give
it a B minus. I'll agree with that. I was thinking
C plus B minus myself, because it is it is so
rough. Yeah. It's very 60s, very 60s. It's very
60s. The story is just very mid. And I mean,
once again, if you're talking sci -fi, it's the
beginning. It's the beginning of sci -fi. Sure.
So you can't, like I try not to be too judgy
about it. I mean, it's not going to, you know,
it's not going to look, you know, like a modern
Star Wars movie or... You know how some horror
movies are kind of not meant to be great? Yeah,
in a way like and that's part of the charm I
feel like the cheesiness of those 60s sci -fi
things was like part of what kind of gives them
their charm a little bit sure so in that in that
case, you know This is kind of like that hilarious
perfect version of a not very well produced I
don't know if it's in the 60s or maybe 1970 for
that first movie You know movie like that. Yeah,
yeah, but the cinematography all of that is is
pretty Yeah, it's pretty rough, but you gotta
learn to crawl before you can walk and run and
all that kind of stuff So that's kind of the
way I look at it. Okay. All right, so you'll
agree on a b -minus We'll agree on a b -minus.
I won't be too harsh on it and give it a c -plus
Yeah, well I was ready to uh 2001 space odyssey
now that is it has to be an s has to be because
100 well everything you were just saying about
like Star Trek being the foundation. Do you know
what came out first? I think the Star Trek movie
did come out, but this was not long after though.
Is it? Are we sure? I'm not sure on that. Let's
do some live podcast research. Okay, because
I was under the impression that there were a
lot of what I would just saying like bad Sci
-fi movies like what Mars attacks kind of plays
on yeah Like all those old terrible 50s sci -fi
films that was what sci -fi was until 2001 a
space Odyssey came on and made a real space movie
yes, and I will give that movie all the credit
for everything that it is and it has to be You
know, is that right a masterpiece looks like
2001 a space out in 1968. Is that right? Yeah,
it was very very early because it was only his
third film I think he did Lolita. He did dr.
Strangelove and then he worked on 2001 and that
came out and it just blew everybody away It still
blows me away. I still don't know how they do
some of those shots All right. Yeah some of them
Holy cow, and then and then that's disregarding
what happens in the movie in the plot and everything
else about it. So Yeah, but I think that's the
predecessor of all modern space movies That's
what I would call. Oh for sure. So, okay. So
what are we saying? It's 1968 for 2001 Star Trek.
Well the first Star Trek movie Star Trek of the
motion picture right with with Shatner. Yes 79.
Yeah was that 11 years later 11 years later.
So it was actually 79? Yeah, it was well behind
its time. So sci -fi technically is, you know...
Yeah, there was already Star Wars by that time.
Yes. Yeah. So definitely, you know what? I'm
going to, based on that, maybe downgrade it.
I'm going to downgrade it to that C+. Yeah, OK.
And I will agree because of all those things
that we just said. Right, exactly. When you take
into consideration things like Star Wars and
Space Odyssey and everything came before, I think
you have to. And Space Odyssey is then the true
founder of 100 % of what we would call all space
movies. Yeah, you can't give it anything less
than an S, because they're even making movies
based on that movie today. Every single director
agrees that that's the movie. Oh, yeah. So I
also got to go with that. All right. No, I agree
100 % on that one. Empire Strikes Back. My favorite
of all the Star Wars movies, there are 11 or
more Star Wars movies. I know because I watched
them all in chronological order once they were
all out. Watch all of them from episode one,
two, three, Rogue One, four, five, six, seven,
eight, nine, and I stopped. And I didn't put
Han Solo in there. No, I have to say, and I'm
gonna ask you this, this is kind of, but see,
this is for people listening to the Mark Mo Show,
you know I often leave the highway, I find my
way back on. Rogue One, what are your thoughts?
When I watched them in that sequence, I went
to see Rogue One in theaters and I was like,
meh. And then it had been a while, so I watched
them all in that sequence. And what I came away
with at the end of that, and this is probably
not a popular opinion, the prequels as in one,
two, three are whatever, but I think I'm done
with those. For sure. The sequel sequels, seven,
eight, nine, are... Garbage all of it throw it
in the garbage delete it agree. That's me Four
five six, of course are immaculate and a Surprise
rogue one was actually pretty good. Like I was
like, hey, yes, I don't know what it is about
that one and It could be the director or something.
I don't even know who directed rogue one But
whatever they did on that one was was enough
Like, I don't know. After watching all that Star
Wars, I stopped caring about the plot and the
characters. I was like, I'm just done with them.
They just go on too long. But yeah, it's a nice
little isolated story that fits in right snuggly,
right up against. a new hope and sets up the
opening scene and that's perfectly that's cool
yeah and that's like i always felt that movie
was like a slow burn and like it's building it's
building it's building and then just ends up
being this roman tragedy where you lose all your
main characters but like you tell this Story
and it's an interesting story. But as I said,
it's kind of a slow burn slow burn You're just
like something's coming something God. I hope
there's that payoff because I feel something
and of course they get they give you everything
right when you need it They also give you that
great Darth Vader scene at the end and there
are a good amount It's grimy like Star Wars should
be but there's also a good really a lot of beautiful
visuals But they're not all about the beautiful
visuals There are some problems with I think
it was like number nine Luke Skywalker comes
back, but he's actually a ghost. Yeah. And it's
like beautiful shot, but it's all white. And
then as they move around, it reveals red underneath
their feet. And it's a perfect sunset. And I
was like, this is just a little much. It's a
much. As far as eye candy, it can't just be all
that, right? Because it needs some substance.
Right. And yeah, Rogue One had the right balance.
if somehow, because it's a murky place, that
Star Wars universe, because it's just a bunch
of commercialism and all this. But you nailed
it. Empire Strikes Back is probably the best
of all of them. Number one Star Wars movie. Because,
who is it? Roald Emmerich? Ronald Emmerich? He
has a ton of really good sci -fi. He did Stargate,
he did Independence Day. Oh yeah, right, right.
Those are great, too. And there's something a
little darker about that one. There's something
about the fact that it's not George Lucas kind
of directing. And there's a magic that comes
with the original scene of Yoda. And I don't
think that was Jim Henson. That was Frank Oz
who kind of did all that with Yoda. And everything
about that one, right? Kind of cool. I don't
know. That's my favorite of all of them, and
I think that's why. Oh, so what rank shall we
give it? I'd give it, I wouldn't give it like
a 2001 S. Okay. I would give it like a solid
A. Okay. Yeah, I give it an A. I'm down with
the solid A. Not even an A plus because just
like, it's still Star Wars, you know. Right.
So yeah, it was like everybody knows and has
seen Star Wars mostly. Oh yeah, for sure. Next
movie, E .T. I watched it a ton when I was growing
up. I just saw it again. I think I got to see
it at the drive -in. Oh, that's awesome. It was
at the drive -in. I love it. Yeah. Very cool.
It was great to see it in theater or at the drive
-in. Something weird about that one. There's
something a little not replicated in any other
Spielberg movies. And I don't know when that
was made, 88. 87 and I felt like he wasn't quite
Steven Spielberg quite yet. He was still kind
of a little grimy little edgy little You know
renegade. Yeah, it's really renegade Kind of
like moments in that this is one really interesting
scene. I really Like noticed it when when I saw
it at the drive -in most recently There they
got ET in their bedroom. We don't see what they're
doing there we see the hallway and they're like
pulling a cable or whatever and the cable kind
of pulls this chair up against the wall. I was
like, why is that scene in there? And I was like,
what is that scene? It does create a feeling
for me and it's a little ominous. 1982. 1982
for ET. Oh, okay. So I mean, but it's still,
it's gotta be. There are sci -fi and space movies
that I kind of enjoy a little more for whatever
reason. You know what it is? I noticed it at
the drive -in. Seeing things in theaters, you
kind of see what they really are, not on your
TV. Right? It's like a true experience. And what
it is, is I think Elliot and probably a couple
other... sound effects in that movie limit the
microphones. And he has this voice, Elliot does,
and he's kind of screaming and yelling the whole
movie, especially at the end. There's something
about the sound of that that just kind of gets
into my ears. I'm like, I don't enjoy it. No,
I understand that. Yeah, so that kind of drops
it down for me a little bit in my overall enjoyment.
But that's one that you got to keep coming back
to. And it's such a classic, especially 1982.
It's stuck around all these years. It has, yeah.
I mean, A. It can't be lower than Empire Strikes
Back, I think. Or maybe it can be. I don't know.
A minus? I was ready to go B plus. And my take
on that is a bit comical. And that is I saw it
as a kid. and loved it, right? I mean, he's this
alien that isn't scary. He isn't this big thing
that's gonna eat you or kill you. It looks like
a turtle out of a shell. That's what he looks
like. And so he's just kind of clumsy and whatever.
And it's just like the film has a lot of heart.
So there's a lot of good things about it. And
then for the Atari 2600, this game ET comes out.
I think I played it maybe once or twice. It is
one of the worst video games in the history of
video games because you get to the scene where
he falls down this hole and you can't get out.
That's hilarious. Like the game's over. Like
you rage quit. Like rage quitting video games.
Is that a flaw in the game? Can anybody beat
that game? I don't know. All I know is like,
rage quitting is like... current terminology,
but I think it began with that game. And that
makes you not like the movie as much? I downgraded
that a little bit, honestly. I guess it's as
bad as me not liking the way his voice limits
the microphone sounds. We're getting nitpicky.
We are. But I would downgrade it to a B+. I feel
guilt with that because it's a classic. It's
a classic. So you want to A minus that? Yeah.
I mean, we're talking 1 % here. OK. OK. All right,
we'll do it. This is a bit of a comedy, too,
but it's sci -fi. Paul. That was like so surprisingly
good. Right? There's been so many like, I don't
know, throwaway movies that there's just like
a bunch of junk. But Paul wasn't that. And it
has all these great little sci -fi callbacks.
Tons of them. Tons of them. And then Sigourney
Weaver shows up. Right. And the idea of the,
I don't know what you would call this. What's
his name? Seth? Seth Rogen. Seth Rogen. Seth
Rogen kind of like weed smoking alien. But there's
a reason for that because he's been on Earth
since the 50s. Kind of cool. I mean, at least
it was. A play on all the great sci -fi traditions,
but something at least a little different and
fresh. Yeah, for sure. But not essential to any
sci -fi collection, but a good addition. Yeah,
surprise, a little bit of surprise. It's a fun
watch. I like how good it is. Yeah. And I've
come back to it because of that. And I just love
that. that repeated line that they keep coming
to. They're like three tits. Nice. Nice. And
it reminds me of Total Recall. Right. Exactly.
So good. But being what it is and not essential,
I'll give that one like a B. I'm down with that
because I really enjoyed that as well. We got
a few more here to go. Iron Man. With Robert
Downey Jr. No not into the Marvel movies. There
are too many of them. Yeah I was for a while
and certain ones. I watched all the X -Men's.
Okay, I really like the X -Men because they're
all so diverse in their powers. Yes I watched
those original spider -man's Okay, and I think
I've seen most of the spider -man and I like
spider -man. Yeah, but what are we talking about
Iron Man? I went forever and never saw it and
yeah How many Ironmans are there? Two or three?
Three, yeah. Three? Yeah, I didn't see any of
that. People are going to like be raging on this
podcast because I just went to, because all the
friends were going to see it. I just acquiesced
and went and saw, I just jumped right into Avengers
Endgame. Oh, did you? Didn't watch anything before
that. Wow. And there was another one, right?
Endgame and... Infinity Wars was before that.
Oh, okay, so I saw those two. I jumped into Infinity
Wars and then I returned for... What is it? Endgame.
So, yeah, I came back to those and then like
was introduced to Downey Jr. and Iron Man and
I did go back and I watched that original Iron
Man, but I never made it to the end. Well, then
I'll tell you what, grade it as you grade his
performance maybe in those two movies. Oh, yeah.
Let's do it. I went back and I watched the original
Iron Man. I didn't make it to the end. But Donnie
Jr. is good in everything. And I think he did
something good for that character who was pretty
dull by that point. Like not a lot of people
were saying anything about Iron Man. I remember
Iron Man when I was a kid. He was just really
very much a side Marvel character. Right. That's
how I remember him. Oh, yeah. So he resurrected
it and made it cool and hip and everybody has
loved those movies and of all the Marvel movies
people keep talking about Iron Man. Yeah, so
with that being the case a Be Okay, I'll give
that to you. I would have been in that neighborhood.
Yeah for sure. I could even go be minus on that
one Yeah, what do you think? What would you say?
I think B is good. I think that's good. I got
two left here interstellar An a -plus I want
to just say off the bat may is do you think it's
an S? No, I think that's fair because as you
have to be like, okay, it's as good as Space
Odyssey Yeah, or you know, I mean it's there's
there's ways to get there that you don't have
to be as like, you know, sometimes You can't
compare apples to oranges in a way And sometimes
you can just be an S for a different reason,
but I don't think it's quite there And I don't
even know that it's my favorite Christopher Nolan
movie, but it is a great. Yeah sci -fi movie.
I saw that in theaters and uh midnight it was
like a midnight showing at imax nobody else there
one person in the theater it was me and uh there's
something cool about that right in the center
and i had these i don't know what kind of sound
they have for imax but it blows you away i remember
being blown away by that movie and um there's
one scene that just does that for me in that
um that movie and it is a small a small moment
they they're in like hyper sleep or I believe
and they wake up because they're about to go
into the portal yeah and they're floating past
Saturn and you see Saturn in all its beauty and
glory and hugeness and you see this little light
reflection of a speck and that's the whole spaceship
yeah and I'm just like that is and there's silent
I think it's for that It's just the vastness
and bigness of space. And I think about that
when I'm painting. I was like, yeah, all you
need is a little white speck to imply a giant
spaceship, but it's dwarfed by something even
bigger. So I really like the idea of expressing
hugeness. Guess in a way or like, you know, really
that playing with scale and size. Yes, and that's
cool Yeah, so I love that and then the rest of
the the movie is so good and I love the opening.
Yeah, and I have a criticism though of Nolan
Okay, you go back to his movies and I think interstellar
is on this you go back and the more times you
watch them The more you kind of start to see
their imperfections. There's some parts Maybe
in the acting maybe in the plot in Interstellar
that like don't seem to add up They're more of
a feel that feel really good on the first time
and then upon a closer examination tend to be
like more like But you know, that's I'm not I'm
not even being very detailed with that I'd have
to like rewatch a scene and kind of maybe pick
up pick it apart a little bit. Yeah, but Still
even that's a a plus a plus no doubt. Yeah Yeah,
for sure. And as far as like, I love Matthew
McConaughey. That's probably one of his best
movies, I would say. Easily. And he had a bunch
of really good ones before that, but he just
was a great character in that one. Oh, he was.
He definitely was. Last one, Sigourney Weaver,
Alien. The first one? Mm -hmm. Now that's one
that I would I would be tempted to give like
an ass to Mm -hmm because of whatever because
of all many many things For one love course aliens
to and what it inspired The director who made
it and all the great movies that he's made because
I love Ridley Scott I'd like everything that
he does almost And when you look at it and you
go back to that movie that has been around since
1978 or 1979, and you look at for what it was,
it was unique for its time because it was like
a horror film in sci -fi. That was its thing
back then. But you look at these opening scenes,
for one, I don't know who made the music for
that, but those flutes. and how it opens very,
you know, I just love the opening and they still
use that opening in a lot of the alien movies
today. They do. The flutes and like the computers
firing up and you're just kind of in this world
and the world is dirty and it's not high tech,
like they're in space and stuff but like... It's
you know their spaceship is always crashing and
stuff and they're always fixing it And it's nothing
is very made very well, and they're all just
miners. I believe they're just workers for the
company Yeah, you know the whole idea of that
the plot and then like out the Prometheus and
things like years later and coming back to it
and like When you go back to that original movie
all of that infrastructure for that Stuff is
there Wayland is there. It's like the the idea
of the cyborg robots are there the mission of
what the company wants and how the People the
characters are unaware of the evil plot of the
company You never see in the movie and you never
see in any of the movies. It just keeps it rolling
All such cool concepts not even to say HR Geiger
who makes the best alien xenomorph that you can
imagine, just his whole thing, and his artistry
to that. And then, I'm not exactly sure, they're
going into the alien spaceship, and you can look
at some of the practical effects. I think they're
just barrels and gutter tubing. Yeah, OK. For
all the very intricate alien structures that
are inside there, it's a lot of really household
stuff. and very like practical effects and like
and they looked really good for 1978 the the
spider thing that comes out of the egg and the
goo and like man they're they're a level and
attention to detail so cool and then uh Ripley
is not even really the main character for most
of the movie and but yet she's the surprise survivor
and becomes really i would call her one of the
greatest heroines in movies is is Ripley and
Sigourney Lever. Absolutely. Nailed it and kind
of strong, but yeah, it's like kind of like not
like sexy in a way, but in like the non, not
like a Marilyn Monroe kind of traditional way.
Which makes it even like even more like just
cool. It's so cool. Yeah, she takes on the alien
and And just the concept of the organism, of
how it's the perfect organism. And the scientist
wants to study it and all this. Way cool. I'm
giving that one an S. It's S tier, for sure.
Alien's a great flick. Yeah. I love it. Not everybody
loves it. No. No. And that was a surprise to
me. I have some friends and we talk about movies
quite a lot and I realized that none of them
had seen Alien or Alien 2, Aliens. So I exposed
them to Aliens, which is a little bit more just
straight to the point, a little less arts, artistic,
more action flick. They said it was boring. I
was like, what? This is like the most non -boring
movie. I know, right? What more could you want?
And aliens. There's a million aliens. There's
Marines and Hicks. Right. All of it. And what's
his name? Who's the guy you love to hate in that
movie? Paul Reiner. But what's his name in the
movie? He's got the perfect character name. It
is escaping me. That's why. Oh, I got it. I don't
know. I can see Sigourney Weaver grabbing him
by the Marty McFly vest. I don't know what his
name is in that movie. But yeah, he is a great
dweeby villain in a way. He's worse than the
aliens, right? I would agree. I would definitely
agree. So both are cool. And I really love. That's
one of the franchises that has remained. Pretty
good. And I have not watched the most recent
television series that they've started. Right.
Got to say, not a big fan of television series.
And once you start making a million episodes
and you have to explain everything, you got to
go on, you got to fill episodes. Right. I just
feel like, for one, I lose attention. It goes
on too long, which is the opposite for a lot
of people these days. Like they say they like
shows because they're shorter, but I say they're
long. There's like seasons and seasons. So I
don't know about this new show, but it's Alien,
so I will go and check it out and at least give
it a good try. But almost all the Alien movies
that I can think of, minus Alien versus Predator,
I'm going to set those ones aside, have been
pretty solid in one way or another. I even like
Alien Resurrection. Do you? Yeah, I do. I think
it's fun. It's cool enough. It's its own thing.
And so is Alien 3. It's its own thing, but doesn't
ruin anything. And then Ridley Scott returning
for these last three, which have been Prometheus
and Covenant and what was Romulus. So good. So
good. Well, there you have it. Anyway, that wraps
up our movie talk and our time with Sergio Giovolani.
But I want to thank you so much for coming on
the show here. Yeah, thanks for having me, Mark.
Spireside Chats, Mark Mo Show. And if you want
to give a quick plug, I know you got an upcoming
gig. Yeah, playing with the Bridge William Band
at Austin Community Tavern, September 12. I'm
playing at Granger's in Hobart. Coming up on
September 7th. OK. And if you're out in the Michigan
City area, there's a place called the Summer
Dunes Theater. And I'm pretty sure I'm going
to hang up some recent paintings and artworks
over there. Oh. Just for a little event that
they're doing over the weekend. Fantastic. And
I will not be the only artist featured, so there'll
be quite a few others. And I forget exactly what
the event is at the theater, but there'll be
something happening in the music department as
well. Outstanding. Yeah. Well, once again, thank
you. And I want to thank all of you for listening
this week. Make sure you give us a like and a
subscribe and all that kind of good stuff. And
we will catch you again next week. Take care,
everybody.