It's time for another Mike Makes Mike Watch! This week, Mike D is making Smith watch John Sayles' thrilling neo-noir LONE STAR, while Smith is making Mike D catch up with Weird Al Yankovic in 1989's UHF!
[00:00:02] Let's get together, talk about the movies that we saw this week. We'll have discussions, talk film news, we'll laugh a lot and act like geeks. Sometimes we'll have a guest or two, sometimes it's just the two of us. Let's crack some jokes and tell some folks to come along and hang with us! I can't!
[00:00:31] Now look at them yo-yos, that's the way you do it. You make a podcast talking movies. That ain't working, that's the way you do it. Movies for nothing and your mics for free. And that's, uh, I didn't do any more of the song. Yeah, probably good. Probably for the best. I was trying to figure out how to do the, uh, we've got to install microwave ovens, but I couldn't figure it out.
[00:00:58] That's a lot of weird syllables. Yeah. Yes. Uh, that's right. It is Mike and Mike go to the movies. I'm Mike Smith and joining me as always is a small town sheriff investigating the sins of his father roughly 30 years ago. Mike D'Cruccio. Hey, how are you doing it, Mike? I'm doing great trying to escape the, uh, ceaseless march of time and the repercussions through generations of trauma. I guess I don't really know what that's about. Yeah. No, I think you pretty much got it. That sums it up.
[00:01:28] Yeah. Yes. Uh, so today we are doing a, uh, a Mike makes Mike watch episode, Mike, uh, where of course I make you watch something that you've never seen before. You make me watch something that I've never seen before. And we talk about both of those movies. We do one of these once a month. And the first two that we did this year, we kind of stumbled onto like double features that kind of work like that. The movies were kind of like thematically relevant to each other. Right. I think in January we did, uh, I made you watch Assassin's just James, but the coward Robert Ford.
[00:01:55] And you made me watch the great silence, uh, both Westerns, both snowy, both kind of dealing with similar themes about revenge, all that stuff. Right. Yep. And then in February you made me watch terror in a Texas town. I made you watch nobody. Both movies about like kind of one man against a world, uh, you know, out to get him and writing wrongs, writing wrongs, avenging his family, all that, all that stuff. Right. This time around,
[00:02:18] uh, you made me watch, uh, the 1996 John sales film Lone Star, uh, a kind of Neo Western mystery film, uh, starring Chris Cooper. And I made you watch UHF starring weird. Yeah. I don't know what it says about me that I've picked three Westerns in a row. They're about revenge and grieving and, um, writing the wrongs against the, against the world. Uh, don't read anything into it. Sure. Yeah.
[00:02:48] My dad are fine. Uh, why'd you ask? Thanks. You were great. Just where you're at psychologically at the moment. Um, yeah. And, uh, yeah, I picked UHF. Um, it's, uh, yeah. So, uh, I'm excited to, uh, dig into these movies, Mike, but which one of these should we start off with? Which one do you think we should talk about first?
[00:03:06] So I think if we were good, if you're, are going to do the Lone Star UHF double feature, you want to start with Lone Star. I think that would make sense. Yes, absolutely. Uh, yeah. So let's get right into it. It's time for a Mike makes Mike watch. I hope they choose right. Mike's watching Mike's movie. Whoa.
[00:03:42] 40 years ago under Sheriff Charlie Wade, Rio County was as corrupt as they came. That's it. Wade. He could get ugly. Then Buddy Deed showed up. How about you lay that shield on this table and vanish? You're a dead man. They called him a legend. He was a unique individual. They called him a champion of justice.
[00:04:11] The day that man died, they broke the damn mold. His son is about to find out the truth. Call me. I'm Sheriff Deed. Sheriff Deed is dead, honey. He's just Sheriff Junior. We found a body out by Fort McKenzie yesterday. You got any idea who might have put him there? A hell of a time to bring up old business. That bad, Jim. Didn't come out of a cereal box. Start digging holes in this county, no telling what'll come up. You two saw it, didn't you? I'm gonna find out one way or the other.
[00:04:40] I just think people in town ought to know the full story on Buddy Deeds. That makes two of us. Castle Rock Entertainment presents the new film from acclaimed director, John Sayles. Gotta be careful when you go poking. Who knows who you'll find? Lone Star. All right, that was in the trailer for Lone Star, directed by John Sayles from 1996. Mike, I believe this is the second time you've made me watch a John Sayles movie for the
[00:05:09] Mike Makes Mike Watch because you made me watch Matewan. Oh, yeah. Last year, I think. That's right. Yeah, I think at the end of last year. Yeah. Yes. And John Sayles is somebody whose name I've known for a long time. He's somebody who also started with Roger Corman and made a lot of those kind of like B movies for a while. I don't think I've seen any of the films that he's directed beyond the two that you have now made me watch. Really? Matewan and Lone Star. And so it's somebody who I definitely have a big blind spot for, but somebody whose sensibility I really enjoy based on the two movies that he made me watch. Yeah.
[00:05:36] And I think they sort of pair interestingly well together, Matewan and Lone Star. I thought you were going to try to do UHF. I thought you were going to try to actually do it. By the end of this episode, I'm going to connect these two movies in some way. I'm sure. Yeah, yeah. You know, both movies are really about a community coming together. Hey, you know what? You know? Yeah, no. But why is it that you wanted to make me watch Lone Star, Mike? Why this movie?
[00:06:02] Well, I believe this recently has entered the Criterion collection, if I remember correctly. I believe there is a Criterion disc of this now, yes. Yeah. Which is when I first heard about it and I had never seen it. This was also my first time watching it. And I was kind of like- Okay. We liked Matewan. I also, from the very few- A similar boat. Limited sales filmography that I have seen. So I was like, I'm probably going to really like Lone Star. I feel like we'll like- We'll both like it. Let's check it out. I did kind of want to do- I did the three Westerns in a row.
[00:06:31] I was like, let's do a little bit of a theme thing here. Right. So yeah, it was kind of an opportunity for us both to discover this film. And yeah, looking at just off the top of a quick glance at Wikipedia, Sales wrote Piranha. We're big fans of Piranha. So I've seen a few of the movies he wrote. I've seen Piranha. I actually recently watched Battle Beyond the Stars. Nice. And I've seen The Howling. But yeah, other than Matewan, the films that he's directed, I have not seen. I know I've been wanting-
[00:06:57] Eight Men Out and Brother from Another Planet are both movies that have been on my list for a while. Yeah. But just haven't gotten around to them. Yeah. And then I do also really want to shout out a movie that you should watch that he wrote called Alligator. Yes. That's also been on my list for a while too. Is that the- Robert Forster's in this, right? That's the Robert Forster one. Hell yeah. The shit rules. So anyway. But yeah, from the movies that he's directed, I've also, I think, only seen Matewan and now Lone Star. So yeah, he's just one of those guys that I think has just been-
[00:07:25] He comes up a lot in discussions on film podcasts and stuff. And I feel like he's one of those, secretly one of the best filmmakers that's just been working for decades that's not achieved major mainstream success. A lot of his movies are small independent stuff. Yes. If you only know the name John Sayles because he wrote Jurassic Park 4 or wrote the original draft of Jurassic Park 4. Yeah, exactly. The one with dinosaurs riding motorcycles, which we should have seen. We were robbed. That should have happened. I think they did take elements from that screenplay for the Jurassic World movies because there's
[00:07:54] scenes of the dinosaurs alongside motorcycles. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I want to say the human cloning stuff actually was in his screenplay too, which ends up becoming a thing in Fallen Kingdom. So yeah, potentially huge ramifications for the Jurassic Park franchise. Right. Thanks to John Sayles. Yeah. And also a lot of his films that I've seen have a lot of social themes, I guess I'll say, that tend to speak to my heart. So I broadly agree with a lot of the environmentalism and racism and prejudices and all this stuff
[00:08:24] and the capitalist system maybe is bad. It seems to come through in a lot of his films. So yeah, it seems like, hey, what better chance than Mike Makes Mike Watch for us both to watch this movie? Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I mean, I'm the one who you made watch it. So we'll get to my thoughts in a minute. But since you are watching it for the first time, Mike, say your thoughts. What did you think of Lone Star? Oh, shit riffs, man. Incredible.
[00:08:47] I think the device of a potentially 30-year-old murder mystery, Chris Cooper plays the sheriff of this town where a body is discovered on a being decommissioned army base, like at the rifle range or the army base kind of thing. Yeah. Um, and, uh, so he's got to solve this, you know, cold case, 30-year-old murder. And the way that that is used as just a way to like get into this town is like fascinating.
[00:09:16] And it's not, it is at parts like a procedural investigation with Chris Cooper trying to solve this murder. But really it is him going to talk to the old timers or whatever and find out about the history of this town where his father was also the sheriff who took over from Chris Christopherson, who's just a crooked evil sheriff. Right. He's the one whose skeleton they find at the beginning of the movie. Right. Yeah. And then, uh, yeah. It's eventually revealed that like, oh yeah, this is that, that, that Chris Christopherson's body, uh, scare skeleton. And, uh, yeah.
[00:09:45] And the way that is just sort of kind of floats, uh, between the different people and Joe Wharton on the military base and his dad and all this stuff is, and then the undocumented workers and the restaurants. And like, I don't know the way everything is all connected and is like really beautiful and, uh, really just gives you a deep picture into this town and what life on the border is like and all that stuff. Um, while also being a pretty compelling murder mystery at the same time. So. Yeah, no, it's a, it's such a rich tapestry that this movie kind of creates, you know,
[00:10:13] there's, there's so many characters, so many inter, kind of interweaving stories, uh, that are all pretty fascinating. Uh, yeah, no, I also really liked this movie, but I feel like it took me a minute to like get on its wavelength. I want to say, like, I felt, I felt like I had to learn how to watch it. Um, Oh yeah. In a, you know, I think maybe because like, you know, I see a movie that's called Lone Star. The poster for the movie is like the skull in the sheriff's bed. With the bullet hole in it, yeah. Yeah. And I was like, this is going to be a rip roaring action packed adventure. Yeah. Uh, it's really not that. At all.
[00:10:43] Yeah. You know, and I think also because of just John Sayles, like history and like the Roger Corman films, I was like, Oh yeah, I bet it's like, you know, a really cool action movie. It's not that at all. Uh, it's, uh, closer to mate one than anything else. Um, which, you know, is, is a pretty low key drama. Yeah, no, I, I think this is a really fascinating movie. Uh, and I think the murder mystery is like your way into the film, but, uh, there is so much going on just with every single character. Uh, and I think it almost feels like the movies are kind of overflowing with all this stuff.
[00:11:11] Like it, like it sort of feels like, I mean, I'm, I'm never one to say this should have been a season of television or whatever, because I don't, I don't think that should have been the case here. Um, but it does, but it does feel like I could see a version of this. It maybe not if it was made in 96, you know, maybe if it was made today where instead it is, you know, uh, an eight episode HBO miniseries or something. Uh, you know, like that's, that feels like a version of this that could exist. Uh, but I think that just speaks to like how well realized all the characters are and
[00:11:38] how interesting all the different plots are in a, you know, comparatively relatively short amount of time. It's, it's a fairly long, it's like two hours and 15 minutes. Uh, they, they pack so much into it and everything that it does, I think is really, really cool. Chris Cooper is a great lead in the movie. Uh, this is like the third or fourth time you've made me watch Chris Cooper movie. I think actually too. Yeah. Mate one. I mean, mate one, but also October sky. Uh, you made me watch too. And we recently watched, uh, the Muppets for, uh, the Muppet, the let's rank Muppets. That wasn't one that you made me watch, but it was one that we did watch for the podcast. Yeah, that's true.
[00:12:08] He's, he's one of those guys. He's also in, uh, just watched the, the, um, oh my God, the Bourne movies. He's in. Oh yeah. He's like, he's one of the FBI guys, right? Yeah. He's one of the, I don't know, evil FBI guys. He's one of the guys like watching computers in the control room or something. Right. Uh, he's not the one that says, my God, that's Jason Bourne. That's David Straythane, another John Sayles guy. Yes. But yeah, he's one of the guys in a computer room. Yeah. Yes. Um, yeah, no, he's really cool in this movie.
[00:12:35] Uh, and the whole ensemble cast that get, I mean, you mentioned Chris Christopherson, which is really cool. A very young Matthew McConaughey. Oh man. Uh, plays Chris Cooper's dad in the flashbacks. Uh, and so yeah, this is like 96. This is like three years after Dazed and Confused. Right. Uh, and I, like, I think I was a little thrown by that because he looks so young in this movie. He looks like a child. Yes. And in Dazed and Confused, like obviously that movie was three years before this, but he's like playing the old character in that movie. Yeah. So he's, so it's like, to me, Matthew McConaughey always felt like a little bit older because
[00:13:05] of Dazed and Confused. But in this, he like looks, he's so young. It's crazy. Yeah. He's got no facial hair. He's got, you know, the whole thing. Uh, also watch Frailty, another young, uh, Matthew McConaughey performance. Getting the guy, getting the Mike D guys in here. Yes, absolutely. Michael Smiley and Kill List. Yes. Uh, so yeah, McConaughey's in this. Frances McDormand has a scene in this movie. Which is crazy. Just an insane scene. Yeah, absolutely. But she's great in it. Um, like really, really fun. Uh, and Joe Morton from Terminator 2, uh, is in the movie as well. So really cool cast.
[00:13:35] And Brother from Another Planet. So he's in the sales crew. Yes, absolutely. And then, uh, kind of the female lead of the movie, uh, Pilar, uh, played by Elizabeth Pena. Uh, somebody who like, as soon as she showed up on screen, I was like, I know this person from somewhere. Okay. And then like, after a few minutes, I was like, I don't think I recognize her from like a movie, but I like, I know, I know her voice from somewhere. Turns out she's the voice of Mirage in The Incredibles. Uh, the, the person who lures Mr. Incredible out to the island for syndrome, which is a movie that I watched, you know, a million times when I was 10.
[00:14:04] So just like her, her voice was like, you know, stuck in my head. It's like, why do I know this person? And yeah, it's The Incredibles. Um, but yeah. And honestly, like, I think some of the most compelling stuff in the movie is the stuff surrounding her character where to the point where like when the movie starts and you have this like murder mystery, that's kind of set out before you. And then it cuts to like a classroom of parents, like yelling at her about teaching the Alamo wrong. Right. Uh, and like, I was kind of like more invested in that story. I think it just does a really good job of kind of setting up like that community and like that kind of battle with, uh, the parents and like, you know, they're on this like kind
[00:14:34] of border Texas town. They're learning about the Alamo and there's obviously like, you know, all the, like, you know, 150 years later, there's still these like feelings about it for like from the ancestor, like the descendants of the people who fought it. Uh, you know, it's a, it was really fascinating. It was really cool. It's crazy. And then we also, here we are 30 years later from this movie. Uh, and it's the same argument. They, those guys won actually. Yes. You know, like that's it. Yes. And there's even a moment where the lady, one of the ladies says like, I'm on the textbook committee and I, we said you can't.
[00:15:04] And I was like, geez, like, Oh my fucking God. Like, yeah. That's now she, she has a, Pilar has like this one line where she's like, we're just trying to, you know, provide a larger picture of the, you know, of the battle. I was like, yes, that's what needs to stop. Yeah. Very funny. Who are you calling ignorant? And she's just like, okay. And she just like gets up and walks out of the argument, like out of the classroom to get her son out of jail. Yeah. And so all of that, you know, there's this kind of, um, you're kind of cutting back and forth between all these different characters and all these different stories.
[00:15:33] And sometimes they connect and sometimes they don't. There are characters in this movie that are just completely disconnected from the whole murder story storyline that's going on. Yeah. And yeah. Or maybe they like pop in for one scene and then they have their own story kind of off to the side. It's just, you know, there's probably like, you know, 15 to 20, like main characters in this movie that are all given kind of equal screen time. Uh, and I think all, it does a pretty good job of like servicing all of them. Uh, it balances everything very well. Yeah. I mean, one of the like most impressive things in this movie is the transition between time
[00:16:03] periods where it'll be like the older characters, uh, sitting at a bar talking about, I remember that night when he came in here and the camera will pan over and Chris Christopherson will walk in and now we're in 1950, right? Like, and you know, like, I don't know. And it's, and it is not hokey. I don't know. There's, I feel like potential for that to feel like a Hallmark movie or something, but it like totally works here for me. I mean, there's no moment where it goes like, it could almost be that, you know? Right. So if you're not, if you're like not paying attention, like, or not paying close enough attention to the movie, I feel like you could watch it and be like, oh yeah, Chris
[00:16:32] Christopherson's like in the same time, like they're in the room together. Right. Like, right. This is all happening at the same time. Um, but yeah, it's, it's not, uh, many scenes are happening 30 years earlier and yeah. So really the central, the central kind of arc of this movie, I mean, there's the, uh, the murder subplot, uh, that's going on, but also there's this relationship between Chris Cooper and Elizabeth Pena's character. Yes. Uh, and so they are not problematic. We don't need to talk about it at all.
[00:16:58] Uh, and so they were like high school sweethearts, right? They were like people like kids who, uh, were in love with each other in high school and were kind of ripped apart by, uh, his father, Matthew McConaughey. Right. Right. Yes. And the mother too. And the mother. Yes. Uh, and so they were ripped apart and you know, they, they were taken away from each other and all that stuff. And like, they, you know, haven't been together in a very long time, but their romance kind of rekindles over the course of the movie. Then when you find out what happens, who boy. Oh boy.
[00:17:28] It's a real, uh, uh, Luke and Leia situation, you know? Yes. It's like, I feel like you started writing this movie with one idea and then by the end, uh, but no, it's like actually like it totally recontextualizes Matthew McConaughey's response because it in Chris Cooper's childhood memory, it's because his dad is so racist. He can't possibly be with a Mexican woman. Right. Uh, but, or girl cause they're in high school. Uh, it turns out, no, it's actually because they're, they're siblings. Yes. Yes.
[00:17:56] So in Chris Cooper's investigation, he discovers that, um, his, his father had an affair with, uh, this woman, Mercedes, uh, who is Elizabeth Pena's mother. Right. And then he, yeah, basically discovered that like Elizabeth Pena is also his daughter. Uh, they, so yeah, they basically like, once you find that out towards the end of the movie, then yes, the whole thing where it just seemed like, oh, McConaughey was racist, uh, and was trying to like keep them apart as a result of it. No, it's because that, uh, yeah, they were in fact brother and sister, uh, and they, and they didn't know about it.
[00:18:24] He was like, you know, he probably like used the veil of racism to just be like, yeah, no, you can't ever know. Yeah. You can't be with somebody like her or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, and then the, for them to be like, well, yes, the ending of this movie is so, it's, it's a weird, like it walks a line, you know, I think it walks a line, I think successfully. Like I think it does too. The ending of this movie, I think is really fantastic where yes, he reveals this information to, uh, Pilar, they like meet up and they're like, yes.
[00:18:53] So, you know, my dad died at this point and you know, she, this was like before you were born and yeah, like he was, he was your father. Right. Um, and so they talk about it and basically she says that like, they think about it for a minute, right. You know, and Pilar was like, well, you know, I can't have any more children anyway. Right. And I'm sterile now. So yeah. So like, if that's what we're worried about, that's, that's off the table. And then they're both like, huh? All right. Like, you know, and they kind of just, they're going to keep the knowledge to themselves. Nobody will ever have to know. It's wild.
[00:19:21] And they can continue, uh, being in love with each other because they're like, you know, their love does seem, they didn't know about this until now. And they seem like they had a really pure love. The, uh, the sex scene they have is like, just, they, they seem so in sync with each other. Right. Right. Like they're, they're so disconnected on like a genetic level. Yeah, exactly. But I think it's, it's also in keeping with like the other decision that's Cooper kind of makes where he's not going to reveal who, like how the murder happened. Right.
[00:19:48] He's not going to reveal all that because he discovers, he kind of traces it back to the mayor and to, uh, Joe Morton's father. Right. Right. Uh, it's not the, is he the mayor now in the present day? It's the like deputy for Chris Christopherson and Joe Morton's father. Okay. Gotcha. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Who might be the mayor now. I think he is. I think he's the mayor now. Yeah. Uh, and so he like gets, gets to them and he confronts them about it and they, you know, are like, yeah, you know, are, are you gonna, you know, if you turn us in, like the, the ramifications in the community will be, you know, wild, like crazy. Yeah.
[00:20:17] Uh, and he decides to kind of just let that lie too. He's like, yeah, his line is like, but he's a goddamn legend. He can handle it. Right. Like the, uh, so he's kind of just letting it be like, you know, it's the legend of my father and that'll be it. Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh, it's, it's intense. And it's one of those like, you know, deeply American stories like that gets to like the rot at the core of a lot of these small towns that like the police, there's the whole Chris Christopherson's whole thing is that he is just openly brazenly corrupt in the middle of
[00:20:44] the diner, you know, like in town talking about, okay, we got to go stop and pick up the money drops from all the whatever. And it's this whole thing. And, um, just everybody knows that he's in on it. You, if you're selling liquor in the town, that's in the dry County. If you're running numbers games out of the back of the bar, if you're doing whatever, if you're, if you're bringing, uh, people across the border illegally, like he's got to get his cut and he'll make sure if he gets his cut, he'll help you. Uh, and if not, he'll, he'll just murder you. Um, and, uh, we see that over time and again, that the whole plot, the storyline with, uh,
[00:21:13] Eladio Cruz, which is like who Pilar thinks is her father. Right. Devastating. Um, with that, um, whole thing. And, um, and so you get a lot of Chris Christopherson being just evil, which is pretty fun. Uh, you know, he's great. And then you, you pick up through the context clues that McConaughey's character, Buddy, Chris, uh, Chris Cooper's father was just as corrupt. It seems like, but pretended not to be right. I think cause he took over for a lot of these things, but wasn't open about it.
[00:21:40] And so like, that's like the secret part that, you know, whatever everyone thinks Buddy was great. Uh, but also he was taking his production money. He was doing all this stuff. Yeah. He just knew not to have it out in the open, like Chris Christopherson. Right. Exactly. Yeah. So he becomes heralded as the legend, the guy that built this town kind of thing. Uh, but secretly he was just a con man like everybody else, you know? Yes. Uh, and so like these secrets kind of like permeate through like this whole investigation and then, yeah, Cooper just decides to let it all lie. Like people are going to think that Buddy killed Chris Christopherson and he didn't,
[00:22:10] but you know, Buddy's dead. Who cares? You know, that's, that's sort of, that's sort of the thing. And you know, the, the reveal that he and Pilar are brother and sister, nobody has to know. Okay. Yeah. You know? I mean the, um, Joe Morton's characters or the father, the guy that owns the bar now. Oh, I forget his name. Um, uh, Otis. Otis. Yeah. His whole character is incredible. I love him. Like, yeah. Like his whole thing with the, oh man, I forget what they call it.
[00:22:36] He's got that like museum in the back of the bar for like the, like black Native Americans kind of thing or whatever, like that in Florida, like became rebels and rode to Texas and claim this town. Like, and all that stuff is just like fascinating and, and kind of deeply tied to the thematics of the film and it, and it's powerful. I don't know. It's really good. Yeah, absolutely. John Salesman. Yeah. And, uh, his relationship with the son is also really fascinating with Joe Morton kind of being driven to be this like kind of perfect soldier. Right. Uh, who is now a Colonel at West Point, I think. Right.
[00:23:03] Um, or is like going to be assigned to West Point because the, the base is closing that he, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. In town or whatever. Right. So he, he like is taking a job and he has to go where they tell him to go kind of thing. Right. But I, I love that the movie kind of takes the time to be like, you know, we're going to see what's going on at the base. Uh, this is completely, completely disconnected from everything else going on in the movie, but we're getting a sense of what Joe Morton's character is like. Right. Yeah. And, and his, how he's handling the shooting that happened in the bar with between his soldiers, right?
[00:23:31] Like the ex-boyfriend of somebody or whatever came to town and yeah. And like just when the moment when he's interviewing the, or like whatever, interrogating or whatever, the, the girl, the woman in that incident. And she, he, she's like, well, I just do my job. And he's like, what's the job? And she's like, do what they tell us. And like the way he realizes that that's also what he's doing. I'm just taking this next job. Cause I have to like, yeah. And what's that reassignment to West Point? Uh, it's just like, boom, boom themes. Yes. We're doing it. Absolutely. Uh, and also the Francis McDormand scene is so funny.
[00:24:00] Just, it's just an insane football mom. So funny. And the way her like Fargo accent slips through her Texas accent. This was the same year that, uh, Fargo came out. I'll say. Yeah. It's so funny. Yeah. It's such a, it's such a goofier character than she usually plays. Uh, and I found that to be really fascinating. Deeply sad. Like, yes. There's definitely like a sadness there too. Uh, obviously, especially towards the LA when she, uh, realizes that Chris Cooper's only there to like grab the stuff that he had left there a long time ago.
[00:24:29] She's like an ex-girlfriend of his. Yeah. And, uh, clearly like a hyper fixation on the Cowboys, which is fun. But, um, all the, uh, like mentally, like, I don't know how to say it. Like what, how to even phrase it. Like mentally unwell. And then like, she's trapped there basically. Like she realizes that this is like all she's got. And she like is in the frozen for monologue goes over to the counter and is like looking at the pill bottles that she has to take. You know, it's just like, whoa, hardcore. Absolutely.
[00:24:56] Um, but yeah, but it is such a, you know, I, she, she does this in like Raising Arizona also. It's like, but this is like a time when like she could play like, you know, funnier ish characters. Right. And then at a certain point, France McDormand's like, I'm, I'm a very stern person and I'm playing stern characters. I'm only in, oh, what was like the Chloe Zhao movie? Nomadland. Only in those. Yeah. Nomadland, three billboards, also a similar, uh, performance, women talking, women talking. Yeah. Right. But, uh, yeah. So this is like at a time when she got to play around a little bit more.
[00:25:26] Uh, which is fun. Yeah. Any other thoughts about, uh, Lone Star, Mike, any other random things that things that you want to bring up? No, no. I think we covered a lot of it. Like, uh, you know, like we were saying, it's also a pretty interesting, compelling murder mystery movie, but also deep thematically and intense and political and has a lot to say a lot going on. Uh, and so yeah, maybe we'll do more John sales deep dives. Could be. Yeah. If you want to make me watch some more John sales movies, uh, I'm not going to say no. We'll alternate Emmerichs and sales movies. That's what, uh, the 2026 Mike makes Mike watches are going to be.
[00:25:54] They're all going to be John sales and Roland Emmerich. The two auteurs of the nineties. I mean, can't get more representative in the nineties American cinema than the biggest blockbusters and the lowest indies. Yeah. Uh, all right. But that is Lone Star from 1996. And now it's time to move on into the movie that I made Mike D watch this week. And that is UHF. Listen, let's get one thing straight.
[00:26:25] Channel 62 has the lowest ratings in the history of television. What they need is a new station manager. No, not him. Forget it. No way. A man of action. Ah! A man of courage. A man of vision. What's your name? Billy. Billy what? What they get is a man so desperate he'll put anyone on the air. Hey, Stanley. Yeah, George. How would you like your own TV show?
[00:26:56] Okay. You get the drink from the firehound. He's Conan, the librarian. Today we're teaching poodles how to fly. We beat out the networks. George Newman. He starts where the others stop. We're the number one station in town.
[00:27:23] Orion Pictures presents Weird Al Yankovic in UHF, the movie. All right. That was in the trailer for UHF from 1989, directed by Jay Levy. So yeah, I think the reason I wanted to make you watch this one, Mike, here's the thing that I've kind of realized as we've been doing Mike Makes Mike Watches. Every like five or six movies,
[00:27:54] I kind of try to make you watch a very goofy comedy. And I feel like I have a lot more misses than hits on that front. Yeah. And I think our general thing is like, oh, but if you watched it with some people, maybe you would have liked it more or something. Yeah. You're Barb and Star and go to Vistel Mar. That was a huge disappointment for sure. I'm so sorry. I want to say, there was probably a couple other ones that I'm blanking on. There was definitely other ones. There's a few others, but NUHF is very much a very goofy comedy, of course, starring Weird Al.
[00:28:23] But I think the reason I wanted to make you watch this one, A, I'm a huge Weird Al fan, as you know. I've been a huge Weird Al fan since I was about like nine or 10. I saw this movie around that time and man blew me away. This sort of rewired some things in my brain, I would say. And yeah, I'm a huge Weird Al fan. And I know you historically haven't been, not that you like aren't a fan or anything, like you don't like him. Just unexposed. Yeah, unexposed. Like we talked about this off the air like a week or two ago,
[00:28:51] where you are somebody who knows the big hits, you know how much paradise, you know white and nerdy, all that stuff, but never really kind of done any like deeper Weird Al dive. And that's something that I think is harder to do if you're not 10 years old. Like if you're not of the age to do it, to get really obsessed with it, then it might be harder to get into. But I was really curious to see how you would react to UHF, which I think is about as good a representation of like Weird Al in the 80s as you could possibly get in movie form. So all that is to say, Mike,
[00:29:21] what did you think of UHF? I think UHF is pretty good. You know, I'll take that. That's very... No, I think it is definitely a victim to the current world and me watching it and sitting down to watch a movie and being angry like before and then sitting down and be like, I don't have time for this silly shit, you know, like that kind of thing. So...
[00:29:50] Which isn't like my actual reaction, but you know, that kind of vibe where you're like, okay, sure. He can be in love with his mop or whatever. Like, you know, it's like... The government's crumbling around me and I'm watching Spatula City. God damn! Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So that's it. No, but overall, I did have fun with it and I did have that same thought where it's like if I was in Mike's basement and we were eight beers deep or whatever, we were watching this,
[00:30:20] I would have a fucking blast with it. But right now, it's fine. It's pretty good. I think I liked... Like, it took a minute for me to realize like, oh, this is just a sketch movie. Yes. So that was fun. Like, Spatula City, absolutely incredible. All the cutaways to like the... What is it? Town talk. Yeah. You know, sex with furniture. What do you... How do you feel? I mean, roadmaps. Yeah. His glove compartment. In the glove compartment. Yeah.
[00:30:49] So like individual moments were very funny in this initial watch, but I think just kind of all of it didn't really hang together that great for me. So yeah, I mean, ultimately like 3.5. Like pretty good. You know, like fine. I was hoping for a five or I think you were maybe hoping for a five or something like that. I wasn't expecting that. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, fun time. Weird Al, you know, like we talked about before at the top a little bit, broadly unexposed to the deeper Weird Al stuff. Like I know the... I've heard the big songs, the big hits, all that stuff.
[00:31:20] But yeah, I've never like just recently finding out about that like weird Frank Zappa style parody thing and be like, I'm glad I listened to that now in my 30s when I like Frank Zappa. Sure. That I could like know like, oh, wait a second. I could get pulled in a little bit more into the Weird Al stuff. So you're referring to Genius in France off of Poodle Hats. Yeah. And that's... So if you're into Weird Al when you're 10, like I was, what happens is, and then later in life, you discover, oh, wait, this is kind of supposed to be
[00:31:49] a style parody of REM or whatever, you know? Yeah, yeah. Like, oh, Amish... Oh, I'm hearing Gangsta's Paradise for the first time at like 16, but I've heard Amish Paradise 500 times. Yeah. What do you mean it's American Pie? Yes. Oh, I definitely heard The Saga Begins before I heard American Pie. A hundred percent. A hundred percent, yeah. That one I did too. So yeah, yeah. I mean, I think there's a little bit of the wacky 80s sensibility stuff that I was like maybe not super into.
[00:32:17] Not that it was like repulsed by it or anything. Sure, yeah. You know, but yeah, I mean, but overall, it's like, it's a fun time, you know? Yeah. I had weird other, like real world vibes. Sure. That didn't jive too great with this, you know? The movie wasn't so good that you couldn't forget about the entire world for 90 minutes. For 90 minutes, yeah. Yes. Yeah, no, so I did not get the chance to rewatch UHF this past weekend, but I did rewatch it relatively recently, so I felt like that was okay. I watched it as part of Movie Day 2024,
[00:32:46] which of course is my annual tradition where I basically do nothing but watch movies all day, where I wake up and just start watching movies. And usually I try to squeeze in like six to eight like new watches, like movies that I haven't seen. But then if I have time, if I'm not too tired, at the end of the day, I will cap it off with a rewatch of an old favorite. And this past year, it was UHF, which was probably the first time I had watched it since maybe high school, maybe college. I think I might have watched it like once or twice in college.
[00:33:16] But I have the Shout Factory Blu-ray of the movie and I hadn't watched it off that yet. So it was finally time to rewatch it. And it hit pretty hard, you know, when I'm delirious and like incredibly tired from having watched eight movies in one day. But it was kind of the perfect movie for that because it is just something that you can kind of just zone out to. And every 20 seconds, like a new weird thing is happening. Right. Which is what I kind of like about it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I did like the mix of the like larger sketches that are like his
[00:33:46] Flights of Fantasy Daydream stuff. Yes. With the channel sketches that are like a throwaway commercial or like Spadula City or whatever, which that's a pretty long one. But you know what I mean? Like the opening Indiana Jones thing, the parody, like those kind of parodies versus like the local commercial stuff was very fun. I think that was a good mix. There's a fun balance there. Yeah, absolutely. And that was like when I first watched it, like when I was like 10 or 11, I like discovered this movie existed after having been listened to like most of the Weird Al back catalog already.
[00:34:16] Like I, like I sought out the CDs. I would like, this was, you know, pre-YouTube, like pre-internet. Like I didn't know how to use Napster at this point. So it was, you know, and when I did, like at that time, especially, what would happen is there would be a lot of just like any comedy song would be attributed to Weird Al. Right. People could label him whatever they wanted. Yeah. Yeah. So like any file sharing site you went to, you search Weird Al Yankovic and you would get 50 people, like 50 songs that were not by Weird Al. Right. And some of them were pretty funny, but like the, the, the old jerky boys recordings.
[00:34:45] Often what would happen, they would be like usually a lot more explicit than like a Weird Al song would be. And that's how you would know. I mean, you would know because it's not his voice. Like he has a pretty distinctive voice, I think. But like, you know, there would be like, I remember there was like a Britney Spears parody called Make My Boobies One More Size or something. And it's like Weird Al would never do that. He would never degrade himself. Yeah. And so, yeah, no, so I, I spent a lot of time when I was a kid, like kind of searching through back catalogs and like I had my own CDs. I had a friend, actually Kyle Cullen who's editing this podcast.
[00:35:15] I believe he is that friend now that I'm thinking about it who was also very into Weird Al. And he had all the CDs that I didn't have. And so we would like go over to each other's houses and burn the CDs onto our computers that we could have the burned versions of them. So I had like most of the Weird Al stuff and then I discovered this movie existed. And I think I rented it from Blockbuster and watched it then. And I probably had it for a week and watched it like four or five times that week. I was just totally into it. And I loved that, you know, it was, you know, Weird Al music is song parodies, but this movie
[00:35:44] does movie parodies because it's a movie. It's a movie. And so at the time, like I had seen Indiana Jones, so I got the first, the opening thing. I had not seen Rambo. And so that whole ending thing was just like completely new to me. I think it's specifically Rambo 3 that it's parodying. That's fascinating. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. But those are kind of, I think there's like, is there one other big movie parody in there? It's mostly Raiders and Rambo, right? Is there like one that I'm forgetting? No, I believe you're right. Those are the big, like major. Okay. I remember there's
[00:36:13] a Close Encounters bit where he does the potatoes. This means something. Yeah. He's like creating a circus tent, I think. Isn't it like a, no, he does the, the full volcano thing. I'm thinking of the Simpsons at a similar Close Encounters thing. That's a, that's a circus tent. But yeah, but I also like how like deeply into, I don't know, TV history this is. Well, yeah, I was going to talk about that. Like just the, the concept of what a UHF channel is. I was like, well, I have to go to Wikipedia. Like, I mean, I get it. Like it's a local access TV station. Like, but I didn't understand
[00:36:43] like UHF specifically. Right. Like it was like a lower band of whatever. I don't know how they used to broadcast TVs. Yes. Uh, and so, yeah, I liked that. It's kind of like steeped into the, this like kind of weird corner of TV history that it references a lot of older stuff. Um, you know, Beverly Hillbillies is like a big part of this movie. Actually, uh, the parody of the Dire Straits song, uh, is, uh, they change it into just being about the Beverly Hillbillies and that's great. And they do the whole video parody too, which is a lot of fun.
[00:37:15] like weirdly to connect it to complete works, uh, the Ernie Kovacs story. It was like, I'm kind of glad I know that actually going into this, um, it turns out. Um, and then also the, uh, WNUF Halloween special, which is a newer movie. Right. I still have not yet watched that actually. Oh man. It's pretty similar to, I mean, obviously like the whole shtick is that it's, it's one of these channels doing a Halloween special. Uh, right. So it's got a lot of the like throws to local commercials, their, their furniture store and the car dealership
[00:37:44] and the car dealership commercial in, uh, this is very, and UHF is very funny. Uh, Oh yeah. What happens in the car dealership commercial again? It's just like, it's just like, he come down for deals and it's just like, he's getting the deals are more and more insane and he's like, I'm losing money doing that. Like it's just like going crazier and crazier. Yes. Uh, which is, so that's a fun bit and yeah, like all those little throwaway things, except in the WNUF when they're a little bit spooky cause it's the Halloween special. Uh, so that's fun. But yeah, this is like, I feel like I learned a little bit about
[00:38:14] television history. Fran Drescher great in this. Yes. Yeah. She's like the secretary at the station who like wants to be a reporter, right? Yeah. Was supposed to be hired for, to do the newsroom, but the receptionist called out and now it's been two years and she's been stuck doing reception or whatever. Um, he's fun. The guy that's always asking for change that turns out to be rich. Yeah. He has the, the double double die, double sided die or whatever that is worth like the last $2,000 they need for the telethon. Just the first, the first throwaway, the first bit with him
[00:38:44] is so funny where he shows up and he's like, cause they get to the, the, the station building and it's like, you know, it's like a crack of, like a bolt of lightning and it's like, you know, uh, the creepy part of town and he rolls up and he's like, you have any change, mister? And he, weird Al holds out a fistful of change and the guy counts out a dollar and he's like, thanks and gives him a dollar bill. Like he just literally needed change. Very funny. Uh, but then for him to keep coming back and be like the ultimate savior that he got the rare, the rare penny that was worth $2,000
[00:39:14] or whatever. Yes. Which he received from, uh, the villain of the movie, RJ, uh, who is played by Kevin McCarthy, uh, who is one of those guys. That's why he looks so familiar. I didn't even put that together. Yeah. In a ton of Joe Dante movies. He's the star of the original invasion of the body snatchers. Henry chewing villain. Uh, the, uh, scene where, uh, I think his son gives him like a watch and it's not a Rolex. He just loses his mind. Goes nuts. Fires, um, Michael,
[00:39:43] Michael Richards, Michael Richards, uh, because he thinks that Michael Richards, the janitor has thrown out the important file. And it turns out like, Oh, I was sitting on it the whole time. Yep. Just a monster. Yeah. Yes. But he is fired anyway. And then Al takes him in, uh, in the UHF station as the janitor over there. Uh, I, I like how, um, just committed to being a janitor. Stanley Spadowski is, uh, in the movie, uh, where that's like really just his life's ambition. It's what he wants to do. And he gets like stuck doing this like TV show for UHF, but it ends up being their biggest hit.
[00:40:13] Uh, yeah. But he's like, would you like to do this every day? And he's like, only if I could still be the janitor. It's very good. Yeah. Yes. And he has the whole like network speech about, uh, the mop, uh, is so funny. It's so good. Yeah. Yeah. Now there's bits that you get to drink from the fire hose and just the kid goes flying. Yeah. It's, it's, it is funny, you know? Yeah. Comedy is a thing that's best shared in community. And that's really what I'm getting at. Much like the community from Lone Star,
[00:40:43] which is maybe UHF could have healed them, you know? Yeah. Yeah. UHF really gives it, gets at the, the rot at the core of American culture. Uh, about familial dawns and trauma passed down from uncles to shitty nephews. Yep. We're doing it. I'm getting there. I think we're getting there. Yes, absolutely. Uh, any other random scenes in UHF that you feel like we should talk about, Mike? uh, Philo becoming an alien at the end of the movie. Oh my God. It's, when did the, the,
[00:41:12] the, the Simpsons do like my people need me like that. Like, I was like, this is that bit. Yeah. This is before the Simpsons. This is 89. The Simpsons premiered later that year. Uh, right. Exactly. Um, that was incredible. I don't know. Was that guy, was that Dr. Demento? Uh, Dr. Demento is in the movie, but in a smaller role. He's, uh, he is credited as himself slash whipped cream eater. Uh, I saw his name in the credits and I didn't, I didn't see like who he was. Uh, but he's one of the guys I learned
[00:41:41] about working at a music store, uh, in the, the talking to people in the music aisles and somebody was explaining to me, I think there was like a huge box set or something of Dr. Demento stuff and I hated it because it didn't fit in the shelf right. And I was like, this fucking box. um, and the guy's like, Hey, show that box some respect. That's Dr. Demento. Dr. Demento merchandise, baby. Uh, but yeah, but no, I, the older manager that worked there, uh, we started talking about it and he was like, Dr. Demento radio hose, weird out. Like, you know,
[00:42:10] explain the whole stuff. And I was like, Oh, interesting. Yes. Yeah. He kind of launched a weird Al's career and he's, he's a character in weird the Al Yankovic story, which is the other weird Al movie that came out a couple of years ago played by Rainn Wilson, I think in that movie. Okay, sure. Yeah. He's a, it's a lot of fun, but yeah, he's pops up in here. Emo Phillips has a great scene in this movie, uh, where he cuts off his thumb. Uh, just, that was incredible. Yeah. Just call me Mr. Butterfinger. Spraying blood everywhere. Yes. Uh, and I've, I've seen weird out alive a few times, two of those times,
[00:42:40] Emo Phillips opened for him. Uh, and, uh, man, Emo Phillips, one of the best comedians. So funny, like just, unbelievably good, uh, sets, but, uh, yeah, those are great. Uh, yeah, there's the one scene with Ramon hosting a show where he's like tossing animals out of the window. Yes, that was fucking hilarious. And the cut to the outside of the apartment was just the mountain of dead, dead dogs. Yes. Uh, yeah. Wheel of Fish was a favorite when I was a kid. Spatula City. No, there's so many, so many great bits.
[00:43:10] Uh, Gandhi too. Oh my God. I did want to mention Gandhi too. That was very funny. Conan the Librarian, you know. Oh, okay. So Conan the Librarian was a thing that I thought my clever high school came up with, uh, because we had, uh, our life school librarian was this guy who was like six, five and he was yoked and he had, his head was shaved. I mean, he didn't look like Conan, but his head was shaved. He used to compete in the Highland games, uh, where,
[00:43:39] where they like throw telephone poles and shit, uh, and like wear kilts or whatever. And he had like all these pictures of him in his office doing that stuff and we called him Conan the Librarian because we were so fucking smart. Uh, and like my world came crumbling down when that sketch, when that sketch came on in this movie. Uh, so anyway, that's my Conan the Librarian story. Do you, do you remember who came up with it when you were in school? No, it was just like, it was passed on from generation to generation. Yeah. As far as I know. Yeah. It might've started in 1989 when, uh,
[00:44:09] if he was there. Yeah. I don't know. But, uh, yeah. So it was just like, that is, you know, that's Mr. Dylan. No, that's Conan the Librarian. Yes. One of those things. Yes. Although it might, it might've been later than 89 cause, cause this movie did not do well when it came out. That's also the thing. Can't imagine why. Yeah. Uh, I mean they, it's sort of chalked up to like, it was a really busy summer. Um, and this was a Orion pictures. Like Orion was like had, it had a rough few years and they were banking everything on UHF and it bombed and it kind of contributed to like Orion,
[00:44:39] like sort of shuttering down as a studio. No, they had a couple of hits at like base. I think they're pretty sounds in the lambs and like dancing with wolves and stuff, but like it wasn't enough to like kind of bring them back. Uh, so by the, by the mid nineties, they like went, went bankrupt. Uh, and UHF is like partially responsible for it. It's the heaven's gate of, yes, absolutely. Uh, I think Orion's like sort of back now or it's like they've come back. Yeah. Yeah. I think they're like owned by MGM, which is owned by Amazon, but like they do exist. Uh, there is some, there was a couple of movies and I can't remember off the top of my head,
[00:45:08] maybe like late night in Soho or some shit. I don't think that's right. I think Nickel Boys was an Orion movie actually. Um, yeah, which just came out. And I think, I think American fiction might've also had the, uh, the Orion logo on it too. I think the, that's like Snow Hollow. Oh yeah. I think you're right. Actually. Yeah. That, that is like the logo that I'm most excited to see anytime I'm watching a movie. Uh, I don't know, like Orion just like it, I associate it with good vibes. it's, there's a couple of them like, uh, Orion, the tri-star, tri-star Pegasus thing. Sure. Like are just like iconic things to me that are like, I'm in for a,
[00:45:38] I'm in for a movie. Yes, absolutely. Uh, and UHF is like one of the movies that I most associate with Orion. Bill and Ted is also one that I heavily associate with. I think Robocop is also, uh, Orion as well. Um, but yeah, no, Orion like basically shut it as a studio partially because of UHF. And weird. I has a great, great quote about that where he said, um, yeah, no, where, where was it? Oh yeah, here it is. Uh, where he's, you know, they were so all in on UHF and he was like every morning I would wake up to fresh strawberries next to my bed. And then with the movie bomb,
[00:46:07] I woke up no more strawberries. That's incredible. I mean, yeah, but you can see there is a pretty huge budget behind, like, you know, they're doing a lot. There's lots of extras. They're blowing up helicopters. Like, you know, they're doing a lot. They tried, but it just happened to be if the same summer is like Indiana Jones and the last crusade and ghostbusters too. And honey, I shrunk the kids and Batman and license to kill. And, uh, all these like 1989 big summer movies and, uh, UHF just couldn't, couldn't break through. Couldn't hack it. Um, yeah. What else?
[00:46:36] There's one thing that really stand out to me is the, uh, the Twinkie dog with cheese whiz that he dunks in the milk. Yep. Gross. Gross. Don't like that. Yeah. The Twinkie weiner sandwich. Twinkie weiner sandwich. That was it. Yeah. Yes. Which, uh, I think when I was a kid, I was like, I'm going to try this one day. And I don't think I ever have actually, I've never probably been the best, never done it. And I feel like if I did it now, I'd die. I feel like it would be, that would be enough, uh, to kill me. There's like a small window when you're 22 where you could have eaten that. And it's, yeah, that's it. Yeah, exactly.
[00:47:06] Yeah. I think weird. Cause we're now is vegan now and he's talked about it a little bit. Uh, and he's like, yeah, I am vegan except for the occasional Twinkie weiner sandwich is basically what he says. I think he has like vegan dogs now that he occasionally will still eat. Apparently he'll still do it. Or so he says, so the legend is told. Yes. Uh, but yeah, any other thoughts on UHF Mike? Lots of great throwaway gags, uh, just all throughout in that scene, right after the Twinkie weiner sandwich, uh, when he realizes he's late for his date with, uh,
[00:47:35] Victoria Jackson, Victoria Jackson. And he's like, what time is it? And one of the guys from the karate studio next door punches through the wall. And he reads his watch. He checks that guy's watch. Yeah. Good. Good bit. Um, yeah. And, and you know, I also thought about, I'm thinking, I was thinking about, um, like how I was just not really introduced to weird Al for this kind of stuff. And like, you know, the stuff that my parents showed me was, uh, the, like the, um, Mel Brooks movies. And like the movie that this,
[00:48:05] I don't know about timeline wise, and it's not the same kind of movie other than it, it also has a Rambo parody, but like hot shots and hot shots part two. Sure. Like those were the movies I saw in like, instead of at the formative years, instead of the weird Al stuff, you know? Cause I was like thinking of like, Oh, it's like hot shots. Like when, when he's did there, do the Rambo spoof in this movie. Yeah. Stuff like that. So, uh, parody movies are fun and I guess they're coming back. They're supposed to be making a new scary movie with the Wayans. Uh, yeah, I think scary movie six is apparently a go. Um, and yeah, I think the Wayans are involved.
[00:48:34] I feel like you got to have Anna Faris back, uh, on a Faris, Regina Hall, like have to be in the movie. Otherwise, like why are you, why are you doing this? What's the point? Yeah. but I was a big, uh, you know, weirdly I, I have seen, I've not seen scary movie five. That was like a little too late. Um, I'm good on that one. Yeah. That was like 2013. And it's like, ah, it's way past its due date, but I've seen the first four. Uh, I think I saw, I saw four in theaters. Actually, I saw scary movie four in theaters for sure. Scary movie scene three, which is the signs one. Signs is the third one. Yeah. I saw that one. Really? Okay. Uh,
[00:49:04] weirdly, I feel like the like conventional wisdom at the time was like, well, scary movie one is the best. And I've always like firmly been like a scary movie three guy. I, I mean, scary movie three. So the first two are the Wayans movies and then three and four are like, uh, David Zucker, who's like one of the Zucker, Abraham Zucker, like airplane top secret. Uh, it's one third of them, but it's still a Zucker, you know? Yeah. And it brings in Leslie Nielsen, uh, as the president, uh, who is like a naked lead George Bush parody, parodying president, which is fun. But I remember scary movie three. Like,
[00:49:33] like I think I watched that movie like three times in the same day once when I like first saw it, I was like, this is, this is the funniest thing I've ever seen. I don't, I don't, I haven't watched any of them in so long. I don't know how I feel now, but at the time scary movie three was my scary movie. I think about the bit in scary movie three, where it's the parody of the scene in signs when it's like the car accident scene and the like state troopers explaining what's going on. And every time it cuts back to the state trooper, it's bigger and bigger. I think about that like all the time. That's an all timer bit. It's a,
[00:50:03] it's such a good bit. Then there's so many good lines. This is one line towards the end where, one guy like hits an alien with a shovel and its head falls off. And it's like, guys, I've got it without their heads. They're powerful. Isn't that a, isn't that, Oh my God. I lost, I forgot his name. Anthony Anderson, I think is one of those guys. I think you're right. Yeah. Is it Kevin Hart? I was going to say, yeah, I think it's Kevin Hart. Who's also in that movie. Yeah. That's the, how can I wake up dead? Like that whole. Yes. And then Simon Rex from red rocket is the, is the other guy too. Um, yeah, no, I,
[00:50:32] I remember thinking when I first saw scary movie, cause I definitely saw scary movie before scream. 100%. Me too. Yeah. Um, but I knew, I kind of knew what scream was and knew it was kind of like, you know, I met a commentary on slashers and stuff and watching it. I was kind of like, well, it's a weird movie to be like, I know scream was so popular, but I feel like it's a weird movie to like directly parody because scream is already kind of parodying the, uh, the scary, like the scary movie genre. So it just felt like a hat on the hat kind of situation. Um,
[00:51:01] but I remember liking the first one well enough. Uh, it's actually like 12 year old, like the original screams kind of already liked it. Yeah, exactly. The metatextual ramifications of this, it doesn't line up, you know? Um, and then scary movie too. They're in like a, it's sort of like a haunting, it's the haunting. Yeah. Which I made you watch. Uh, yes, you did make me watch that movie as well. Um, and then scary movie three, it's mostly signs. I think the others are no signs in the ring. I think are the two that it kind of does. Uh, maybe there's some of the others also, but like it, it has like a, the ring, like, yeah, like the little girl from the ring is a character in the movie. And yeah,
[00:51:30] I just remember that one scene from the others when it's the little girl bling with the marionette and they take the veil off and it's Michael Jackson. That's the, that's the kind of classic fit you can get. And I think Lindsay Love hands in that scene for some reason, you know what? That might be scary movie for that. That might be actually. Uh, so four is the one that's mostly, it's a war of the worlds parody. I think, which is a weird, like, you know, yes, it's sort of a horror movie, I guess, but it's more of a, you know, sci-fi action, dystopian future, whatever. Like I feel like scary movie for is the one where I feel like you're
[00:52:00] really stretching the concept of the scary, right? That one, I think also, I think three does this too, where it has like a million dollar baby parody and it has a matrix reloaded parody. Like it does those things. Then scary movie four is like, well, it's war of the worlds. And I don't even remember where it does have a saw parody at the beginning. I remember that. Um, it sounds right. It's like a soft parody. I think it's with Dr. Phil and also Shaquille O'Neal, maybe, or maybe scary movie for a secret master. Hmm. So we got to kill Dr. Phil.
[00:52:30] This would be interesting. Uh, and then Charlie Sheen's in three, but he gets killed off at the beginning of four. I think, I don't remember, but he's definitely in three. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but I think, I think he dies in four and I want to say it's like a parody of his own like DUI situation kind of thing. Tiger blood stuff. Yeah. Well it would have been before the tiger blood stuff. I think actually, again, I never saw scary movie five. I think scary movie five does have him and Lindsay Lohan, like both parodying their own. Like that sounds right. Yeah. That stuff in it. But again, never saw five, maybe, maybe we'll do a big scary movie.
[00:52:58] Watch before scary movie six comes out. I feel like we've got a lot of thoughts about these. We've got, so what do we got lined up? We got to do mission impossible. Rewind. Yes. Should we do a retrospective mission impossible episode? That could be fun. I'm going to be watching them anyway. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. It's already on the schedule. Scariest nation. Rewind. Yeah. We've got to lock in these tangerine dream movies at some point. yeah. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, no scary movie. I think that that could be something on the docket. Of course we've got to do a Shrek retrospective. Right.
[00:53:28] In the near future. Um, but yeah, but I was very into the parody movies around that time. Uh, partially because I loved the Zucker movies and the Mel Brooks movies. Uh, and I did like the scary movies, but like whenever it was like a Friedberg seltzer, uh, the one of those ones was like from two of the six writers of scary movie or whatever, like date movie, epic movie, meet the Spartans. That's rad. That's awful. Uh, and I saw them all in theaters. Uh, one of them is going to be good. I didn't like any of them, but I was so like into parody movies. I loved parodies. Uh,
[00:53:57] and none of them worked. I do remember kind of liking superhero movie, which was not them. That was also a Zucker, but yeah, it was one of the, like, yeah, they, I think that's probably why they're dead is because they just kept making them. They kept making them and they, they were so bad. I think after me meet the Spartans was my jumping off point. Uh, I think, uh, which I saw in theaters and so like thoroughly disliked that movie is like 62 minutes long. And like the last 10 minutes are like, you know, Spartans dancing over the credits or something. It's, it's really bad. Uh, and then there was disaster movie, uh,
[00:54:27] which never saw. And then there was vampire suck and never saw that either. But I feel like that was kind of the last major one. I mean, of course there was walk hard, but it was like a whole separate thing. Oh yeah, no, that doesn't count. Yeah. Walk hard was a real movie. Was it right? And basically ended, I guess until a complete unknown. Ended like the musical bio fic genre. I mean, Bohemian Rhapsody was a few years ago and they're still making them. They, they, they never stopped, but maybe they stopped for a couple of years. Bohemian Rhapsody was not good. Well, completely known pretty good. I liked it. Solid. That's what I heard. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:54:57] It does feel like James Mangold, like because James Mangold directed walk the line, which walk hard was directly making fun of. It does sort of feel like him like doubling down. Like, no, I'm going to do this again. Damn it. Fuck you guys. That's funny. Um, yeah. You made me watch hot shot, uh, not hot shots. Uh, yeah. I made you watch top secret at some point. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. We're doing it. Yeah. It's, it's time to bring back spoof movies. Uh, I think it's, I think we're ready for it and maybe scary movie six will usher in a new era of those things. We'll see. I hope so. Yeah.
[00:55:26] It'll be fascinating to see a movie like that exists in an era without a monoculture. Like there's no, there's no movie that everyone has seen. Yeah. I mean, I think there is, but there's a, it's a much smaller pool to choose from. I think like you can do Barbie, I guess, but that movie is already kind of like a parody of itself. Right. Right. It's sort of doing that. You can do Oppenheimer. Yeah. I'm sure the Wayans are cooking on their Oppenheimer jokes. Yeah. I mean,
[00:55:55] I guess it has to be in the scary movie genre. If you're going to do scary movie six. Right. yeah. I mean, you have the eight 24 stuff, I guess you could all pull from, I guess that has to be what they do. Right. Sort of an eight 24 S horror movie. Um, so maybe hereditary, the witch, I mean, even these movies are like 10 years old almost at this point. Yeah. They got a long gap to fill in. That's true. It's been a while since we've done a scary movie. Yeah. I mean, it would be, it would be, what would be really funny actually is if they just did scream again, like do the new scream, just do the new scream. That would actually be hilarious.
[00:56:24] That would actually be maybe the best bit they could do. Anyway, we'll find out. Uh, yeah, I have no idea when scary movie six is coming out. It might already be in development. Should I look this up and see if they, maybe they are writing it or something. I feel like it's in development. I think it is. Cause it was like a whole thing that the Wayne's brothers were coming back. Okay. So 2026, June 12th, 2026 is when they're planning to release it. Um, but there's not like they've said anything about like what movies they're parodying or anything like that. But yeah, the way ends are back and they're doing it. So we'll see what happens. Uh, and on the Wikipedia page,
[00:56:54] it says TBA for Anna Faris and Regina Hall. So it hasn't been officially confirmed yet. They weren't in scary movie five, right? But I mean, they gotta be in scary. They gotta come back. What else are they doing? It's where they're from. Yes, absolutely. They gotta go back to their roots. I think Anna Faris is like a big podcaster now. Is that still going on? Yeah. Okay. I didn't know that. She had a sitcom for a long time. Um, mom, uh, which ended a few years ago. So yeah, I'm sure she's got time. Come on. Come on. It's scary movie. Come on. All right. So scary movie six.
[00:57:23] We're on the lookout for it. John sales, lone star. Well, well worth checking out as is, uh, UHF starring. Oh my God. The duality of man. Uh, yes, exactly. Kyle's going to be so mad at editing this episode when he realizes it's 20 minutes longer than he expected it to be because we kept talking about scary. Sorry, but not sorry. Exactly. All right. I think that about wraps things up for this week. Mike, where can we find you online this week?
[00:57:52] One more thing about scary movie six. And another thing. That's scary movie. Um, you can find me at MD film blog on letterboxd and blue sky. You can also donate to support the show on our Kofi page, which is Kofi.com slash Mike and Mike pods, where you can, uh, donate $50 and pick a topic of this very podcast. Mike and Mike go to the movies here on the bonus episodes. Um, we double dog air you to do that. We have a, one of those coming up soon with, uh, Tangerine dream. Yes. Yeah.
[00:58:22] I think less of a let's rank and more of like a retrospective, unlike some of the select big movies of Tangerine dreams, uh, filmography. Yeah. It turns out they wrote the scores for a lot of movies. So yeah, we're not going to jam 40 movies into, uh, one of these, but, uh, yes, we're going to talk about like the, the heavy hitters, the big ones, I think the big ones, and maybe some of the sleeper hits or, or faves that we managed to check out. Exactly. Yes. Um, so that's coming up soon. Uh, you can also get merch if you want merch on our red bubble, which is Mike and Mike pods. dot red bubble. Dot com. That's right.
[00:58:52] You can find me online. It's a M Smith film blog on Twitter and blue sky, Mike Smith film on letterbox radio, Mike sandwich, Instagram. Uh, thank you so much for listening to Mike, Mike, go to the movies. I'm Mike Smith. That's my decretio. 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 Mike and Mike pod. You can find the rest of our podcast and rapture press alongside many other podcasts, all kinds of comic books and movie news and all that good stuff. You can check out the main podcast, the complete works to keep up with all of our Roy Scheider movies. And that's going to be the end of this week's episode of Mike and Mike go to the movies.
[00:59:21] We will see you on the other side.