Ep. 32 - Forgotten Gems! vol. 2

This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] J.J.: Alright, I have a question for you. Okay. If you could choose any character from film to be your personal bodyguard, who would you pick?

[0:11] Olaf: That's good. Okay, so right off the top of my head, the one character slash actor I thought of was Fezzik, Andre the Giant, Princess Bride. Now, I would want Fezzik to be my bodyguard. I know we've talked about this before. Andre was not in good health when they were shooting it, so I would want Fezzik.

[0:27] J.J.: Yeah, well that was the question. That was the question. What actor playing a character was what character. Is it more to live out that dream of riding on someone's shoulders?

[0:35] Olaf: I could. I could be right there. We all could. This is true. No, I think the height would be comical. Uh-huh. The height difference, but just sheer mass and size. I mean, it would be amazing to have him as my bodyguard.

[0:49] J.J.: True. I mean, it would be tough though, because he doesn't fit in all the places that you might go, and the bad guys would have to get close because he's only a hand-to-hand kind of guy.

[1:04] Olaf: True. And he's not exactly fast. But here's the thing. You're quick. If I was gonna be attacked in some way, it would be up close, I would imagine. I make up in speed what he doesn't. I'm a pretty quick guy.

[1:17] J.J.: Run away! Run away! I'm slippery. I'm shifty.

[1:23] Olaf: Yeah. So, he could take care of all of the brute stuff to where if it did get to a spot where I was face-to-face with somebody, I think I could get away. He could easily block me from a bullet. He could take a bullet. I mean, he's basically covering my whole being.

[1:36] J.J.: True. And he could probably take a few before it would actually affect him. But I think a good bodyguard for you in the vein of hand-to-hand and you also trying to avoid physical violence anyway would be the French knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[1:54] Olaf: They just hurl insults at them until they leave.

[2:00] J.J.: Well, see, and that could be fun because then we could double team because I feel like that superpower or strength we both share.

[2:10] Olaf: I guess. I mean, I'm thinking the bodyguard's gonna be doing most of the work. You're just hanging back being protected.

[2:17] J.J.: I mean, you would be the one going up to him and him telling you, I said we already got one.

[2:25] Olaf: Yeah.

[2:26] J.J.: Yeah. This is an interesting scenario because I've never been in a situation where I feel like I need somebody to protect me.

[2:32] Olaf: Yeah. Well, I mean, again, this is all hypothetical fantasy. You're picking a fictional character.

[2:39] J.J.: I mean, for me, since you asked, my go-to top two to choose from.

[2:44] Olaf: Wow. You have two?

[2:46] J.J.: Well, just off the top of my head immediately, the two people that I think of would either be the Terminator or Robocop.

[2:54] Olaf: Okay. Robocop would be cool.

[2:56] J.J.: Yeah. Well, so would the Terminator.

[2:58] Olaf: Well, the Terminator would be good. They both would be great. I mean, they both have weapons to help both somewhat indestructible for the most part.

[3:07] J.J.: For the most part. No, I get it. We clearly know physics weaknesses. I mean, he just needs to be sort of choked to unconsciousness and just be moving fast and that's game over. So I get it. Robocop and Terminator.

[3:20] Olaf: I think they would be great bodyguards. What about like the T1000? I mean, that's a straight upgrade right there.

[3:27] J.J.: That is an upgrade, but I feel like he is a bad guy and I don't know if I would necessarily approve with his methods and I would probably be very scared of him. I want a bodyguard that I can still hang out with and feel safe.

[3:42] Olaf: So you're saying Terminator from Terminator 2 then, not from the first Terminator.

[3:48] J.J.: No, because then I would also be afraid.

[3:50] Olaf: Right, right. And he probably wouldn't listen to me since he's not programmed to listen to me.

[3:56] J.J.: This is true. Yeah. So Terminator from Terminator 2 or Robocop from the original Robocop.

[4:03] Olaf: Yeah. Peter Weller.

[4:05] J.J.: Oh, I'm sorry. Was there a suggestion that it was someone else?

[4:09] Olaf: Well, there was a reboot of Robocop with Joel Kinnaman and Michael Keaton.

[4:15] J.J.: So that movie gets a pass because Michael Keaton's in it?

[4:19] Olaf: No, but you know, Keaton, he can do wrong, but you know, if you're going to watch it, it's nice to see him chew the scenery a little bit as the bad guy.

[4:27] J.J.: I've seen it once. That might've been more than enough.

[4:30] Olaf: Yeah, I agree.

[4:31] J.J.: Alright. Well, just thought I would ask.

[4:33] Olaf: Yeah. So why don't we get into today's topic and let's go back to the movie theater.

[5:15] J.J.: Hey, guys, welcome back to the movie theater. It's Olaf. It's J.J. And today we are coming back to one of our recurring episodes, which is Forgotten Gems. Movies that have kind of just disappeared into the ether, but they were really good movies that maybe nobody saw or they've just kind of fallen out and the zeitgeist and no one's talking about them anymore.

[5:39] Olaf: I like this topic. I feel I'm hoping we can jump into this topic a little bit more frequently because like we've said before, every time we talk about either Forgotten Gems or the other recurring theme of Guilty Pleasures, we talk about movies, but then immediately there are like three or four movies that get added to the list. So this list continues to stay extremely long and it's fun to reintroduce ourselves and hopefully other people to good movies.

[6:06] J.J.: So, yeah, I love this topic. And yeah, depending on our schedule, hopefully we can fit more of these in. So I can't remember how who we decided and who was going first, who was going second. If you want to go first, you can or I can jump in and get things started.

[6:22] Olaf: Go ahead.

[6:23] J.J.: Alright. So for this episode of Forgotten Gems, I am going to it's going to be a bit of a Keaton love fest on my end. And I'm going to start off with what I consider to be a very forgotten gem. It's a movie from the 90s, 1993 to be exact.

[6:39] Olaf: OK, it's a Shakespeare adaptation.

[6:41] J.J.: Now, it's not a modern day Shakespeare adaptation like they would start doing in the late 90s, early 2000s. This is is an actual Shakespeare adaptation that's sort of set in.

[6:56] Olaf: Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about.

[6:58] J.J.: Yeah. Time period. It is Kenneth Branagh's version or adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.

[7:05] Olaf: Yeah, I really enjoy that.

[7:07] J.J.: Yeah, it's a solid movie. I feel like it did kind of go under the radar. It's got a fantastic cast. Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, when they were still married and still working together and making great films.

[7:20] Olaf: Denzel Washington, a young Kate Beckinsale. I believe this her first movie. Keanu Reeves.

[7:27] J.J.: Yes, Keanu Reeves. What I would consider to be very miscast in this film.

[7:31] Olaf: And what's interesting about that over time, Keanu is beloved and adored and rightly so.

[7:36] J.J.: One of the nicest guys in Hollywood.

[7:38] Olaf: One of the nicest guys in Hollywood. He's had a couple of bursts on the scene, you know, in terms of speed and then the Matrix. And then he did some stuff. And then the John Wick series. So this movie obviously came out right before speed. So he had an opportunity to do some nice ensemble films.

[7:56] J.J.: And this is one of them.

[7:57] Olaf: Was he a little out of his league a little bit?

[7:59] J.J.: I don't want to go that far, but he came. He was all right. I mean, what we see on screen, it is very much like, OK, you're this is not your strong suit.

[8:10] Olaf: I mean, right. Think Bram Stoker's Dracula as well.

[8:13] J.J.: Exactly. Thank you. That was the other one that he did right before this. But as an actor, I just really admire him for making the choice and taking this leap to do something that challenges him.

[8:27] Olaf: Right. Something that he really wanted to do and going and doing it. Was it the best? Could we have had somebody else do a better job? Sure. But, you know, I really commend him just as a person, as an as an actor, taking that chance and that leap of faith.

[8:42] J.J.: And ultimately, it's not his fault. You know, if we'll know if the director or someone felt, you know, he's not pulling it off, then they could have made some changes.

[8:50] Olaf: Sure. But the opportunity for him to also to play the villain in this in this particular film.

[8:56] J.J.: Yeah. And again, he's not in a whole lot, but he's in enough to keep the story moving.

[9:01] Olaf: Now, this movie is wonderful. It's beautifully shot. It's gorgeous in a wonderful setting. It has a banger cast. Also, it's got Michael Keaton in it playing Dogberry, the was a constable or the law enforcement in this one play.

[9:16] J.J.: Wild, outrageous role that was. He and his partner come riding in on imaginary horses in every scene that they're in.

[9:23] Olaf: He's totally committed to what he's doing. It doesn't he never feels like the text is too much for him.

[9:29] J.J.: No, no, no. It feels totally natural. It almost feels and I'm saying almost not it doesn't just make me think of this, but it almost feels like Beetlejuice came to Shakespeare.

[9:41] Olaf: Sure.

[9:42] J.J.: And you almost wonder, like, was that one of the roles that may have gotten him this? Because, yeah, this came out in ninety three. So sure. Beetlejuice, Batman, other things he had already done.

[9:56] Olaf: So much like Keanu, this casting of Keaton feels out of the box in a really good way.

[10:02] J.J.: Did you do you feel like it was more like stunt casting or just creative casting?

[10:06] Olaf: It could have been stunt casting, but because of what he's able to do with the role, it falls more into creative casting for me.

[10:12] J.J.: Anybody could play that role, too, I suppose. But for whatever reason, because it's Keaton and he's sort of so zany and out of character for what he normally does.

[10:22] Olaf: But he's just so off the wall. But you still believe what he's doing.

[10:27] J.J.: Oh, yeah. Like you still believe like and they accidentally sort of stumble into solving the crime to not because of anything that they creatively or intellectually did to solve the case. They just sort of were at the right place at the right time when they overhear some drunk people.

[11:26] J.J.: Talking about what was going on. This film overall is one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies. Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing are my two favorite Shakespeare comedies. And yet Kenneth Branagh, this is when he was churning out these adaptations and people were going to see them. They were actually somewhat commercially moderately successful and he would be the Olivier of the generation. He's sort of making Shakespeare cool again for the 90s before these modern-day versions would be made subsequent years later. I think it's a wonderful film. I really do believe that a lot of people have forgotten about it. Maybe because of time, you can't really catch it anywhere. And because a lot of these actors, whether it's Denzel and Keanu, who were somewhat famous and then continued to be, blew up after this. Kate Beckinsale, Imelda Staunton is in it. This is early on in a lot of people's careers.

[12:21] Olaf: In a lot of people's careers, yeah. Like I said, Emma Thompson. I think it's wonderful. Because it's a comedy, there still is conflict and you still don't know where it's going to go. But at the end of the day, the last shot of the film is this amazing, what looks to be one shot, crane shot, I suppose, where he's following all of the people going in and out of the square and in and out of the town. And then the shot just sort of lifts up from the building and goes into the clouds. It's wonderful. To me, it's borderline masterpiece for Kenneth Branagh. I mean, he would later do Hamlet, the full version of Hamlet, which is also a fantastic adaptation as well.

[13:01] J.J.: I would agree that that's an incredible adaptation, Hamlet. But would I put Hamlet as a masterpiece? I would say it would fall short. I would say Much Ado is probably his pinnacle of Shakespeare adaptations.

[13:17] Olaf: Yeah. I mean, he really swings for the fences with Hamlet, but Much Ado, he just looks like he's having so much fun. Everybody is having so much fun. Robert Sean Leonard is the other one who is in this cast. I was going to say, if you haven't seen it, I think a lot of people haven't seen it.

[13:30] J.J.: It's been ages since I've seen this movie, but I've always remembered it fondly because I don't seek out Shakespeare. Even as an actor, it's never been something I've fallen into. I appreciate the art form and I have appreciated seeing other adaptations before and after what Kenneth Branagh has done. But it's just never been like, oh, my God, it's Shakespeare. I have to go watch this or I have to be a part of it. But every time it does come around, I'm always happy to see it, especially if it's done well.

[14:04] Olaf: Absolutely. And I really credit him for the 10 Things I Hate About You, for the, oh, you know, all of these modern-day Shakespeare adaptations that came after Romeo, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, things like that.

[14:17] J.J.: Yeah, that one's amazing. We'll have to talk about that at some point. So there it is. That's my first one out of the gate. Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing.

[14:25] Olaf: Not a bad pick. That's a good way to start off this episode. So now it's my turn and I'm going to start with a 2004 movie. We're just over the 20-year mark for this.

[14:38] J.J.: Yeah, that's bananas to think about, but OK.

[14:40] Olaf: It is Hidalgo starring Viggo Mortensen.

[14:44] J.J.: Yeah.

[14:45] Olaf: I love this movie. It originally was released as a Disney movie and then Disney then moved it over to their Touchstone way of movies. But Hidalgo is supposed to be based on a true story about a cowboy and his horse who do all these races and then go overseas to race in the Ocean of Fire, which is like a 3000-mile survival race across the Arabian desert. And it's apparently always just featured Arabian horses. But I guess they hear they get word that this cowboy and his horse are apparently the fastest or greatest race duo in America. So they send an invitation to come out and do this. They think in their mind to humiliate him because their Arabian horses are far superior.

[15:40] J.J.: But it is supposed to be based on a true story with a real person named Frank Hopkins. There's I don't know. The movie even starts with based on a true story, but it's more likely that it was just a story and not a true one. The story is based on the memoirs of Hopkins. He wrote about how he raced and won the Ocean of Fire. However, these claims turned out to be false because researchers who have looked into it found that Hopkins lived more of like an urban life and wasn't really quite this cowboy that he made himself out to be. It's one of those things. It's so far in the history of time that it almost becomes more myth than fact. But that being said, what a great story and what a great movie.

[16:33] Olaf: Well, and the locations, too, like how it's shot, beautiful, some beautiful shots of, you know, anything that's been done well with the desert and things like that is amazing. And you really do get this sense of Lawrence of Arabia when you're watching this.

[16:50] J.J.: Yeah, yeah. They do such a great job of capturing that feel of that epic movie. The Rotten Tomatoes score for this movie is 46 percent.

[17:00] Olaf: Really? That is so low.

[17:02] J.J.: It is shockingly low. And I don't know why, because it is a delightful movie that can tug on the heartstrings and have you cheering for Frank Hopkins and his horse.

[17:16] Olaf: The audience score is better. It's a 64 percent. Still low.

[17:21] J.J.: Slow. But to me, that's because not enough people have seen it.

[17:25] Olaf: I know. I agree, because even I will admit that when it came out, I didn't see it initially.

[17:31] J.J.: Yeah, it was several years before I finally got around to seeing it all going. You're right. It's a wonderful movie. It's beautifully shot.

[17:38] Olaf: Vigo's great. Even the supporting people around him are giving Omar Sharif.

[17:45] J.J.: Omar Sharif is really the only other big name in this movie. J.K. Simmons is in it, but he's just playing a small cameo role as Buffalo Bill and uncredited Malcolm McDowell. He makes an appearance and his is also very short.

[18:02] Olaf: He plays Major Davenport and he's just on like the boat that they're taking to get over to the Arabian Desert. He's like the husband of the Baroness.

[18:13] J.J.: Right. Baroness. But he stays on the boat. So we don't see him anymore. It's just like a brief little conversation on the boat that they have.

[18:20] Olaf: But it's always nice to see him. He's great. And I was surprised that he wasn't credited in it.

[18:27] J.J.: He probably was just doing it for fun.

[18:30] Olaf: It's like, oh, it's one day in this on set. OK, cool.

[18:34] J.J.: Yeah. Here's my here's my fee. Thank you.

[18:36] Olaf: Yeah. Here's my I'll take the sag scale and be on my way.

[18:40] J.J.: Yeah. This was directed by Joe Johnston, who has done many, many movies and a lot of them very good. He did Captain America, the first Avenger. He did the Rocketeer and so many more.

[18:56] Olaf: And he was he started off as an art director for Industrial Light and Magic and worked on all of the original Star Wars movies. And then Joe Johnston went on to do his first the first Jumanji as well.

[19:10] J.J.: I believe so. Yeah. The original Jumanji. Yeah. He's been a part of film history, whether behind the camera or in the art department. He's kind of a legend.

[19:22] Olaf: And this movie is great. It's paced well. Everybody has something to do that. Nobody's wasted. And it gosh, you just you get really into it. You're like, oh, man, what's going to happen? And you care about the horse. You care about the relationship with Vigo and his horse.

[19:38] J.J.: I wonder if it's was it maybe just not marketed well, because I feel like that's probably why, at least for me, I wasn't initially very excited when it was coming out and I was like, OK, this looks this looks good.

[20:03] Olaf: I don't maybe they just didn't market the movie well enough for people to want to go. Because you're right, Joe Johnson is a fantastic director. Vigo is solid and he's coming off Lord of the Rings.

[20:14] J.J.: Yeah, exactly. You would think that in itself would get people into the theater.

[20:19] Olaf: No, I agree. And you're right. It went once you do take the time to sit and watch it and discover the movie. It is it's a wonderful film that unfortunately doesn't get talked about.

[20:31] J.J.: Yeah, much of Vigo's performance in this is so good. He also did most of his own stunts. And at the end of the movie, this is great because the relationship between he and the horses is so important and so good in this movie. At the end of the movie, he actually purchased the horse.

[20:51] Olaf: Right. Nice.

[20:53] J.J.: Yeah. But yeah, Hidalgo 2004 Adventure. It's great. It's sweeping. It's got amazing shots. It captures the desert and you really care about Frank and yeah, you can really get swept up in it. So I highly recommend watching it.

[21:11] Olaf: It's a shame that it's so low on the critic scale. And I hope more people give this movie a chance.

[21:19] J.J.: I agree. And every once in a while you can find it streaming somewhere every once in a while. I think that's how I was able to watch it recently is because I saw it somewhere and I was like, oh, OK, I think, you know.

[21:31] Olaf: And this is why I buy movies so that I don't have to worry about whether or not it might be streaming.

[21:39] J.J.: I know. And not that I feel like most cinephiles would have a library, whether it's digital or whether it's DVD or whether it's VHS. But I think that, you know, your other listeners would be just trying to locate it somewhere on a streaming service.

[21:56] Olaf: Well, if you can find it and it, you know, it might be on Disney plus, maybe it could be.

[22:02] J.J.: Give it a watch. It is. It's great.

[22:04] Olaf: Nice pick. Nice pick. All right. Well, we will turn the tables back over to my end. Like I said at the beginning, it's a bit of a Keaton fest for me. So my second film is also starring Michael Keaton, except in this particular film, he is like most of his films, the lead character in this movie. Not just once, but multiple times. I'm talking about the 1996 Harold Ramis directed Multiplicity.

[22:31] J.J.: I love this movie. It's so good. Now, some people might argue that it's not forgotten. Some people may say that it's a classic comedy that people love and talk about a lot. I don't think that. I don't think that either.

[22:53] J.J.: Michael Keaton has, in the last 10 years, 10 plus years, had this sort of renaissance in his career where if it's not Beetlejuice or Batman, then anything post-2014, people are going to mention The Other Guys, which came out in 2010, or some other things later in his career. But Multiplicity came out in 1996. This movie is amazing, not only because of Keaton, who plays four different versions of himself. Maybe there are certain times when you're watching the movie where you can see where the technology feels a little dated, but not much. The technology used to make this at that time was groundbreaking. Andy McDowell plays his wife. You've got Eugene Levy as the contractor that is completely unreliable.

He ends up firing and then rehiring. You get Ann Cusack, Joan and John's sister. You get John Delancey, for all you Star Trek fans out there, in a very minor but funny role. But really, this is Keaton just getting a huge opportunity to showcase how amazing he is. Yes, we've seen him in Beetlejuice, yes we've seen him in Batman and other things, Clean and Sober, Mr. Mom. But now we're getting to see a variation of all of those personalities in one movie. Without being so hyperbolic about it, he does such an amazing job of differentiating every single one of these characters. So yes, the first Doug is overworked, happily married, stressed out about his job, and he just needs a break. He's about to have a mental breakdown when this doctor out of the blue comes out of nowhere and is like, you need what I have to offer.

You look tired. You look like you need a vacation. Come into my office. I want to offer you this completely free experiment. Which isn't really approved by any laws, probably anywhere ever. And you're right, is it free? Does he pay for it? We have no idea because they never talk about that part of it. No, it's never mentioned. And I would imagine the cost would be astronomical, so it's not like you can just hide that from your family.

[25:19] Olaf: Right, which he does. He does not only hide it. He hides the clone part of it for a while, but the financial hit that his family is taking for him to do this now, not once, not twice, but three times is never brought up. So, right. So he gets cloned. And sure, the second version then is now this sort of gruff, machismo, total opposite, very laid back, very loose, very irresponsible, but gets the job done type of personality. So all of a sudden, it's kind of like I'm trying to think of a Keaton character. It's like if Woody tries to be in Mr. Mom when he's like, yeah, honey, if you know, if I'm not at the gun club, I'll be if I'm not at the gym, I'll be at the gun club. It's like that character, except for real. And then, yeah, through the course of the movie, apparently two clones aren't enough because he still can't get stuff done. So he clones himself again.

[26:13] J.J.: Yeah. And you get the sensitive in touch with his feelings. Well, because after he clones the first one who is designed to be the workaholic, so he can take time off, ideally to spend that with the family and everything. But then he's like, well, first I'm going to take a break for myself. Yeah. Which I think he then kind of gets addicted to where he's just like, oh, this is great. And then now the wife and kids are getting in the way of that. Right. Well, the stuff that gets right because Andy McDowell's character now can go back to work. And so then things around the house are being neglected. And so he clones himself again and we get number three who takes care of all of the at-home sensitive, you know, taking care of the kids and all this other stuff.

[27:05] Olaf: Yeah. And for whatever reason, two and three decide it's a good idea to clone two and they get four and four is like, like they say in the movie, you know, when you make a copy of a copy, it's just not as sharp as the original. Oh, I think you get Keaton playing the slightly not all there for who's more like a child, more like a child. They took the razor blade out of the razor so he could shave his tongue and he wouldn't hurt himself. And he hadn't quite cooked enough in that in the oven. Right. And again, going back to cost, they're either getting some sort of because I think they mentioned, oh, the doctor gave us a really good deal on this one because he thought it was like a new breakthrough and whatever brings up the argument.

What is this costing? Who's paying for this? I don't know this movie. And again, I feel like there are a lot more people who have seen this movie than Much Ado and even maybe Hidalgo. But there's still a lot of people who haven't seen this movie. Michael Keaton, and I've said this on numerous occasions, is very underrated because I think you just a lot of times you just expect him to deliver the goods or whatever it is he's doing because he does it so well. In this movie, he's playing four different characters against himself and against nobody because when they have to make it, he's just acting against nothing. And then they add it in later. And there are multiple times throughout the movie towards the end where all four of them are in one room.

[28:41] J.J.: Yeah. Exchange conversation. There's a moment in the movie where rule number one, nobody sleeps with my wife but me. Yeah. Everybody know rule number one is. So then he goes off to Catalina or whatever for the weekend. And sure enough, two, three, and four are at the house and circumstances being what they are, all end up breaking rule number one by accident. They didn't go down to the house because they live in the garage in the garage. So completely unintentionally break rule number one. But the way in which it's written and delivered and executed by not just Keaton, but Andy McDowell is fantastic as well in this movie. Crying. You're crying because you're laughing so hard, especially when he's when one is now trying to get information from four as to why the wife left and all this other stuff.

And of all the people, you know, four is the one extorting Coca-Cola for information like I want a shoving pizza slices in a wallet. It's great. It's great. What a fun movie. It's such a fun time. If you haven't seen this. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my goodness. What a treat. And then Harold Ramis.

[30:00] Olaf: Yeah. He's such a great director.

[30:07] J.J.: Yeah, he really was. And this movie, he hadn't directed much after this, I think. I don't think I can't remember. I know he obviously did Groundhog Day right before this and something else. But this movie is Keaton at almost like at his best in terms of being able to showcase all of these tools in his bag. It's solid. Yeah. It's really one of those roles that most actors would die to have.

[30:28] Olaf: Well, and it's one of those things where you see each character like you see each archetype. You see, yeah, they're very clear in what they're supposed to be doing. And so you never see Keaton as three, but he's really one or four. You know what I mean? It's not very specific. Commits to each role separately and it pays off so much. So anyway, Multiplicity, like we always say, if you haven't seen it, find it. Go to somebody's house who owns it.

[30:59] J.J.: Go to Olaf's house.

[31:05] Olaf: I do have it.

[31:11] J.J.: And, you know, it's been a hot minute since I've watched that, so I might need to rewatch that again because it makes me smile when I think about it. So good. I know you wish you could have talked about it. I know it was on my list. But of course, because Michael Keaton's in it, J.J. has to be the one to talk about it.

[31:24] Olaf: You talked a lot during the Batman episode.

[31:34] J.J.: All right. So next up, I've got my other movie that I wanted to talk about. And man, this one is also super fun. It is. It'll make you laugh just like Multiplicity did. It's a fun romp. This came out in 1993. And I'm talking about So I Married an Axe Murderer.

[31:55] Olaf: Yeah. Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Plummer, Brenda Fricker, who plays Mike Myers' mom in this. And she's so funny in this. Everybody in this is hilarious. And then you get like small cameos of people and they are hilarious. They just knock it out of the park. You get Phil Hartman. He's playing this guard at Alcatraz. Oh, my gosh.

[32:27] J.J.: Everybody here calls me Vicky.

[32:30] Olaf: He is so good in it. And it's such a small role. And then you also get Charles Grodin. He shows up randomly as just this driver that Anthony LaPaglia's character is trying to commandeer a vehicle because he's a cop and he's trying to get to save Mike Myers' character. It's like, I need to commandeer your vehicle. And he just sits there. He's like, No, no, no, please. No.

[32:57] J.J.: Oh, my gosh. This movie is directed by Thomas Schlamme, who really hasn't done movies. He's done tons and tons of television.

[33:10] Olaf: Okay, but he has really no film credits.

[33:20] J.J.: But like a lot of TV in the 90s, though. Yeah.

[33:23] Olaf: Okay, because I remember seeing his name. I just couldn't remember if it was TV or film.

[33:28] J.J.: Yeah, it was really all just television. He's done tons of that. This was the composer for this was Bruce Broughton, who I am not familiar with, but he did Silverado. He did Monster Squad, which I love that movie. And he's done a lot of television as well. So you may not have heard of him, but you've heard his music somewhere. This movie is great in so many ways. It's fun. It's lighthearted. It's funny. But it's the only time that we get to see Mike Myers in a movie playing a normal person.

[34:13] Olaf: Really? Yes. And all of his other films, he's playing some crazy character, which he's very good.

[34:20] J.J. Gonzalez: Absolutely. I mean, no one's discrediting that, but he really showed that he has this other gear, this other ability to play a character that's normal, that is grounded, and an everyday guy, and he nails it. It makes me wish there were more of these movies where we got to see that side of him because it's really nice to see because now you look at everything else and it's like he refuses to be normal. It almost makes this movie that much more special than I guess because it is sort of in a glass bottle of, you want to see Mike Myers just play an everyday guy with a job who's in love with this person? Go see this movie and then you're going to be pleasantly surprised by everything about this movie.

It is a treat to watch him in this because he does such a great job of just playing that everyday guy and his fear of commitment. It's just great because you're following along in this movie with him. He's your guide through this whole film and he's great. He's great. You get to see sort of beginnings of other things that he would end up doing, right? I mean, this is the first time he plays not only himself, but he plays his dad. Yeah, he plays his dad, Stuart McKenzie. He's straight out of Scotland. It's so good. Absolutely crushes it as this character and he says that his performance was based on a lot of mannerisms of his own dad and he just draws on all of that history and just kills it.

There are so many funny, memorable moments of his dad. And you can see there's a scene where Anthony LaPaglia is sitting on the couch with Stuart and he breaks. He's laughing on camera. They kept it though. It's so fun. It's so delightful to watch.

[36:37] Olaf Adsit: The story itself, the plot of the movie is actually pretty good too.

[36:50] J.J. Gonzalez: That's clever. It's yeah. I mean, Nancy Travis is a butcher.

[36:54] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, she plays a butcher. So Mike Myers is this avant-garde poet in San Francisco and you first get introduced to him in this long one-shot take of this giant, giant like chai latte or something.

[37:10] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah, coffee mug basically.

[37:12] Olaf Adsit: Going around this club and then it finally ends with him.

[37:18] J.J. Gonzalez: Because didn't I order the large?

[37:19] Olaf Adsit: Didn't I order the large? Hello.

[37:21] J.J. Gonzalez: Hello.

[37:25] Olaf Adsit: And yeah, he has this fear of commitment that he does the same. Apparently he does the same poem at every poetry slam that he goes to.

[37:32] J.J. Gonzalez: Like open mic.

[37:34] Olaf Adsit: Open mic. And it's always about his ex-girlfriend or the most recent ex-girlfriend and whatever reason he concocted for why he had to break up with her.

[37:41] J.J. Gonzalez: Right. Woman.

[37:46] Olaf Adsit: Woman.

[37:48] J.J. Gonzalez: Whoa, man.

[37:50] Olaf Adsit: Man.

[37:51] J.J. Gonzalez: And yeah, Anthony LaPaglia is a cop. He's his best friend. And Anthony LaPaglia, he works at a precinct where apparently there's not a lot of crime, so this is not today's San Francisco, unfortunately.

[38:05] Olaf Adsit: Or 70s San Francisco, apparently.

[38:09] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah.

[38:12] Olaf Adsit: He comes in and he's kind of bored with his job. And he's a little sad because he wants that action cop, lethal weapon type life.

[38:22] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah, exactly. Uh, his chief is played by the amazing Alan Arkin.

[38:30] Olaf Adsit: Oh, so good in this.

[38:32] J.J. Gonzalez: Who plays like the sweetest, nicest, most thoughtful boss you could ever have. And he sees that Anthony's a little sad, so he's like, hey, what's going on? How can I help you?

[38:46] Olaf Adsit: And he's like, why are you so nice?

[38:50] J.J. Gonzalez: Can't you push me up against the wall and yell at me and tell me to take my badge?

[38:56] Olaf Adsit: Right. Tell me I'm being insubordinate or something, you know?

[38:59] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah, yeah. And then later on in the movie, he does that. And then right before Anthony LaPaglia runs away, he's like, was that okay? Did I go? I thought maybe I was too over the top.

[39:11] Olaf Adsit: He's like, no, it was great. It was great, chief.

[39:15] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah. It was so great. Everyone in this is great.

[39:19] Olaf Adsit: And then we even see like a brief cameo of Michael Richards, who was Kramer in Seinfeld.

[39:28] J.J. Gonzalez: He's just this insensitive guy that's telling some story.

[39:32] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, I forgot about that.

[39:33] J.J. Gonzalez: Mike Myers kind of just asks him a question about it. And Michael Richards' character suddenly is getting like super defensive, like, oh, I'm sorry that I was being insincere. And he just does his over-the-top comedy that you're used to seeing from Kramer.

[39:52] Olaf Adsit: This movie is very 90s in terms of light.

[39:55] J.J. Gonzalez: Very 90s, including the soundtrack.

[39:57] Olaf Adsit: And including, I was about to say, the soundtrack is very, very alt 90s, early 90s.

[40:03] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah.

[40:03] Olaf Adsit: You know, it's like spin doctors.

[40:05] J.J. Gonzalez: Yep. And so, yeah, Mike Myers' character runs into Nancy Travis's butcher character.

[40:11] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[40:11] J.J. Gonzalez: And they hit it off. They're falling in love.

[40:14] Olaf Adsit: Right.

[40:15] J.J. Gonzalez: They go on a great date. That's super fun. And they start getting serious. And even he's really into it. But that fear of commitment starts rearing its head. And she's got this, Amanda Plummer's her eccentric roommate.

[40:29] Olaf Adsit: No, I thought it was a sister. Was it a roommate? I couldn't remember if it was a sister or a roommate.

[40:34] J.J. Gonzalez: I want to say it was a roommate.

[40:36] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[40:37] J.J. Gonzalez: But they're like super close.

[40:39] Olaf Adsit: Yeah. Like single white female stuff on Amanda Plummer's end.

[40:43] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah.

[40:44] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[40:45] J.J. Gonzalez: Which they might have been leaning in.

[40:46] Olaf Adsit: They might have. Now, I can't remember. There's a point in the movie where Brenda Fricker is like showing Mike Myers the newspaper article about this woman.

[40:51] J.J. Gonzalez: Oh, yeah. So his mom loves to read like the.

[40:57] Olaf Adsit: The Inquirer.

[40:58] J.J. Gonzalez: The Inquirer kind of magazine. It's all conspiracy theories. And she sees this thing about Mrs. X.

[41:06] Olaf Adsit: Right. It's like murdered another husband or whatever.

[41:10] J.J. Gonzalez: She's got all these dead husbands.

[41:12] Olaf Adsit: On their wedding night.

[41:13] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah. And then disappears and moves to another location. And he's got that rolling around in his head and finds out that Nancy Travis's character used to be a martial artist and one of the dead husbands was a martial artist.

[41:26] Olaf Adsit: And all these things start lining up. So he's like, oh, my God, she's going to kill me.

[41:32] J.J. Gonzalez: He ends up breaking up with her. And we're like, oh, OK.

[41:37] Olaf Adsit: But then, you know, everyone's like, you're crazy. She's not these things. And he comes around, takes her back, and then they immediately get married.

[41:46] J.J. Gonzalez: And then suddenly he's like, oh, my gosh, she is Mrs. X. And they go, they end up at this creepy.

[41:53] Olaf Adsit: Bed and breakfast.

[41:54] J.J. Gonzalez: Looking bed and breakfast hotel thing, you know, like a huge storm.

[41:58] Olaf Adsit: So they're caught. They're cut off.

[42:01] J.J. Gonzalez: And Anthony LaPaglia has to somehow get there. So he takes a plane and then tries to commandeer Charles Grodin's car.

[42:10] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, this movie is a lot of fun.

[42:12] J.J. Gonzalez: This movie always reminds me of my really good friend Neil, because he when this movie came out, this was his movie.

[42:19] Olaf Adsit: It's like, yeah, and it's a lot of fun. Like you said, it's interesting that Myers never played or just an average guy.

[42:26] J.J. Gonzalez: And again, he was so good.

[42:28] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, he after this, he obviously Boston Powers came out a few years later. And then, you know, from there, Shrek and all these other things.

[42:35] J.J. Gonzalez: But it was really cool to see him play Charlie, right?

[42:38] Olaf Adsit: His name is Charlie.

[42:39] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah, just just regular guy who has a sense of humor, has a sense of.

[42:44] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, and it was really good because it did play into a lot of his strengths. Obviously, he gets to play multiple characters, which is a strength of his.

[42:54] J.J. Gonzalez: And it is it's it's definitely a forgotten gem.

[42:58] Olaf Adsit: I think you're right, because when people think about Mike Myers now, it's Shrek.

[43:02] J.J. Gonzalez: If you're thinking about it at all, you only think of his characters.

[43:06] Olaf Adsit: Of Shrek and Austin Powers.

[43:07] J.J. Gonzalez: But like the unsung hero is Charlie McKenzie.

[43:12] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, I mean, just a great overall guy that you would want to hang out with.

[43:18] J.J. Gonzalez: Like, oh, you want to you want to hang out with him and Anthony LaPaglia. They have such a great relationship.

[43:24] Olaf Adsit: Do they just randomly take a tour of Alcatraz? Is that what they're doing?

[43:27] J.J. Gonzalez: Yeah, like, let's just go to Alcatraz today.

[43:29] Olaf Adsit: Why not?

[43:30] J.J. Gonzalez: I mean, we're here.

[43:31] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[43:33] J.J. Gonzalez: There's no crime.

[43:34] Olaf Adsit: Apparently not.

[43:35] J.J. Gonzalez: So I can go to Alcatraz with you and we can talk over Vicky, who gets married.

[43:43] Olaf Adsit: Oh, Phil, man.

[43:46] J.J. Gonzalez: Oh, gone too soon, for sure.

[43:48] Olaf Adsit: Way too soon.

[43:48] J.J. Gonzalez: Oh, man. But yeah, what a what a treat this movie is. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

[43:55] Olaf Adsit: If it's been a while, check it out.

[43:57] J.J. Gonzalez: It's worth it.

[43:58] Olaf Adsit: It's yeah, it's so much fun.

[44:00] J.J. Gonzalez: I haven't seen it in a long time. I think for me, the memories I have it is that I saw it so much when it was sort of in people's minds.

[44:06] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[44:07] J.J. Gonzalez: I remember renting it and just watching it for however many days we were allowed to have it.

[44:14] Olaf Adsit: To keep it.

[44:15] J.J. Gonzalez: Before you had to take it back.

[44:16] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[44:17] J.J. Gonzalez: And yeah, great movie. Super fun from beginning to end.

[44:22] Olaf Adsit: Yeah, no, that's that's a good pick. That's that's a good one.

[44:24] J.J. Gonzalez: And probably pretty hard to find.

[44:28] Olaf Adsit: But if you own it, if you own it, wink, wink, not that hard.

[44:35] J.J. Gonzalez: Not that hard.

[44:37] Olaf Adsit: Wow. OK, well, that's our forgotten gems for this episode.

[44:42] J.J. Gonzalez: Let us know what you think.

[44:43] Olaf Adsit: Send us your comments.

[44:44] J.J. Gonzalez: Give us any other forgotten gem ideas.

[44:46] Olaf Adsit: We have a list.

[44:48] J.J. Gonzalez: There's a list. Plenty.

[44:49] Olaf Adsit: But we're always happy to take suggestions.

[44:52] J.J. Gonzalez: If there's a movie that you feel was super good and it just has been lost to time and you want us to revisit it, let us know.

[45:01] Olaf Adsit: Yeah.

[45:02] J.J. Gonzalez: So check us out. Follow us. Give us a like. And until then.

[45:05] Olaf Adsit: To be continued.

[45:11] Johnny Clay: Back to the Movie Theater is hosted by J.J. Gonzalez and Olaf Adsit.

[45:15] Johnny Clay: Produced by me, Johnny Clay, J.J. Gonzalez and Olaf Adsit.

[45:20] Johnny Clay: Theme song and incidental music by The Dimes.

[45:23] Johnny Clay: Visit us at BTTMTPodcast.com for trivia, play alongs, merch and more.

[45:29] Johnny Clay: That's BTTMTPodcast.com.

[45:33] Johnny Clay: Follow us on Instagram and TikTok and find us on YouTube at Back to the Movie Theater with J.J. and Olaf.