Suitable Flesh and Green Book - Talking Pondo

 In this episode, Marty gives Clif the movie Suitable Flesh to watch and Clif gives Marty the movie Green Book to watch. 

Clif and Marty pair up two movies that somehow work exceptionally well together. Here comes Green Book and Suitable Flesh. 

We start with Suitable Flesh. A wild Lovecraft-inspired body-swap horror throwback featuring Heather Graham and horror legend Barbara Crampton. Clif and Marty talk B-movie charm, gross-out effects and Stuart Gordon vibes. Overthinking this movie might ruin the fun!

Next, it's Peter Farrelly’s Oscar-winning road movie Green Book starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, discussing the chemistry between the leads and the film’s mix of comedy and drama. Green Book often feels like “The Odd Couple in a car.” 

They also cover listener mail, Jim Jarmusch appreciation and pizza-folding sitcom jokes. 

#TalkingPondo #FilmPodcast #GreenBook #SuitableFlesh #MovieReview #HorrorMovies #ClassicCinema #BarbaraCrampton 

Transcript

Marty 0:01
Uh what did you think of that thing you do?

Clif 0:04
Oh, I just that's my that was my other thing. I was just like, holy crap, he's gonna fucking bust into fucking uh all my all my uh my one and only dreams. His his his his song that he only got a take one take of from the B side.

Marty 0:19
Apparently, uh for just about every scene, he would show up shirtless and be like, I can do this scene shirtless, right? Because he always wanted to show off. And they're like, dude, this is like the dinner, the breakfast scene. He's like, that's fine, I can still do it shirtless, right?

Clif 0:31
I can, you know, welcome to season four of Talking Pondo. Talking Pondo is a podcast where Cliff and Marty give each other a film to watch and talk about them in detail. Some episodes will include special guests.

Marty 0:52
And that is us. Tony and Don will have a pizza folding contest, will not be seen today, so we may bring you the following freakiest Friday.

Clif 1:06
I do love the pizza folding.

Marty 1:08
Tony and Don, man. They need some spin-offs. It's the it's a modern odd couple, guys. It's odd couple in a car, and it's fun. So we're we're here, it's talking pondo. We're back. I'm Marty. I'm Cliff. And we got two more modern day classics for you. Movies that more people should be talking about, and they're not, and I think it's because they haven't seen them. Yeah.

Clif 1:34
A couple of interesting ones.

Marty 1:35
Yeah, and suitable flesh. How the fuck do these movies go together? A lot more than you would think, as we discussed today on another episode of Talking Pondo.

Clif 1:47
I'm excited, I'm excited for this one. We've we we've we've talked about Green Book before, and you I've I've brought it up a couple times in the show, and and I can't I keep trying to reference it, of course, and you just look at me like I haven't fucking seen that. So I don't know.

Marty 1:58
But now you do. I I almost feel like there was a missed opportunity here. Of all the movies we've done, Green Book should have been with a guest. Because I feel like not enough people have seen this movie. You never see hardly any criticism. Nobody on my letterbox outside of a famous person has even cataloged the movie has watched.

Clif 2:17
I don't think I think because it's a Fairley movie, they don't nobody takes it seriously.

Marty 2:21
Well, that, and I think the controversy made him go, Well, I'm not gonna even look at that. And it's like, well, yeah, you still you still need to watch it, and then a lot of these best picture winners they disappear and nobody talks about them again. But this one's like and then of course Suitable Flesh is just a couple years old. Only if you know you really know the the horror stuff, or you're probably gonna know that this movie exists, but it's also fun in in different ways. So we do have a lot of viewer mail today, though, so we'll do that. Oh, sweet, hit hit us with it. Okay, let's uh do this one here. This one's from uh Izzy T about the love witch and blade runner. How about the blade runner, Witch Hazel, will not be seen this week to bring you drug-induced hallucinations of electric sheep. See, that was probably much better than my sandwich joke. Yeah. The Love Witch episode. Maybe she could maybe we should have her start writing our cold openings. Seriously. I don't consider Love Witch a display of female empowerment, but it's definitely a great display of feminine rage, which I guess I can feel empowering. I love the lesbian tones and all the weird stuff with sex magic. What was that? Weapons? Uh spells and hero. She has it. Also hilarious to me, but this convo went how I thought it might. What does that mean? And it was as good as I had hoped. Now I think she probably thought we'd like the movie.

Clif 3:47
Two fucking men talking about a female empowerment movie. That's how it went. Well, we're gonna do it again this week, damn it. We we hope we hope you enjoyed it, Izzy. We we I I enjoyed it. I I I really thought that as we talk as we talked through that film, especially, I really grew to appreciate it because I'm like, it's like I I think I said it in the middle of the of the broadcast. I went, is this a comedy? And you went, yes. And I went, okay. And it kind of clicked for me what she was doing, and I thought, boy, she really fucking nailed that. Yeah, she really nailed it. It's worth a it's worth a look. It really is. I don't know if I'm gonna watch it again, but it's worth a look. And I can also understand people being like, I fucking love that movie. Like it's singularly weird and kind of well put together. Yeah. Love for the Love Witch. Love for the Love Witch.

Marty 4:34
Love and the Love Witch from Witch Witch. Uh Witch Witch. You know, Ray used to work at Witch Witch, but that's uh it's a story for another time, I suppose. As Jim on Bravo for the B side says, I could go off on that right now, but we will be here for the next five hours. So we're gonna pivot.

Clif 4:53
We owe him a sci-fi in a western conversation.

Marty 4:56
Uh more more listener mail. Okay, going back to our only lovers left alive. Hey, I said it right there. You got it right right off the bat. Nice. And a rival. Ooh, yes. We got Dylan J. Schlender writing in, as he's wont to do. And he says, I really dug a rival. I had to laugh when Marty said he did not like the movie, but like the time stuff. That was the movie. I think Brenner was miscast and could not keep up with Adams. Adams should have won an Oscar.

Clif 5:31
You know, I no notes. I I completely agree with that. I think I think that the well, I think I replied to that and basically said this concept of time not being linear is a it's a cool idea, right? And like the more you kind of think about it and put your wrap your head around it, this learning this language changes your completely changes your perception of time is a really cool concept. And Amy Adams is a bomb ass actress.

Marty 5:54
And it reminded me of uh the recent Reels of Justice case where Dylan prosecuted 12 monkeys. And so when I read his response here, I had my response to 12 monkeys was like, well, I had to laugh when Dylan said he didn't like he didn't like the movie, but he liked the time stuff. That was the movie. 12 Monkeys and Arrival. Are they the same movie?

Clif 6:19
Take that, Dylan.

Marty 6:23
Great timing there. Uh what else do we got here? Uh did we do the one about Cobra? About when are you guys gonna review Stone Cold and the Tango and Cash?

Clif 6:35
Oh we did do that. No, I but I I literally just picked up the um the Kino Lorber 4K of Stone Cold. I thought it was a Cobra. No, of Stone Cold, so we I have it when we want to do that review. It should be fun. I forgot Lance Hendrickson's in it. Yeah, and William Forsyth. Yeah, he's the he's the great bad guy of the 80s.

Marty 6:56
So we got one more piece of mail here. Uh this one's on the only lovers left alive. Oh. This is our old buddy Carlos, you know, Paul's cousin. And basically all he writes on this movie is four of the the devil horns. So I'm thinking he must he must enjoy that film.

Clif 7:16
I I mean, uh yeah, usually that that indicates that you enjoy something. Um that's a that's uh yeah, another great one. We keep bringing the Jarmouche keeps paying off on this show. Like we uh we have yet to see a bad Jarmouche film so far.

Marty 7:30
That's true, and I'm sure there's some out there, but um we're gonna run into them if we keep up. But that's the point, right?

Clif 7:37
But so far he's been pretty spectacular.

Marty 7:40
Like we were saying, uh we've been watching his movies for years, you know. We've we've been well aware of them, but for myself, it's only these last few viewings of some of his other movies where it was like, oh, maybe something's clicking now that I wasn't looking for or paying attention to back when maybe analyzing the movies for the podcast has something to do with that. Maybe not. Your enjoyment should just be on what you're seeing.

Clif 8:05
I think when he was really making a lot of movies, um, there were so many other filmmakers louder than him making films that he kind of got like and and I don't think he maybe didn't mind it, kind of being in the background, being a good filmmaker that people found, but not somebody that's making the noise of a Kevin Smith or so on and so forth.

SPEAKER_02 8:23
Anyway.

Clif 8:25
So what do we got today again?

Marty 8:27
What is it? Anyway, what do I know? It's uh green book and suitable flesh. Ooh. Uh what do you want to do first? A suitable book or green flesh. Green flesh.

Clif 8:40
I think these movies um weirdly have a lot to do with each other.

Marty 8:44
Oh, they have so much to do with each other. We couldn't have possibly picked two more disparate movies that are similar.

Clif 8:50
I think that we have kind of stumbled into doing this by accident and it's working pretty well. I don't know. There's sometimes where we pair these movies up and they're like space camp and space truckers perfectly.

Marty 9:00
Well, that's you know, you know, that's gold right there. And speaking of which, I think Gold was struck by accident sometime this week while uh researching these films, as we will get into here in a bit, but I have a feeling that old Tony and uh Don I think they're gonna be around for a while. Well, let's do pseudo flesh first. How about that? Suitable Flesh. Okay. What is this movie that uh has one of the same establishing shots as Reanimator in it, the Miskatonic University? Because it's set in kind of that same Lovecraftian universe. What is suitable flesh?

Clif 9:51
Uh Suitable Flesh, 2023, one hour 40 minutes. Um a psychiatrist becomes obsessed with one of her young patients, who she later discovers is linked to an ancient curse. This is directed by Joe Lynch, written by Dennis Paoli, and H.B. Lovecraft. Stars Heather Graham, Judah Lewis, Bruce Davison, and our girl Barbara Crampton. Great cast. Yeah, good cast. Storyline. Um in a series of flashbacks, confused psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Derby recounts the terrifying story of her downfall to her best friend and colleague, Dr. Daniela Upton. It all started when Elizabeth had an unannounced visit by distressed teenager Asa, who kept insisting that there's more to his abusive father than meets the eye. Generally concerned about the young man's mental health, Dr. Derby delved deeper and deeper into the strange case of multiple personality disorder, only to drift apart from her family. And the more Elizabeth exposed herself to Ace's mysterious horrors, the more she questioned her sanity. But if the thing in Ace's mind is real, what good is science when you're suitable flesh? Dr.

Marty 10:51
Derby delved deeper. That's good, sir. You didn't even stumble over that one.

Clif 10:58
It was it was tough. It was tough. I I I um you know I don't I didn't have you know I didn't have a beer before the show, so tongues tongues tongues in good shape. Dr. Derpy. Dr. Derpy. I mean, literally, that's his name. I don't know what else to tell you. I didn't name this fucking guy, but that's his name.

unknown 11:15
No.

Marty 11:15
This this was written by uh one of Stuart Gordon's uh the people that he worked with back in the day, and this was a script that they could never get off the ground. So this is Reanimator, I think, and and um from beyond, right? Yeah, and I think that's why it has that feel like a late 80s rental. Very much so. Like there's that loose story just there to kind of drape the tone and elements over, so you don't really it because see I can be real harsh on a movie like this and go, well, it doesn't make any fucking sense and blah blah blah. But it's like that's not what I had to put myself back in the mindset of a 13-year-old renting one of these movies and going, This is just a framework so you can put the crazy shit on top of it. And if you start thinking about the logic of it too much, it's why I it was the same thing for arrival, right? I'm thinking about the logic of it too much when I really should just be going along for the ride, kind of like uh kind of like Don.

Clif 12:17
Yeah, to to be fair, you have to you have to um you have to suspend your disbelief pretty well for this one. Like right away, she's basically, you know, Cinemax in a way. You know, this dude's yeah, it's like a Zalman King movie meets a horror movie. Like, and so, like you said though, if you're renting this or watching this, you're not after, like you're not after a a layered story. You're not, you know, fucking Aaron Sorkin isn't writing suitable flesh, right? And you know that, you're fine with that. What you're looking for is good elements, and this film has really good elements. Like um, I'll get it right out of the way at the beginning. I was like, is there gonna be any nudity in this? Because it seems like it's kind of flirting with the sort of that racy silk stockings in the beginning type of thing. And then there is a little bit, and you go, oh, okay, so that's what they're going for. This is definitely the angle that the movie's going for. Um, it doesn't go to that reanimator level of like severed head between the legs.

Marty 13:19
Yeah, that's what I was expecting is insanity. And there's a little bit of gross, but I was like, oh, I didn't know this was gonna be the Skinemax movie for the most part.

Clif 13:28
I would I would say out of Paoli's three, this is probably his tamest.

SPEAKER_02 13:32
Mm-hmm.

Clif 13:34
As far as the raciness goes and the sort of excess, right? Um it is very well shot. It looks really good. Oh, yeah, it's very, very professional. Um there my biggest problem with it was her office set seems very, very fake. Like it just feels it feels very much like a fake set.

Marty 13:57
Well, you could tell they didn't have a whole lot. Um the money went for the effects and right.

Clif 14:02
And the the the lighting at times, I remember she's she's backlit against the window at one point. And this you can see the sun. They've they've put the sun in clouds above her coming through the window, but yet the light seems to be spilling from under her too. And I'm just like, this lighting's fucking goofy, it's weird. But the movie is goofy and weird. Yeah, the movie's goofy and weird, and these are minor, for the most part, minor things that, you know, hell, I mean, it might even give it a charm to a certain extent. Um because you are you are solidly in B-movie territory here. Uh yeah. You know, this is not, you know, this is not the type of horror that they're, you know, this isn't the high-level horror. This is solidly trying to get that that fan base to go that that likes this to go after it. Mm-hmm. But I mean, this kid, you know, within the first five minutes, this kid pulls a trump, does the pussy grab, and and her reply is, um, excuse me. It's like real, okay, well, you know, okay, well, you know where this is going. You know, like this this movie's not even really trying to play around with this, you know.

Marty 15:05
There's a lot of allegory going on in the movie as well, you know. Yeah.

Clif 15:11
Uh I did like the part where Asa comes back the second time, like he comes back to the office and she's got that dude under hypnosis, and she's trying to talk to him and get him to stay, and the dude's just holding his clenching his fist, and he looks like he's about to have a fucking stroke. She's just left him in that moment of hypnosis. And I could not stop laughing at that. I thought that was really funny. It's a it's a silly, silly movie. Oh, of course, yeah. You know, it's silly.

Marty 15:40
That's why you can't take it serious, right? And that's right. It reminds me of that late 80s kind of tone of at this point when they're cranking out these gore movies direct to video, you're just watching it to see what they're gonna come up with next. You're not sitting there and analyzing the story to death because then you're not gonna enjoy it.

Clif 15:59
It it it very much reminds me of the creature features of the 60s, you know, 50s and 60s. They oh, that too. Just a little more bracing. Attack of the 50 foot woman, colossal man, all this type of shit. You know, this is a body swap horror, is all this is. I mean, it's pretty show back then, but they can do now. Yeah, yeah. It's very obvious. Like, it's that's the other thing is like it's very, very obvious what the plot of the movie is. 10 minutes in, you're like, so this is body swap, and like, yep, mm-hmm.

Marty 16:30
Uh, have you seen Joe Lynch's other film called Mayhem? I don't think so. It was about like this pseudo-virus zombie outbreak in a high-rise that's all like these business people, so it's like all business people zombie fighting, surviving, but kind of ramped up, funny, crazy. And this one had different energy than that one, I thought. That one was fun too, but it's like, oh, he shifted gears here, so he's showing that he's got some different range and stuff. It's funny because these are both Mayhem and Suitable Flesh are part of a last drive-in double feature that was released on DVD and Blu-ray, which are just the episodes from the show, but they're on physical media. And I guess because they're both directed by Joe Lynch, and he was the guest on both episodes. And during Mayhem, he had a fake Twitter feud with Joe Bob where they were going back and forth with each other about what'd you do this for? Make your movie suck. And he's like, Fuck you, make your own movie, and you know, going back and forth. So it was pretty fun, you know. Because people were like, in Joe Bob included, like, hey, there should have been more nudity and stuff in a movie like Suitable Flesh, and the movie, the title sucks, and all that. He's like giving them all this shit. And he's all well then make your own fucking movie. That's what I have to say to those people. And then Joe Bob's like, Oh, what about you know, it represents this and that and getting all deep. And he's like, Man, you're putting way more thought into it than the people that made it, you know. And I'm just sitting there laughing, kind of going, exactly, this movie was not meant to be some super intellectual exercise. It's just the body swap craziness. Let's just see how far it goes and who's gonna end up in what body, you know.

Clif 18:10
What watching Barbara Crampton vape is very weird for me. Isn't that strange? I don't I don't see her as a vapor. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

Marty 18:17
I mean, she just throws the vape away and rolls one of those weird joints that are being rolled throughout the film. Those tobacco joint things. Did you notice? Uh you might not have noticed, because I don't know if you know what the director looks like, but he was one of the orderlies at the end of the movie. And she the other orderly was. Yes. Uh I didn't catch it till the credits, and then I had to look back and I'm like, damn, how did I not notice? It's uh Jonah Ray, right? Jonah Ray is in this movie. Which is pretty damn funny. Which makes sense. He's riffing Barbara Crampton with Robot Wars, and then he's in a movie with her. Mm-hmm.

Clif 19:03
Um, one of the problems I have with the movie is that it its tone tends to waver. Um, but its tone tends to waver. It goes from super silly to trying to be super serious and back trying to be super creepy and then back to super silly, and and uh the dialogue tends to shift with it, you know, and and it just seems very, very weird. But again, you can't really you like you said, if you put too much into it, you're gonna miss kind of the fun of watching an 80s B movie, which is kind of what this is, right?

Marty 19:34
And now that I've seen it and know all the twists and turns, if I went back and watched it again, the tone might feel different to me because I'm not wondering is this gonna go serious and weird, or is this gonna be silly? It might seem silly the whole way to me now because I know there's no serious repercussions.

Clif 19:53
Right. I bet you this was a howler at like a film festival. Like screening this at a film festival is probably a lot of fun.

Marty 20:00
Uh what did you think of that thing you do?

Clif 20:04
Oh, I just that's my that was my other thing. I was just like, holy crap, he's gonna fucking bust into fucking uh all my all my uh my one and only dreams. His his his his song that he only got a take one take of from the p side.

Marty 20:18
Apparently, uh for just about every scene, he would show up shirtless and be like, I can do this scene shirtless, right? Because he always wanted to show off. And they're like, dude, this is like the dinner, the breakfast scene. He's like, that's fine, I can still do it shirtless, right? I can, you know, I did it.

Clif 20:34
If I was 55 years old, look like he did, I'd I would be walking around going, Do you want me to do the scene shirtless? No problem. I mean, he's he's he's ripped. Which it was like that's the other thing. It's like, so you've got this husband who's ripped, and you're like, gee, I can't can't stop thinking about this 18-year-old kid.

Marty 20:51
Well, it's kind of what Joe Bob and Darcy went into a little bit on their episode, you know. And I think the director as well, like, she's getting the uh bear and the twink, is how they referenced that. And that's why they said it's kind of that female perspective of it, the whole movie, which reminds me of the Love Witch a little bit. I was like, we're just watching the Love Witch again. It's a little twisty this time.

Clif 21:17
I do give it credit, it builds and it builds. Um, it's properly bloody and creepy at points. Um there's there's a lot of reliance early on on that shaky camera close-up of the hand cracking body transference stuff to kind of make it creepy. But then eventually you know, all those sound effects. Exactly. But then eventually it actually gets into some proper prosthetics and and effects that are really well done. Um when he's when when she's dragging herself across the floor in that fucked up body, I'm like, oh, that's so well done. Uh so properly gross and just disgusting and well done. And like I really liked that part of it quite a bit.

Marty 22:00
So you know that that's played for laughs, you know. At first like, eh, but I bet if I watched it again, I'd be like, this is just because I know where it's going and it's almost three stooges, you know.

Clif 22:10
I I liked it because it while it was gory, it wasn't um I'm not watching, I'm not watching somebody get their limb kind of torn off so it wasn't grisly, I guess. But it was still properly bloody like an 80s horror movie. Like it reminded me a little bit of basket case or something, right? Properly kind of bloody, but also kind of humorous and something that you can easily kind of laugh away, you know. Because back then the the you know, the the big three, the the Freddie, the Jasons, and the the Michael Myers, those are the ones that usually had all the best effects. Not the not the craziest, but the most well done. The ones that are most believable, you know what I mean? The ones that were hard to shake off in your sleep. But then you watch, you know, reanimate and go, oh, this look at this fucking so dumb. You can tell uh, you know, blah blah blah, oh, they just kind of hole the freaking you know, desk and he stuck his head under there or whatever.

Marty 23:06
And so this is based on a Lovecraft story, which everybody on The Last Drive-in thoroughly agreed that he probably wouldn't like this movie because of the gender swap angle of it. Because as we all know, HP Lovecraft had all sorts of weird ideas and racist tones and stuff. But that's where a lot of his horror came from. He would write stories about people that look different from them and make turn them into monsters. So in a way, it does kind of tie into our other movie today, you know, the whole racist Lovecraft aspect, even though there really isn't anything like that in Suitable Flesh, you know.

Clif 23:42
HP racist craft.

Marty 23:44
Hey, look, I mean separating the art from the artist, right?

Clif 23:47
Things have been dead with his work so much that the further back you go, the more likely you're gonna be to find that shit.

Marty 23:53
So it's interesting how his personal issues and strange outlook on life actually helped cause the weird art that then transgresses into something else. It's just so strange how we keep discovering that stuff over and over again. That's usually my line. Fascinating, Jim. Uh so yeah, I don't really have much more to say about it. I watched the last drive-in version, it took me like three hours to sit through, so it's like, ooh, now I know why I don't watch the movies on that show sometimes, because you gotta really want to see a movie spread out in that format.

unknown 24:34
Yeah.

Clif 24:35
I I'm glad I watched it. It's a little too long. It needed about probably eight or nine minutes carved out of it. Um, I think it's at 140 something. Is that right?

Marty 24:46
I yeah, I watched the two-hour and 43 minute version.

Clif 24:49
So it's 140. I would I would have loved to see it come in at like 134, just a little tighter, but you know, not terrible. Um Heather Graham's still gorgeous, Barbara Crampton's still gorgeous, the guy played ASUS pretty good, Bruce Davison was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 25:05
Oh, yeah.

Clif 25:06
Uh, as the old man, that creepy ass old man. So, you know, um pretty enjoyable hour and forty.

Marty 25:12
Yeah, they said he was on set for like three days.

Clif 25:16
Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Um, I'll also say this the director knows what he's doing, like the writer too. If if you're gonna put Heather Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton in a movie together, you know, especially a movie like this, gotta have them fucking inviting. And you get them both, and you get both, right? Like that's just you know, you hit all the notes for for one of these type of films, you know. Well done. And it's I think it sits well within the triangle of this from beyond reanimator, suitable flesh. It's definitely the lighter uh of the three siblings, you know, a little bit, it goes a little bit easier, but it's still it's still like you said, it feels very much like one of those. And I think if you watch them as like a trilogy, you they would probably fit in pretty well together.

Marty 26:01
They wanted to have Barbara's character be the character she played in from Beyond, but rights issues prevented that. So you can kind of imagine if you want. Yeah.

Clif 26:11
Well, I think there's some sort some sort of trivia on IMDB about her glasses being a tribute to her character from Reanimator, I think, or or from Beyond. I can't remember which one.

Marty 26:21
And uh, if it's too tame for you, you can always watch Castle Freak as the third movie. Be my guest.

SPEAKER_02 26:29
There you go.

Marty 26:30
Like there's not enough Jeffrey Combs. I need Castle Freak in my life.

Clif 26:34
That's that's the only thing that was honestly missing from this was Jeffrey Combs. You know, I mean, uh honestly, the one thing that would have made it better was to have would for to have Jeffrey Combs to have been in the film. That would have been awesome.

Marty 26:47
I bet they probably tried. It was probably a scheduling.

Clif 26:50
I'm sure. Yeah. So what do you give it?

Marty 26:57
If this were a regular scale, I'd give it one and a half, but that's that's the normal cynical scale. If you if you rate it, and this is what my actual number is gonna be, is a three, and that's based on these type of movies. You know, if you like these kind of pseudo eighties vibe, kind of crazy thrill ride with a little bit of Skinemax thrown in, yeah. You could you could certainly do a lot worse. So three stars, yeah.

Clif 27:24
Um I think I'm kind of right there with you, but I'm gonna go right in the middle. I'm gonna go two and a half.

Marty 27:29
Yeah, that's that's acceptable too, you know.

Clif 27:32
Not not a not not the greatest thing in the world, not the worst, sort of right in the middle. Uh pretty well made. You know, you could see it, it was in focus, it was well shot, the the acting was good, but it just like you said, it it's it's it's um it's going for a certain type of thing and for a certain thing, and it and it kind of nailed that, but it's not like it's the greatest film ever made, right? So I can't give it a super high score. And I can't wait to go. But I also give it a little bit can't say it's shit, because it's not. And I may even go to three if I as I as we go through our review. But I did enjoy it. It was fun. It was weird. Fucking weird. Asa Asa creaked me right the fuck out.

Marty 28:12
That's good casting there.

Clif 28:16
Which takes us to Le Green Book.

Marty 28:19
Yeah. Uh speaking of good casting, what is the odd couple in a car? That's really what it is at its core.

Clif 28:30
You're not kidding. You're not kidding. Green book 2018. Anything else? PG 13, two hours and ten minutes. A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American style. This is directed by Peter Farrelly. It's uh written by Nick Vallalonga. And Peter Farrell, it stars Viva Mortensen and Mahersha Ali with a little Linda Cardellini thrown in there as an extra bonus. Your storyline is in 1962, tough bouncer Frank Tony Lip Vallalonga searches for work while his nightclub is closed for renovations. The most promising offer turns out to be the driver for African American classical pianist Don Shirley for a concert tour into the Deep South states. Although hardly enthused at working for a black man, Tony accepts a job and they begin their trek armed with the Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide for safe travel through America's racial segregation. The snobbishly erudite pianist and the crudely practical bouncer can barely get along with their clashing attitudes to life and ideals. However, as the disparate pair witness and endure America's appalling injustices on the road, they find a newfound respect for each other's talents and start to face them together. In doing so, they nurture an understanding and a friendship that would change both their lives.

Marty 29:43
We interrupt the uh podcast in progress to bring you an episode of the classic sitcom Tony and Don. Jamil, Jemizel, Hospital Buffer Incorporated, we're gonna do it. Greasy Bucket, we will take it. Yeah, we're gonna make our tour come true. Yeah. Doing it our way. Hold the pizza, he will take it. Whole damn pie, he won't forsake it. He goes lost and too deep in the role. Doing it our way. We're from two different worlds. And the genius one is a tough guy this time. There's no stopping us. We're gonna do it. Wait, why is there a camera in the hall now? Micah's staring at a wall now. This is the road trip we once new. Paranormal activity, our way, yes, our way. Fried chicken snacks and screams, and we'll do it our way, yes, our way. Two worlds are gonna meet, and we'll do it our way, yes, our way. Merging all movie dreams for me and you.

Clif 31:18
Yeah. Well, congratulations, man. Just a little big little pig up. Well done. Don and Shirley.

Marty 31:27
Same little fucking thing. Don and Shirley. That's fucking hilarious. Because you can't take this movie too seriously. Now, I mean, put a lot of things on this movie, and there's a lot of the racial overtones and stuff, but when you strip all that away, it's really just the odd couple in a car. It is. I don't think they ever truly expected this movie to blow up the way it did. I think it was just intended to be this nice little simple drama, you know, decent budget, came out, but then somehow it won Best Picture at the Oscars. And a lot of people were like, how the fuck did that happen, right? Because it's an okay movie. It's not the greatest thing ever made, but how does it win best picture, right? Well, apparently, from what I could tell, the other movies that were nominated that year were highly divisive. Pricky, as they called them. And it's votes everywhere. And this little movie was on everybody's top ten list and basically won't by proxy because of that.

Clif 32:34
It's in the middle of the shit storm that's going on. There's racial tensions everywhere. And here's this little movie that's like, hey, black people and white people can be friends. You know, don't forget that. And it's and like you said, you can't take it too seriously. It is semi-autobiographical, but it's also, we also understand that this stuff is you know sort of um pumped up for the city.

Marty 32:56
That's a biopic that apparently a the Don Shirley's family said was not realistic at all. Like there's a lot of like like they said, he was involved with his family, he knew about all the black culture and stuff, and so it's like it's kind of just barely a biopic, yeah, as far as reality goes. They kind of just took elements and swirled it all around. And it's so strange because you would think a movie about this classical pianist, it would be his story, but instead it's the story of the driver. It's the Ronnie the Limbo driver story, if you're a fan, you know.

Clif 33:29
Well, if you're gonna do an updated version of like, what is it, like an updated, I don't know, uh uh, like you said, odd couple or type of thing, you have to kind of address the the you have to, I guess in '62 make race a problem and then address the problem, right?

Marty 33:44
So um and I think it's got a real East Coast context to it, which takes me back to the Howard Stern show thing. And it's like, oh yeah, because Ronnie the limo driver, he's basically the another real life version of this guy, right down to the politics and everything. And I think it's more of an East Coast vibe where there's a lot more ball busting and stuff. Like on that and tell them Steve Dave, they're always giving Ming Chen shit and saying all these horrible things, but they're all friends and stuff. And I think sometimes when you move out of the context of where it's located, some people can go, what the fuck is that? and get really up in arms about it because they don't understand that that's how people were putting their balls together in a certain context.

Clif 34:26
Right. If you're getting upset at how Tony the Lip acts and what he says, then you have to understand that that's yeah, that's definitely ball busting East Coast Italian city. You know, I mean, that's that's a fucking trope almost, you know. And you know, that you have to be that way to turn it around, right? One of my favorite things in the movie is the fact that when when he gets called to the uh you know to the back to the YMCA and the two of the he's been caught with the other dude. And it's like the the only thing that Tony's mad about is the fact that he got caught and he was like, fuck, I told you not to go anywhere without me. And Don's like, I figured you would want this to be the exception, right? Like, but he's not mad about the gay thing because he's like, and he tells him, he's like, I've been fucking working at the Copa and these other clubs for years. Give two shits about that, right? Exactly. And I think that's also the race thing where he's that's why he's busting his balls, because he I don't think he gives a shit about that either, really, to a certain extent. And I don't think it's I think it's it's the examination of racism in the south that the movie's doing more than the examination of race racism in the friendship. Yeah, to me.

Marty 35:32
It's another movie that asks questions, it doesn't give all the answers for. Before I get into that, I wanted to respond to when he finds the guy handcuffed, right? And there's the whole yeah oh he was he was doing gay stuff and he got in trouble for it because those were the times. Because those were the times, it also made me more of the Ronnie the limo driver again, because as we all know, he's about meeting girls and he's about meeting guys. It don't matter, he don't care, man, because he's Ronnie the Limo driver, he's open about this shit, and this guy's seen it all too, right? So he's like, that don't bother me, man. But the weird question is the beginning of the movie, he sees those two workers drinking from the glasses, and he throws the glasses away, right? Yeah, yeah, and then it's never really addressed why it's not this his racism was a special kind of thing because it's not this, oh, I do it because everybody else around me says, but then once I get to know you, I realize there was something a little more deep-seated if you're throwing away glasses, right? But they never get back to that, they never have this line of, you know, I used to be so that I wouldn't even want to drink from. And I guess they kind of go to the restaurant thing a little bit, but it is kind of an extreme thing at the beginning, right? Where you go, oh, that says a lot about his character and where he is.

Clif 36:54
I think it's more of a I think it's a bad, I think it's a bad writing choice. Because they because it doesn't play out in the rest of the film, like you said. And if he had just he had just brought Linda to the side and said, you know, who you got in the house while I'm sleeping, and and had that conversation, she's like, I don't know who they're gonna fucking say, you know, that type of thing. And they kind of have that, but it's it's a little bit subdued. I think that would that would be a better doing the glasses and and and being why are you throwing glasses away? But I guess the glasses also allow her to see it and kind of realize that he's got a hang up or whatever.

Marty 37:28
I just thought maybe there would be more of a follow-up on it, but that's not what the movie's trying to be about.

Clif 37:34
Yeah, again, a question that's not answered.

Marty 37:36
And it's also one of these, like, not everybody's a perfect person, and we know that you know, Tony's not a perfect person by any means, neither is Don. You know, everybody's complicated. And the thing about Tony is a lot of us have known the person that if they're on your side, they'll be do anything for you. But if you fuck with them, they will fuck you up. And those people are tend to be kind of that one-track bulldog mine. But we also see that Tony has a sensitive side to himself. He's writing the letters back home, he's a highly intelligent person. So sometimes when he comes off as dumb, it's like, wait a minute, you're not dumb, though.

Clif 38:20
No, he's he's uh he's he's very he's very street smart. He is very smart. I think he, you know, again, he he's one of these guys that's smart but lacks an education, like a like a true education, right? Um, but we know like one of the first things we learn about Tony in the early in the movie is that one, he's tough. You know, he doesn't give a flying fuck. He beats the shit out, he beats the shit out of a of a of a fucking mob guy and is and is like you should probably go home. And then when the dude comes at him he knocks him out, right? Even plays games with that dude's hat, right? Like that's pretty ballsy because this dude was like, you know, gonna tear the copa down over this freaking hat, right? But of course, what's he do? He does that so that he can go and give the hat back, make some make some extra money, and now we you know, and he's manipulating the situation. He's smart like that. And so that we also know he's an earner. That now he does the fifth the hot dogs thing, and we know this is what Tony does. He this is how Tony makes money, right? He's constantly manipulating situations and and looking for advantages to to you know make some fucking money, which is you know, again, the rock on the ground later and all this type of shit, right? Mm-hmm. Well, you got beak trouble, Charlie. Mind your business. You know, I love this movie. It's got a lot of great lines, and I'll I'll say this I like Vico as an actor. I like him in anything he's in because he leans into whatever role you give him, like he really goes for it.

Marty 39:44
So I think everybody should watch this movie, not because it's like awesome or anything, it's an okay movie, but if you like watching actors do things that you never see in other movies, you have to watch this, especially if you like Vigo Mortensen as an actor, because he disappears. I don't know who that person is. He is so far into the character of this, he becomes this Ed Harris hero by way of Joe Pesci. That about halfway through the movie, I'm like, okay, I'm good. But it's still a very interesting performance that you just don't see. And I really honestly believe that if Novigo was in this movie, no one cares about this movie full stop because that is an insane performance that I can't imagine this movie not having it. It'd still probably be interesting, but it wouldn't, right? It wouldn't have that feel because he's taking this thing to some other level, like he became this other person. And yet the movie kind of feels, you know, it's melodramatic, feels kind of made for TV sitcommy in a way. It's it's it's almost that's why I think they weren't feeling it to be a big thing because of the way it's made. It feels like a little showy in parts like you remember Chappelle's show, and when he was on the inside the actor studio and they were going through his fictional movies and they went to one Littlefoot, Bigfoot. Remember that? That's what this feels like a lot of the time. Like, you know, oh, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do, you know, in our big speeches, but it all feels so like more grandiose and kind of hopefully people aren't laughing at the wrong things, which is another thing that Chappelle walked away from. It feels like the blind side to me.

Clif 41:26
If you've ever seen Sandra Bullock's one down, um, but if so it this is one of those feel-good, you know, sort of um it's not white savior and it's not white guilt.

Marty 41:40
But it's one of those magical black guy fixing it, it's also not the magical black guy fixing it.

Clif 41:45
Right. But but it it's one of these movies that deal with-either one of them changes, actually. It's one it's one of these movies that deals with race, and uh you walk away from having a good, hopeful outlook on that, right? And so the blind side does that, this does that, and and I think it does it in a way that's pretty deft, it's not trying to preach at you too much.

Marty 42:06
Uh it's melodramatic because it's not really I mean, it's realistic and it's not, because we've certainly been around people that were racist just because they weren't exposed to people, and then once they meet them, they realize everybody's people. But there's also this deeply ingrained thing that doesn't disappear right away because you know, no, but that's not what this movie's trying to do, which is not what this movie's trying to do. It's not really about that. It is, but it's more about the two opposite characters trying to get along with each other. Exactly. That's an aspect.

Clif 42:39
That's what I'm saying. There, there's a race element and and and and they work through that, but it but again, it's one of those feel-good, like it's really more of, like you said, like a buddy picture.

Marty 42:49
Yeah.

Clif 42:49
Um, you know, a road picture, it's a buddy picture. You know, uh it's a Greek, you know, the fucking fried chicken thing where he's like, What are you kidding me? You people love the fucking fried chicken, and I'm just like, that's fucking movie.

Marty 43:01
Uh yeah, that's a choice, but you know, you also have to look at it as they're not trying to do something egregious with it. I know some people think that, but that's intentional fallacy, and it's you as an artist, you're putting things out and you can't control how some people are gonna get.

Clif 43:21
I think uh my favorite one of my favorite things is is again Vigo's performance, but that when he fucking when they're it when he pulls when he's going through Kentucky and he goes, Look, Kentucky fried chicken in Kentucky. When is that ever gonna fucking happen? Oh, we gotta pull over and get chicken, right? And it's just like, oh my god, this fucking guy, I love it.

Marty 43:40
So you have Sebastian Manascalo in your movie, and you barely use the guy. He's one of the top comedic talents. I don't know what else you could have done with them in the movie, but it it was like, hey, I've seen that guy. Uh so my paranormal activity joke. In a way, this is kind of a paranormal activity. Of a road trip because the same thing keeps happening in a circle. We drive to the next gig, somebody's an asshole. I take up for them. You could get you out of trouble, go to the next gig and repeat, you know. So it does have a little bit of that repetitiveness to it. But also at the very end of the movie, it kind of apes a little bit of the planes trains automobile vibe, you know, where you're kind of show up and you go, oh movie, you're reminding me of a better movie now. And now you're making me analyze the whole movie against that. And I go, Well, I think this would have been a better movie had it been more planes trains like. I would have liked to see more of the two of them in the car, more of them getting on each other's nerves, dealing with each other, more of a two-hander, you know. I know you were had all the other elements of the story, but when you start showing me that planes trains type stuff at the end, I go, hmm, that would have been available for me.

Clif 44:54
I think it would have, I think that's falling into the trope of trying to make somebody else's movie or trying to make a movie that's like somebody else's. And what they did was they took, you know, this is a movie that takes a lot of, like you like we've been talking about, you know, odd couple and all those other things, and it takes a lot of those elements, but still comes up with its kind of its own movie and tells its own story. Uh the scene where they where Tony sees him play that first time, you can kind of see Tony like realizing that he's actually driving uh somebody talented around. He's actually driving somebody who can it's not just like Bobby fucking Rydell. This is a guy who can actually play real music. And and there's that great line where he says, Virtuoso, that's Italian for he's really good. And I'm just like, I you know, I I really like Tony Lip as a character, you know what I mean? I'm like, I that's the kind of guy you get you hang out with and probably have a pretty good time, you know what I mean? Eat a lot of sandwiches, have some beers. And just as long as he doesn't get in any trouble, you'd be yeah, as long as you don't get in any trouble, you'd be fine, right?

Marty 45:52
But like I said, we've known people like that.

Clif 45:54
We know how to not and they're a lot of fun until you get into dangerous situations. Uh and then sometimes in dangerous situations, you're very happy they were around.

Marty 46:04
Like he's like, look, I got you out of that. That's what you paid me to do, you know. And he was almost like he was mad because he, you know, got him out of that situation.

Clif 46:12
That bar scene is great where he pulls him out of the bar and and uh you know, do you really have a gun? No, I don't have a gun. He's a never flash water money in the bar. And then they come out of the orange bird and he goes, hang on a second, he fires that gun in the air, and like I knew you had a gun. I I I love that scene. It's go, oh you two. I love how music permeates the film, the conversation about Chubby Checker and Little Richard.

Marty 46:38
I figured the music thing is what you were grabbing onto a lot.

Clif 46:42
That's fun. Um it's a Christmas movie. Yeah, it is Christmas. Well, yeah, it happens. It's could you argue?

Marty 46:50
Because they end up going home for Christmas.

Clif 46:53
It's not about Christmas, but okay.

Marty 46:57
That's the real argument about this movie. Is it a Christmas movie? Forget everything else.

Clif 47:01
You know, you could watch it on Christmas, though, because it is a feel-good movie and it does have Christmas in it. I would be okay with that. Um, a lot of this movie is just silly and kind of uh fun and until it isn't. Um, you know, it it's it's I don't know. Um parts of it are really humorous, and then other parts you're just kind of like, all right, keep going, you know, uh uh getting pulled over in the sundown town. You know that scene's coming, you know, something like that's gonna be.

Marty 47:34
That's okay though. There's some some movies are like that. The ratio, did you notice the aspect ratio? It's like a 2.0 or 2 2.1. It's this ratio they've been using a lot more often where it fills up more of your TV, so you have just a little bit of black bars at the top and bottom. So it's this new this new thing they're I didn't really notice.

Clif 47:58
Interesting. Um, I wish they would stop doing that. I figured you'd have something to say about it. Please stop fucking with the ratios, guys. Just go go to the ratios that we all know and love and use them 1.76, you know, 1.8, uh fucking.

Marty 48:10
But I didn't mind this one. This car's a new addition and it stays that through the whole movie. It was composed well.

Clif 48:16
Yeah, no, I I look the movie is shot. It looks great. The the car looks great, the driving, the scenery's beautiful, they're they're they look great in the film, in the car. Uh I I you know, I have no problems with the technical aspects of the movie at all. One of the cool things about this is that apparently Mersha Ali doesn't play piano. And so what they did enable to mimic him, and and because a lot of that playing, I guess is he's it's it's special effects, it's CGI. Um, the hands, right? But to mimic the body movements and everything, apparently they had a another piano player in a with a piano play in front of him with his back to Mahersha Ali, and Mahersha would mimic his back movements and his and his arm movements, right? And so that when they went to do uh the overlay with the graphics of the CGI, it was easier for them to just put the hands in or whatever. Okay. Like, which I found I found pretty fascinating because it's like, you know, fucking uh Jamie, Jamie Foxx didn't do that shit for Ray. Jamie Foxx played most of that stuff. So, you know, I thought that was Reherschal did a really good job and seemed very convincing as a piano player, I thought.

Marty 49:29
And so the guy that wrote this had been in the business for a while. I think most people know him from The Sopranos, I think it is, but he's been in a few other things, and I guess he finally got, you know, some people that give him the money and they made the movie. It's not that uncommon for somebody who is a hedge fund person to uh help budget a movie and then never make another movie again. That's what happened here with one of the investors he got. Because I looked up the company, I'm like, what else did they make? Nothing. This was the one and done. But as of the time of this recording, the writer of this movie has just finished his new movie. He just finished shooting it. So he he he's not a one-trick pony. He's here to do something else. His next movie has John Travolta in it, and I think it's more of the it uh an Italian life thing, and I I'm not sure if it's a musical or not, but we will be seeing more from the writer of Green Book coming up soon.

Clif 50:24
Interesting.

Marty 50:24
Is it uh is it Silent Partners? Maybe. I can't remember the name, but no less. I was like, what else is interesting enough? I'll see you. Interesting.

unknown 50:38
Okay.

Marty 50:38
Well, cool. Yeah, he's not a one and done. He's some more. He looks a lot like his fucking dad. And his dad, I mean And that's why it's about Tony, because the guy wrote the story about his dad. That's why you go, wait a minute, shouldn't a story about this be about the black guy?

Clif 50:53
But I mean, no, it's and and and and there's a reason. Like you gotta understand, being the bouncer at the Copa in '62, this dude knew more mobsters and was probably involved in more dirty shit or knew or heard or knew about more dirty shit. I'm not saying he was a gangster or anything like that. I'm not trying to put that on him. But when you kind of run in those circles, you have to rub elbows. You're around those people. And then maybe the movie shows him dealing with those people, right? So that's not surprising. But later on, I mean, he's in he's in gangster movies and shit. Like he's you know, he's he's in the business and and is you know well known in New York City. So he's kind of a legend in his own right to sort of make a movie about it makes sense, in my opinion, you know. And I like this idea of taking just this little part of his life and saying, Well, here's how I met a good friend of mine, and here's this, you know, because apparently the the claim is they were good friends for years and years and years.

Marty 51:46
And also the claim is they were just business partners, too. So I don't know the reality. I haven't looked into it, but there's a lot of you know, both of those guys lived till like 2013.

Clif 51:58
Yeah.

Marty 51:58
And so that's why their life story didn't become a movie because they didn't want it to be made until after they were gone. Apparently Don Shirley didn't even want a movie made of his life, and so that's why you go, why does this movie that feels like the material should have come out 40 years ago? Well, it's because these guys were still alive. That's why this movie gets made, I don't want to say now, because it's almost 10 years old, but instead of then. But everybody I know this movie has this controversy around it, it has this veil, but also at the same time, everybody's compl forgotten about it. Watch it. Even if you only watch the first half hour to get a feel for Vigo's character, you have to experience that as somebody who enjoys film because people talk about Daniel Day Lewis. I don't even know who this guy is folding pizza in half on the screen. It's it's fucking great. The most insane, magnificent thing about the movie is Vigo's performance because he's just he's there. That's not the guy who's gonna be. He disappears completely. Yeah, he disappears completely. And you know who beat him for best actor? Grammy for fucking the Queen movie, which is another biopic that really isn't that great. You watch it the first time and you go, okay, but you try to watch it the second time, you go, ooh, made for TV VH1 vibes. And now what a really good job is Freddie Mercury.

Clif 53:19
Agreed.

Marty 53:20
I almost feel like he got it's so nice.

Clif 53:23
I feel like he got the he got the Oscar more because of the he nailed the look, yeah, that's the physicality of Freddie more than the acting.

Marty 53:31
It is very interesting, though.

Clif 53:33
Yeah. It's uh it's very interesting. Um, so this movie won this movie won three Oscars. It won uh best picture, it won best performance by an actor in a supporting role for m Mahershala Ali.

Marty 53:48
Oh, that's good, at least.

Clif 53:50
And it won best original screenplay.

Marty 53:52
Well that's an interesting choice. But then again, I've noticed a lot of things that I keep thinking, what have won Oscars in recent years.

Clif 53:59
So I I I look, I think it's a well crafted. I I understand why the Oscars do what they do. I'm not super worried about like, is it accurate? Like I it's a fucking film, and films are never super accurate. You know, that they they you have to move things around to tell story and to put them into structure and to create tension and and payoff and so on. So but I think for what it does and and for what it's trying to do, I think it's pretty deftly done, right? I think it handles it very well. I don't think it goes too far with anything. It stays it stays within the realm of what it's trying to do, which is tell the story about this trip and the things that happened on it and coming home. And it does that in a very entertaining manner. And especially for a fucking the guy who directed fucking kingpin. Yeah, it's quite a bit.

Marty 54:45
You know, I talked about something about Mary previously and the ringer, Jesus Christ. I mean he's always had he's been he's been hit or miss he did stuck on you, and it didn't it didn't help this movie either, his the controversy, but he went on record going that's you know, I'm disappointed that people think that that's what I was trying to do because it wasn't yeah, yeah. But this also came from a time period where people didn't have to watch every movie in order to vote for them at the Oscars, too. So but I just go watch this movie. That's all I'm saying. Watch it. But you know, do you have anything else to say about it? Because I have another kind of semi-long thing to add.

Clif 55:25
Uh I I Vigo's Italian kind of at some point sounds like like Goblin Speak to me, where he's just like, give a gabbo gun. I'm just like, what the fuck? And uh I do think my favorite scene in the movie is the orange bird scene coming out of the orange bird with the I knew you had a gun reference. Um I do, and I I again I I think this is um this is an enjoyable movie. Probably another one of those movies that you're right. It's I don't consider it a Christmas movie because it's not about Christmas movies.

Marty 55:55
I know that's kind of a joke.

Clif 55:56
Yeah. But if if we you know how we I talk about those movies that you can put on that don't offend anybody? Well, that depends on who you're going to go to. It it does, but I think for the most part, you can put this on, and it and other than your super fucking left or your super right people who were just gone and probably shouldn't be at family gatherings, anyways, most people are going to enjoy this and at least be able to watch it.

Marty 56:19
Well, when you watch it and realize it for what it is rather than what the controversy around it is trying to present, which it really isn't, it doesn't do the movie any service, which is why I think they didn't intend for it to be a big movie.

Clif 56:32
You're bringing that shit to the movies.

Marty 56:35
When the movie blew up, and I don't think they were expecting that. But there is a fairly lengthy deleted scene from the movie. Oh yeah? Yeah, I got the transcript for it. I can read it for you if you want to hear it. It's pretty interesting.

unknown 56:51
Okay.

Marty 56:52
These guys, you know, they're driving around a lot, and at one point they decide to go see a movie. None of this rings a bell, but yeah, so I'll I'll read the this the excerpt from the script. I don't know if they ever got to film this or not. Don Shirley sits in the back of the Cadillac, adjusting his cuffs with a look of profound, weary disappointment. He rests his chin on his interlaced fingers and sighs Tony, please, must we? I found the cinematic experience to be taxing. It was a garish display of anatomical and delicacy. I can appreciate the metaphorical implications of a soul being displaced. Certainly I a feeling I am well acquainted with in this particular Cadillac. The execution lacked any semblance of dignity. The tonal dissonance between the clinical psychiatric setting and the subsequent carnal gymnastics was quite jarring. I expected a treatise on the boundaries of the human psyche, and instead I was presented with a woman shouting about ancient gods while attempting to inhabit a strange epidermis. It was loud, it was messy, and the suitable question flesh suitable flesh in question was far too liberally exposed. If one is going to transcend the mortal coil, one should at least have the decency to do it in a tuxedo, not while looking like a butcher's discard pile. Now, if you finish pondering the physics of the swap, as you call it, could we perhaps find a radio station that doesn't play little Richard? My ears require a bath. Tony folds a massive slice of pizza in half, oil dripping onto his thumb, and talks through a mouthful of cheese. Doc, honestly, you're overthinking it. You always do that. It's a movie. You sit there, you get a little spooked, you see some broads, what's the problem? So the lady starts hopping into different bodies. Big deal. I've been in this car with you for three weeks. I'm practically hopping into your body too. I'm starting to like the fancy talk and the way you stare at the horizon like you're waiting for a bus that ain't coming. That's a swap right there. And the carnal gymnastics? Come on. The lady was possessed by an ancient wizard or something. If I had some guy from a thousand years ago living in my head, I'd probably be acting a little nutty too. I wouldn't be checking to see if my tie was straight, I tell you that much. It's about survival, Doc. You gotta do what you gotta do to keep the flesh moving. Plus that one guy got his head messed up. That was some top tier work. Real believable. I seen guys in the Bronx look worse on a Tuesday night at the club. You want dignity? Watch a sunset. You want a good time on the f on a Friday night in Tucson? You watch the lady with the glowing eyes and the knife. Now pass me the napkin, I got sauce on the upholstery. Don Shirley closes his eyes, his expression tightening as if he's just tasted something sour. He takes a slow, controlled breath before speaking. Tony, your capacity for false equivalents is truly staggering. To compare my existence, the daily calculated performance of a man navigating in a world that refuses to acknowledge his humanity, to a supernatural parasite hijacking a vessel for the sake of acting nutty is offensive at best. I do not hop into bodies. I am forced to reside in a version of myself that is palatable to people who wouldn't let me use their restroom, yet applaud when I play Chopin. If that is a swap, it is one born of necessity and survival, not because an ancient wizard decided I was a convenient piece of real estate. And please, spare me the endorsement of top-tier head trauma. Your familiarity with the Bronx underworld does not qualify you as a critic of Lovecraftian horror. There is a vast difference between a street brawl and the cosmic erasure of one's identity. Furthermore, if you get sauce on the upholstery because you were too busy defending a woman with glowing eyes, I will personally ensure you that your next letter to Dolores is written in nothing but ancient cuneiform. Now drive, and for the love of all that is holy, find a napkin. Dear Dolores, how are things in the Bronx? The weather here in Tucson is hot enough to melt the Cadillac, but the pizza is well, it's not pizza, but I'm eating it anyway. Me and the Doc went to this place and we saw this double feature. One was okay, but the other one suitable flesh. It's a real piece of work. The doc hated it. Kept talking about dignity and psychology. But I told him it's just a movie about people trading bodies. To be honest, it reminded me a little of us. Except without the glowing eyes and the knives. Don't worry, nobody's hopping into my skin. I'm still the same old Tony. Just a few pounds heavier from all the snacks. Give the kids a kiss from me. And tell them their old man is fighting off ancient wizards and bad upholstery. I'll be home before you know it. Love Tony. And then they drove to their next gig. But you know, I can imagine them out there having their discussions about film as they had a dichotomy between each other and just thank you, uh AI, for uh letting me know what the uh the characters of Green Book thought about the film Suitable Flesh. And how strangely it kind of related to them. You know, I've been in the car with you so long, I feel like I'm in your body. Like and subscribe.

Clif 1:02:26
Um, so what do you give it? I give it a three. Um, yeah, three and a half.

Marty 1:02:32
Yeah, it's good. Like I say, you gotta see it, you know. Because, you know, like even the AI thing shows, the movie's just about the dichotomy of the characters, and one's the proper and one's kind of the street wise, and how they rub off on each other and compliment each other.

Clif 1:02:48
Yeah, that's that's the odd that's that's that's the odd couple for you.

Marty 1:02:52
Wait till you hear what they thought about running time and centers. Oh boy.

Clif 1:03:01
Well, okay, so um that was uh that was suitable flesh and um Green Book.

Marty 1:03:09
Fantastic a little bit about the Green Book, but it wasn't too much of the I mean I guess it was, but you know, they don't mention it a lot.

Clif 1:03:17
Yeah, it's brought up a few times, but you know uh I guess we didn't even we didn't even mention the fact that that yeah, I mean I don't I don't know if it's the same thing when people go, you know, when when people talk about the uh race massacre in Tulsa. It's like what what do you mean that happened? You know, like you you you forget that uh or some people aren't even aware that you needed a book to travel in the south back in the 50s and the 60s, right? Um and it apparently was created by a mailman, a black mailman? I didn't know that. Interesting. Yeah. But anyway, so you could write off for it and it would tell you places to stop that were safe if you were black while traveling in the south. Which, of course, apparently could be a crime.

Marty 1:04:01
What else? Okay, so we're gonna have a few more guest episodes coming up soon. But we will be back in a f a few weeks with another one of our no-guest episodes.

unknown 1:04:14
Okay.

Marty 1:04:15
And so we'll go ahead and announce what those movies will be. Okay. Now I've come up with a couple of movies that I want to bring on the show now that I've watched Green Book, because I'm like, oh, okay, let's dive into those. But we're not gonna do that just yet. Those will happen later. Why would we? Why would we do that? Why would we do that? Go right into that because I want to be self-indulgent. You're watching Scream 7. But it'll be a while from now.

Clif 1:04:45
You can watch The Long Walk. Ooh.

Marty 1:04:48
Ooh. So we'll do those two. Yeah, so people seem to like that one, and a lot of people say you don't need to watch it more than once.

Clif 1:04:56
So I'm I'm sure you'll have problems with it. I've already saw it in the theater.

Marty 1:05:01
You know, I've always been a fan of those Bachman books. So I was always curious to see what they do with those. You know, Road Work is still my favorite Stephen King book, so and I don't know if they can turn that into an effective movie, though. Yeah.

Clif 1:05:15
Well, that's a tough one. Um, I'm a I'm a fan of his different seasons work, and that's where that's where, of course, read a sh read a sh reader Rita Hayworth and the Shoshank Redemption. And um, I've always wondered I I've always wanted to see the breathing method done on film, but I don't think anybody would be interested in seeing seeing it. I think it might have been a Twilight Zone episode. Too much of a slow burn. Yeah, I think you're right. I think it might have been a Twilight episode.

Marty 1:05:38
Because I know At Pupil is a movie in, of course, Stand By Me, which is the body. Right.

Clif 1:05:45
Yeah. Amazing that so many good films came out of that tiny book. Mm-hmm. Anywho, so yeah, so we'll do the long walk in Scream 7. Yeah.

Marty 1:05:53
We people are like, where's Scream 4, 5, 6? Hey, um I I got my selfish reasons here. We'll get to those another way. And somebody about there might go, When he says selfish, he means research. Okay. It's not much to research. We're done. So I know, but I there's still things that I wanted to talk about anyway. So. Okay. We will do that. Yeah. And it's light. And it's another one of these things where people are just, you know, harsh on it because of a controversy, and then you go and see it and you go, oh. But anyway. Got a quote?

Clif 1:06:35
Uh, you want to get out here on a quote?

Marty 1:06:37
No, wait, I was in your body. No, I was in yours. No, no, I don't mean it like that. I mean my mind was in your body. Well, I guess then if anybody ever tells you to go fuck yourself, you can tell them that you have.

Clif 1:06:49
What are you talking about? Smoke's going into my lungs. I'm doing all the work. See ya.