Roy Scheider closes out his '80s with a police procedural slasher about a series of murders that tie into Astros baseball games. We brought on resident baseball expert (and horror movie enthusiast) Producer Collin to help us talk about it!
[00:00:00] It's showtime folks! It's on bad hat Harry's. What was the weight of the car when you got it there? You're not right or wrong. You just don't care. Fenway! Oh sons of bitches. I didn't know. I didn't know.
[00:00:18] Hello and welcome to episode 27 of The Complete Works season 4, a deep dive into the career and films of actor Roy Scheider. My name is Mike Smith and joining me on this journey across the Scheiderverse is my friend, co-host and fellow Roy boy. Mike Triccio. How are you doing today Mike? I'm doing great. It's an exciting day here on the pod. Yes, one of the Rare Complete Works episode where we decided to bring in an extra guest to talk about the movie with us today.
[00:00:48] This one kind of came about very last minute. Last week we were talking about the premise of this movie and we were like, you know who should we should get on for this one? Our resident baseball expert, producer Collin, is joining us this week. How are you doing Collin? I am doing great. I love that you guys saw a baseball movie that I call and should talk about this because it's about one of four things I can talk about intelligently in this world. I saw the poster for this movie was like, Collin, we gotta have Collin. It is a banger of a poster. It really is. It's a great poster. It's so good.
[00:01:18] I'm a big fan of the poster for this movie. Arguably the poster for this movie is the best thing about the movie. Well, there's no spoilers. Yeah. I'm saying this is someone who like kind of enjoyed today's movie. I don't know. That's kind of fun. Yeah. No, Collin. We've actually had a couple of baseball movies on this rush either season already. And for some reason we haven't thought to talk to you. But when we found out it was a baseball movie that was also tinged with horror, we're like, it's time for Collin to step up. We could have had you on for Tiger town. All right. Have you ever seen Tiger town?
[00:01:47] I have not. Are you familiar with it at all? Other than our episode. Okay. Did you even listen to our episode? I'm going to be honest with you guys. I'm really far behind. Yeah. Put him on blast on air. Mike. Right. In my defense, my reason for being far behind is because during baseball season, I have like three different baseball podcasts I have to listen to. And they kind of consume all of my baseball, all my podcast time. And you're telling me none of those podcasts talked about the 1983 Disney Channel original movie Tiger town.
[00:02:17] Starring Ray Scheider. They did not. The first Disney Channel original movie. The very first DCOM in which Ray Scheider plays an aging pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. It's it's not very good. It's pretty. It's a pretty bad, pretty bad movie. Fair. We'll probably watch it at some point, though, because now I'm intrigued. There you go. I think was it on YouTube, Mike? Or is it even is it easily available anywhere? Um, it was around. I don't I think that was one of the YouTube ones. Yeah. Okay.
[00:02:44] Yeah, that's that's one that's it's not on Disney Plus, uh, despite them having most of the other Disney Channel stuff. But Colin, what is your general? We'll talk about your relationship to baseball and stuff, of course, in a minute. But your your general relationship to Roy Scheider before we get into the today's episode. Not much. It's pretty much Jaws. We're coming. We're going to be. We're going to be honest. Like, yeah, listen to a handful of your guys episodes for the season. But yeah, a lot of these are just movies I've never heard of. But yeah, just just before my like movie watching time, obviously.
[00:03:14] And yeah, just haven't really seen a bunch of these. But you know, Jaws is a banger. Roy Scheider is pretty, pretty great in that. And yeah, so here we are. Can't go wrong with that, honestly. Yeah, absolutely. And weirdly, today's movie kind of similar to Jaws. You know, one of Roy Scheider's most famous roles has him portraying a police officer who has to investigate a series of dead bodies that keep popping up on the beach right around the 4th of July. Hey, you're not wrong. Actually, it's just Jaws. Yeah. Today's movie is not Jaws, but it does involve Roy Scheider doing all those things.
[00:03:43] But instead of sharks, this time we've got to deal with baseball and a guy with a hook for a hand. Somehow those are related, which is wild. We are closing out the 80s this week on this podcast. And since Roy Scheider is in today's movie, it's time to talk about Night Game. When the sun goes down and the city lights up, some people go out looking for love.
[00:04:12] But tonight, someone is looking for another victim. And tomorrow his job will be to pick up the pieces. What's your face? Best of luck. What about the perpetrator? He's got a taste for blondes. He's got a nice handwriting. Roy Scheider is a homicide cop with a long list of bodies. The man is a burnout. How did you get that big fancy yacht of yours? Very few clues.
[00:04:41] I need some outside help on this one. Says who? And his career on the line. My very best. What is that? I don't know. This killer? Maybe some kind of a celebrity.
[00:04:56] He's laughing at us. You hear him? For every dead end, there's another dead body. But the next victim could be someone he loves. Where is she?
[00:05:26] Roy Scheider. Night Game. Now, Night Game stars Roy Scheider in the lead role as Detective Mike Seaver, a former minor league baseball pitcher investigating a series of murders in Texas, which he eventually realizes are tying into Houston Astros games.
[00:05:50] His fiance, Roxy, is played by Karen Young, who is also one of the FBI agents on The Sopranos and also appeared in Jaws 4 as Brody's son's wife. Huh. Incredible. Richard Bradford from the Untouchables plays Nelson. Paul Gleeson, the vice principal from The Breakfast Club, plays Kyle Broussard, the cop who also turns out to be a pimp. Carlin Glynn from 16 Candles plays Alma, Roxy's mother. Lane Smith, who played Perry White on Lois and Clark, The New Adventures of Superman, plays Witty.
[00:06:18] Renee O'Connor from Xena, Warrior Princess plays Lorraine Beasley. And the film's killer, Floyd Epps, is played by Rex Lynn, who is in the main cast on CSI Miami and is also the U.S. Treasury agent in Cliffhanger, who betrays John Lithgow. Did you guys recognize him? Just right on the tip of everybody's tongue. Yeah, I know all of those people. Yes, of course. Night Game was written by Spencer Eastman and Anthony Palmer, who also plays Mendoza in the film.
[00:06:43] And it was directed by Peter Masterson, probably best known for writing 1982's The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. His previous film as director was released just a month earlier, 1989's Blood Red, a Western with Eric Roberts. And his next film was 1991's Convicts with Robert Duvall. Masterson was also married to Carlin Glynn, who plays Alma in the movie. And he was the father of Mary Stewart Masterson from Some Kind of Wonderful. Night Game was released on September 15th, 1989.
[00:07:11] Can you guys believe it did not make that much of a splash of the box office? What? How dare people not see this? I think it got a very, very limited theatrical release. And I think it's it's almost like a straight to HBO movie. It definitely played on HBO quite a bit in like late 89, early 1990. Openings number one that weekend, though, was Sea of Love, a neo-noir with Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin and John Goodman.
[00:07:35] The rest of the top ten consisted of Uncle Buck, Parenthood, When Harry Met Sally, Kickboxer, Lethal Weapon 2, The Abyss, Sex, Lies and Videotape, Turner and Hooch and Tim Burton's Batman. That's a movie never stood a chance. Yeah, not at all. That is a top ten right there. I would have known nothing about any of those movies, like everything equal. I would have chosen to see Night Game. That tracks.
[00:08:05] I would have seen a baseball on the poster and be like, that's the one we're seeing. Yeah. If AMC subs list or whatever existed in 1989, Colin would have been at Night Game. I would have done it without that. I would have paid full money to go because I wouldn't be able to look shit up. I would be like, yeah, baseball movie. Let's go. True. Fair enough. Iod plot synopsis for Night Game reads a Texas police detective ties pitcher strikes to a serial throat slasher. All right, Colin, we brought you on this podcast. Oh, yeah.
[00:08:35] Because because A, you are a baseball guy. And B, you're also kind of a horror movie guy. Is that right? Yeah, I love horror movies. OK, great. So yeah. And you did you know this movie existed before we told you about it? I did not. I'm pretty sure Mike D texted me and was like, do you want to come on and onto the pod? There's a slasher baseball movie. And I think he just sent me the poster to it. And I was like, I looked at it. Absolutely. I'm in. Yes.
[00:09:04] So I mean, what is your relationship to baseball, your relationship to horror movies? How did these things come come about? And then how do you feel they they merged for Night Game? All right. Well, how long do I have to talk about baseball? Because I hear all night. Let's let's limit it to a couple of minutes. That's fair. That's fair. I mean, relationship with baseball, it's as long as I can remember. My dad got me a baseball glove when I was a kid. And I decided that was my identity as a human. I'm just going to be I'm going to be the baseball guy. I played baseball till I was like 16.
[00:09:33] I threw my arm out and never saw a doctor about it. So my arm doesn't work that well anymore. And then the New York Yankees like right now is the only time you ever see me not wearing New York Yankees paraphernalia. So this is actually shocking. Yeah, yeah, it is. My hat's literally on the floor next to me. But but you just really kissed with the one soda thing. You're throwing you through your head on the floor. Truly. But but yeah, I don't probably eight, nine, 10. I just started. Yeah, it's when I really started like watching and caring a lot about baseball. And I just kept going.
[00:10:03] And then, you know, I believe it was fresh for the year. I get to live with with Mike D here. He there was a day I was watching a break. It was it was a playoff game. I don't think it was the World Series yet, but I was watching playoff baseball in our dorm room and our window is open and Mike comes into the room goes, I could hear you yelling from the podium, which is like for our schooling where all the classrooms were, which like a pretty decent walk from where our room was far from the dorms. Yeah, he's like you're an 11.
[00:10:31] I need you at like a five max. So I'm just I don't know. I really I just love baseball. It's my favorite thing in the world. Like hands down. Fair enough for the listener. Also, Colin was at game four of the World Series this year was just getting there watching the Yankees. And it's the one game that the Yankees won during the World Series this year. It's the one game they won. It was it was like top five nights of my life.
[00:10:55] It was so it was incredible that say like Yankee Stadium was a butt trick that was with two of me and Mike's friends, Dan and Penelope. And we were just it was a great time. And then, yeah, that I was immensely sad the next day. You got one good day out of it. Yes, it was really it was because you were there. I think that they won. It was much like Tigertown with Roy Scheider. That's right. He believed hard enough. I did wake up. I stayed with our friends in Queens that night. And I woke up the next day.
[00:11:23] I immediately looked at ticket prices for that for the next game. And I was like, they were three hundred dollars cheaper than the game we went to. All right. Yeah. And I was like, I could I could do it again. I could go. But I was like, I already felt hung over just like I was exhausted from just like screaming for three and a half hours. And then also, you know, had like work and stuff. It was middle of the week. I, you know, last minute told my boss I was not coming to work the next like one day because I needed to go to the World Series. Hell yeah. So huge baseball guy.
[00:11:53] And then you're also into horror movies. I know when me and my D used to go to the Hudson Horror Show. Once I moved away, you were like the replacement. You were the one who took took over for me. Do we do do we do one or two of those? Like I am. I definitely remember one. I don't maybe two. I think we did, too. The one I just think we're in the world where they play Highlander at the end of it. Yeah, that's right. That was like the last movie. It was fucking hilarious. Horror movies are a weird one for me because like growing up, neither of my parents like those types of movies.
[00:12:22] None of my friends in like from Connecticut like those types of movies. So I never got into them. And right. Like admittedly, like was a little like, you know, I was a little afraid to start watching them. I was like, man, they like they're supposed to be scary. Do I want to do this? And then it was around like a freshman year of of college where I started like dip my toes into them a little bit. I started working at FYE and made a friend there. She really liked horror. So like we started watching a bunch of horror movies together. I was like, no, this this is the genre right here.
[00:12:53] And then and then then Mike discovered Evil Dead showed me that and it was it was done for. Yes. And it all brought you to this point where you're talking about night game. It all converges. So what were your overall thoughts on night game? What do you think of this movie, Colin? I mean, I was very, very disappointed when I read when I read the plot synopsis. I was like, yo, are we going to just like have a full on slasher in a baseball stadium? Well, is that what's going to happen? Sure.
[00:13:23] No, my expectations there in the slightest. I'll leave like the reveal of everything till later. But like the reveal of like who the killer was and why was did make me laugh out loud. It was the funniest shit I've ever heard. But yeah, like the movie was fine. Like a little procedural with a little bit of a horror, like a horror slasher type of, you know, type of a twist to it. But it was like mostly fine. It felt like they had like introduced a bunch of different storylines that went nowhere like throughout the movie.
[00:13:51] And I was like, why does why do I care about this one guy who's supposedly a pimp? Like I know he's like the subject, but it feels very just tangentially there. Yeah, it was it was fine. I gave it a three point five or three, three stars out of five on Letterboxd, which was like a two point five star movie. And it got an extra point five stars for all of the baseball player names that were dropped throughout the movie.
[00:14:16] I lost my mind when they said, oh, my God, I lost the guy on the Mets that gets paid once a year. Bobby Bonilla. And I was like, what the fuck? Dude, the Bobby Bonilla name drop, like Ken Caminiti, Barry Bonds, like they were just dropping them left to the right. I was like, this is incredible. But unfortunately, not enough to carry the movie. Like I saw it. I saw it. Fun, like, you know, fun with parts of it. But overall, it was probably never going to watch it again. Fair enough. Also, I mean, they are shooting at the Astrodome, which is pretty cool.
[00:14:46] Yeah. Seeing the Astrodome, like as soon as the movie starts, like the first like scene is just the Astrodome. I was like, right, this is the it's the Astrodome, not not Minute Maid Park. Fuck that place. The Astrodome is sick. Also, just like, fuck the Astros. Just want to put that out there. Interesting. On the record, what's the issue with the Astros? Oh boy. Bunch of cheating bastards. I think I remember that. Was that like a plate gate type thing? They were deflating baseballs. They were. That was football. I remember. But I feel like there's a similar thing in baseball.
[00:15:16] They were stealing signs, right? Yeah. So in 2017, they were stealing signs. So like you have a video room. People will be watching video during the games and stuff. But like, you're not supposed to take this live feed and like give information to the team. But the Astros were doing that. So like they'd have people like they'd have cameras set up like in their home park that were like angled at the catcher to like watch the pitch signs. And then they would see these in the video room and relay them to the batter by banging on a trash can.
[00:15:44] It was it was basically it was one step beyond like cup and string. Like, yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, truly. And like, it's one thing they did it. But they also won the World Series that year and knocked the Yankees out of the right. Yes. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so. So, so, so from your perspective, because everybody who died was an Astros fan in the movie, they deserve it. I mean, yeah. Well, yeah, they probably deserve it. All right.
[00:16:13] Mike D, what are your overall thoughts on night game? What were you expecting from this movie and we get coming out of it? Yeah, going into a night game, I was really hoping that this would be a like a movie that would much like Collins base baseball glove when he was a child would become my personality. I was like, this is going to be the movie that I'll be telling everybody about for years to come to be like, oh my God. Yeah, whatever. It was frost. He's great. You ever heard about night game? Like what? Like anything, you know, that's what I was expecting.
[00:16:40] Um, and I don't think it really quite lives up to that, which might've been unrealistic expectations on my part. It's the case of the premise being so good that it's really hard for the movie to live up to, right? Yeah. The premise, the poster, everything we were talking about already being like, holy shit, this is going to be the best movie ever. It's the perfect conjunction of interests. Uh, it's a slasher. Uh, it's Roy Scheider. It's this kind of, uh, forgotten gem or possible thing, possibly forgotten gem and all that stuff.
[00:17:09] And, uh, yeah, it just kind of all boils down to like, yeah, it's okay. I don't know. I had fun. I was expecting a maybe grime your movie. We've come off a couple, you know, Cohen Tate and stuff like that. Just mean fucked up movies. Uh, and I was really hoping this would be another kind of fucked up grimy movie. It's mostly just fine. It's a lot of Roy Scheider driving around Houston, listening to a baseball game. Which that's pretty cool. We like when that happens in once upon a time in Hollywood, right? I don't know why that's, that's fun. Uh, but there's something missing in this one with that.
[00:17:38] And yeah, I think I agree with Colin. There's a lot of sort of extraneous stuff going on as much as I love the scenes when it's the principal from breakfast club and Roy Scheider, like going at it. And they're like, got their cowboy hats touching almost. And they're like yelling at each other, uh, giving each other bloody doses and stuff. And then having to pretend they didn't get in a fight. Um, when the governor or whoever that guy was shows up the DA. Yeah. It's sort of just missing, missing, missing the extra oomph, that extra, whatever it is. I don't, I don't even really can't quite put my finger on it.
[00:18:05] I did feel this movie is also like 95 minutes. It's not long, uh, but it feels kind of slow. Like I feel like Roy Scheider takes a long time to catch up to the fact that the movie is named night game. Like we know what the fuck is going on and they spend so long before they figure out what the fuck is going on. Um, and so it, it drags a little bit, uh, I guess a little slowly, a little boring. Um, which maybe that's part of not being not this movie, not ending up being like, Oh, this is I'm the night game guy now.
[00:18:35] So, so I mean, it's not bad. It's just, it's okay. Yeah. I think I'm right there with you. I think it's an okay time. I think we all gave it exactly three stars and letterboxd. Yeah. Uh, it's a pretty cromulent movie. Yeah. You know, a three can mean a lot of things, but I think, uh, in this case it's, you know, I, there are enough elements about it that I liked where I had an okay enough time watching it. Uh, but I wouldn't like recommend it to people. I was really hoping for some kind of, you know, undiscovered gem. Uh, and it's not really quite like that. Uh, but it does have its pleasures.
[00:19:04] You know, it's, it's got some good kills in there. I think the last like 10, 15 minutes are pretty like solidly tense. Like once they finally like get to the killer reveal. And of course he's going after Ray Shatter's fiance. So there's a personal thing about it too. You know, there are a million different subplots that don't seem to go anywhere. You have to follow the fact that he and this girl get married and then he has a contentious relationship with her mother. Uh, and that's a whole high school. I really don't like how much this movie goes to great lengths to make sure we know she's
[00:19:35] really young. Like, it'd be one thing if they just never acknowledge it. Everyone is giving Shatter shit for it in the movie. The whole movie. It's so weird. Uh, yeah, well, like I said, she plays Roy Shatter's son's wife in Jaws 4. Yeah. Which is the second time that happened. That happened to the girl from Jaws 2. Yes. His son's girlfriend was, uh, his love interest in the men's club. In the men's club. Yeah. Which is weird. Very bizarre. There's a one scene where he's like talking about how he met his fiance.
[00:20:04] He's like, you were 18. You think I want to forget, you know, this person's daughter? I'm like, that is so weird, dude. Very comfortable. Someone, someone wrote this. And said, that's a good line. Uh, I think, I think what I, what kind of holds it back? I mean, this is a, uh, you know, it's sort of a slasher movie. I think, I think it's still qualified as a slasher. Uh, but it's, it's heavier on the police procedural part, but I think it's also at a time when like, this is 1989 and the slasher genre, uh, has been like the dominant form of horror for like the last 10 years at this point.
[00:20:34] It's a huge thing in the eighties. There's a million different franchises, uh, that are horror slashers, Friday, 13th nightmare on the streets. And I feel like we're at the point now where the slasher genre is starting to wane. Like it's getting a little bit tired. Uh, you know, cause there was, there was like a kind of a long gap where there weren't really slasher movies up until scream came out and kind of revitalized the genre in 96. Uh, and so I think we're kind of at that point in this movie where you're like, yeah, we get it. Like, yeah, I mean, I mean the first time the first kill is the collateral.
[00:21:04] Classic killer POV, the guy stalking her through the parking lot and all this stuff. And then she's dies. I mean, I think that kind of happens a few times, but I feel like it does that and then doesn't really lean into the slashery in this. It's kind of like shorthand. Like you're saying like, yeah, we get it. Everybody understands what you're doing. Like whatever. Yeah. And they just sort of move on from it. Yeah. And then it kind of goes more into a police procedural stuff, which that is some of the more compelling stuff in the movie when it's just Ray Scheider, like kind of looking at evidence. These scenes where it's the guy is kind of in the screening room and they're kind of going
[00:21:33] through all the photographic evidence of like what they've seen so far. I liked those scenes quite a bit. Um, where he's like running out to throw up. Right? Yes. He's the Andy from Twin Peaks. Yeah, exactly. Who's incompetent and like can't handle this kind of stuff. Uh, or it's rich and Ray Scheider. She's like lean back. He sends it ties to it all. So relax. Yeah. Which is so funny to consider that like, oh, he was a minor league baseball player, so he's sort of had a career already.
[00:21:59] And then he, now he's also a grizzled, like dead to the world homicide detective. Right. Much like a Roy Scheider's real life career where he was like an amateur boxer for a while and then like a pilot or something. And then he became an actor at like age 40. That's true. Good point. Uh, and also, yeah, this is like the third or fourth time he's played a baseball player. Uh, cause I mean, Tiger town, obviously in which he is, uh, which we all know in the, in the men's club, he is also, uh, like a retired baseball player. Right.
[00:22:27] He, uh, then is the, is now like a college professor. So yeah, we, a weird, like through line through the Roy Scheider filmography, which obviously we, you know, when bring up the shadow roles we've seen so far, those are two to bring up, I would also bring up a paper lion, which similarly to this movie, like this movie, I think one of its kind of selling points is the fact that it has like footage of the Astrodome with like games being played there and all that kind of stuff. Uh, and paper lion was a similar thing where it was, um, the Detroit lions, right?
[00:22:53] That like they were showing like the 66 lineup of them, like just playing games. Uh, and it's like all the real life players and everything. Uh, so yeah, kind of a neat, uh, a weird through line between a lot of different movies in shadow's career. I think, yeah, it's another one of those movies and other things like the, uh, we've talked about a bunch of the shadow movies, particularly because they go back to the seventies and the sixties and stuff, but like movies as like cultural artifact. Uh, and we get to see, we talked about that with the outside man, I think, and like California, right. And that, you know, you're right. Like just getting to see seventies LA, right? Yeah.
[00:23:23] Seventies LA stuff like that. And yeah, this is 89 Houston, which is very funny. There's a bunch of times where it's like, ah, the Houston skyline. Like there's a lot of like weird establishing shots of the city. Uh, and you're like, this is a marsh. What are we looking at? Uh, this is weird. Um, the very eighties, like saxophone score, a company, the whole thing, baby. This, the score rules. The score is sick. Yeah. Just so funny for 90 minutes. Peak saxophone. Yeah.
[00:23:52] Uh, but Ray Shatter is in night game. What did you guys think is from his performance in the movie? Colin, we'll start with you without, well, you don't have the context of 26 other Ray Shatter episodes to, uh, to talk about that. That's very true. I mean, I, I thought he, I thought he was fun. Like all like the, you know, the creepy premises about his whole relationship aside. Like, I think, I thought he did a good job of just like selling like the, the police procedural part of it. I thought his like the interpersonal relationships that he has, like he is so very distinct relationships with people like throughout this movie.
[00:24:21] And I think like just watching him go in between like these different ones was very fun. You know, his fiance's mom who hates him and he's just like hates her, but it's trying to like buy her approval with like TVs and shit. Like this whole bit where he buys her the TV and then like later he's like in the car. He's like, I shouldn't really say thank you. You know, she said, thanks, just throw it, throw it off, whatever. Outside the door on the porch. Right. Right. But yeah, just like getting to see him, like have all these like very different relations
[00:24:50] with different people throughout the movie. I think, you know, I thought he sold all those very well. I was, he was fun to watch. I don't think that the movie around him was super compelling. And then like that last, like the confrontation with the killer. I thought that scene was super fun. They're just fighting on like on the edge of like this restaurant on a pier. And like he was, he was good. The rest of the movie. Meh. Fair enough. Mike D what did you think of first shadow in this movie? Um, yeah, I think, I think he, uh, is pretty fun to watch. Uh, even like Colin was saying, even if the movie around him is maybe not that great.
[00:25:19] I think he is just born to be like a guy, like he, like just a quintessential man. Um, so like I said, those, those scenes at crime scenes, uh, where it's him and the principal from breakfast club, like going toe to toe about their shared history or whatever. There's like some implication that one of them, I don't know, like killed somebody or something like, I don't know. They never really explained why they hate each other or like stepped on each other's jurisdiction or something like that. Those scenes are all great. Right.
[00:25:46] His relationship with the like sergeant or Lieutenant or whatever, the white hair guy, uh, is really fun. I think. And that one dude that's like in charge of the evidence, that's just like, is it a bucket hat hanging out at a lot of the crimes? I don't know. I, there's just a lot of guys in this movie and they're all pretty fun, um, to watch. Even if the scenes, even if, even if like not a ton of stuff is going on, like I wish this more movie was more honed in on the procedural's part of it. There's a lot of stuff also where it's like, isn't this newfangled computer interesting?
[00:26:14] And we're just going to look up information on computers for a long time. Right. And stuff like that. Um, there is one moment where it's like, okay, here's the image you gave me and now here it is blown up 600 times. And then again, which is like in perfect high anxiety. It's so funny. Um, but, uh, yeah, so I think, I think Shider is pretty good and he's back in the, back in the, like, uh, world weary grizzle. I've done it all kind of guy, uh, which is his wheelhouse. You know, he's really good at that. Yeah.
[00:26:43] And he's played a lot of cops, uh, over the course of his career and, uh, you know, he's played a lot of baseball players and now he finally gets to merge those two, those two things together. Really found a niche for himself. He did. Yeah. The third time. It's crazy. Yeah, no, I think he's a, he's very good in the movie, but it's, I think maybe it's just kind of taken out by the fact that it's like, yeah, I've seen him played this exact kind of role several times before, you know, he's, he was a cop in French connection. He's obviously a cop in jaws, uh, and in jaws too. Uh, he's a cop in a movie. I I'm blanking on it or whatever it was.
[00:27:13] I was going to say 52 pickup, but he's not a cop in that. Uh, no, but that's like similar kind of guy, even, even outside man where he's a hit man, but he's like this kind of role. Like he's like, you know, he's done it all. He's the professional version. He's the, the elite cohen and tape. He's the, the over the hill grizzled assassin, right? It's like, it's a similar kind of thing that he's done before. Yes, exactly. And so this one allows him to stretch a little bit, I think with it, I mean, he gets to do some more broader comedy with, uh, with, uh, his fiance's mom, which is so bizarre to see,
[00:27:42] the scene where, uh, she's picked up the wedding dress is so insane. He's like, you're costing me too much toots. Like what is going like, what's happening? It's like, we agreed to a small wedding and now we got 60, 70 people coming to this thing. Uh, insane. But yeah, I do think he's pretty fun in the movie, but, uh, do you have any other, uh, roles that you think, uh, this fits into the shatter filmography might that, uh, we've seen so far how we pretty much covered all that. Yeah. I think we've covered a lot of those. I can't think of any real off the top of my head that we haven't talked about.
[00:28:10] So yeah, it's another authority, another cop. It's another romantically involved in a young lady. I guess it's really only men's club specifically. What about you, Mike? Anything else that's jumps out? No, I mean, I think that pretty much covers that. Uh, but what are the scenes or moments that stand out to you in this movie guys, Colin, anything that you wanted to bring up in night game that you feel like we should talk about? So like a, Bob Benia mentioned hilarious, even though also still fuck them. That's right now. Give me one.
[00:28:39] So to Mac, I just, I really related to just like the baseball fan in him, the entire movie every time, like his fan hood would like come up and be part of a scene. I was like, yeah, I get that. Like there's a scene where, uh, his fiance is just like working a crime or you're watching baseball. It's like, fuck. Yeah, man. That's me during baseball season. It's working baseball. And like, yeah, like when he was driving, he's driving around like the, uh,
[00:29:07] the radio starts, he loses like signal on the radio. So he's the games like breaking up. I was like, yeah, been there, done that. That sucks. Um, especially like part of like the confusion with like what the killer is doing was because a radio announcer said the wrong name. Right. And the number of times, like you listen to a baseball game on the radio, it's like, yeah, they fuck up names all the time. It happens. And so it's like, just like, I do think the, the, like the movie did a good job.
[00:29:37] Like encapsulating, like what it was like to try to follow sports in like the eighties. Like there's a scene where he's walking out of the office. He goes, what's the Astros score? And she goes in like the secretary is like seven to four. He was seven for who she's like, I don't know. And I was like, man, yeah, that like, would it just be readily available information? Like if you're not watching the game, like, you know, like, you don't, they don't got, they don't have smartphones to go just like check their, their little sports app. So it's like, that, that was all pretty funny.
[00:30:05] And then the killer's motivation to start killing these people. I did die laughing at it because he's just like, it's so funny. He gets sent down to the minors to, to, and is replaced by this other guy. And then his bus crash on the same day, same day. And he loses his pitching hand. I, the reveal of that, what he's like, the guy's like lost his hand. Dot, dot, dot. Very pregnant pause. His pitching hand.
[00:30:33] It's like, yeah, they say that. And my first thought is Jim Abbott, who is a, yeah. He pitched for a lot of teams, but he also, he pitched for the Yankees. He threw a no hitter for the Yankees. He had one hand, but obviously he has his dominant hand. So he could, he could throw the ball, but like he would, when he was pitching, he would put his glove over like the, the nub of his other arm and just balance it there while he pitched. And then we'll land in a fielding position to have to put his glove on to like field his position.
[00:31:03] Crazy. I was like, I was like, man, are we going to get like a Jim Abbott situation? And like that, like five second pause before they say, yeah. Yeah. Right. His pitching hand was like, oh shit. I also like that. Um, wait, wait, wait. So you don't really see the killer for a long time. Yeah. You, they, they kind of obscure him. You don't actually know what he looks like for a while. Uh, when they finally do reveal him, it's like, yeah, of course this guy's the murderer. Yeah. He looks like such a murderer and also a 1980s relief pitcher. True. True.
[00:31:33] He, they really nailed that casting. I'll give it to them. Like smoking cigarettes and drinking beers in the dugout. Like, yeah. Yeah. He looks like the guy in too many cooks. Like the, uh, yeah. Just like the creepy guy in the background of too many cooks. Uh, yeah. Like when he shows up and it's like, oh yeah, here's this, like this guy with a hook for a hand. And there's a bit when he's stalking, um, Roxy, uh, Scheider's fiance towards the end. And he's just like standing in the back of the, uh, at the nightclub. Uh, or it's just like, yep, that guy's a murderer.
[00:32:03] Yep. He's like sitting at the bar and they're watching the game or listening to the game and they bring in the reliever that like triggers him. Uh, and he's just like scratching his hook across like D like deep gouge down the bar. And you're like, well, this is the murderer. Obviously. This is the guy. Uh, yeah. And so, and so yeah, he, um, he loses his hand in that, uh, bus accident. It gets replaced with a hook and now he is slashing people. Basically it's every time that pitcher comes in Silberetto, uh, who's like the new hot shot
[00:32:33] pitcher for the Astros who replaced him. Uh, every time he gets, gets a strikeout or something, uh, save. Every time he wins the game, he wins a game, which like, this is why my expectations movies were this for this movie was like, so off base. When I, when you read the plot synopsis and it's like, you know, there's like murders happening, like relations to this pitcher strikes. I was like, yo, are we going to have just like this dude going around a baseball stadium and like when the stadium erupts cause their pitcher got a strikeout, he fucking off somebody. Cause I want that movie.
[00:33:02] That sounds awesome. Yes, absolutely. That's it. That's not what the movie is though. Unfortunately. So yeah, it's basically, so whenever they win a game, so every time like that pitcher wins the game for the Astros, uh, then this guy goes out and kills someone. Uh, it's sex workers at first and then it becomes like other people as well. Uh, he kills like two girls, like in the carnival, like the fun house mirror, the fun house, the fun house kills. Like I, I dug that scene. Those are pretty, that's fun. Yeah, that was pretty cool. Uh, I think the kills in this movie are generally pretty good.
[00:33:32] Uh, you know, the, and yeah, it, and there's just like the brutality of using his, his hook hand to do it as well. But like towards the end when it's like he confronts Scheider, he feels like, um, Buster and he's like, I think the question is that it's happening like every time, uh, Silberetto wins a game for the Astros.
[00:34:00] So, but when he does figure it out, it's like a big, like light bulb going off. Yeah. Uh, and he, he only figures it out because he like throws a newspaper down, like next to like the killer, like the dead body pictures. And it's like, wait a second. Wait a second. It all makes sense. Yes. Uh, might D any, any scenes or anything that you wanted to, uh, to bring up in night game. Well, we sort of talked about him a lot. I did. I did really like any time it's them looking at crime scene photos and it's that guy with
[00:34:30] the slideshow and all that stuff in particular. I don't know. It's just, just something about the way these are just like, uh, guys, like I talked about before. I don't know. There, there's just something very believable about it. The new guy, this is his first case, like we said, and he's like running out of the room cause he can't handle it. And they're all ribbing them and they're give me the boat. You're in there, whatever. I don't know. Like I, it was just, just interesting and fun. And, and, uh, it felt exciting with the procedural aspect of it. And it wasn't just bogged down by something else. So I had fun with those scenes. I think the kills are pretty good.
[00:34:59] I did feel weird every time grown ass man, Roy Scheider, old man, Roy Scheider pulls up to a carnival booth to talk to his, uh, girl, his fiance. Like this feels odd, but it is pretty fun. And just in, in the like kind of silly sliminess of it all. And, and like, she's like, I want to be alone. I'm going dancing. Right. And she's like, goes out to clubs to dance with guys. Uh, but they all know her, her fiance and are like, how's it going with him?
[00:35:28] And she's like, Oh, you've ruined this. I'd like, like, like storms out all bad. We're supposed to talk about him tonight. We're supposed to dance. We're just going to dance. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, I think at that point she, like, she was, uh, he was going to go to a movie with her and then he ditches her to go like, uh, you know, investigate a crime. I think to go talk to, uh, Silberetto's wife. Right. To go to her house. And he's supposed to pick her up from the movie and he doesn't, he like forgets, or is there way later than he's supposed to.
[00:35:54] And so she's standing by the theater and some guy comes up and is like, Hey Roxy, what's going on? And she's, uh, and picks her up and they go dancing. Yeah. But then, yeah, he asks about Ray Shider and she's like, Oh, but then the next day she's back home in the apartment and she's making them breakfast. It's like, Oh, you don't want anything? Yeah. And yeah, I love that, that Shider when he goes to Silberetto's apartment or talking to a fiance or whatever, it is like looking at their, their wedding photograph of them coming out of the church. And he's like, and who's this guy?
[00:36:23] Like, you know, this murderer looking fellow I see in the back. Yeah. He looks weird. If only someone could blow this picture up a thousand times. If only we had the technology. I think just overall, the movies got its moments for sure. I just wish, I wish it came together better. Yeah, absolutely. But I do like the, uh, the last like 10, 15 minutes when it is Epps, uh, chasing down Roxy and then fighting Ray Shider, which is, is very fun. I mean, when they, they are confronting the guy, like they get thrown through a window
[00:36:52] and they're like going up the ladder and stuff like that. And the hook is just going everywhere. Uh, the hook gets stuck in the wood and he's like all that stuff. Uh, and then Shider shoots him a couple of times. They have to like fight for the gun and shoots him a couple of times. He goes overboard and he's like, just his dead bodies floating in the water. All that stuff. Pretty good. Uh, and then, uh, the little epilogue where, uh, Roxy get married and they go to an Astros game and, uh, it's like, Hey, I win one for me, Barreto. And that's it. They're at the game in their tuxedo and wedding gown. Yeah.
[00:37:22] This is Colin's dream. This is actually what he wants. Yep. So just quick aside, another baseball story from Colin. So it was like, uh, probably eight, nine, 10 years ago. My family was doing like a family reunion, uh, at a Yankees game. And we're on the subway, like going to, going to stadium. And there's these two people wearing Cleveland, like Jersey and stuff, which was weird. The Yankees weren't playing Cleveland that day. And I just like started throwing eggs at them or whatever.
[00:37:48] I started talking to them and they were like, yeah, we're just like trying, we're like working our way to all the all 30 baseball parks, which is like a thing I'm also doing. It takes a long time. It's very expensive. Yeah. But, uh, they were like, yeah. So we got married a year ago. We got married at the all-star game, like on the field the day before the game. And I was just like, what's going to file that away for the future? I don't know. That's way too much money. Let you do that. Right. I was like, that's insane.
[00:38:18] But, uh, but yeah, so I was like, when we have that scene of them, like in their wedding at times at a baseball game, I'm like, yeah, I'm on board. It's like, this makes perfect sense for me. That seems so funny too, because it's not in between innings. Like there's a guy up to bat and I think people on base and he just walks off the field to go talk to these guys. Yeah. I think you'd be ejected. I don't know. Yeah. People are yelling at him when he's doing it. Yeah.
[00:38:46] I'm going to get back on the mound, but also like still didn't have any part in like the investigation or anything. So it's also very weird that he comes up to the guy who like solved it. It was like, you know, it has like that moment with him. It was like, what? What? Yeah, that's actually true. Uh, cause yeah, his wife is, uh, is questioned by Roy Scheider for one scene. And he's never like actually involved. I mean, obviously he's probably heard now at this point that like what happened and like the fact that the killing was like because he kept winning games.
[00:39:14] So maybe he has like some residual guilt from sure, from all that. And he's also grateful to Roy Scheider for, for all that. One other scene that I did really like was like the fake out kill scene with rock Roxy when she's like in the phone booth. Yeah. We see, we see, I was like, you know, stalking her. They do the car scene and she's in the phone booth and someone opens it. It's just some asshole who wants to use the phone. It's like, lady, get off the phone. I gotta use it too. Those assholes. Um, yes. I don't know.
[00:39:41] I also, like I said, I've mentioned it a bunch of times, but, and all the confrontation scenes between Scheider and the other cops, uh, specifically the principal from the breakfast club, breakfast club, uh, who turns out to be a pimp or whatever. Right. Um, yes, that like, it's a bit towards the end where it's like, by the way, we're taking you away. Yeah. And also you're a character in this. I'd get a defense attorney for what? But they're just fun together to watch.
[00:40:06] Speaking of, we were, uh, this past weekend I was at a cabin with some friends, like an Airbnb situation, kind of just hanging out and drinking some beers. At the very end of it, we thought about doing this. We didn't cause there was a very nice older couple, but there was like a guest book that you're supposed to like sign out. Uh, and we were like, man, it would be really funny if we just like did the ending letter from the breakfast club. That'd be really good. Just dear principal Vernon. We accept the fact that we had to be here on a Saturday.
[00:40:34] But, but alas, anyway, any other thoughts about a night game before you start wrapping this up guys? Give me night game to where the murders are happening at a baseball game. And I mean, they're so fast. That really feels like that should have been what the movie was, right? That's once you hear the premise of the movie, you're like, okay, killings are happening inside the Astrodome. Yeah. And that's not quite what it is. Just so just a waste of a perfect movie poster. And that's my true thought. Genuinely. It is a for those who don't know what the movie poster looks like.
[00:41:02] It is a picture of a baseball with a hook hand that's going through it. And the tagline is when it comes to murder, it ain't over till it's over. She's also also three strikes. She's dead. That's so good. Oh, man. Three strikes. She's dead. All right. Should we get into the letterbox reviews for night game? See what people have to say. Here we go. It's a three star review from Todd Gaines.
[00:41:30] Roy Scheider, major league baseball, a killer slicing and dicing after a particular pitcher wins a night game. What is not to love? Roy Scheider is a man's man. He's about as macho as Randy Savage. His character has a girlfriend a third of his age. You can tell Scheider could care less, but it is still fun to watch him do his thing. Night game is all 80s from the music to the fashion. Night game screams 80s awesomeness. Night game suffers a bit from pacing issues, but it is still well worth a watch. Yeah.
[00:41:58] It's also a fun title to say night game. Oh, maybe. Yeah. Never forget what they almost took from us. Yes. Uh, here's another three star review from Andrew Jupin. I found this rather enjoyable with its fun combo of sleazy cops, bad beer, stale cigarettes, grimy sex, beach towns and 1970s crime thriller vibes. Except it was released in 1989. Uh, Scheider is at his leathery best here, but, but the movie doesn't quite stick the landing and seems to forget about three to four storylines.
[00:42:28] It introduces along the way. Really cool footage of the Astrodome though, which that's the second week in a row that I think Roy Scheider has been described as leathery. Yeah. He's getting more and more leathery. Yes. I think that's fair to say. I got one more of you here. It's a three star review from Chris cabin, uh, which reads Ace Ventura pet detective reconfigured as a leisurely yet grisly thriller about an actual police detective who lives in Houston instead of Florida and is sufficiently less bigoted than ace better than that sounds.
[00:42:57] That is the one thing about Ace Ventura that everybody forgets. Um, doesn't age well. Doesn't age great. Yes. Uh, I, I have not watched Ace Ventura since I was maybe like 12. Uh, and it's one of those things where like, I bet there's some bits in the movie that are still pretty funny, but man, I remember how it ends. Yeah. Yep. That can't be good anymore. Um, yeah. So there's that. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:43:20] I think, I think maybe I thought I was hoping this movie, uh, would be more like, this is a movie that Mike ended up not liking as much as me, but like angel. Like I thought this would be like that kind of movie, something that might fit in more with like a trash vault or, or like Hudson horror shows kind of thing or whatever. But I don't think it really like lives up to those kinds of late seventies, more sleazy stuff. Um, yeah, it's, it's just not sleazy enough. I think that's it. Yeah. It's got the shelf for it. It just didn't lean in enough. Yeah. Yes.
[00:43:50] Uh, all right. Well, I think that's going to wrap things up on this week's episode of complete works. Colin, thank you so much for joining us this week to talk about night game. Uh, sorry that it didn't like, sorry that it wasn't a secret masterpiece. Uh, I just felt like, Oh, these are Collins two main interests kind of colliding in one place. Oh yeah. And sorry that we didn't think to bring you on for tiger town because obviously that was up in your wheelhouse. Also rules going forward. If you have to talk about a James Bond movie, you get Nick on.
[00:44:19] If you have to talk about baseball movie, get me on here. Perfect. Yes, absolutely. Uh, there's, there's a reason we talked about undrafted on this podcast and it was, uh, it was Colin. If you have 90 minutes and need to watch a baseball movie, watch undrafted. Yeah. Undrafted is very good. Uh, which by the way, Colin, uh, again, I'm reminding you again, Ephus, as soon as it comes out, I got to watch it. Literally every time you send a text for like the music league or whatnot, I think to myself, don't forget Ephus. Cause that movie sounds so goddamn good. Uh, I've seen it twice.
[00:44:49] Uh, it's fantastic. Uh, we played it at Montana film festival earlier this year. Uh, it is, it is getting released. I think in March. Yeah. I will, I will be there. Yes. Uh, see a year. It's going to be your favorite movie of all time. That's my, I, I don't want to overhype it. I think it will be your new favorite movie. If it can, if it can unsee money ball as like my favorite baseball movie, I will be thoroughly impressed. I think there's a good chance. That's a problem. I, there's a good chance that could happen.
[00:45:17] When I saw money ball in theaters should keep doing baseball stories on this podcast. Uh, so it came out when we were in college. It was like me and Mike's junior year. And my girlfriend and I went to go see money box. It came out. I was like, obviously I need to see this movie immediately. We walked out of the cross gates, uh, movie theater. Incredible. And, and my girlfriend's like, Hey, like, what do you want to do now? I was like, I'll be honest with you. I kind of want to go see money ball again. And she goes, we can see it again.
[00:45:47] And I was like, no, I mean right now. And she goes, I'm not seeing money ball again. I was like, okay, what if I went to see money ball? She was like, here's the money for the bus home. She was like, I'll take a bus back to campus. It's all right. Hell yeah. D rock. That just gave him my $15 and went to go see this movie. Nice. Uh, yeah, money.
[00:46:16] I also liked money ball. It's perfect. Perfect. So I, I have been meaning to rewatch it. I think I liked it quite a bit when I came out, but I feel like if I watch it again, I'd be like, oh yeah, this is great. This is, this is, it's incredible. It's so good. That's better. Yeah. But okay. Interesting. All right. Well, producer Colin, thank you once again for joining us for night game. Where can we find you online this week? Uh, you can find me on Twitter at, at Schmed lap nine and on letterbox at C styles one nine nine one where I'm actually logging my movies.
[00:46:46] Remember to do that the entire year. Hell yeah. Uh, all right. Mike D where can we find you online this week? You can find me at MD film blog on Twitter and letterbox and blue sky. You can also find the show on blue sky. Now at Mike and Mike pods, that BS guy dot social or whatever it is on there. And if you want to donate, support the show, you can do that on our coffee page, which is coffee.com slash Mike and Mike pods, where you can donate $50 and pick a topic for a bonus episode of Mike and Mike go to the movies, talk about whatever move you want.
[00:47:15] $50. Go do it. We double dog dare you. And if you want merch, we have merch available on a red bubble, which is Mike and Mike pods dot red bubble.com. That's right. All right. You can find me online at M Smith film blog on Twitter and blue sky, Mike Smith film on letterbox radio, Mike sandwich and Instagram. Uh, thank you for listening to the works. I'm Mike Smith. That's my decree show. And that is producer Colin. Don't forget to rate interview the show on Apple podcasts or any other podcast app. And if you want to contact us, you can tweet at us at complete works pod, uh, W R K S no Oh in the word works.
[00:47:43] You can find the rest of our podcast on rapture press alongside many other podcasts, what kinds of comic books and movie news and all that good stuff. Our theme song was created by Kyle Cullen, who you can reach for your own podcast themes at Kyle's podcast themes at gmail.com. And our logo was designed by Mac V or at fearless guard on Twitter. Next week, Roy Scheider reunites with his 52 pickup director, John Frankenheimer for a cold war thriller titled the fourth war. Uh, yeah, I had, I had no idea. We had a second Frankenheimer that was coming our way. This is very exciting.
[00:48:12] I want to know no further information because I'm just, I've, I've been burned by night game, but surely this time it'll be different. Yes. Uh, that is the hope Colin. Do you have any, uh, I mean, like you, we, uh, kind of covered your relationship to Roy Scheider is that you don't have one. Uh, but are there any movies, uh, coming up in the season that you were looking forward to? Considering I don't know what's coming up? No, but I do want to watch the, um, the sequel, uh, two of them on a space.
[00:48:42] Honestly, you guys talked about that sounded awesome. Yeah. 2010, the year of make contact 2010 guy. Yeah. I like D is not, but I'm a big 2010 guy. I was, I was driving home from somewhere and I was like, was looking for, I was like, just scrolling through your feet. And I was like, find a one that's like a movie I might want to go watch afterwards. So like that guy, but I listened to it. I was like, yeah, this movie sounds kind of awesome. It's pretty good. High recommend. Uh, all right, Colin, once again, thank you for joining us on the podcast. Appreciate it.
[00:49:08] Uh, remember to check out our other podcasts, Mike, Mike, go to the movies for all kinds of other movie related stuff, including recent releases, ranked lists, general discussions, and a lot more. Thanks so much for listening guys. And remember to always Royd between the lines. So I looked at more information and it just gets better. Every line for the fourth war for fourth wall, fourth war. Yeah.
[00:49:35] Co-stars Juergen Prochnow, Harry Dean Stanton, music by Bill Conti, ah, distributed by Canon films. I'm in this one. It'll be my personality. I know it. Yeah. Yeah.