Welcome to the podcast everybody.
I am your host sometimes always forever the guest.
Welcome back with another polarized podcast episode.
It's a war of the worlds.
It's a movie that is polarizing according to rotten tomatoes.
The audiences and the critics disagree on all of the movies that we talk about here
according to rotten tomatoes and the one today is certified fresh 75% by the critics
a 42% by the audience.
It came out 2005 sci-fi adventure a Spielberg movie.
The worlds are warring each other.
First it was stars.
Now it's worlds.
What if it was war of the stars?
Have you seen that movie war of the stars?
Revenge of the Sith.
It's almost like if Yoda was talking about Star Wars right?
Star Wars war of the.
These war of the stars.
I would like the fellow king of this kingdom of polarization to join me in this discussion
as soon as possible because I can't do that.
This alone I would never even try.
Never thought about it.
But just to let you know I would never do it.
And so here he comes.
Yeah.
He's coming.
He's in the wings.
Oh, wait a minute.
It's about to be a big old mess in here.
Wait a minute.
Give him a second.
Oh yeah.
That's all I need.
It's me.
It's you.
It's the great brandini.
There you go.
Hey.
Some say you don't need an introduction but I like to give you a good one.
Because you deserve it.
Oh thanks.
Wow.
You know what?
I appreciate that.
Yeah.
Hey.
How's it going?
This man needs the greatest introduction ever.
Oh, pump.
Pump me up.
Because you deserve it.
I love it.
My ego is going to just be so inflated I'm going to blast off to the ceiling.
Just blow a hole in the roof of my apartment.
I've seen it happen.
I mean, there's another right before you came in too from something else.
In my pants.
No, I'm over it.
I'm over it.
It's weird.
Anyways, hey.
Hey.
Halfway through that.
Yeah.
We are speaking of halfway through.
We're definitely halfway through this summer.
We're doing, I'm pumped.
I'm wearing the throes of it, man.
It's where.
The Throes of Augie Doggy as one Scott Octi would say.
Yeah.
The Augie Doggy days of summer are here.
First record of August.
How are we feeling?
and how's the summer going?
I'm I'm an I'm an Aki doggy fan.
I like moving into the transitional seasons.
I like those transitional seasons.
I'm excited to transition to the next thing.
It's weird because we live in an area where that doesn't exist at all.
Exactly. So when it does happen, it's pretty exciting.
It is. Yes.
Otherwise, it's a yeah.
Nice. It's summer.
Summer all all all year round.
It's a lot of times, but this reach otherwise.
It's just extra extra hot.
Extra hot extra toasty.
That's how we have our sandwiches in our bodies during this time of year.
I feel like it definitely affects me mentally.
I feel like I almost yeah.
Me too, man. I'm more than I'm tired all the time.
I'll just like fall asleep and wake up in a flop.
Sweat. Right.
Oh, God. Yeah.
That was me last time.
God, right?
Yeah.
It's just been a lot of nights where yeah, at least once or twice
waking up being like, wow, I am a hot potato.
Big time.
Oh, yeah.
And you're just, I don't know.
I feel like a rotisserie chicken.
I'm just all rolling over and just yeah.
Yeah.
It's a toasty on the other side.
You know how it goes.
You know, I'm fucking war of the world, man.
I want to have not just you, not just I, but it's an extra special
but us day today.
Us and them together.
Them being the great Blanche is joining us today for yet another space app.
There's a resident space advisor space in this.
It's spaces the general general.
The sci-fi.
Yeah. Yeah.
Pop goes the weasel.
Am I right bitches?
Yeah, you said it, man.
Pop goes the weasel bitch.
That's that's how we're feeling.
That's a large thing.
No, that's great.
We know, but I'm just stealing it because I love it so much.
And I think it's a dirty dog.
It's really good for this episode.
I mean, every episode.
The great Blanche added again.
Yes.
Back.
Good to be able to talk some space to have you.
Yeah.
Good to have you back.
What was Spielberg?
Like what's what's some of your Spielberg picks that like?
Oh, man, off the top of your head that you that you love.
Do a tearless.
He does.
He does a little bit of sci-fi here and there is literally my
all time favorite movie is close encounter.
Yeah.
Same thing.
It's like literally my favorite movie of all time.
So God, yeah, it's yeah.
I don't want to bring that movie up too much because when you
do this movie looks even worse.
I think we actually probably have to go back and check the record,
but I'm pretty sure we say that's my favorite movie every time
I'm on this.
Yeah.
I'm okay.
The record folks.
Where's the.
All right.
Let's be surprised photographer.
And yeah, we usually bring up like classic sci-fi movies on
this podcast that are kind of hailed across the board as like
being fantastic.
And then we talk about mainly ones that people disagree on
here, which is interesting, but it's hard to have a complete
resounding opinion on it when it is kind of caught in the weeds
of a lot of different opinions for different reasons.
And this one I didn't expect to be polarizing and we'll get
into it as we go along, but I didn't expect this one to be
as disagreed upon as it is.
I don't I guess that's actually critics in favor.
That I know.
Isn't that bizarre?
Yeah, because we are surprising.
Yeah, absolutely.
Because these big budget action movies is always in the case
where the audience loves it because it's fun.
You know, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, like a lot of effects and spectacle and summer summer
blockbuster and go see it in the in the movies.
And I remember doing that and I don't know.
There was a lot of reactions to everything and it was
interesting even at the beginning, a lot of humor in ways
that like the audience was reacting a lot to as well of
just kind of the back and forth with this dysfunctional
sort of family and and and how they're how they're interacting
with each other.
But yeah, that surprised me.
Close encounters is is hardcore hardcore classic.
We will not be talking about as one we won't be talking about
because it's a classic.
Everyone loves it.
But I mean, even a minority report, I believe came up before
this and that's kind of where the relationship there in his
his career.
But you know, he's done like E.T. in the past as well.
And he's yeah, yeah, of course, close and close encounters
and we'll we'll eventually do Kingdom of the Crystal School.
Sorry, those are those are interdimensional beings.
Those are not those are not yes.
Oh, much as these are not necessary.
They are coming from above, but they're come as above.
So below below.
Yes.
Oh, yes.
Oh, God.
I'm like don't you know which one?
Which I can't tell the difference between large and brandy.
I think that's because the weasel bitch goes away.
The way that I like that subversion, you know, and it's
done in a way that's yeah, it's it's done in a spielbergian
way.
A lot of like a lot of stuff in this movie.
Obviously, it all comes out in ways that are set apart from
like other like alien invasion movies, you know, it's it's cool
to see his take on it and especially when it's coming
straight from a text.
And you guys saw saw this movie like when it came out.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
This is a huge deal.
Yeah.
Good Lord.
It's a big deal.
Yeah.
It's such a huge deal for us in our time.
And are you like, yeah, came out in that time of our lives
where, you know, going to the movies is the big thing.
We're not 21 yet.
We're not going to the bars or anything like that.
What I actually think is funny.
You guys decided you guys decided to do this one now because
it's very topical considering all these like congressional
hearings that are going on.
It's like, oh, yeah.
But it's like it's the main one that happened.
Totally by accident.
Yeah.
No, we meant no, we knew.
I was like, no way.
You guys got great.
You got a great producer there at your podcast.
You guys know you're you run a tight ship over there.
So I know you guys.
I'll tell you you said that.
Thank you.
Please pass the message along.
I'm not too familiar with what the actual hearing like, I
don't know was specifically about.
I just know generally when it was talked about.
What's really funny is it's everything that's already been.
I don't know.
It seemed kind of to me underwhelming just because everything
has already been more or less talked about.
This was just like a place that's now on the record where
it's like it's now Congress is taking this seriously basically
and it's going to go through the EBSA phone Congress and
there'll be like legislation and stuff that'll go in place
now that'll affect like military stuff or whatever.
Right.
Like I guess specifically, I don't really understand is like
what is what is the like desired outcome from these hearings?
I get what you mean that there needs to be because that's
I'm familiar with that process and a couple other sectors of
of like public sectors and whatnot of like you need to
establish like.
Terms invalidate research and invalidate like you need to
present the facts and then so once we have the facts and we
can communicate effectively on what the facts like what this
means here or what does you know x equals y whatever and
then that way you can then formulate plans.
Either like fix that, aid that do whatever.
So yeah, I'm curious what the desire like goal is here to just
all of us to say aliens exist or what I know that's kind of
the TBR of it all and and it's really like just to give a
little context so we you know, it's not take too much time.
We can get back into the actual movie, but like it's really
they are there are just like it's a congressional committee
that's basically being established and the desired outcomes
from this committee are going to be like certain legislations
or things that are written into rules that are basically like
allowing witnesses.
So like especially a lot of the people that are I don't really
know what to call it like testifying.
It's not really testifying because it's just like a hearing.
It's like a committee like the people that are witnesses.
Yeah, that's a lot of like Air Force pilots and a lot of that
there.
There's a lot of bias that comes with like wanting to actually
report something that you do see.
It can come with like, you know, credibility issues with your
job, like all of this seem like a crazy person to say that
there's a lot to it.
So one of the desired outcomes would be like, oh, now there's
like rules and regulations where you have to report this and
there's stuff that's like document like stuff that you have
to fill out now.
And this is taken more exactly and it's taken more seriously
and it's documented more clearly.
Cool. Okay.
It's just like more like, okay, these people can now feel
more comfortable with seeing these things reporting them.
And like we can get to the bottom of like any more information.
So it's like that's kind of the PLDR that all I think there's
a lot more to it.
There's like obviously more things, but that's like a big
main thing of that they want to.
Is there anything about burying a tripod's underground?
Yeah.
What's the what's I'm now I'm like, what's the procedure there?
And I'm worried about that again.
I'm like, TBD, TBD, they need to address that.
I hope they are.
So, you know, and it's thing.
Oh sorry.
Well, just that's kind of what happened in fucking the other
movie we talked about tomorrow where I feel like aliens are
already here.
Yeah, absolutely.
More ice caps and shit.
Right.
We do.
God, we talked about that collectively together, right?
That was a movie for us.
A long, long time ago, man.
Yeah.
With a JK with good old JK Sims.
The aliens were inside the house all along.
Yeah, absolutely.
They were in the polar ice caps, right?
It's a quick way to melt and then the aliens come out.
Right.
It's a quick way to just have aliens, you know, like not having
to go through a lot of fluff.
You can just like, look, you know, we got that classic case of
infest already here or we even got here already here.
Class of case of already here aliens.
Yeah, just really like all the Korean everything.
It's just like, oh, they're among us.
They're among us.
They're shapeshifters.
Yeah.
Body snatchers.
If you go.
Yeah.
But that's the fucking seismic scientists or whatever.
Don't know what they're doing.
Why didn't they pick that shit up?
Yeah.
But that's so one of the questions I was going to ask and it
relates to the very beginning of war of the worlds.
And it, it's basically about like who.
Well, I guess it's not, maybe it is jumping a little bit ahead
of the game.
But again, let's go for it.
It's when they, it's when Tom Cruise is seeing the, the lightning
strike into the ground.
Right.
Are you talking about that scene where he's standing in front of
it like he went, oh, he's standing in front of it.
Just that long walk and talking situation.
Yeah.
Very New Yorkers, but he just does not have an accent and doesn't.
Yeah.
Doesn't.
So one of the things I wanted to ask, ask you guys about that
scene is at what point are you guys getting the fuck out of
that?
Oh, almost immediate.
Well, especially when it's start.
Okay.
The very specific point for me would be when the ground starts
to break.
Okay.
Good.
Cause there's a lot of, I, I want to think about that cause
there's before Tom Cruise actually starts running, running.
Yeah.
There's a lot of time.
It's like elastic.
The thing comes out of the ground like pretty slowly relative
to this.
Oh yeah. Cause it's, it happens in phases, right?
Like first everybody walks up into, up, up to the lightning
bolt, um, like spot, then it starts to break.
And then that's a circle.
Then that circle gets bigger and breaks, like snaps through a
building.
And then even at that point, they, he's just kind of backed up
and backed up, but just can't take his eyes off the fact of
what's going on.
And just to sew an emmer by, you know, this whole thing.
That shit dude, I wouldn't even go near like, Oh, the lightning
striking like 27 times or whatever the, the Robbie tells
us.
We can't, it he's like, okay, you say here and he's like so mad
about him taking the car.
And he's just like, yeah, I'm going to go check it out and leave
my kids alone.
You know, whatever.
So is that your answer, James?
Is you're not even going to go check it out?
I'm kind of in that same already what I've seen is weird and I
don't feel like I need to stick around.
I'm like already probably going to decide.
Yeah.
You're right.
That's a good point too.
Let's talk about this, this part of the movie because I like this
part of the movie.
I don't, I don't mind this part of the buildup.
It's a cranks.
Yeah, exactly.
In these movies, I like it like the disaster stuff.
I'm dreading as like, like the characters in the movie are
dreading, you know, dreading, you know, when they find out
what's happening, but like the establishing the characters and
getting like the glimpses of like something's off and all that
buildup is so nice.
And the cool thing is that's what all close encounters is.
It's just like all of those things.
It's so great.
And like nothing like, you know, besides little subtle nuances
and then all of a sudden the band aids like ripped off and
you're like, oh, shit, this is real.
Yeah.
We're a rival is another good example of that.
A rival though kind of flips it, flips it on its head in to
degree, but just does it so much like with grace and effectiveness
because with a rival, they do come, they come down immediately.
But all of the tension is because I mean, to your guys's
points to like a part of the, you know, what's built into the
discovery of this like cause of disaster is all the different
approaches because it just makes your mind real and like, how
would I tackle this?
You know, how would I, you know, pack up, get ready, get out of
there, prepare for this, all of that stuff, which is just a
really, you know, fun, enjoyable, like thought experiment to be
presented with, which I really enjoy as well.
And yeah, it's fun that you just, you know, James, you put
close encounters that way because totally that is what that
is, that movie is and it's great for it because yeah, it's
not even necessarily about what the aliens are, what they look
like or what they want.
It's just how do we as human beings handle this situation that
presented with it?
And that's honestly more interesting than what the aliens
are.
Obviously you could make the argument for both, but you get
what I mean is like you, you can make the argument that our
handling of it is far more interesting than whatever, you
know, the aliens are bringing or what have you.
So, yeah, this is, oh, sorry.
I was going to ask you, I wanted you to clarify something,
James, because you said you were talking about the buildup.
Like that's the one part that you enjoyed.
So was it like, was it like a pretty gradual do you think it
like was very subtle and then it actually kind of was a rip the
band-aid off?
It's the Spielberg stuff where it's like, you know, it reminds
me of Jurassic Park with like, there's, there's some Jurassic
Park in this movie in a couple of ways, but the, like the even,
you know, when you see like the drops and stuff like on the
Jurassic Park when the dinosaur is coming, I feel like it's
things like that.
I'm trying to think exactly what it was where even as he was
going in as the, you know, the storm was one thing and even
representing the storm and the wind was like the clothes on the
laundry line and everything was establishing the wind and that
I like that.
And even like just water spraying out of fire hydrants and
things like that were practical effects that are very Spielberg
Spielberg kind of stuff too.
That was like incorporating that with some, some practical effects
or sorry with some special or CG effects, which there's a
definitely a lot of in this too.
But what was specifically your question again?
I guess just like all those like, it's unnerving too.
Then everybody is like outside looking at something and being
so kind of unsettled collectively, which really just sets is
such great mood, you know, that's where it gets into very obviously
this is inspired by the fallout from nine, 11 and everything that
happened in New York with, with everyone taking that in and
and witnessing that as it was happening like on the ground and
the chaos that ensued.
It just really spoke to Spielberg dealing with that and all the
dust and shit and everything.
I think.
Yeah.
That's a good point.
I didn't even think about that about the people dust, the
vapor people dust being on them being kind of like the dust of
concrete and buildings from nine, 11.
Everyone knows.
Yeah.
And then you see people that, you know, and, and running away
and all, all that stuff.
But I thought the, yeah, the curiosity that people in the
crowd work within this movie was, yeah, it was really well done
and, and that's something that's difficult to do.
And a lot of, yeah, a lot of people in these, in these crowd
shots, which is, yeah, God, the movie just gets right into what
the aliens look like and here they are and their mean and,
you know, they're out to get everybody very clear.
I am very clear.
I don't know if I love that, but I'm curious how you guys feel
about the design of the tripod.
Do you guys like it or how many strong feelings about it at all?
The machine, like the, yeah, the way that the tripod looks like
we could talk about the aliens too.
Once we get there as well, the look of the look of them.
But what do you think of the, to me, they're tied together
because I think, I think the.
Yeah, I'm literally, yeah, and I almost have to bring them up
together because the, I think the overall design of the, the
ship or the, the tripod itself was accurate in a way to this
story and it, him very clearly wanting it to be a tripod of
some kind.
I thought it was imposing.
I thought it was scary how it was used and the sounds that it
made and, and like it's all tendrils and tentacles and stuff.
I think it, I think it's kind of funny how like the actual aliens
are also tripods.
I think that's kind of funny because it's like, I don't know.
I'm just trying to think of us like by, by pot bipedal creatures
just.
It's like making a mech suit.
That's exactly what I was going to say.
Yeah.
It'd be like making a mech suit.
Yeah.
So you're like, I just thought it was funny.
They're just like, no, obviously.
Yeah.
This is the best structure in existence.
So why not just make it larger and made out of, you know, not,
yeah, metal or whatever.
I just, I don't really love, you know, the.
The tendrils, like that kind of fluidity, you know, the way that
the, whatever.
Type of tendril that is whole, that is the laser beam thing.
I don't know if I really love that because I, I'm trying to
articulate it where.
I'm just thinking about like in Independence Day or in like a
James Cameron type of way where.
I don't know if I, because it's so CG.
I just, I kind of wish that it was like a part of the machine that
would be like a laser would come down on, you know, hanging from
it and shooting out.
And it's not so much like these CG kind of flowy arms or whatever.
It was kind of clunky.
That was going to be my critique of the tripod is it seemed like
there was a lot of gadgets like it has, like you said, you mentioned
there's like laser tentacles.
There's actual like the three legs.
Right.
And then there's like in the other scenes where they're like later in
the movie, they're like going through and actually picking people
up.
There's like, you know, dozens and dozens of them.
And those seem just like little mini arms.
So it's like this whole.
Are they two different types of things too?
Cause I just, I don't remember seeing the cages, which children
could easily fall out of.
It's not like the, you know, they're like tight metal, like
latticeing that's really holding them in there.
I mean, if you just kind of like, you know, it's not ideal to just
drop a child from, I don't know, a fucking 10, 50 story building.
It's like, it was like little baskets.
Yeah.
Rather than, you know, think they have like alien intercoms in those
cages that are like, welcome to the alien tripod.
Hold up your children as they may slip through.
Inside the vehicle at all times.
And be careful.
We'll be with you to mutilate you shortly.
When we were about to pick someone will tilt it over just a little
bit.
So there's no escape for any of you.
And I really hope Tom Cruise isn't in any of these.
Cause that guy is a nuisance.
Oh, we're going.
Yeah.
So I don't know guys, but yeah, I just, I don't really like,
and also to the, the snake camera situation didn't love that either.
Cause it's so CG and it has like this fluidity to it.
I'm like, it just kind of drove me a little nuts. Like why couldn't,
I understand that it would be more work, obviously.
So it's like kind of a, you know, just a cost effective measure
or whatever.
Or just maybe, obviously, cause.
You know, it's well documented that Steven Spielberg had just such
a horrible time with the shark.
Animatronic and all that. So like given, you know, an opportunity to
have the, you know, a similar kind of vibe where it's like hiding
from this thing that's chasing you in a, you know, that type of way.
BCG was probably a welcomed, you know, like ability, you know,
welcome technology to be able to leverage instead of making them
like a big mechanical, almost like tentacle thing.
But I just, yeah, all of that stuff does have a lot of,
like tentacle thing, but I just, yeah, all of that stuff doesn't
really work for me. I wish it was more in the aliens too.
I wish they were just scarier and bigger and were more like brutalist,
like almost like a Harkinen looking aesthetic to their ships.
Instead of having this kind of like, yeah, I don't know this just
like big, slowie octopus kind of, you know, everything looks so
like really washed out in the effects of this movie and not like
almost like out of focus and it's not terrible, but as far as,
yeah, conceptually and putting it all together and the reveal of
the aliens doesn't do a lot for me, let alone that whole kind of
scene with Tim Robbins in the, in the basement is obviously the
movie slows down and it takes its time up there, but it also kind of,
I think doesn't work, doesn't work super well for me at that point.
It picks up again a little bit, but the amount of time that they
spend in that basement had me questioning it a bit and I haven't
read the book, so I don't know. Plus you're not, you're not,
you can't tell me that that thing doesn't have like heat
vision, like you can see thermal.
Or that it wouldn't even give a shit about three people in a fucking
basement. Why is it, why send four aliens in there to check it out to
you. A bunch of aliens out of the ship to check out and then it
comes back a second time to you.
And then I guess this is just where they're really spreading
their, their bloody seed.
But this is this is the other product that reminded me of Jurassic
Park as well, where it's essentially the same thing as the
scene in the kitchen with the Raptors or everything. The movie
slows down, they're all kind of trying to recoup and then like
there's these kind of stealthy things kind of come in and they
got a hide in the kitchen and it was just like, oh, this is like
the same, same beat as that, except yeah, like a worse.
I, it, I agree. There's some, there's some sort of disconnects
with it. And then the whole back and forth with Tim Robbins was
just kind of like, yeah, a man slowly losing his mind, but I
feel like he needed a little something more attached to his
character that wasn't doing it for me. It seemed like he need,
there's a little more at you attribution to using an EMT and
was losing his mind and kind of almost seemed like doomsday
at a prep or a bit or something, but I don't know.
No, no, that's a totally fair thing to say. Cause yeah, like,
especially if he is a first responder, like why is he losing
his mind so quickly? Cause I mean, the like, this is this whole
situation, like we're probably at like day four or five of this,
right? Oh man, timeline in this movie seems very hard for me.
It's tough. I've seen this movie.
They spend one night at the mom's house and then they spend
the next night at Tim Robbins.
Is our whole day in the name. See that's what, cause that's where
I'm like, so he sleeps on the car ride, I guess as well.
Yeah, that's that whole thing that's right.
It's from the mom's house. They go on that road trip to the
Hudson River ferry and then that goes from day to night because
you're right. The son who lets, we got to talk about how much
he sucks. Now he's like just such a drag every single time he's
ever on screen and is like, like, yeah, go, go get yourself
killed. Please get out of this movie. No, let's talk about it.
Cause like that's, I mean, that's that the way the scenes, this
scene kind of slows down and a lot of the stuff that has to do
with him kind of just is confusing and it's, and it's
interesting to see everybody else in the movie react to how I'm
reacting to him too, where he's like begging the military to
like, take me with you. I want to fight. They're all looking at
him like, what the fuck is your problem and get out of the way.
You're going to get run over and, and, and Tom Cruise is just
like, yeah, what's your problem? And Dakota Panning is like,
why are you leaving me? You need to take care of me. He's like,
fuck you guys. And then he, and then he, when he's running
over that hill, it was, I like started laughing this, this
time. See, I've seen this movie a fair amount of times and I was
just like laughing at this point because he's like, he, he's
telling me, he's like, like, why are you doing this? Like, he's
got no weapon. He's got you're just going to run straight in
there. There's a lot of people running to what is the deal
with that? See, there's a lot of people running towards the
fire and all the fighting. And then there's a lot of people
running away. There's just a lot of chaos, but I don't know why
there's so many people were like, yeah, it's fine. And there's
all this like shooting and firing everyone. There's all these
people walking towards it. And I'm like, why are we all headed
this direction? It looks like it's like supposed to be some
like rural area where maybe it's just like a farm town like
farmers. But then there's like hundreds of people that are like
running away. They're all like, gather this one spot is like
the aliens land like right in the center of town. And that was
just over that hill or something. That's what they set up
set up shop. Yeah, it's there's a there's a there's a chaos to
this movie that is effective. And I think, and that I think
Spielberg does well where yeah, that buildup is is well done.
And then when it actually the curiosity about what's in the
ground and then when it does take effect that reaction, I
think it's something that everyone running and and and all
of that is good and him looking in the mirror at the dust and
is is great. It sets it apart from from some other movies.
But oh yeah, we were talking about Robbie at first like
yeah, his motivation. Yeah, I mean, just to close it on him.
I mean, his just his motivation and just to fight and everything
just kind of is confusing and weird. And then him coming back
at the end is supposed to feel good. Then yours kind of like
yeah, why? I don't know.
Can I just pause at this? Do is like, in my mind, the movie is
trying to do this is that the son stereotypically is the
result of Tom Cruise, the father, right? And so in Tom Cruise
confronting his son about what it means to be a good family
member and to be part of a family, you know, he is
confronting him as they're like embracing on the hill or
whatever about like you can't go just do what you want because
you have people that you have to take care of, which is
self reflective of him because that is I would argue poorly
been set up with him or maybe not poorly, but it's just so
ham-fisted about how bad of a father he is.
Because you don't necessarily know like why it's just such a
general like because he's a guy.
I don't know what your problem is.
Father is I got a few women who'd like to tell you.
Because you're a drinker. No, it doesn't seem like it because
you just you're kind of a sexaholic.
I don't know. We don't see that.
It's not like he's trying to, you know, fucks a bunch in this
movie. And like, so what is he a bad father?
Yeah, it's just kind of like some they don't like him and
he's kind of just it's a presence thing.
I think is what he at Robbie actually says.
He's like at that scene.
I think he actually specifically says he's like, he's like,
you want to basically take us to mom so that you can pawn us
off on her. Yeah. And then you can only worry about yourself
is exactly how you want it.
That's like to me, I would have what like Robbie, that's why he
was like a bad dad. That was the whole right between them two.
But they don't you're right. They don't like there was no free
work on that at all. It was just like, Hey, by the way, they're
divorced. He's supposed to be a bad dad.
Aowyn. How could you?
I mean, they didn't is pissed.
I know what you mean, though, it isn't even with the Tim Robbins
thing, there's no specific attribute. And that that's kind
of been maybe maybe there doesn't need to be maybe that makes it
too stereotypical of a generic sort of character trait or
something. But it's like, it doesn't seem like there's a
distraction besides just being like lazy and not attentive and
maybe absent and not fully, you know, fully catering to their
needs, you know, having their their bedroom still so the same
and stuff like that. And the engine in the kitchen and a pinball
machine in the class.
The ball machine in the class. I mean, I mean, I mean, he's
living his best life. Come on. All the condiments you need.
So I prefaced this yesterday and to you guys so you can think
about it. So speaking of his apartment and that and
relationship and all that is so he really has a hard time with
hummus and this and I wanted to ask you guys on like, is what is
the hummus of our of today? If this movie were to have been made
today, instead of hummus, what would it be?
I think you still have to clarify this question more a little
bit for me because I've been okay, so okay, so this is so let me
just say this is told that she needs to order food for the
family. I know you typically orders hummus or was it just
because it's just that hummus is all that was left over. There
was probably no. So the problem that Tom Cruise has with it is
he even says that it's not even to him. Not it's not real real
food. Okay, gotcha. So he looks at it as like a like it's it's
kind of the way that somebody who doesn't eat health food would
react to something being like you're eating grass like you know
that energy about it. Like I don't understand why you would eat
a piece made of garbanzo beans when you should have ordered
burgers and fries like what are you doing eating this weirdo
food, you know hummus, a weirdo food like because even at the
time that was hummus this at that like in reference to your
question like is is hummus even that at this time?
Especially New York City. Is it saying in New York City like
he hasn't he hasn't been around hummus before like there's
no medicated places. Yeah, any Israelis, any Lebanese like any
Middle Eastern people like in his entire existence that have been
I don't know what you mean though. Like this is a this is a
trope you're talking about in movies where somebody is like
and it happened with sushi and you know I like as well like oh
raw fish. Oh no. And people react in like in movies in the 80s
and shit like that. So yeah, I'm just not sure if that trope of a
book works as well now. Decide besides highlighting a fault in
that person that's eating it or something or like yeah that like
kind of how you said like it's some sort of hipster weird, you
know, health thing that they're like a care like another character
that's not used to like like an impossible burger like I want
real meat like that sort of character distinction of that's
what I was gonna say highlighting that in a tropey sort of way
like it what is this shit give me real meat you know that sort
of thing. 100% yeah no the impossible me would be good. It's
just the I would just pause I mean I don't mean to yuck you're
yum here but like impossible meat can be a burger right like
if anything you could trick somebody in the eating an impossible
burger from face value right it's the same and then you have
that Chris Farley clearly like that's a no where it's like oh
that'd be great especially like oh this is good like excuse me
sir did you know that you are actually eating impossible
burger what son of a bitch.
Actually then so it probably have to be like a black bean patty
or something that it was like something like that you know where
it's like very obvious that it's not tempeh it's tempeh you
know what is this it's a temporary cheeseburger. Jack fruit
well yeah.
Hey it's all good all good to me I just yeah that's for
interested me yeah that just doesn't hold up and it's like
you know he's he's the per he's the guy who did the chilled
monkey brain seeing you know so it's like he's he's this is not
his first rodeo of doing we're talking BG3.
I J2 IG TOD.
But you know that's that was something that he used in that
movie to show it you know just it's very cultural insensitivity
exactly and I think that's exactly the reason why it's not
being used you know how that's like hold up anymore either.
Yeah absolutely it is funny to think about the point you made
James of like is hummus even weird at that point.
I know right because it because now from where we're sitting
in this at you know in 2023 it just seemed so it stood out so
much to me where somebody is like really can't understand
hummus like it's such a foreign concept to him of like what
yeah it could be it maybe it's like they're yeah talking about
how weird how weird he is rather than how weird hummus is it
could be more like how weird he is and how ignorant he is to
the world around him and how it makes sense why nobody wants
to be with him but he's just loves his car he fucking loves
his car it's a great car he's got his engine maybe he's just
spent his all time all of his time in that car and playing
and playing pinball and wanting to just live life how he wants
to live it his frustration as Tom Cruise and being like kind of
failing is kind of funny where he's Tom Cruise is such a winner
yeah and he's just kind of like fucking up you know and the
whole when it like culminates in that peanut butter sandwich
thing and he just throws it at the window and it just that
reflection of the Peter motor sandwich with his like kind of
tearful face was like worked really well I don't know that
some of that and I remember in the theaters do like people
just kind of chuckling at that and there's just something that
is probably speaking from experience as you can see over
as probably it seems like a dad and also his issues with his
own father as well probably coming coming through but there
you know very like themes that a lot of themes that have been
in his movies like in the familial sense and everything but
you know that there's there's some highlights of this movie I
mean like there's the train thing that where the fucking train
on fire going by that that was like quite the effect they're
them rolling in with the car and everyone taking over the car
and the gun and crazy before that the plane cry like how the
plane that plane crash was pretty pretty intense it was
still very trippy to me again from the whole time perspective
because like right so that was like right after the peanut
butter you know that you just like that plane down already
is well well I mean I I have a lot of issues with it's like
when they can hear let's let's do when they can hear the plane
falling and all of those symptoms of a plane crashing are going
on outside it still just seemed like nah I'm like this seems
like the longest crash ever right like fair I'm just listening
to plane sounds like go I'm like how long and how like from
how I feel like I thought about that this time to it would be
so quick further away like it should have been a louder sound
further away coming into like directly over it was very loud
and like shaking this plane just hovering over it wouldn't be
shaking the building it would be like boom where yeah building
hit right so that whole part I'm just like I don't know and
of course yeah yeah yeah and then they appear to sleep spend
the night because it was nighttime they go down to the basement
and then they hide in the weird shit happens shit wait what's
that oh yeah they're sleeping and then that happens and they
got to go where all the pipes are for the rest of the night
yeah and then just sleep though to Mike's point is really weird
and then they go back to sleep and then he wakes up and he
goes outside he's like oh my god he's fucked
all right good night don't forget to set your alarm
yeah it's a bit yeah I mean if the plane should have been like
no power like no power to anything the plane should have been done
so like right with everything else unless it was just like
lighting around for for a bit or something but it that scene
when they're leaving is like and obviously besides that being
able to like just you know drive away and be like oh there's
a perfect path for my car to like this area which is great
actually fun side story I got to work on the planet because
they fixed the solenoids or whatever the fuck yeah the car
the mechanic you know the most New York guy in the movie yeah
but but a fun side note is I got a universal touring that set
yeah they still do it they still do it
they still do it they still do it
to mine all of the last time I was there it's still going
yeah because it's an amazing set and I see why they're like
we fucking ripped apart an actual 747 like a this and not in
use and service anymore it's getting decommissioned
decommissioned yeah and then brought it over and and tore it
apart and you drive through it and your and best right there
the tram ride you do the tour of the set like the behind the
scenes and everything and awesome you drive through it and
it shows the scene as you're driving through yeah it's
weirdly smaller than but that's just like movie magic it is
yeah but like you have the zoomed out perspective but like
when you actually see these fill in so much of the background
of like to add perspective of like the neighborhood and all
that stuff but yeah still fucking so cool I think I read it
was like it was cheaper to do it that way than to have built
an airplane like replica or whatever right yeah just to have
one so was it money saving just to have a decommission on the
lot instead of wherever planes go to get decommissioned yeah
and I'm sure it'd be more expensive to move it as well rather
than just make it a part of the right that's the way exactly
yeah just leave me out just cool alright then that's a man
I love that yeah really so fun fucking turn lemons into lemon
eight every which way I feel like it's that's like a lot of
my gripe with this movie I think is really it's like
everything is really shot well and like a lot of it is just
like similar scenes to get to the this this Spielberg bread
and butter where it's like really pretty visual shots really
set up well right like like it gets you get you get a lot of
those like just pretty frequent in the film so and that's why
I think I really like it because it's like his bread and butter
and he visually makes things look so good and like it really
brings you there which is cool but then if you actually start
paying attention to the movie is whether it's like a little bit
of a oh yeah it really is some holes yeah we get the problems
with Ravi and yeah he builds attention so well and the
disaster thing is not something that appeals to me anymore
the rolling number stuff you know I don't know it's not really
my thing and this is a version that that puts it together
and then and entertaining overall sort of way and yeah I
think for me would it would be some of those character moments
don't fully hit and don't fully flesh themselves out enough
and some of the yeah some of the designs can be a little
wonky and stuff but yeah there's some cool camera work that
shot when they're driving down the way is where it's going
and like 360 around the van the whole time as they're driving
and like in the car out of the car and stuff and very cool
there's and there's a lot of the dialogue working with within
all that and then it assumes back out and even just watching
all the extras point at the car like hey how'd they get a car
and all that stuff is just tuned tuned in really really well
yeah or even that intro we didn't talk about it much but
the very very beginning of the movie book and being on the
yard right like in the yard and him you know the shipping
containers off and that was really that's really good to see
that at scale and from that perspective it was really cool
to see someone up there like in that window operating the big
crane and I was like I established the city and like a big
shop but also like hey we're going to go in here and this is
where he's at and doing the yeah that that job seems like a
cool character trait and his his boss being like you're the best
you gotta stay like I'm busy and it's like it seems like he's
making time for his kids that's good but yeah he's got the New
York camp and then his Robby's got the Boston cap such a little
shithead some some humor right there and then Robby like
calls him out and then like right before he throws a bag he's
like that's why you're such a little asshole when you come over
here or something that just breaks the window like I don't
know there's some the tension there's and Dakota Dakota fan
and we haven't really talked about her and how great she is as
a child actor actress like you know let's change that because
she deserves she's probably my favorite thing in this movie
absolutely every scene with her is pretty much the best she
handles so and then like what she's like you're not you're not
going to get through to him that way you know yeah kind of stuff
is wise about her views delivers those lines really well even
when she's like I have to go to the bathroom like there was a
pause there and she took it in like she didn't brush anything
and very thoughtful actor like I was impressed again watching
it this time yeah I agree I like to yeah I mean also too I
noticed this time around how much her anxiety her screaming
adds to the tension well it doesn't it continues to just
really keep momentum going and like fear and the anxiety that
it's trying to elicit like it keeps talking specifically that
freeway scene or throughout just in general I mean God she
she really like her being afraid you know happens all throughout
the movie and I think it adds yeah and doesn't you know I
think it adds to the tension because I read some of the
reviews and some a lot of people find her annoying but I I
don't know I can see that being the case but I just I think
that is to her credit that she is you know she is a frustrating
character but it's a kid in this situation it's going to be
hell it's going to be very frustrating because every which
way especially at her age yeah you would need to like they're
always questioning why are we doing things you know all of
that stuff and yeah it's super frustrating but yeah again I
think she that it is weird to have a gripe about like you
know it got she's so fucking annoying it's like yeah she
hits that's like an 11 year old when you got Robbie right
there yeah she hits that stride pretty early on in the movie
too because in that freeway scene I think they do they
transition it pretty well into going from the shock and
off seeing what Tom saw right and going in the car and being
like Dakota's freaking the fuck out right and like the you
know the music's intense they're going somewhat fast on the
freeway right and Robbie was like calmly asking but then
there's that Dakota in the back where she's like take me to
my freaking the fuck out so yeah I agree again yeah establishing
that like dichotomy she just really kind of fizzles out after
this right is it or is there other another career like it
ends her for a little bit um and this is definitely the the
big one in in my mind as as far as like some other some other
big stuff it's been a lot of her her sister I feel like
lately but yeah I am Sam was 2001 War of the World 2005
man fire was 2004 that's right before this and then secret
life of the one for secret life of bees 2008 never saw that
that's the Jerry Seinfeld one right that's the sequel I'm
actually not not sure either but it's not the B movie is a
based on a novel in 1964 a teenage girl in search of the
truth about her mother runs away to a small town in South
Carolina and finds a family of independent women who can
connect her to her past is the IMDB description Dakota
family Jennifer Hudson Queen Latifah um and what are some
other things Twilight saga Eclipse and new yes that I'm
she was the voice of voice of Coraline which is a fantastic
movie 2009 uh yeah there's she's there's there's movies here
but um I think this the Please Stand by movie I know that was
big Oceans 8 once upon a time in Hollywood uh she was at the
ranch if you remember her for like in the room like
proceeding Bruce seen Bruce Storn or whatever weird weird
scene person yeah kind of yeah um that's I mean still doing
it bringing people's careers back for you know for moments
for for bright moments um and then yeah I'd like to at least
before we move on to reviews and everything just mentioned
like those bookends with Morgan Freeman because I feel like
this was at the at a time to where it was before that was
like a almost a joke anytime you hear now it's like a parody
because no one actually like he doesn't do that anymore if
he's getting old of course yeah but like uh if you were to do
it now it's almost like as a joke because it was just done
so much uh with like Mark the penguins I'm not sure what
you're that but uh this too I think was when that was still
uh a thing that was like oh we can transition him to voice
overs and make it uh very epic off off the bat which was
interesting watching the trailer was a different narrator
doing the exact same thing to footage that was not even in
the movie so that was just a very early teaser in my mind
where they didn't have everything flushed out um but even
you know as far as not everything flushed out goes you are
you guys satisfied with the bookends of this movie with how
they not only introduce it but how they wrap it up with uh I
am not wildly unsatisfied I think it's very stupid I I thought
I had misremembered how how quickly you're rapid and I was
like oh no yeah it's fucking quick yeah oh yeah and it just is
so weird to the the way it's plotted that Tom Cruise blowing
up one of them seems to like weirdly coincide with all of
them not working again because it's just the way that it's
like one happens after the other so quickly but they're
really have nothing to do with each other it's just these
aliens are morons by and large yeah like because there's
it's not like they were in a rush to invade us they apparently
set up stuff you know before humans were even really humans
and then decided on this day and they couldn't plan out that
I just it's so they don't have a microscope I'm sorry I'm
I'm it's so dumb they uh yeah I it's it's 100%
contradictory because in the prologue you know he says like
specifically states it's like you know while we were pursuing
mundane like human whatever the fuck right they've been
watching and studying right and it's like how how much
studying have they been doing if they were not ready for the
test and they haven't seen like a hospital they haven't seen
all the humans dying of like you know disease and all that
stuff yeah all of it like it's just so funny how quickly how
quickly you think about it just in a nanosecond you're like oh
this is very stupid and they didn't come up with a solve
for this or it's like happening level you know like in a
shaman sort of way and like level twist that just doesn't
really yeah and I feel like they didn't want to spend too much
time explaining it because then it would have yeah fallen apart
even more or just not really been as satisfying as as you wanted
it and having those bookends just seemed like a cheat and I
guess the timing of it all is like yeah it took what for for
three to five days for them for all the water and oxygen and
all the shit to affect them enough to just be like oh wait
this isn't this isn't gonna work but I guess we'll never know
because we just get the Morgan Freeman from the moment they
started drinking our water and breathing on air yeah right
I'm so curious though because it's like it's weird to me that
I don't know like I feel I feel like to as a viewer of the
movie and I'm trying to think more along the audience side of
it or you know a little bit disagreeing yeah and this must be
a big part of it is this ending yeah right it has to be right
because I feel like if you're gonna humans don't like generally
just being a human being we don't like the idea of like being
taken over and exterminated right so if you're gonna put us
through that stress emotionally then I feel like when you wrap
it all up that way where it's just like oh it's so satisfying
you're like oh we didn't meet and it's like we could have done
different like I feel like why isn't the government are doing
like why can't we say oh let's all shelter in place or do
something because you know we can be smarter about instead of
like going and trying to fight like every scene that the
government was involved in the military was involved it was
like that citing you know the the aliens which I'm like it's
a normal response I guess but once you fill out find out all
the technology you can't kind of treat I feel like you got as
there's alternate methods that you would go about and it happens
in such a short amount of time that just there's yeah as far as
of anything of consequence within that time on either side
doesn't really nothing really happens there's nothing we could
have done differently that would have changed the outcome and
same goes for them besides just studying up a little bit more
and it's just funny to think like okay let's get our attack
going yeah this is going great okay wait
and then you just like dying just like kind of funny and then
just like I don't because it's thinking of just like launching
a big attack and then just like falling over and dying like in
the middle of everything is almost like humorous and weird
yeah well because the whole time I'm like I remember it's like
it was so hard for us to fight them that I'm like what are these
scenes of us citing them accomplishing like what is stopping
or if we're setting up a line of tanks right where Robbie is
doing his whole ego I'm going to save the world and run towards
the danger right like what is stopping the alien advance is
it the tanks actually affected are we just throwing everything
we have at them and they're just like okay our resources are
being built up from just trying to like I give a tour for all
this attack you wanted the B movie sort of like the army
army versus the alien sort of imagery I'm sure is a big big
thing that he he wanted to and so on all of it but there was no
they made it clear I guess the communication between countries
or it was really just boots on the ground like what was going
on in Tom Cruise's world and the way that did it out information
was just through his eyes and so taking it almost taking
advantage of the audience a little bit that way where it's
just like oh you're just going to see them fighting in the
background in a lot of background stuff but that's never
going to be fully explained because Tom Cruise is too busy
taking care of you know just surviving and and and living
and none of that stuff really needs to be explained and it
almost just comes across as just experiencing a really fucked
up event and then just having to be like fuck man okay I
was I guess well that happened and yeah now it's over and I
didn't have anything to do with it any but I guess I just
had a fucking deal with that and yeah it's it rings a little
hollow but you know what it is I know I just reminds me again
of like 9 the 9-11 sort of mindset of just kind of like dealing
with a very traumatic fuck fucking event having to bind
together at the end and realizing you know you have your
you know your family and everything there and even seeing
like all the American flags you know like lining up to to
emphasize the wind as well you know that's another yeah again
like it's it's these these interesting fun ways practical
ways to highlight effects they almost had JJ Abrams write
this movie but he was busy making lost I think was yeah it was
one little tidbit I saw this probably you know what that
would have had which in this movie then if he would have
done that is what would the MacGuffin be there has to be
something we need to get an object to a person in order to
you know be able to overtake the aliens or whatever there
could be a good version of that there could be a really
really good version of that too so I don't know better version
I'm not sure this movie you can't pull off this kind of
narration of like and that's how the cookie chrome it's like
that's the way it is yeah yeah I'll do a live TV trivia now
when I'm thinking of it when aliens are investigating the
junk in the basement one of them plays with the bicycle
wheel this is a reference to the original book the main
character observes that with all the advanced technology the
aliens possess they do not use any wheels and wonders if the
alien life form had skipped the invention of the wheel
one scene shows Ray running out of the house to find Robbie
while dozens of people are right outside his house
photographing the lightning storm to film the scene
producers hired people in the street to come to the street
at the time of shooting the camera and film so they can get
pictures of Tom Cruise for free while filming nearby Tom
Cruise along with 20 member entourage including Spielberg
visited a Lexington visited a Lexington Virginia Dairy
Queen cruise saw a jar on the counter with a photo of Ashley
Flint and her story Flint had been in a go-kart accident a few
months earlier earlier leaving her family with a mountain
of hospital bills cruise put $5,000 cash into the jar
you just had $5,000 cash on everything in my wallet
just $5,000 what a guy
yeah
during the filming of the underwater scenes director Spielberg
played a prank on Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning by playing
a dramatic music from Jaws through the massive underwater
speakers on the sound stage that's fun what a fun thing
playing pranks
God what a what a movie that is
to remind everybody it is a 75% by the critics a 42% by the
audience I'm gonna go through some reviews you guys want to take
a break or anything are we good to go
I'm okay okay yeah cool all right so we'll go through some
positive reviews from the critics Kenneth Turan from LA
Times gave it a 100
they say working in the spirit of his predecessors but with
the kind of uncanny special effects they could barely dream
of Spielberg has come up with an impressive production that
is disturbing in the way only provocative science fiction can
be from Hollywood reporter Kirk Honeycut gave it an 80
might be too realistic for its own good the film takes perhaps
a little too much glean its ability to manufacture mayhem
that being said the ride is extraordinary
let's do the New York Times a 70
Dana Stevens acting is not really the point of this movie
which seems to arise above all from Mr. Spielberg's desire
to reaffirm that he is along with everything else a master of
pure action film making
and God they meant that the acting is not strong in this movie
yeah I agree let's check out some audience opinions
from the negative side of 42 percent from them
let's see from a Kelly a one star out of five title just know
Tom Groves does his usual great job with the script is awful
and the ending is such an insult to our intelligence that it
reads like we can flip the bird watch edge of tomorrow if you
want to see Tom in a movie with a solid script
other viewers have discussed all the irritants in this movie
including the kids I haven't seen anyone specifically mentioned
ending this will constitute a spoiler if you care
the last scene is of the most ridiculous family reunion
everybody else on the planet these either dead or struggling
to survive covered with filth their homes destroyed but hey look
the townhouse door opens and there's the whole family all
dressed nicely including grandma and her prim little outfit
and the teenage boy who could not have survived
now he was he was not dressed nicely he was still
yeah he was still ripped up even more so all of them looking
like they haven't been through anything more strenuous than
card games around the table made me wonder if this was supposed
to represent that none of them survived and that was the
afterlife that's the only way to be rationalized but that's too
subtle an explanation when everything else took place was
ham-handed nonsense I guess if you just want to watch Tom Cruise run
through hollering then knock yourself out there there are better
movies for that really as I write this my advice is that you save
yourself I feel like my brain is a little damaged by this movie
yeah brain damage
from Bill from one star titled Tom Cruise in the most
unlikable role in his or anybody else's career
most unlikable role ever I actually I kind of side with that a
little bit I sympathize I get it not like someone who's playing
a serial killer or something it's more unlikable you're right
yes I get in comparison no I yeah it just it's he's so like
he's a stinker Bill says I actually moved the film to the
end after watching just 30 minutes why anybody would make a
divorce man such as show such a little caring for his kids as
the hero of the film is beyond me so far special effects are
interesting but I'll likely turn it off before it ends because
I'm already hoping the hero will die soon well and you're already
at the end of the movie because you skipped it isn't that what
he said at the beginning you watch 30 minutes and then went
right to the end I mean you might as well finish it at that
point the movie the movie's only 35 minutes long I'm trying to
watch it in reverse and see if it's any better no I'll report
back none of the characters are making any sense or speaking
English but the world's a better place at the end that's nice
that's nice yeah from Leon M. Shondris one star out of five
titled nothing like the book first off this movie has absolutely
nothing in common with the book with the exception of the
alien invasion so if you're looking for a good film adaptation
of a novel this is not the film for you second I would argue
that this film although dark is far happier than the novel
because most of the major characters live and some aren't
affected at all as for the film itself it's terrible as a film
it doesn't make much sense the acting is atrocious and some
of the scenes are pretty gruesome also each of the characters
are given names in the film which wasn't the case in the book
oh this guy did not want any names in this movie about the case
the case the DVD came in was your typical case the colors
were sharp and vibrant but there was a small chip in the
corner so it either wasn't shipped well or made well hard to
tell which he's just upset about everything he's going to
production line issues man a lot of people complaining about
the Blu-ray quality and on all Amazon reviews is kind of funny
see if there's maybe one or you see how shitty the CGI is
it's kind of it's like kind of blurry I like maybe that's it
yeah that's not good doesn't look good yeah it's I think we're
pretty much set I would like to move on now to some opinions
of our own Blarge you are welcome to kick us off if you want
to go first yeah I think as we like kind of discussed it more
because I was leading I've seen this movie like a lot me too
like I've seen this movie quite a bit I was telling Brandon
I was like I don't think I'm going to rewatch it just because
I could probably like shop for shop or site yeah I had this
idea I watched a lot too I did rewatch it and it had been a
while since I had seen it so it's kind of good to see it and
it got me a little bit excited like I was kind of at first
very like that the first 30 minutes I was like kind of on
board but as you get through the movie you start just finding
a lot of these like plot holes which kind of then takes its
toll on the acting right because I'm sure some of the actors
maybe like had trouble connecting with some characters
like why am I wearing my yeah right which may have translated
into the audience is like unease especially when it comes to
like Robbie probably because I didn't think maybe the audience
was not a fan of him as much as included because yeah he's
exactly the only positive side or like the only happy moment
with him is at the very end every other moment is like he
pissed and antagonistic towards I did enjoy that moment that he
has with Dakota Fanning where he's helping her get to her safe
space I thought that was a good character moment but yeah those
are so few in far between yeah you see glimpses so I think yeah
I think I did kind of mention this already that it was it's
more so about letting Steven Spielberg like you know get
through his paces and and there was a lot of filler stuff that
was just getting to really good shot and really good like
cinema right but not good script and not good like story
and acting so like yeah visually I really do like the movie but
when it comes down to it in like terms of like actually liking
a movie I think I'm more like with the audience so I probably
give this one probably a little bit better of a score but I'd
say I'm like more middle of the road at like a 53 like a 53%
like I do really enjoy yeah I'm a big Spielberg fan and I
anything he kind of touches I'm like hey this was movie quality
stuff but yeah they can all be like bangers when it comes to
script and that can only take you so far you know good cinema
so yeah I think it's a good enough film but yeah a lot of
holes in there that kind of let you just fall off so I think a
53 is a solid I agree that is a yeah perfectly respectable
score for for this movie Brandon you want to go next
sure yeah um you know something that resonated with me Mike
and what you were just saying is that you know Steven Spielberg
going through the paces and I think this is an example of such
lazy like laziness because you know within comparison to a
movie that he done you know close encounters of the third
kind there was so much attention paid to and it's also part of
his style just by and large is like Steven Spielberg likes to
fill his movies with these like random characters you know that
color of the film and such a like such a wonderful collage of
society you know loving all of the yeah it's like a stereotype
to the at this point of these characters that will pop up in
his movies that maybe have only like a line or two in there but
they're just you know very unique and yeah provide something
to either the mood or to the plot and yeah it just blows me
away that this movie has zero to do with you know another thing
that resonated with me that you said earlier about the like what
what what do you think the mission was for the tanks going
in like what was the conversation there because the way it was
being presented in the movie is that they're just like well we
got this shit that blows shit up so we got to go figure it out
that's not how the the military works they're not just going to
be like let's go blow stuff up first and then figure out if it
works like that's not how the shit works at all that's not and
it just you know it's crazy to me how this movie doesn't have
any like what what's going on with the military or like what's
going on with the government or you know any interior into the
greater like collective trying to work through this obviously
global issue it just comes off to me as being lazy because it
isn't far simpler way to shoot like from the just the
logistics standpoint to just say no we're going to just focus
on Tom Cruise we're never going to go outside of Tom Cruise
we're just going to stick with him you know and you can pitch
it as being kind of interesting like you know so like through
somebody's eyes so on the ground you know perspective right
and never really shying away from that and getting to zooming
out too much and getting lost in the saucer or you know getting
to a burden by you know how inner workings of geopolitical
stuff would happen but yeah just I think the movie suffers from
it because it's just incredibly difficult for me not to be
like well you made a movie that is near perfect and I'm not
saying that every outing has to be perfect but there's just so
much this movie that seems so lazy to me even though that there
are like really well set pieces it's just there's a lot to it
though that just seemed that just comes off as like he's not
really that interested in what he's trying to say and it's just
let's let Tom Cruise do whatever he wants to do and it's going
to make money and that's all that it kind of needs to be sure
it's it's not yeah at times things don't need to be totally
saddled up with our burden with having effectively communicating
interesting point of view sometimes movies can just be fun
but there's also a lot of stuff in this movie that isn't that fun
like it's crazy how much of a halt everything comes to in the
basement with Tim Robbins where I you know a lot of my notes was
like wow this movie is like cranking along and I'm really enjoying
the fact that this movie is unencumbered to a degree it's
not cutting to like what's happening at the Pentagon you know
or some shit like that which could be cool and interesting and
keep the movie cranking along so I don't want to just say that
you know going outside of Tom Cruise's again out of his purview
would be would slow the movie down but it's just so crazy how
this movie has this pace and then it just screeches to a halt
and gets to a point where it's really uninteresting because you
don't really know these characters and the movie is not even
spending time to provide you with it like I don't know why
Dakota Fanning would have do you I mean do you guys get a sense
of like why she would have picked I had to look up this track
that she was singing to herself hushabye mountain like what it
oh yeah no like where does that come from like it was just
I thought it was like a reference to the book or something I have
no clue what I know but so weird because it's like even in a
moment where it should be so like let's get into what these
characters stand for who they are what are their passing all
that it like it's just a bunch of bullshit jargon about like
they're up there we're down here let's go get them and it's just
a lot of that and then it goes right into you know the kind of
horror element of the snake a light thing was kind of fun
yeah I thought that was fun yeah a little dooscoop yeah
he would he's just so good like cars it's just every
fiber of his being has to be somehow related to cars
yeah a little dooscoop yeah so I mean this movie really
sucks for me at the latter half but I will give it credit that
the beginning half of it with the sound design for the
lightning the tension that all the unsettling you know stuff
with before the tripod like is actually shown on screen I
thought was really really good it hooks you yeah it hooks you
hooks you pretty pretty amazing stuff so I yeah I there was
a part of me that wanted to go pretty low on this because I
just really really didn't like the back half of this movie but
I mean in talking to you guys and this happens more often than
not I would say is like after talking to you guys about it
you know I come around a little bit on it just acknowledging
it successes a little bit more and building those up so I'm not
going to give it like a super crazy low score which I kind of
was feeling going into this because there were parts of
this movie that I did like but I'm going to go like about a 40
I want to say 46 but there's a part of me that wants to say
42 and I think I'm going to go with the lower honestly I'm
going to go with 42% okay yeah I think this story is something
that was important to him and it was something that yeah it
meant a lot to him to do and he wanted to do it in a certain
way and he was given every license to do whatever he wanted
I just have to say I think the original like thing is such a
fascinating thing like or the world's like the like Orson
Orson Wells did the radio thing of of war the world's and the
people thought it was real and sort of freaking the fuck out
and I just thought that was cool and maybe I can take this
time do you and I want to ask you guys a question do you think
that is possible today can you do a war the world's type event
in today's world in any sort of medium of communication
whether it be social media or something like on the internet
can you manufacture an event that doesn't really happen
you can I just I think the like the leg of it that like the
amount of time before it is very short like I think it still
could be a fun and effective like marketing tool because
that's kind of like a way to entertain people is what you're
getting at right yeah like that's a good way of looking at it
I was almost thinking yeah like when whoever put it those like
monoliths all over the world and shit and people were wondering
if the deal was with those yeah that's like actually out there
I'm trying to think like you hear about something and assume
it's really happening or something like that absolutely
happens a lot recently like something that comes to mind is
somebody used AI generating are to make it look like home
goods was selling satanic statues in it there you go yeah
which is pretty funny and people just you know because it
looks so real these statues inside of home goods you know
immediately hopping online and being like you believe that
home goods is selling satan statues like man the woke mobs
really gotten to them or whatever and then people just
prattle on into oblivion yeah if anything it's almost all over
the place more than ever and yeah anyone else can do it for
yeah a short amount of time to just enrage people or just
an idea that's they want to other people to have but I just
always thought that was like it's for for Orson Wells to be able
to to do that and the effect that it did have and not even
looking through the history of a little bit today and like
someone tried it and somewhere in South America and it had
such an effect that there were riots and like seven people
the announcers to announce that like a couple of his family
members died as people freaked out so much and yeah just the
power that that has and the effect that it can can have on
people I thought was just very fascinating it is I agree but
to move on to my review I think it was worth talking about this
movie for something that I'd seen a lot and then hasn't
seen in a while very much like you guys are expressing and
revisiting at this time the things that stuck out to me yeah
we're definitely the Tim Robbins thing and then how it comes
together at the end were the glaring things that I I had
thought I had misremembered and realize that's essentially how
it goes is it's just is wrapped up with that narration which
is just so short change to the audience and not effective at
all and if it didn't have those bookends like this movie would
be incomplete and that's feels kind of icky because it's like
that you should be able to tell the whole story without just
removing this one like one little like 30 second like blur
of just like oh and then this is how it happened okay see you
later by really affects you know your your mood walking out
of the movie I can understand a little bit more from from the
audience side like we're trying to figure out the the different
different points of it all disaster movies in general not
really my thing not really my bag baby so that's definitely
gonna like lose some points from like even from a subjective
side of things like it's just not something that I'm I'm
looking to watch and I haven't rewatched the movie in a while
because of that yeah beginning I love the the lead up to it
even with like Jurassic Park and stuff like all of the build
up to Jurassic Park and everything getting to the
dinosaurs and you're getting to when it actually reveals
everything is like a Spielberg trick that is always very
sometimes more effective than others but I think that he is a
master of tension in this movie it still entertains me in a
lot of ways when a type of this disaster porn movie like this
movie like wouldn't really do in a lot of other ways but it is
just depressing and and and down like when they steal a car
and then everyone's like you know he steals in the night guy
gets shot and everything they're sitting in the diner I just
remember thinking like man this is just rough and then the
train on fire goes by and then the thing on the ferry and then
the but the boat gets taken over and they're just looking at
from the hillside everything everybody just can mess up it's
like it's effective in what it's trying to do but it's also a
bit of a counter of a movie like you just you feel like kind of
down and then the moment when you feel like you I don't know
there's some sort of triumph isn't really earned so on the
surface I think it does effectively does what a director
in a lot of ways should do for the substance of the screenplay
and where Spielberg's mind was at that time I think affected
the way that that too just doesn't hold up as well as some of
his other movies even namely being like Minority Report
which came out at a similar time which is yeah it's kind of
scythe he's in the neck AI I guess was kind of another scythe
movie around this time and it's just not something that I would
revisit again and again anytime soon I'm feeling very like Luke
is warm on it but I'll I'll go I'll go 56 I'll do 56 it's so
like you know pretty like man but I commend the build up and
the action and the ability to still remain entertaining and to
ride the line between tonal shifts and some of the humor I
think is like pretty pretty well done which is I think can be
a good thing to do sometimes is instilling that that humor is
weird and dysfunctional as it is with the family of the
overall the yeah I don't know Tom Cruise is a blue collar guy
whatever but I think he's he's just electric on screen I don't
know like whatever about whatever about the guy he's he's
you know weird dude but he's electric on screen and Dakota
Fanning and a good performance. Yeah, and then yeah I just
want to play a quick game of magnetize if you if you guys
want to jump into I think there's a couple movies that we
have not I'm not thrown out to you yet so let's get into a
little a little game if you guys haven't played or played or
heard you out there haven't heard of this game before I'm
going to give these guys movies that have the exact same
rating from audiences and critics on rotten tomatoes as
opposed to polarized or magnetized they were the same
score. They they have to figure out what the score is for
these movies that I'm going to give them so the first one
will go to our guest. We will start with another Spielberg
picture Jurassic Park. Same score from audiences. You're
picking one one pick a number and then they're close. It's
either a really good score or a really bad score right. It's
up to you it's just going to be the same from audience and
critics so whatever you think what do you think they both
agreed upon score Jurassic Park. So Jurassic Park is going to
be a ninety one ninety three percent we're going to go ninety
three percent ninety three okay I'm going to go ninety eight
ninety eight and I'm not doing prices right rules so it is
a ninety one Mike you freak me out because I'm like you said
you got to go with your gut. It was a ninety one so you take
the first first first point here moving on to round two we're
going to go with a movie called Glass Onion a Knives Out
Mystery is that how it's a glass and a knife out mystery
yeah. More recent movie to you. I go yeah it was knives out
and then Glass Onion correct knives out and then Glass
Onion. It's the second one. It's just a glass onion. Okay.
Knives out or glass onion. I'm going first or Bardini is
Bardini. Oh my bad. The Rizzler. The Rizzler.
The Rizzler. The Rizzler. The Rizzler. The Rizzler.
Okay. See I was going to go way lower but then you said
eighty one. I'm going to go with seventy four seventy four
it is a ninety two percent for really higher than Jurassic
Park. Higher than Jurassic Park kind of work one out one out
people love the drama they love the drama love it they love
it they love a mystery. It's more run tomato scores maybe
at this time too but I am still people I thought for sure
the first one was better but okay. Yeah I like the first one
more than the second. Well let's move on to our final round.
This is for for all the marbles. I have this jar of marbles
that you guys one of you will be taking home. It is a very
new movie. I hope you have at least heard of it. It's
Ari Astor's newest film I have not seen but let's see if we
can guess it. It's magnetized. Bo was afraid. Bo was afraid.
Okay. Wow. Bo was afraid to large. Okay. Are you aware of
this movie. Yeah this is what is I forget I'm blanking on the
actors. Yeah. Walking Phoenix. Thank you. Ari Astor is the guy
who's doing everything right now. Napoleon. Okay. Who's the
director of this movie. Ari Astor. Ari Astor. Okay.
Redditary right. Mid summer. Mid summer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. This is why this name does not ring a bell because I
have purposely erased it. Remember. Bo was afraid. Okay.
I'm afraid of the summer. I'm literally trembling as I'm
thinking. You got this. Bo is afraid. I'm gonna say this is
84 percent. 84. Okay. I'm gonna go 72. 72. It is a 70. So it
will go to Bardin. It's the marbles. Gets all the marbles.
Here you go. I've been looking for some marbles. You lost them.
Yes. Seize the day. I appreciate you guys joining me for
yet another journey into the polarized verse where we talk
about polarizing movies where we will be doing again next time.
We're talking about a sequel. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Kisses to give your kisses to Blargy. We appreciate you man.
Anytime we go and blast off into space again or underground
we'll make sure we give you a call for underground. Let's do it.
Let's do it. Hell yeah. For next time it will be bad boys too.
From 2003 it is a 23 percent from critics. It is a 78 percent
from audience favored heavily by the audience. I'll read the
movie info here on Rotten Tomatoes. The drug ecstasy is flowing
into Miami and the police want it stopped. Police detective
Marcus Burnett, Martin Lawrence and his partner Mike Lowry,
Will Smith are just the men to do it. They track the drugs to a
Cuban smuggler Johnny Tapia who is also involved in a bloody
war with Russian and Haitian mobsters. If that isn't bad enough
there's tension between the two cops because Lowry is romantically
involved with Burnett's sister. Oh yeah. Gabrielle Union.
Join us please for another journey into Michael Bayverse.
I have been James the James the forever guest. This has been
I'm Brandini the Rizzler. Brandini the Rizzler. Also check us out
on Prodpod or other podcasts about producers. We just talked
about the Max Martin Swedish producer who's created many pop
hits and we've done a few quite a few. We've done like five
episodes so far. Pretty new. We just talked about music producers
and their history and their effects on us and pop culture.
Jimmy IV next. Reach out to us on whatever X fuck man.
Fucking who knows. Man polarized pod polarized the pod
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we appreciate you all so much and we'll see you next time.
Bye bye.