#50 - The Thing (1982)

[00:00:00] Welcome to Properly Howard, a podcast that reviews classic films and other pulp fiction. Today we take a look at John Carpenter's The Thing. This is a remake of The Thing from Another World which is not nearly as gory and has criminally less Wilfred Brimley.

[00:00:38] Kurt Russell fights an alien lifeform that some pesky Norwegians unwittingly unleashed on the world. With me to discuss this film as always is Dr. Anthony Ladon. Brimley without the mustache is a little disconcerting. Oh yeah, I mean that's uh, I think that's why they went with it.

[00:00:56] I'm sure he came on set with the mustache and Carpenter's like that's gotta go. Honestly, like I would love to see him play more ping pong on screen. I didn't know that I was missing that in my life.

[00:01:10] As soon as I saw it, I thought I hope that that's what this whole movie is gonna be about. Underrated sports movie The Thing is gonna be like a 20 year story arc where Brimley finally gets his mustache in the end. He wins it back.

[00:01:29] He starts with a very small tournament in Antarctica and then going to China. He loses his first match and they take his mustache as a punishment. But he has to go, he has to do this.

[00:01:44] It's a supernatural, it's sort of like Mortal Kombat but it's ping pong as he's trying to get his mustache back. Thing pong is what we call it I'm a little bit. Thing pong. Um, how should we start? I mean there's a lot of places we could start.

[00:02:00] I feel like- It's funny like you know how like the concept of the Mandela effect where like you remember something like for certain a way that it wasn't and I just watched this movie

[00:02:13] and you just reiterated that Wilfrid Brimley did not have a mustache and in my mind I'm like no he had a mustache the entire time. Really? Because it's not natural, it's not a natural thing for him to not have a mustache.

[00:02:29] Like it must have hurt to get it wrong. In order for your brain to avoid the trauma you actually filled in the blank. Yeah. You colored in the mustache in your imagination. I don't even think because I don't think that thing comes off.

[00:02:43] I think they must have given him the Cesar Romero treatment from when he was the Joker and they just painted over it. So they did. Yeah, so the Joker in the Batman series always has his mustache is painted white on the match's face.

[00:02:57] Because Cesar Romero wasn't going to shave his mustache for the role. I love that they wanted him so much. Could you imagine? Just thinking like this is a deal breaker. Like, well just paint it. I guess if it was like what other famous mustache is like Tom Selick.

[00:03:16] Which he's when he shaves it off. I mean, it's like at that point you're like, well, this is this show's going to tank. They took off his mustache for friends and then it was sort of like, well, that's the end. This can only be the last season.

[00:03:27] What's the thing? It's like it's like that's such his thing, right? Like and it's like when you see him without it, you're just like, all right. OK, now you're going to just act, I guess. Nobody cares.

[00:03:41] Do you feel like you have more affection for Kurt Russell or John Carpenter? Oh, that's a good question. I was thinking like how do I begin this? Do what is your history with either one of these guys? And I thought, I wonder which Steve would prefer more.

[00:04:00] I'm trying to think of my yeah, because I mean, obviously there's so much Kurt Russell, so many of Kurt Russell's stuff that I like is is because of a John Carpenter film. And then therefore, you know, maybe my appreciation for Kurt Russell is because of those moments.

[00:04:20] I'm trying to think when the first time I ever saw Kurt Russell, it might not have been a Carpenter joint, though. Because I mean, what's big trouble is that 87 86? It's late 80s for sure. And I feel like that probably is my first exposure to Kurt Russell.

[00:04:43] I did not see the thing until like a couple of years ago. Really? I did not see Escape from New York until you and I saw it together for the first time in preparation for Escape from LA. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you didn't see the thing.

[00:05:00] What prompted you to watch the thing? My son. It's one of his favorite movies of all time. Really? And you and and it's a Kurt Russell. It's a Kurt Russell John Carpenter film that he watched independent of me. This is bizarre. This is more sci-fi premises. Wow.

[00:05:19] Yeah. And then something. It's not only something it's hard to believe. It's very difficult to believe. So this is my first viewing of the thing. Just watched it last night for the first time. Re-watched probably the first half of it this morning.

[00:05:39] And and then I also watched for the very first time thing from the outer space. Oh, no, no, the thing from another world. Yeah. 1951, which you might have watched for your horror class. Yeah, I watched some of that this morning sort of skipping around.

[00:06:00] And I hadn't. I thought I had, but it was not on the list. It's an interesting movie. I guess I mean, I enjoyed it. It was sort of like. About an hour in, I thought, am I still enjoying this or am I a little bit bored?

[00:06:18] Yeah, I was as I was flipping through it kind of skimming through it. And I'm like, oh yeah, I for sure be bored. And I understand that like filmmaking was different then. But. And I'll let you continue. But I think that there is there's something about the remake.

[00:06:34] I mean, they are able to take those boring moments and then do a whole lot more with it. Yeah. It's 51. And it kind of begins as a classic World War Two movie, really. It's like all of the characters that you would find in a World War Two movie

[00:06:52] except for they're not in Japan, they're not in Europe. They are they're near the North Pole. And you've got this wisecracking newspaper man and a couple, I don't know, sexy dames. That, you know, they're kind of wisecracking themselves and little kind of a side plot.

[00:07:20] Like one of the military big wigs has something for a secretary that happens to be in the in the middle of nowhere at this station. And I kind of enjoyed that. I kind of enjoyed that whole premise. And then I found out afterwards that the carpenter joint follows

[00:07:42] the short story more closely. And the monster looks a little bit more like Frankenstein and sort of maybe an homage to the popular Frankenstein. And when Carpenter comes along, he decides he's going to, I guess the screenplay undergoes a couple iterations,

[00:08:05] but they decide to be a little bit more closely aligned with the short story, which was called Who Goes There? And the key difference is that in this 82 version, the monster's greatest power is that he can shape shift. Right.

[00:08:24] And he can take the form of someone and mimic you perfectly so that you're even your best friend can't tell that you're the monster. None of that. None of that is in the 51 iteration. But is that in and that's in the short story?

[00:08:40] That is in the short story. Oh, that's quite it. I mean, that's that's a significant choice. It is. I mean, you might make the argument that's the that's the movie. Yeah, that is the reason for the remake. We've been talking this whole season like why do a remake?

[00:08:55] And here carpenter, he, you know, he I've seen an interview with him. He he said he really was affected by seeing the 51 film in the theater. And then so then, you know, so he had affection for that movie. So why remake it?

[00:09:13] Well, this is a great reason why one of the key features that makes it most interesting wasn't in the movie. And so he decided he's going to make it more closely aligned with the original short story. That is a great reason for a remake. Right. No, that's great.

[00:09:29] Because that's like, yeah, I say we talk about like why what's the like is it a cash grab? Is it this? Is it that? Like it's like there's a there's a better story to be told and he gets to do it.

[00:09:38] So I will say one more thing about the original thing from another world. I think that it could almost be the original alien. I feel like the film Alien, which is set in outer space, I feel like I could probably come up with a list of 20 things

[00:09:56] that the movie Alien borrows from a thing from another world. It's almost like. Thing 82 is a remake of Who Goes There or an adaptation of Who Goes There? Whereas Think From Another World's remake is actually the movie Alien. That's interesting.

[00:10:17] Anyway, tell me more about why you like this movie. So it is. Yeah, it's funny, like I said, that I took me so long to get to it. It's almost it's almost nonsensical considering the ingredients. So I when I saw it, so obviously didn't see it in 82.

[00:10:35] I was busy watching E.T., I guess. Or rewatching Star Wars. Sure. So watching this later and hearing like, oh, you know, I'm like, I know I like John Carpenter. I know I like Kurt Russell. I know this is a now beloved horror film.

[00:10:55] So there was obviously some expectation. And I was I was I was excited because I had forgotten that I had. And as we talked about this during the the fly and American Werewolf in London is that I used to collect Fangoria cards.

[00:11:12] And this was one of those that I had, I would get in cards all the time. And like I had forgotten that that where those images that were in my in my head were from. And so it was fun to see a lot of the

[00:11:27] of the effects because they brought brought me back to my my Fangoria card days. So there was a little bit of nostalgia for having recognized things. What was the image that they chose for the Fangoria? The ones that I had were the the head, the upside down head

[00:11:46] with the spider. Yeah. Yeah. That. And then one of the dogs head sort of opens up and the tongue is just hanging out. Yeah, OK. I guess those were those were what so it was it was really cool to have that.

[00:12:02] But I had I really right out the gate. I was like this movie is awesome. Like it's just if it's it might be I haven't seen all of it. It might be Carpenter's best work. I decided it's it is his favorite that he's it's incredible.

[00:12:19] What he does, John Carpenter has an interesting career. Like he almost exclusively makes cult classics. But you don't know that until like way after the fact. So like what's he doing? Right. Like what is he doing that isn't appreciated enough at the time? You know what I mean?

[00:12:42] Like that's a that's a significant. It's a significant trick to pull off at all, much less repeatedly. So it's an odd thing that he's able to do this. And then you have to do like upon further review. This is great. But couldn't it be?

[00:13:01] I mean, it's sort of like is it Bill Walsh or is it Joe Montana or whatever? But I feel like some of that has to do with Kurt Russell. I mean, you could almost say that he exclusively does cult classics as well. Potentially. Yeah.

[00:13:18] I mean, Tombstone is certainly not. Cult classic. It's considered beloved. Oh, it was it was loved at the time for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I think part of it is there is a a B movie quality that John Carpenter brings

[00:13:40] that isn't due to like a lack of talent. You know, like some B movies like, oh, you don't have the budget. You don't have the this, you don't have the that. So you create this B movie like it's I think it's an affection.

[00:13:53] So I think I think he he sees these films through a lens that he really enjoys. And I think people don't know how to enjoy it maybe right out the gate in many cases. I know that this got a lot of like really bad reviews

[00:14:09] when it first came out because it was just so gory and it was they were like, it's nihilistic, it's boring, it's moved slow. And if there's no positive outcome here, it's just it's bleak. And I mean, I can't imagine that that was that rare in 82.

[00:14:28] But I guess compared to the FF or mentioned E.T. It certainly doesn't have that same vibe. Well, it's funny. It's funny how things have turned because I feel like it seems like the opposite

[00:14:41] of that could be a reason to not like a movie or pan a movie now. Like it's right. Oh, it's too Hollywood. Yeah, right. It doesn't have happy ending. And yeah, too much of a Pollyanna, Shandian or something. It's funny that you say B movie quality

[00:14:56] because I was going to ask you if Kurt Russell was your favorite B movie actor. Interesting. Yeah. I mean, he's definitely like Kurt Russell is fantastic to watch because it's like he clearly has a John Wayne influence. And but it's way more like charming.

[00:15:17] And and he's just he just has that. He has that quality as that charismatic quality, even when he's doing nothing. Yeah. Well, his eyes are he has storytelling eyes. It's really something. And this movie, I was kind of surprised. Maybe his most subtle.

[00:15:39] Yeah. Acting like I haven't seen everything he's been in for sure. But he doesn't kind of hammer it up. There's that first scene where he is playing chess with the chess wizard computer. Yeah. And you get that little glimpse of the

[00:15:54] yeah, Kurt Russell, I'm going to like this. But he kind of doesn't hammer it up for the rest of the film. I think that's one of the positives of this film is everybody plays it pretty well. Like, I mean, I buy it.

[00:16:08] Like I buy a lot of like this. They're they're isolated. And then once it's just a movie about paranoia, like the carpenter has a very a very deft hand on on being patient in between like a big and like there's big scenes in this,

[00:16:29] you know, especially from at it from an 82 perspective and the amount of like graphic effects that are going on. I mean, this is this is a lot right for 82 and it's not subtle when it comes to the effects. But then the rest of the movie is really

[00:16:47] like played softly. It's really it's it's such an interesting directorial choice that he does. Like, I mean, it just when it's when when the when the creature shows up, it's just mayhem and it is gory and the sounds are so intense.

[00:17:05] And then then you get back to being isolated again. Right. And I really just think that it's it's such an it's it's such a good job because you do like you start getting more tense about the paranoia than you do when the when the alien shows up.

[00:17:19] And if you're going to try to do that with the film, the score has to be spot on. Yeah. And we were just talking about Cape Fear and how the score kind of almost ruined that film. This is the exact opposite. So much of this film is about.

[00:17:35] The anticipation of what's around the corner. Not that it fails to deliver when it wants to get gory or whatever, but it really is a psychological thriller as much as it is a slasher. And if you're going to do that, if it's going to be a psychological thriller,

[00:17:51] you are going to lean heavily on the score. And I thought this was almost the perfect score for this film. Well, that's what I love about Carpenter doing doing his own music, too. Like it it adds like, I mean, it's it's such a you don't see that.

[00:18:08] Right? I don't know of any other directors that that will do the music as well. And and it's so it's like he gets to really control the narrative, right? Not only visually, but but audibly. And I think that that's that's that's a pretty cool spot to be in.

[00:18:26] And it's so like the same thing with like escape from New York. Yeah. But like there's like he he knows how to have some fun with it. I mean, he even made the song Big Trouble Little China,

[00:18:38] which is a lovely music video if you haven't had the chance to watch that. It's he's just so like I think like there's a certain amount of fun that happens to I think when in a carpenter film.

[00:18:51] And this is one of those ones that where it's like, it's not fun, but it still is like it's a ride. You know, it's I don't know. It's a real fascinating thing to break down a carpenter flick. Because I mean, like he's got other movies like Starman

[00:19:08] and you know, which has got a totally different vibe. But but that's entertaining. But it has a little that's there's some some, you know, there's some bleakness, even though that one has a little bit more of a positive overall tone.

[00:19:25] But yeah, this is just got like there's just no. There's no joy here. But unlike Cape Fear, which was joyless, this is still somehow fun. Well, I do get a fair amount of joy with a movie that begins

[00:19:43] with someone hanging out of a helicopter, shooting a machine gun at a wolf. Like there for me, it's like perfectly encapsulates 1982. The kind of entertainment that I would have been interested in 82. Give me one of those bulbous helicopters.

[00:20:07] Flying low to the ground, a Norwegian hanging out the side door with machine gun. I mean, it's a great way to start a movie. Yeah, I it is. It's this there's just like it's one of those movies like I don't.

[00:20:24] I won't say like it's perfect, but in terms of what it's trying to do, it's done about as well as you could imagine. You know what I mean? It's like it's looking like I'm reading reviews at the time

[00:20:36] and versus, you know, much later where people like have had a chance to kind of go back and they kind of do like a mea culpa over like no, no, this is this is maybe one of the greatest horror films of all time.

[00:20:46] You know, it's amazing how like that's the shift. The shift was this is junk. This is unnecessary. It's just a waste of time. This is bleak to like now you have people going. Yeah, this is this is the quintessential horror film. It's amazing.

[00:21:02] It's it's it's DNA is in a bunch of other movies. You know, like that happened after I think that's that's a that's a fascinating turn. Right. And like even to the point where Carpenter was pulled from other projects because of the poor reception for this film,

[00:21:20] he was supposed he was supposed to direct Fire Starter and they pulled him from it. They actually I think they had I forget it was a multi film deal that he signed with Universal, I think after the success of Halloween.

[00:21:33] Because he had done Escape from New York the year before and. And so he so they just bought him out. They bought him out of that of the deal. And so so he's and he talks about he's always all, you know, here I make this

[00:21:48] movie that's like now well, well, you know, revered and thought of to be as this like not just good, but like a classic, right? Like like and he says how much different his career might have been.

[00:22:02] You know, he's all I love making Starman and Christine and big trouble, a little China is up, but I just can't help but think like what what would my career have been had this been received the way it is now back then.

[00:22:15] Well, maybe it wouldn't have been as good. And that's possible, right? Maybe he does. Maybe he gets more of the making those Hollywood films that we just talked about where we've been criticized more now, as opposed to, you know,

[00:22:28] having people who believe in him make, you know, give him a green light to make a movie. Right. Yeah. Now, I don't think that this is a perfect movie. I mean, there are a couple of things that were pretty laugh like I laughed

[00:22:41] out loud on a couple of times. There's this one moment where Richard Dysart. He's the guy from LA Law. Right. Like he he's trying to protest, you know, being set apart or tied up or something. And he he just has this comically bad line read.

[00:23:04] There's also the problem with the Norwegian. He's trying to throw a grenade and it just slips out of his hand and goes backwards. Hey, man, it was really, really bad. I don't know. I'm like, yeah, that would that probably could happen to me.

[00:23:22] That's what it's the only possible thing that would happen if I was handling the grenade. I went bowling a month and a half ago and I injured my finger and it has not healed. I would for sure drop a grenade behind me. It just looks so bad.

[00:23:38] It looks so bad. But I'm nitpicking. This is a great movie. And this is the kind of movie that I absolutely wouldn't have watched even four years ago, just just no interest in the horror genre.

[00:23:58] And now I kind of see that I was missing out on some really great films. Yeah, no, no for sure. And as we've discussed over and over because of your sort of, you know, your little journey into the horror genre and like in the idea

[00:24:16] that like, well, at I think even even going into it was kind of like, at best these will be like guilty pleasures as opposed to like, oh, there's actually some really good stuff going on. And there's there are there are stories you can tell in the horror genre.

[00:24:30] And like, especially with this, we talk about like science fiction and how they tend to deal oftentimes in allegory. Horror can do a little bit of that too. And I just love how the horror in this movie, like I mentioned, I'm like,

[00:24:43] it's yeah, the thing, the alien is grotesque and my gosh, we've got to kill it with fire. But the not knowing is the real scary part of this of this movie. Right? I mean, it's like, like because I because you mean, well,

[00:24:59] maybe maybe McCready really is the alien the whole time. You know, like there is those that there's a good chunk of that. We're like, we don't know like you don't know. Yeah, I feel like we ought to talk about the ending. So I was thrilled by the ending.

[00:25:13] And I think of the reason why is that when he finally blows up the alien, I was going to be I was set to be really disappointed by the ending because when he blows up the alien at the end

[00:25:27] and walks outside, I just kind of thought that was that was kind of underwhelming. Right. I didn't didn't really do much for me. And then he goes and sits outside and childs comes up and then I realize, oh, they're going to do something different.

[00:25:49] And not only do they under play the ending, they leave the ending open ended. Yeah. So I love it. You are wondering, did the alien win? And which one of these two is the alien or I guess one another reading

[00:26:07] would by least favorite reading would be neither one of these guys is the alien. But I don't know how do you understand the ending here? I think that's the whole point. I don't think the ending is supposed to be known

[00:26:21] and because that would because that's the whole movie. The whole movie is you're trying to figure out who is and who isn't. And even if they aren't how for how long, right? Like, I mean, it's because, you know,

[00:26:35] I love how they actually, you know, you forget that childs is not a part of this because he was he was the one back at the station while they were going to go and and and and, you know, deal with this.

[00:26:48] And then they just sort of just forget about it. So it's like, well, we don't know how many that's the thing about the alien, right? Like there's blood, that's part of it. It's all over. And and then, yeah.

[00:27:01] And so if it blows up, like, you don't know if any piece of that hit hit hit McCreedy or not. And I think the whole point is like. It ends. It ends right where it began, essentially. And. They either they either kill each other. One is the alien.

[00:27:24] Or one is a human or. They just kill each other. They could kill each other as humans out of paranoia. Like, so that's in that. So that tension just stays and, you know, or the in the other your other alternative, like you said, is less interesting where they're

[00:27:40] both humans, but they probably both just die. They're just probably going to freeze to death. Yeah. The thing that's interesting is that Childs comes out, says, where were you? Got lost in the blizzard. Then I found my way back. And. What do we do now?

[00:27:58] Well, let's just sit here and see what happens next. And then McCreedy shares his whiskey bottle with Childs. And at that moment, in my mind, I'm thinking back, wait, they decided early in the movie to do their own food because they want to make sure

[00:28:21] that, you know, no little even molecule of the alien could, you know, contaminate their food. And so Childs takes a drink out of his bottle. So there's swap and saliva and either. So and then and then McCreedy laughs.

[00:28:37] Does he laugh because he's the alien and he thinks I got you? Or does McCreedy laugh because he thinks, ah, I know that the real child would not have accepted it. Yeah. Yeah, would not have accepted a swig from my bottle.

[00:28:54] Now your secret is revealed and that's why he laughs. So it could work either way. And my initial thought was it's probably Childs. Childs is probably the alien. But, you know, after sort of second, third thought, it really leaves it open ended in a very satisfying way. Yeah.

[00:29:14] No. And I think that that's and that's to me. That to me is like that's a this is a major bummer that this movie was not as well received because. I mean, I could totally see from from Carpenter Stamp was like, look what I did.

[00:29:28] Look what I'm looking at how I ended it. Like how like it just in terms of like a horror film. And I don't love the idea that a lot of these critics are blasting it for being bleak. I'm like, well, also like look at the genre.

[00:29:41] Look at what is the movie trying to do? Like what would I couldn't even imagine then if this movie turned out and we're like McCreedy's getting the Medal of Honor for saving the world. Like that what you want? Like after that. Yeah.

[00:29:54] You got to give a medal to him and his pilot buddy and one of the dogs. They all. Yeah. I mean, it's just it's goofy to think that that there's a big to me that ending is.

[00:30:06] I mean, it's such a perfect ending for the movie you just made. Right? Like. It's like I actually when I first saw it, I just figured he blew up with it and it was it. And then I had the same feeling as you do the first time

[00:30:20] I saw him like, oh, this feels a lot like the ending of Predator obviously Predators later were just like, OK champion of the of the monster. But that's not the case. Or I mean, and even if it is we don't know and then there's no peace for them.

[00:30:35] Right? Like that's the thing is this movie ends with no peace. And I think that that's I think it's just a great ending to a really like I said, it's bleak, but it's still a fun ride. Is there a cliche device or a trope that you enjoyed

[00:30:53] in this movie? Oh, I mean, it's like it's amazing how many there are. Right? Like there's a lot of especially for like horror and science fiction tropes. There's just so many that are that are on display, yet it never feels trite. And maybe some of it is like 82.

[00:31:10] Maybe there was some ground being broken that we, you know, I don't I don't appreciate very kind of just primal elements. I mean, just just like it comes down to fire and dynamite and the blood test. It really brings it down to basics.

[00:31:27] Yeah, I'm trying to think of a movie and this might be the answer to the to your question. I can't think of a movie where a flamethrower makes it worse. It's true. I mean, a flamethrower. This movie's got a helicopter and a flamethrower, a big old Rollist dynamite.

[00:31:45] Oh, yeah. That's dynamite. What else do you want? You throw those ingredients in with Kurt Russell. You have me every time. He just kills the dad from from license to drive. And that's like, I love that. I love the idea that they that they reveal later

[00:32:00] that he was a human. Like, I think that's such a key element of the movie. And that's a that's a that's a brave move, you know, for, you know, that's a great choice to make. Right. I mean, your hero killed a guy.

[00:32:12] Yeah, I like the I like that the guy who's in charge of the dogs kind of looks a little bit like a dog himself. Yeah, he's got that little hang dog kind of look and which makes you like him.

[00:32:24] It's like I like dogs and you know, he had sex with the dogs. But I mean, like you just know that and no, carpenter does carpenter does well, carpenter does well to not like overdo it. Like, he's like, you know, this guy has sex with these dogs.

[00:32:39] Well, he's just it's it's that's why he's so sad. Why he has to die. Yeah, he was it was actually fine. Like, he knows something. Was there a tweak that you would make to improve this movie? I, you know, I don't think so.

[00:32:57] I mean, I mean, I'm sure you could do something a little different. Right. I mean, I will say that like, I think these effects are amazing even now. I mean, they're clearly not like, you know, it's not. A thing that's happening, you know what I mean?

[00:33:15] It's like, but it's it's such a it's like, I was so enamored by the effects and able to go, well, this is pretty great for 82. I was actually surprised it didn't take me out of the movie

[00:33:27] because like, you know, as soon as you start thinking of it as a movie, you can get taken out of it. But I was like, I was so fascinated by like the the the stretching of faces and all that.

[00:33:38] I would say that maybe the one thing would maybe the moment when he puts the his hands through the guy's stomach. And it chomps him that those teeth. Those teeth were too big. Like those are like Muppet teeth, like, like, like jack-o-lantern teeth. Yeah, those are jack-o-lantern teeth.

[00:34:00] Like if it was if it was like a bunch of smaller, sharper teeth, I think this I think they think that scene is a lot more powerful because that was the one point moment.

[00:34:08] I was kind of I only came up with two things and one is the grenade thing. I just thought, oh no. You got to do that better. You got to like accidentally drops to your foot and then your foot. Just something about that.

[00:34:25] The other thing is that the color of the blood is always an interesting choice to me. It feels like the more bright it is, it feels like the less the more comical the the movies going to be like Evil Dead 2. It's almost pink or whatever. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:34:43] And if it's like kind of like a Hormity, it's going to be sort of a bright color. I felt like this the blood was a little bit too corn syrup. Be sometimes. Yeah. And you wonder if that's

[00:34:59] if that's just the way it was or if that was a choice because of the maybe the lack of color in the rest of the film that afraid that maybe it just would it would just kind of gray out.

[00:35:11] And of course, I don't you know, I don't have the history of horror that other people do. So I don't know if this is like, dude, measured by 82. This was like really, really good. Yeah, quite possibly right.

[00:35:24] How good is Brimley in this, by the way? Oh my gosh. I was wondering like after watching him in this film, I thought. He's a he's a legit fantastic actor. Right. And maybe it's a mustache.

[00:35:43] He's like, no, this is what his career would have been like if he had grown the mustache or something. Well, we're like we grew up. I mean, I don't know your first Brimley, but I mean what like Quaker Oats commercials, Quaker Oats, our house and cocoon.

[00:35:58] Those are the big three, right? So he's so like his his role, like in my opinion, he only came into the universe to be an old guy that had advice. Each year oatmeal and like. Well, and I watched I used to watch a lonesome dove.

[00:36:13] And so I'd like to see him on a horse every now and again. Yeah, I mean, and so it was nice to journey back and you you message me saying that Wilfred Brimley is younger than you in this movie. Right?

[00:36:25] I really at that moment, I thought I should just die. I should just well, I see. I felt the opposite. Like when you said that and I a lot of times I look at myself and I'll go cash, you know, I really wish this this was different.

[00:36:36] This was different. I wish I was aging better in this way. And then you see Wilfred Brimley and I'm like, I'm doing all right. You're doing all right. Like if Wilfred Brimley was at my class reunion, I'd be like, good God, why are teachers here? Oh, my gosh.

[00:36:57] I don't know what I haven't looked at his filmography. I don't know if this is one of the earlier movies that he did. I want to see his baby picture. There's no way this guy was ever young. This is what he looked like at 16.

[00:37:10] Yeah, 16 years old, probably eight years old with a full mustache. Receiving hairline. He's like it's like the reverse of a child actor, you know, child actors famously play 14 until they're 24 or whatever. Right. This guy was playing 44 at 12. Yeah.

[00:37:32] His first movie was alongside Kurt Russell, where he played his dad. He was a computer war tennis shoes. And he was like 16 to Kurt Russell's 12. Love watching Brimley destroy those computers. Oh, it's just everything he did was amazing.

[00:37:50] Like it was so like and that thing is he's real convincing in he plays essentially three characters, right? Or maybe four. Right. He's he's the he's the wise scientist. Yeah. And then he normally cast him in that role, right?

[00:38:06] Right. Well, I wouldn't know if I'd cast him at any of these four roles. Because you don't what do you want when you want Brimley? You want someone who's folksy. He's not like a folksy cowboy or something. So he's the wise scientist.

[00:38:17] He becomes the paranoid, you know, anarchist. Yeah. Then he becomes the sad, sac apologetic. No, man, I don't want to be alone. Let me back in. And then he becomes the villain, the alien villain. I mean, and he does each one just super convincingly.

[00:38:40] It's it's crazy to me how like don't sleep on Brimley's range. Well, he could have played every single character in the breakfast glove and it would have been perfect. I was joking about the ping pong thing before, but. He's legitimately good at ping pong.

[00:38:53] You could just tell it's like it's not like this is his first game of ping pong. Carpenter's like, you know, we're going to keep a ping pong scene in there because they just it's like people got to watch

[00:39:05] because they had a pool table and he was like, you know, if you really want to do this right, bring me a ping pong table. Don't be bringing me no air hockey. No way they're playing air hockey up this far north.

[00:39:21] I love that these guys like this is exactly the kind of I don't know what they're doing. I don't know if there's if that's part of canon like why are they up there? What are they studying? It never gets discussed, right? Right.

[00:39:37] Like we know that the Norwegians are tinkering with extraterrestrials or what not. But why are the Americans up there? As far as we know, they're listening to Stevie Wonder, playing pool, cards, roller skating, roller skating, playing. That's what I'm talking about. You're describing a movie that sounds insane.

[00:40:00] And then you watch this and you're like, yeah, no, it's great. Roller skating one day, you're killing your friend the next. I love drinking copious amounts of Jim Beam. Just drinking like crazy. I but I think that's it's an it's an amazing thing, right? This movie because.

[00:40:20] There it shows to the like they're all so tight knit and they but like they're on this thing for so long that they're already a little stir crazy. They're on each other's nerves for sure. I love the scene where like the guy that looks like Louis C.

[00:40:35] K.'s older brother comes out and yells, can you turn that down? I just got shot today. I know. Like it's enough that I was shot by a stray Norwegian bullet. Now I've got to listen to Stevie Wonder at all hours.

[00:40:54] See, the mistake that they made when making the 2011 the thing, which apparently is a prequel focusing on the Norwegians. And it was pretty pretty panned and I don't think it's going to be it's going to be reviewed as a classic. I haven't seen it.

[00:41:13] I was actually more interested in it when I thought it was a remake less interested in the prequel concept, but I could potentially take a look. See, the prequel should have just been those guys getting on each other's nerves. No threat of aliens.

[00:41:30] This could have easily been a sitcom for sure. Oh, man, that'd be a great idea. You just create the thing prequel miniseries and it's just a bunch of guys that start off really enjoying each other until eventually they just get on each other's nerves.

[00:41:42] And then the next like the final episode is they hear a Norwegian shooting. Steve, is this movie better or worse or on par with a Ron Howard? That's a Howard plus four for me. Wow, that's that's a lot higher than I was going to say.

[00:42:01] I'm just saying, I just think there are the management of the effects. Right? This could have easily been a movie that's like, like we're going to focus on the effects. We have these really cool things. And granted, there's plenty of scenes where the where those effects

[00:42:20] take center stage. But to have the directorial hand that says, yeah, no, no, I know that the real terror is the not knowing. And so I'm still going to handle those sequences with the same level of detail and attention, if not more, because it's like carpenter knows

[00:42:40] the effects are going to do what they're going to do. I don't have to do as much on those scenes because the effects are going to going to take that. But I'm going to make I'm going to I'm going to get you in the mind

[00:42:50] of a maniacal will for Bremley. That's, you know, good luck, Ron Howard. You're great, but you can't do that. I was going to say Howard plus one. And for a long for most of the film, it was properly Howard. And then the ending.

[00:43:15] Just just ticked it up that one last notch. And it could be that, you know, I'll revisit the film from time to time and it will climb. But yeah, this is this is kind of this is this film has had to grow on me a little bit. Gotcha.

[00:43:32] I will say, though, Steve, that, you know, my feeling about. Filming in snowy regions and wearing hats. I feel like Kurt Russell knew that this is going to be an issue for me. And he decided that he was going to wear a sombrero.

[00:43:52] That that is that's that sequence is like, I mean, if if I'm always asking for hats in the snow, this is like a guy saying, all right, I'm going to wear the biggest, which is the floppy sombrero I can find on top of like my hood.

[00:44:11] It's it's so funny. This is my helicopter. This is my helicopter pilot hat that I always wear when I fly helicopters in America. It's a big floppy sombrero. And it could be it could be that I am, you know, so pro carpenter

[00:44:28] and so pro Kurt Russell that I'm like, I never was once taken out because of that. In fact, if anything, I'm like, dude, of course, McCready has that hat. Of course he has that. It's a legit speedy Gonzalez hat. Because it's because it's a hat where it's like

[00:44:47] where I could see him showing up at the first day. Like, I feel like I got a backstory, right? He shows up at the base and he's like, and he's he puts that hat on there like, what are you doing?

[00:44:57] Hey, we're going to be in the snow for an awful long time. Doesn't mean I got to dress like it. How about a little taste of the tropics, huh? Is that you just insist on wearing that hat all the time?

[00:45:10] I feel like he grew the beard just to match the hat. If I'm going to wear, I've been waiting to wear this hat in a film, but I think it works better if I have a big bushy beard.

[00:45:23] Does he ever have a big bushy beard in any other films? Oh, I would definitely say the where he's Santa Claus. You're right. It'd be weird if he didn't. I forgot to use Santa Claus. Christmas Chronicles. Also North Pole. He's got a beard in Bone Tomahawk.

[00:45:45] OK, well, maybe it was just that maybe it was just Brimley's mustache. They just shaved off the mustache. And like the alien finding a new host. And they just glommed on to to Russell's chin. Does this movie have a half of the battle when the ground moment?

[00:46:07] Trust no one. Kill your friends. I would just say no one needs to know what was going on with Norwegians. Like, let the Norwegian's do what they're doing. I think the movie was quite the opposite. We don't we have no idea what's going on with Norway or Norwegians.

[00:46:26] That's the way it should be. Leave the Norwegians alone. I think this is the exact opposite message. I'm not to disagree with you because I think this is the exact lesson. This is what happens when you leave the Norwegians to their own devices.

[00:46:37] Keep an eye on the Norwegians. All right, if they say they're going to go somewhere and they're going to be on their own little private mission, go, no, no, no, you're not we're sending a chaperone. Norwegians need to be chaperoned at all times. Norwegians can't be trusted.

[00:46:55] Steve, we got a iTunes review I could read and. OK, is it bad? I don't know. It's a five star. Um, I don't really know. I mean, maybe you can help me interpret this. The title is Don't Be Like Me. It's five stars and it's from Judge Tempest.

[00:47:20] Here's what Judge Tempest writes. Although I wrote a review a long time ago. Make sure you do this small favor for a great quality podcast. Thanks for the laughs and insights. So that sounds good, right? Sure. Why don't be like me then?

[00:47:41] Well, maybe there's two separate concepts, right? Like, hey, it's a great podcast. Also my life's a mess. So. Type like you have an opportunity, right? Like you have one like you have like look, I'm on the internet. I've got somebody's attention, right? Got our attention.

[00:48:02] So maybe it's just for us. Like maybe there's something about Judge Tempest that specifically like maybe Judge Tempest is one of us from the future. And we're trying and we make it. We make a choice that leads to something awful. And he's like, you know what?

[00:48:20] I can't just show up to their place because they'll be freaked out because I'll be an older version of one of them. So if I speak to their narcissism directly by giving them a five star review, I know they are going to watch this.

[00:48:33] They're going to take a look at it. I feel like this is a hostage situation. And although it's code, yeah, yeah. Although the message looks like they're taking great care of me. But there's something in the title

[00:48:49] that if you knew the code, you'd be able to break it and be like, here are my coordinates. So we're actually being used right now, I think that nothing to do with our podcast is that this is. Or it's both.

[00:49:02] It's the year being held hostage by me in the future. Oh, I like that. And I don't know what value your life has and why I would decide to hold you hostage. Anyway, Judge Tempest, thank you for writing a five star review.

[00:49:24] I think people should try to emulate this. I feel like we appreciate these reviews, especially five star reviews. We absolutely appreciate titles to these reviews that make us think. And you've done that for us today. Don't sell yourself short, Judge Tempest. I think you're doing fine. OK.

[00:49:47] And then we got a couple emails. Both of these till we read till we read tomorrow, they're like, Judge Tempest is like, he's just like the worst person ever. You're like, well, you tried. I mean, they have one good redeeming quality, right?

[00:49:58] I mean, like, you can't be the worst person over. Judge Tempest is Jim Jordan. I love the idea of rolling up his sleeves, listening to our podcast, get some fired up. OK, I got two emails they both have to do with seeing you and your physical person, Steve.

[00:50:17] Oh, yeah. The first one is when do we get to see a photo of Steve's bitchin teen wolf tattoo from Peter? Nice. So do you want to answer, Peter? I guess I could put something on the old Instagram. How people follow you on the gram.

[00:50:39] They can follow me at Oz fast, A U S F E S T. It's like Ozzie's festival, but. But not. Way more tame. Yeah, but very different. Yeah. Now, I haven't asked you this, but I've been wanting to know, did your tattoo heal well so far?

[00:51:01] So good. Yeah, I don't like I. I don't know when to stop, like, like being careful with it, because I think like the surface of it is heal. I think I think it takes like months for like all underneath to be all good.

[00:51:15] You're still putting on the ointment. Still putting on a little bit of one. I mean, 95 and the only part of your skin that hasn't aged as the Teen Wolf tattoo is just going to be this. But just kind of the goal, like I said, open casket sleeveless.

[00:51:30] You can pass it down to your son. Yeah, exactly. So I'm just I don't know when to stop taking care of it. I, you know, I talk to some people like, oh, you just sort of stop whenever, you know, it's it's fine.

[00:51:44] And that's I mean, that's that's an approach. I just I know that with the size and the amount of color in the ink, you know, I think it requires a little more tending to. You're kind of in a unique situation.

[00:51:58] I feel like people that have tattoos with your level of detail usually going in phases, you know, the least two or three phases of the tattoo. And so sure it'll heal at least a little bit before. Yeah, like but you you got it all the same time.

[00:52:14] I mean, in my mind and I just assume that this was the case is that when you took off the saran wrap, half of your skin just fell off. And now you're you're on the wrong coast to have it fixed.

[00:52:29] And you just kind of been walking around dejected with a teen wolf's head clean off of your body. But apparently that didn't happen. Well, it's sort of like, yeah, I did kind of feel like I was newspaper and the saran wrap was silly putty. So that was me.

[00:52:52] I just texted that little whistle was me texting you the picture of the wrap after it came off my arm. Oh, for a second, I thought this was the arm and I was going to be very concerned. Yeah, that's like it's it's you're you're the thing.

[00:53:09] Are you are you the thing? It's that's the shroud of J. Fox. Wow. That's disconcerting for sure. Because that's like your pus. You're this is a piece of it's ink and a piece of art that was rendered by your pus. And I mean, it's colored pus.

[00:53:34] Yeah, now you get it. That's that's disgusting. Not happy about seeing your discarded wrap. Now, did you keep it? I'm assuming it's discarded, but it is discarded because it's disgusting. I would have been tempted to keep it. Yeah, it's it's the grossest fruit roll up you've ever encountered.

[00:54:05] All right, I'm going to I'm going to try this again. Nolan has written to ask he says he lives on the East Coast. He wants to know if either of us would be doing a live show that he could attend. I said that I will not.

[00:54:17] However, you are doing stand up in New York soon. So why don't you tell Nolan about? Yeah, I I will be for sure doing a show in Brooklyn on the 26th of October. That'll be gosh, what is the name of the place?

[00:54:39] I don't yeah, it's it's a bar show. Have you put it on Steve Osborne dot com yet? Not yet. It's at the Talon Bar. I will as we get closer only put like maybe a week and a half. So the Talon Bar in Brooklyn, New York.

[00:54:55] Yeah, nine working on 9 p.m. Working on maybe something at the Greenwich on October 26th. That's the 26th and it you might possibly be elsewhere as well. But that this one is for sure. This is for sure.

[00:55:10] I got I've got a couple irons in the fire and that that'll all be as we get closer to lobby updated on on Steve Osborne dot com. And I will say Nolan that I will be there too. I will be sitting in the back.

[00:55:25] I will have ordered both of my drinks of the two drink minimum at the same time. So you I'll be the bald guy in the back with the two drinks maybe passed. But it's trying to I mean if you can try to wake me up

[00:55:39] and introduce yourself if you're there. Yeah, can we do it? We should we should do a live podcast somewhere if anybody wants to host us in New York. But if it's not New York, then you're out of luck

[00:55:52] because I refuse to do any live podcast or not in New York City. If I get it, no, that's good to have a line where you draw. It has to be in New York City. It has to be at the end of October. Those are my two conditions.

[00:56:09] I don't know. I don't feel like I would ever enjoy doing a live podcast. Oh, I've done them. They're fun. Yeah. Sure. But like I here's my feeling. And I enjoy a podcast. I've already decided that I'm in for the format that they're using. OK, yeah.

[00:56:30] And then so let's say it's one of my favorite podcasts. Click play to hear this week's podcast. And then I hear like the crowd wooing. All of a sudden, I feel like this wasn't what I was expecting. You don't you don't like live albums of bands you like.

[00:56:49] In fact, when I don't like concerts at all, whenever I go to a concert, I think, you know, that I would prefer to be home listening to a radio right now. In 1982. That's because you hate people. I don't want to see that see what the band has become

[00:57:07] after all this time. I do like live comedy. I don't know. I don't know what that says about me. Well, that tends to be a little bit more infectious. I think the laughter and you know, you might hear a joke or something

[00:57:22] that you may never hear again, whereas the band usually have their set list. Right. I mean, that's kind of where it's going to go. So many guys think there's a difference. People are sitting and maybe a little more polite. People are getting you. Maybe that's it.

[00:57:35] Maybe if I could sit during the concert and then people bring food and drink to you as opposed to having to get up and navigate the sea of people. Steve will probably post something about his New York tour. Such as it is on Steve Osborne dot com.

[00:57:58] Oh, and Steve has indeed made if it was a promise, but he's he's considering posting his tattoo on Instagram. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's funny. Like not a bunch of people know I have it.

[00:58:12] It's not something that it's an odd thing because it's like I'm happy with it. I'm really proud of it. I don't wear a sleeveless shirt. So it's kind of one of these things where it's like the question is like, well, who's a four?

[00:58:25] Though I did go sleeveless the other night when we did like our mystery science theater type thing for the movie over the top. We all decided to go sleeveless for that.

[00:59:54] OK, David, this is where we're supposed to choose a side green or black. John, my soul is as black as night. Your turn. I am black for life. So we're not fighting. I thought this is where HBO wanted us to like pick sides and fight and stuff.

[01:00:15] Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find plenty to disagree about on the pod, but we seem to agree on one thing. We both really like the show. The politics, the drama, the lore. It was made for the Lorehounds. And since we just finished recapping season one,

[01:00:29] we couldn't be more ready to defend our black queen in the dance of the dragons. And with the season pass option and supercast, listeners can get early, ad free access to each weekly scene by scene deep dive. Plus our custom show guide with all the characters and connections.

[01:00:45] See you in the Lorehounds podcast feed each week for our dragonfire hot, but probably positive takes. The Lorehounds House of the Dragon covers is also safe for team green consumption. Side effects may include a deeper understanding of dragon lore,

[01:00:56] a hardened conflict with itself and an inescapable urge to read the book fire and blood by George R. R. Martin. Dragon seeds may experience burning.