Latest / Best/Most / Matt Bauer Part 2/ What is the MOST iconic film?
Transcript
- Jose: Welcome to Best Most. I'm your host, Jose Jogo Gonzalez. This is the podcast where we ask the questions, what is the best or what is the most? For example, we ask questions like, who is an actor or actress who most consistently kills it in the roles they play? Before we start the show, ⁓ there are a few spoilers for Harold and Maude, Rudy, Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars The Last Jedi. And with that said, enjoy the show. Or what are the best lyrics ever written? Before each episode, I ask our online community question that our guests had chosen as our topic. I then go over the community answers with our guests. We also discuss our own answers. You can check out and answer the questions on the best.most.pod Instagram page. Join the conversation. Now today's guests, we welcome back a co-founder of a free quarterly film race called Breakneck. He also directs and edits films. He's a good dude. ⁓ Welcome back to best most, Matthew Bauer. What's up, Matt? Matt: Hey Jose, how you doing? Jose: I'm good. Matt: Thanks for having me. ⁓ Jose: Yeah, heck yeah, man. ⁓ And always, ⁓ our chooses a question for the show conversation. Our question ⁓ for episode is, what is the most iconic movie? Matt Bauer, what made you choose this question? Matt: ⁓ gosh, ⁓ boy, so most iconic movie, right, first things first, ⁓ I am ⁓ on good day, so if say anything is ⁓ religiously controversial with my next statement, ⁓ I'm sorry, but not sorry, ⁓ I ⁓ associate most iconic movie, this particular one, with You know how there's the birth of Christ and how he was such a big deal. He created a divide in how we interpret time of like BC and AD. That's what I see this particular film as and that's how I've seen it and viewed it. It's I guess as far as like a teenager. ⁓ Like there was before this film came out and after and that's just not related to how it's shaped me but also how it's like ⁓ shaped the industry. Nay. ⁓ the world. Jose: Wow, interesting. you have any community picks for this one? Matt: I have a couple. dad not get back to in time, but I just know in his heart of hearts what his answer is. And I did want to give it a shout out. sure he would have ⁓ Rudy starring Sean ⁓ Ashton, I believe. It's the it's the football player movie where the he's like to Scrawny or whatever in order to like really compete and then they have that big where like Every all everyone else on the team puts their jerseys the coaches desk being like I'm not playing if Rudy's not playing or whatever and I ⁓ I Mean, it was funny enough. They ⁓ they did a parody of that newsroom ⁓ in a somewhat tasteful manner. But yeah, I haven't seen ⁓ Rudy either, but big deal to him, so figure I'd mention that. ⁓ do you got? Jose: Wait, haven't seen Rudy before? Matt: I not really know, except for that scene. Is it good? Jose: ⁓ Man, that's such a good movie. It's one of those movies that it's ⁓ pretty bleak. It's bleaker than you'd expect. Yeah, and it's very written. Matt: Really. Jose: But yeah, I would recommend it. And I believe we talked about it shortly in a previous episode. I think one of the first episodes. So yeah. Matt: ⁓ cool. Jose: with with Steven Joseph Craig, our mutual friend. Matt: Shout out to Steven Joseph Shout out to brightcorefilms.com. Jose: There you go. Matt: That's his website. Jose: So Socalbassist chose Jurassic Park. Matt: Hmm. Jose: He said it's groundbreaking visual effects that still holds up very quotable and great storytelling. Matt: couldn't agree more. think it's, ⁓ is, ⁓ made the correlation or asked question why does nobody talk about Jurassic World? ⁓ like how it just doesn't up in a way Jurassic Park does and how maybe deviating away from that ⁓ probably didn't do itself any favors, I suppose. Jose: No comment. Matt: Have you have you not watched them? Jose: No, I've watched every Jurassic Park movie. I literally I have. Matt: Okay. Jose: I just might not want to talk about this moment. Matt: Oh, okay noted. Jose: So do you have another pick? Matt: Yeah. So Malcolm Home Alone and for good reason. I think that is a wonderful classic has Macaulay Culkin really at his, I would say it is finest but. Honestly, Home Alone 2 is also a banger. A lot of great moments with Joe Pesci ⁓ in both of them. ⁓ just all the quotes, I think I'd be quoting the second one more with ⁓ that movie that always plays on the TV, right? Keep the change, you filthy animal. ⁓ thanks. ⁓ Nailed it. Jose: What? That was pretty good. Also, Joe Pesci might up on this list a little later too. Not on my picks, but other picks. Matt: ⁓ Jose: see. Matt: OK, noted. Jose: Optical Jedi chose Seven for inspiring so many reinventions of the same story. He also chose Jurassic for launching the CGI revolution in filmmaking. Matt: ⁓ mean are all legitimate answers. I still need to finish Seven Samurai, but ⁓ everyone who's about it ⁓ has nothing good things to say. Jose: Yeah. Yeah, one of my coworkers was gifted that from one our because I work at an optometry office. ⁓ And we're supposed to all share it, so I'm waiting for turn. Matt: Nice. Criterion edition? ⁓ sick. Okay. DVD or Blu-ray? Ooh, okay. All right. Fancy. Jose: Yeah, yeah, yeah. ⁓ Blu-ray. Yeah. Matt: My wife Deandra says ⁓ Total Recall is the most iconic Jose: It's a good one. Matt: It I don't think she's gonna watch. ⁓ She's not much of a podcast listener. I didn't say that to knock this, ⁓ she doesn't, she doesn't, I don't think she knows that I didn't stay awake for it. I have a bad habit sometimes to fall asleep watching things. And I sat there with her watching it and like I do this terrible thing where I'm like. Jose: Son of a bitch. Just kidding. Matt: Like I try not to lean too much on her, or else she knows. I try to like keep the eyes open just enough. But I do need to re-watch that film. It seems really cool. Jose: Yeah. It's good. Yeah, it's classic There's a remake of with Colin Farrell and I don't like to negative, but watch the original one sure. ⁓ Yeah. Matt: Sure, sure. heard the, actually I remember when they launched the trailer for the remake of Total Recall, it was a frame for frame match, I think, of the trailer at least, of all the story beats they used in both versions. I thought it was creative, but marketing only gets you so far, Jose: Really? Yeah. Also, Peralta, He the movie. Harold and Maude so completely encapsulating the First Blood for nailing the 80s, ⁓ even so far as the anti-war message being missed. So very 80s. The Matrix for redefining film aesthetics and marketing. Matt: Matrix, ⁓ yeah, that's definitely an iconic film. ⁓ Shoot, yeah, I almost, if I didn't have my top pick, I might have picked that one actually. That's pretty solid. ⁓ I didn't see those other two, what were the first two? Jose: Yeah. First one was Harold and Maude. Matt: I remember the trailer for that. That's like the younger dude who has a crush on the older lady or whatever Yeah Interesting Jose: Yeah, totally hooks up with her. And then First Blood, a Rambo movie. Matt: ⁓ yes, rainbow, gotcha. I haven't seen that one yet either, but ⁓ I assume it's good. I assume it's great. Jose: you have another ⁓ choice? Or another pick? Matt: I don't. How about you? Jose: Okay, ⁓ best, the underscore best underscore Hank chose Showgirls. ⁓ Matt: Okay. Jose: I don't think I've ever seen it. Matt: with Jose: Elizabeth Berkley? Matt: Destiny's Child? ⁓ Showgirls. doesn't have the Destiny Childly Beyonce in it? Or? ⁓ Jose: No, that's ⁓ Dreamgirls, yes. Very different movie. I think it has, it's Elizabeth Berkley and Gina Gershon are Vegas showgirls. Matt: Dream girls. Show girls I'm not familiar with that. Okay, gotcha. ⁓ man. Okay. Gotcha, gotcha. Okay, hey, I love going to Vegas, Jose: Mercy, Dojo, ⁓ LB. his choice is a movie called Sorry, the most Beach flick ever Matt: Hmm. Yeah. Okay. Jose: seen it, but I'm sure it's good. ⁓ Mr. Slick continuing on my eraser head rant, because he was guest before and believe we went to Eraserhead. I said, continuing on my eraser head rant. Matt: Mm-hmm. Jose: was referring to David Lynch's movie and showed a perfectly formed and perfectly weird ⁓ the stage for his whole career while making some unforgettable characters and scenes. So Eraserhead his choice. Matt: Yeah. Jose: your on David Lynch? Matt: You know, I haven't seen enough of him, but apparently I could do a half decent impression of him. Jose: Huh. Matt: I'm just trying to think of what would be to say. Nothing really comes to mind, but the thing you have to remember is if you don't meditate ⁓ every day, you'll never reach that utopian vision that is always haunting your mind, you see. I probably, ⁓ it is? Okay. I feel like a butch. ⁓ Thank you. ⁓ no, I've seen Eraserhead though. ⁓ I did see Blue Velvet in high school for a class project ⁓ ⁓ ashamed to say that is everything I've seen of David Lynch. Jose: That's very accurate. No, that was good. That was good. Fair enough, yeah, I I think we went into Lynch before as far as on my end. So if you guys wanna hear my thoughts on it, listen to past episodes. Matt: Mm-hmm. Jose: But yeah, Eraser Head is a good one. Steven Joseph Craig, he chose Citizen Kane and Seven Samurai and Jaws, all come to mind, that's what he said. Matt: Ooh. ⁓ wow, okay. Well, Jaws is definitely iconic. I think that was one of the ⁓ founding fathers of the blockbuster, if I'm not mistaken. Or somebody says it, I don't know if true that is, but it is a great film. Citizen Kane, gosh, it's like, did ever see Jose: No, I haven't seen it. Matt: Okay, all right. ⁓ I don't know how accurate it to what really happened, but it like follows the the Mankiewicz who wrote Citizen Kane or like co-wrote or whatever. So like it's interesting drawing the parallels with that context to it, knowing very little about the film. I still haven't seen the entirety of that film, but everyone in film school is obsessed with it. Jose: Hmm. Edro de Carmona, he chose Goodfellas. ⁓ It shows what makes ⁓ a life in the mob enticing. One of Scorsese's best. For me, it would be Ferris Bueller's Day Off it's every teenager's dream. he chose Goodfellas and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Matt: Mm-hmm. Good movies, good movies. I would say, ⁓ man, I'm like in ⁓ the tiny minority that Casino a little more than Goodfellows, but maybe it's more so because of the setting, I don't know. Jose: I'm in between. really, either movie, if they're on, I'm gonna watch the whole movie, unfortunately. Matt: No, it wouldn't be the worst way to kill two and a half hours at least, right? Jose: True, true true. ⁓ Don Juan Estrada said, think back to the future. Solid choice. Matt: Mmm. Yeah. That was there for me, I think as early as like age four or five, I'd say. Or the third movie at least. I was exposed to that one before the first two. Yeah, because I loved trains a lot as a kid, so I think they were just like, just give them these trains on this one. Just subject them to the trains. ⁓ Jose: Really? ⁓ Wait, I know you're younger than me, I know for sure. ⁓ Matt: I'm going to turn 38 in July. So I'm 37 now. How old are you? Jose: Okay. I'm close. No, I'm 40. I'm 44. Matt: ⁓ wow, okay. Not a day over 36. I'll tell you that much. Yeah, I gotta work on that, moisturizer game. Jose: Moisturizer, dude, and lighting. ⁓ chose in the Rain. ⁓ It's a classic movie about classic movies. Matt: Mm-hmm. Jose: is a classic and iconic movie. Matt: That scene is a classic and iconic where he's singing in the rain. That's about all I know about it. Yeah, literally. ⁓ that's a good one. Jose: Literally. ⁓ Nina chose Red Dragon, Seven, Primal Fear because of the twist. Edward Norton did a fantastic job. The Seven twist is iconic. Red Dragon is iconic for the performances. Matt: Red Dragon, that's the one with Hannibal Lecter, right? Jose: Yeah, so it's a part of the Hannibal Lecter series, but also ⁓ Philip Seymour Hoffman is in it. Matt: Ooh, I do love Philip Seymour Hoffman. He's... I... Gosh, easily the greatest actor humanity has ever had to offer. Jose: Yeah, that movie's really good. Matt: ⁓ What ⁓ was the other one? ⁓ seven, Jose: Seven and Primal Fear. Have you seen Primal Fear? ⁓ dude. Like, Matt: I'm not sure what that is. Jose: that movie? Yeah, that twist in that movie is insane. ⁓ And ⁓ it's starring Edward Norton. Matt: Yeah. ⁓ shit, okay. All I just saw a thumbnail of it now. ⁓ Interesting. Yeah, my folks Richard Gere. Apparently ⁓ he used live not too far from my folks growing up. ⁓ Never met My brother did though. ⁓ But ⁓ as far seven goes, ⁓ good twist, know? Gotta that. Jose: ⁓ that's cool. Let's see, so Veronica chose Star Wars. Matt: Hmm interesting Jose: ⁓ My cousin Greg chose Shawshank Redemption, Casino, Goodfellas, and Scarface. Matt: ⁓ wow, okay. Yep, a casino fan. There we go. Still need to see Scarface. Jose: I've seen some of it and it's a lot more 80s than I would have hoped for, like music wise, yeah. Matt: Yeah? Ugh, yeah, that's always a hard pill to swallow. I'm not a big fan of 80s music, to be quite frank. Jose: I like it, but it's I think it's a song called Take It To The Limit on there. It's like, take it to the limit. Yeah. Matt: Mm-hmm. It's just like a montage of him breaking bad or whatever. Jose: Yeah, yeah, and it's really it's really cheesy but ⁓ great acting ⁓ Carlos Moreles chose iconic movies. He said Headwig and Angry Inch Matt: ⁓ Jose: I would recommend it really good. ⁓ Alex Paz chose Star Wars and then ⁓ yeah. At this time, I'd say let's go into your pick. Matt: Mmm. Jose: Matt Bauer, what is the most iconic movie? Matt: the most iconic movie, it has to be, ⁓ for a multitude of reasons, 1977's ⁓ birth of Star Wars by directed by none other than George Lucas, a pioneer in his own right with filmmaking. The thing about Star Wars is that Where do I even begin? He had such high hopes from the get-go. ⁓ of creating this ⁓ space opera, this allegory ⁓ for the war and the empires. But beyond that, was so many genius moves that he was playing in the background, and not just so much with the story, where he wanted to take his career next. And that being, ⁓ in order to do all the crazy ambitious arthouse things, or to even pursue Star Wars, he wanted he told us to the studios, think it was 20th Century Fox that picked it up, that he wanted merchandising rights to Star Wars. And he was, I believe he was foregoing the ⁓ pretty much ownership of the films. in exchange for that. I'd have to double check, but I think that's where the trade-off was. And back in 1975, 76, 77 when he was making it, 20th Century Fox didn't think anything of it. They probably thought this was gonna be an indie flop. ⁓ And there was enough ⁓ hardships and heartache that has been recorded and logged in so many novels about the production of it that it easily could have just gone, you know, it sounded like it was Jose: Really? Matt: in the vein of stress of perhaps Apocalypse Now, but maybe not as hard as being in the rivers all the time, but you know, it's like one challenge after another and yet he managed to come out on top with not my favorite Star Wars film, ⁓ but... Jose: Okay. Matt: It was the one that really just changed everything in motion. With that film's success, even though it did take a bit of a hiatus in the 80s and most of the 90s, ⁓ I think it left ⁓ such a strong impression on children ⁓ growing up in that era. I was exposed to it when I was like seven or eight, around like 1996 or seven. So like about a year before the special editions came out. Jose: Mm-hmm. Matt: For me, I could just give you my impressions, which was like, you know, the moment I see ⁓ Imperial Walkers, which is from the second film, Empire Strikes Back, ⁓ there's something about that specific toy that just kind of rewired my brain into thinking, like, this is the coolest shit ever. I wanna get all these toys, and who's the one who owns the merchandising rights? That's right, George Lucas. So he ends up making stupid money off of this brand. Jose: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Matt: enough so where I think he, I don't know if he ever bought back the rights to the Star Wars films, but I mean, he felt cocky enough to make a prequel trilogy, which people... People can give it slack. I think all criticism is valid to a degree. But ⁓ one thing that it did do that I couldn't appreciate as a kid was the fact that it was pushing the envelope of technology to a point where it never reached ⁓ such a threshold before. And part of that is due to just like industrial light and magic, which was the visual effects department that he made back in the day for the original Star Wars. Jose: Mm-hmm. Matt: and he used projects like Young Indiana Jones to expand that even further. I don't know when that project came out, but it was definitely before the prequels. And the reason I express such admiration for that ⁓ pioneering spirit ⁓ is that now that we come to... 2018-2019 and you have the Mandalorian which is now taking advantage of these amazing backdrops that are like there it's like a mile difference between a green screen and and a canvas painting where now you can like the cameras can interact with your depth of field can adjust based on if the cameras tapped into the background sure it's not as ⁓ invigorating as a real set Jose: Yeah. Matt: for the actors, but it certainly goes much further than everyone just standing in a green screen looking around being like, then there's a battle droid, go shoot that down. ⁓ I will always have, ⁓ I always will wish that Star Wars will eventually go back to the roots of like having. physical ships in their shots like the dog fights. ⁓ But I think looking back on it, ⁓ those types of technologies that ⁓ have reached such a tasteful threshold were in part, a major part due to Lucas's boldness ⁓ to ⁓ create. And if not for nothing, Jose: Yeah. Matt: Ironically coming back full circle. We talked last week about ⁓ and or That was last week, right? yeah, and how that was a very practical set and how it feels like that got into that got everything right about Star Wars that I think adults like you and me really did appreciate that felt gritty and real about the original trilogy and ⁓ Jose: Mm-hmm. Yes. Matt: You know, it took a while to really nail that formula, none of this ever would have happened, along with some of the most iconic scenes ever in film, such as the revelation of Vader being Luke's father, spoiler. It wouldn't have happened without Star Wars in 1977. Jose: Yeah, you know, it's kind of funny you you mentioned Andor right now and being a little bit more mature and everything too, I think. It almost seems like we as a generation or, you know, again, we're a different age gap. But with the after a certain generation, we kind of pulled Star Wars with us. It kind of grew with us. And everything that we're watching now is. is our generation's continuation of the story, right? But I don't think it's as ⁓ much for kids anymore. like I think, you know, you watch like something like Ninja Turtles or something like that. Those, the newer movies that are, you know, Michael Bay directed or whatever. It's like, it's a part of like a grouping of like movies, cartoons, everything that we kind of brought with us, right? And Star Wars is... Matt: Mmm. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Jose: Andor is like proof of that. It's like a very mature Star Wars story. Matt: true. It's not necessarily for a lack of trying though to be fair because you did have a skeleton crew I think that was aimed for like kids or the fans of like the stranger things type show. Yeah yeah I think I do I do genuinely think in some ways ⁓ Jose: Kind of a Goonies meets Star Wars. Yeah. Matt: may have been shafted with even though like Star Wars at face value is outside of the allegory like it's not the most like complex trilogy of films it's just well crafted it's pretty straightforward but like knowing that whenever people are coming off as like derivative work such as like the sequel trilogy like I feel bad for them in that sense because they're like ⁓ they think this is good. And not to be too mean, but... Jose: ⁓ What do you mean the ones with, ⁓ what's your name, ⁓ like the newer, ⁓ yeah, I didn't mind those. Visually, you're like. ⁓ Matt: Ray. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no, let's air it out. I'm down. Jose: I think visually they're beautifully done. mean, especially the Rian Johnson ⁓ one, right? Was it Last Jedi? Or was it... Yeah, I think beautifully done. I don't think a lot of people enjoyed it, but I enjoyed it. ⁓ except for that whole like hunky part where I think Kylo Ren's taking off his shirt and stuff. That's kind of weird. Matt: Mm-hmm. Yeah. The Last Jedi. Yeah, that's it. Mm-hmm. ⁓ yeah. He's so swollen and like wide and I'm like, it was caught off guard there. and there's some cool things there. Jose: Yeah Yeah, he's like, hey girl. Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't know. just, I think they're okay. ⁓ I think they should have been a little bit more cohesive, but you know, if you really think about the original series, it wasn't quite cohesive. They just did a better job of piecing it together, I Matt: That's true, yeah, to be fair, ⁓ because Lucas saw nothing but dollar signs, I think, by the time. Also, Emperor Strikes Back was very expensive to make, and I think he really just was wanting, he being Lucas, wanted a kind of... even though he had like a nine film vision for this series, he did want to like, all right, we got to wrap this up now with a third one. And I know that it's, I think it's been stated on the record. think Gary Kirk has said in interviews, the producer of the original trilogy, that while they wanted to pursue that darker tone of Empire Strikes Back for the finale, which I personally would have loved that, ⁓ but Lucas insisted that it like, They needed to push the merch. They needed to make it kid friendly. I think that created some, you know, I don't think I caught onto these as a kid, but there's some tonal continuity errors, I think, ⁓ with where they landed with Return of the Jedi. I think I still might like it more than the first Star Wars, though, because it does have a conclusive ⁓ statement to it. ⁓ yeah, and to be fair, there are some cool things about the sequel trilogy that ⁓ I've liked such as ⁓ the scenes where Rey and Kylo are like communicating and how that was like their fight in the last film. How they would fight but they're in different locations the whole time. Stuff like that's creative. ⁓ But it's the coherence that really did me in, I think. Because Last Jedi, in my opinion, I think ends up being the best of the three because... Jose: ⁓ yeah. Matt: it just feels like it in a weird way stands on its own the most. Whereas like Force Awakens, right? Yeah, like Force Awakens was teeing something else, but it felt more like an attraction at an amusement park. It felt more like a pilot. And like while Last Jedi was divisive and kind of throws you off for a loop based on like what was intended from Force Awakens perhaps. Jose: I agree. Matt: then you only get one more movie after that. And ⁓ as opposed to this feeling like a show, where like if you had 12 episodes perhaps, you know, to tell what you gotta tell. So that shortsightedness ⁓ is really what I guess I have the most beef with, because that last movie, though it is the most original of the three, I will say, it is not good, but. Jose: Yeah. Yeah, as much as I like the last Jedi, I didn't like that whole ⁓ flying through space aspect for Princess Leia. Yeah, that was a little strange. Matt: Yeah. ⁓ God, yeah, the Mary Poppins thing. That was strange. ⁓ But yeah, all in all, as I stressed last week, ⁓ I think things like Andor, things like Mandalorian that really try to help push the envelope and just expand the story and the lore and different flavors of what Star Wars could be is... And I never thought I would have said it is like enough for me to redeem anything that Disney's done wrong up to this point ⁓ Then I'm also just we're all kind of in a post burnout Star Wars phase anyways Yeah Jose: I think so, So do you think that Star Wars was initially meant for children? Matt: I think so. I think it's like adults will appreciate it too because again, the allegory, like everyone in the Empire has a British accent for a reason, you know? I would just throw in out there the idea of what Jedi are supposed to kind of be an analog to the Samurai class and all this kind of like Ronin-Edo period type of... Jose: Yeah. Yeah. Matt: Influence I think that was on it. ⁓ There's more films like what hidden fortress I think was the inspiration for 3PO and R2D2 Following like those those two surfs. I haven't seen the film but just the gist of that I like I just I like all the influence that's there because it definitely Just grounds it with some some substance you could dig your teeth into But I mean who's Jose: Yeah. Matt: And I don't, this is not a dig to adults who collect toys, but there's far more kids who want toys than adults. And I think him wanting merchandise rights to this from the get-go, I think is evidential of him thinking that like, kids are gonna first and foremost ⁓ eat this up. maybe it's a mix, but I think he definitely had kids in mind at the very least. Jose: I almost feel that it's kind of like any comic book movie, right? Even ⁓ including the Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan movie, right? It's not quite a kids movie, but they know they could bank on kids purchasing toys for the movie. Matt: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Sure, sure. You know, funny enough, I think Dark Knight was the first, growing up in the 90s with video games, you see movie adaptations for games in there a lot. I don't know if there was a Batman Begins game, but I remember looking forward to the Dark Knight game, and I think they stopped that then, or that trend, or maybe Nolan was just like, that one felt maybe a little too dark for him to explore, or too capitalistic, I don't know. Jose: Yeah. Matt: but another iconic film all the same. Jose: Did you have another choice too or do you want to? Matt: ⁓ I will say I did think of while talking about ⁓ when we were discussing ⁓ other people's favorites, Mad Max Fury Road came to mind as yeah, it's a great film. I talk about integrity. I... Jose: Good movie. Matt: withheld watching that because I wanted to see the first three beforehand and as a result I missed it in theaters, but I swore to myself after seeing that trailer in 2014, I think, 15, that I could only see this if it's in a theater and opportunities came and went, but it wasn't until ⁓ spring of 2024. Coincidentally, just as the Furiosa prequel Jose: Mmm. Yeah. Matt: Was coming out which gave me a very unique ⁓ Opportunity to kind of see Fury Road as a direct sequel to that versus like all that that irony dramatic irony of like ⁓ this thing is this it's eventually gonna be bad so I got to see it in a linear format and Like well, obviously Fury Road is better. It's so amazing coming into that experience and actually I saw that with Steve Steven Joseph Craig shout out to Steven Joseph Craig and ⁓ Jose: Yeah. Matt: It was, without hyperbole, one of the greatest movies I've ever seen on its own. It's so fucking good. Totally worth Jose: ⁓ Matt: it. Yeah. What's yours? What's your films? ⁓ Jose: So I'll kind of, so okay, I kind of lied. I just looked at my list right now. I did add Dark Knight as a honorable mention, ⁓ but I'm gonna kind of group it with another one ⁓ on that list. Exorcist is also on that honorable mention. ⁓ Matt: Oh, you didn't. Nice. Jose: So the reason I added both of those ⁓ is because they became benchmark films ⁓ for those genres. Matt: Mm-hmm. Jose: Anytime you have a horror movie that comes out, Exorcist is always compared to Exorcist. It's like the scariest movie since Exorcist or something like that, right? And it's kind of, yeah, it's before Exorcist and after Exorcist, I think. Matt: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Absolutely, yeah. mean, I could agree with that. I actually didn't see Exorcist until like a year ago before the sequel. Jose: What'd think? Matt: a sequel. Well, pretty damn good, but that opening sequence where he's like having to stare off with a statue is so fucking tense and so good. I was like, I'm in it for a treat here. Man, that sequel was a real letdown though. Jose: Yeah. You By the way, if you like that sequel, it's okay. We have... Matt: No, it's not. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. No, it's fine. We're all entitled to our opinions. Yeah. Jose: But yeah, even Dark Knight, there's before Dark Knight for comic book movies and there's after Dark Knight. Matt: couldn't agree more. Yeah. Jose: Yeah. Matt: And funny enough, ⁓ not to cut you off, Iron Man came out the same year, which was the of the MCU. ⁓ Jose: There you go. even yeah, Iron Man is kind of there too, but Dark Knight came out and it just kind of like eclipsed it, unfortunately. Matt: Yeah. ⁓ yeah, it's like ⁓ if Iron Man was like, how do you put it? Iron Man is like pop and Dark Knight is like, I don't know, grunge metal? I don't know, does that make sense? Totally, 100%. Jose: There you go. Yeah, has more edge to it. Has more depth. Yeah. So my main pick was Jurassic Park. Directed by Steven Spielberg, based off a novel by Michael Crichton. ⁓ Screenplay by Crichton and David Kwepp. Starring Laura Dern as Ali Sattler, Sam Neill as Alan Grant, Jeff Goldblum Ian Malcolm, Richard Attenborough as Hammond Joseph- Mo Zallo as Tim, Arianna Richards as Lex, Wayne Knight as Dennis Nedry, Samuel Jackson as John Ray Arnold. I chose it because had a great balance of horror, adventure, thriller, drama, and sci-fi. The was amazing. Watching it for the first time felt wondrous. ⁓ For a second, you almost forget that dinosaurs aren't currently living creatures. They felt real. ⁓ Spawned nine theme park attractions. mostly at Universal Parks all over the world. And also six released feature film sequels were from that as well. I just remember watching Jurassic Park as a ⁓ and When you see the dinosaur for the first time, as ⁓ Dr. Grant and Sattler are looking in at this dinosaur, I felt I was doing the same thing in a movie theater. ⁓ And ⁓ there's not a lot of movies that do that, know? So to me, Jurassic Park is like ⁓ one my, my first loves in cinema. And then also remember I was in band and we played the theme song for our marching band. ⁓ no, I think it was our field show, sorry. Matt: Nice. Wait, The ending theme or the theme you see with the Brachiosaurus? Jose: I think it's the theme you see with the Brechteshorst. Matt: Okay, cool. That's a great one. Jose: Yeah, so yeah, I don't know that that movie is wondrous and I don't say that I'll say that about a lot of movies maybe like ET is there as well, but Yeah, great movie. What do you what do you think about it? Matt: Mm. Well, I mean, it's hard to go wrong when you have such a talented filmmaker, for lack of a better term. mean, Spielberg, he was definitely, I don't wanna say he was at his peak, but like. ⁓ my gosh, he came off of what, E.T. prior to this? He's done three Indiana Joneses, I think, by then. ⁓ I think he was tapped to do, at one point he was tapped to do Star Wars, I think. Maybe. I think Lynch was also tapped to return to Jedi, but I don't want to get off topic here. ⁓ It was, it's one of the most meme-ified movies as well, Jurassic Park. ⁓ Jose: Really? Matt: mean, Jeff Goldblum on its own, just always creates a wonderful, hilarious moment. ⁓ The bit where the hunter is, ⁓ he gets ⁓ outsmarted by the raptor. ⁓ Clever girl, yeah. Funny enough, I had a garage sale and ⁓ I don't know what sparked this, but we recreated that scene, I think it was. I'll send it to you sometime, it was so silly. ⁓ Jose: Clever girl. The glass of water just... Matt: ⁓ gosh, and the jello and like, yeah, and the guy in the bathroom getting eaten. It's just so many. ⁓ God. A lot of great moments. I think it's one of those films though that ultimately, ⁓ was like, Jose: Yeah. haha Matt: played on repeat so many times outside of my control, not like it was against my will, but like as a result, it's one of those films that feels like it's a baseline where as a kid, I looked forward to The Lost World because I felt like it was almost like taking the rules of the baseline film and then like exploring them further and like doing something. It's like, you know how like in 90s ads you see like something breaking out of like the wrapper or whatever. Like I felt like that's what Lost World was. Jose: Hmm. Yeah. Matt: to me. ⁓ Doesn't mean it is an objectively better film, but I also love that one a lot too. ⁓ Sadly, I don't think I gravitated much with the series beyond that. I saw the third one, but I've yet to see any of the world movies. Jose: Mm-hmm. Matt: My brother was a dinosaur. Funny enough, ⁓ my brother, was the Star Wars fan, so I collected the Star Wars toys. He was the Jurassic Park fan, so he collected all the dinosaur toys and he had that trailer. And we'd always recreate all that shit. We'd have it hang off the ping pong table or something. Jose: Yeah. Matt: ⁓ yeah, was a lot of fun. ⁓ Yeah man, great, great pick, I would say. That definitely feels, not just quintessential 90s film, but also quintessential Spielberg. Jose: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I told my wife that we should be Dr. Grant and Sattler for Halloween. I think that'd such a pleasant, easy, easy costume too. Matt: That'd be amazing. Did you catch, ⁓ I caught it on YouTube recently. It was just like the ⁓ negative scans ⁓ of like one of the scenes in Jurassic Park. It was like one of the earlier ones where like, because they crop it, they intentionally cropped it for the final cut. And you could tell because like the boom's intentionally in frame at the top of it now. Like you're seeing like the edge of a light or a flag. it's cool. I'll try to dig that up and send it over. It's... ⁓ Jose: haha Haven't seen that yet. Matt: It's fascinating. And then every time I see Disney being like, we're gonna give you more information above and below the frame now in Disney Plus, I'm like, did we need it? I don't know. Jose: No, not at all Yeah, but yeah, I love that movie. Did you have any others to kind of talk about? I mean, I I think those are all mine really Matt: Yeah, as far as most iconic, I think between Star Wars and Jurassic Park, it's almost like you covered the gambit in terms of it doesn't get, there's iconic films, but I feel like based on the American cultural zeitgeist, ⁓ maybe Indiana Jones is up there, but I wasn't the biggest indie fan to be honest. I respect it. Jose: Yeah. Matt: another iconic film though, I gotta throw in there, Die Hard, the first Die Hard. Yeah, ⁓ the ongoing debate of or not it's a Christmas film, I think speaks for itself on where it stands in the pantheon of time. ⁓ Jose: Yeah. Yep. Do you think it's a Christmas film? Matt: Sure, why not? What do you think? Jose: I think so. wouldn't initially think that, but I mean, the whole thing is during Christmas and there's a lot of Christmassy things happening. Ish. Decorations, I guess that's pretty much it. Matt: Yeah, sure. there's, ⁓ there's decorations. Yeah, like what is Christmas? Maybe that's what the deeper questions that it tries to bring up, you know, like what would we define as a Christmas film? ⁓ Jose: Yeah. By the way, the next episode is going to be, what is the most Christmas? ⁓ Sorry, go ahead. No, I'm kidding. Matt: ⁓ no way. Awesome. I would say a Christmas story would answer that question. Or it's a Wonderful Life, because I think those two play nonstop on TV, right? On Christmas Day. Yeah. Jose: Yeah, true. That would probably be what the most Christmas is. There you go. We already answered it. We don't have to do the episode anymore. Yeah. Matt: Yeah. There you go, take a vacation. You're set now. Jose: Well on that note, ⁓ that has our episode. Matt, thanks for joining me on this two episode journey. ⁓ Would you like to plug anything or give shout outs? Matt: You know, I would love to, last time I shouted out the breakneck film race, this time, huh, you know. If anyone likes... ⁓ boy, I'm gonna regret this one. If anyone likes ⁓ watching video game news, ⁓ there's this channel called ⁓ PJ's Backlog and he usually gives weekly episodes. He's a little fuzzy guy and ⁓ he loves talking about the latest trends in the gaming industry. And if that is something you like to kill some time with, give him a listen. He usually drops things on Fridays ⁓ and I happen to be really good friends. with them. It doesn't, it's an avatar. It's a sentience thing, you know, I don't want to get too much into it. But check that out, PJ's backlog. ⁓ Please, yeah. Jose: Okay. want to give a shout out too as well, ⁓ if I can, to Gunge Stephen Joseph Craig's ⁓ band that he's in right now, Gunge there you ⁓ Matt: Nice. Gudge. You have more wholesome plugs than me. ⁓ Far less shameless. ⁓ Awesome. Good stuff though. This was a lot of fun though, Jose, truly. Jose: No, no, not at all. But, Yeah man, we had a good time. I think we had a good time. ⁓ perfect. So ⁓ thank you to anyone who answered our question. Also thank you for listening. If you're listening and want to know where to find the questions for future episodes, add best.mos.pod on Instagram. Also rate, like, comment, subscribe. I truly appreciate it. And remember, there are no guilty pleasures when it comes to music, movies, and all art preferences. Love what you love, enjoy what you enjoy. Matt: I'm confirming it. Yeah. Jose: That connection is such a gift. Until the next time, take care and take care of each other. Bye bye. Matt: Later.