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Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast
Xennial co-hosts Dani and Katie talk about their analog childhoods, digital adulthoods and everything in between. If you love 1980's and 1990's pop culture content, this is the podcast for you!
Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast
Arcade Cinema: The Wizard, a Rewatch
Did you have aspirations of becoming a champion video gamers? Did a movie convince you (or your parents) to buy Super Mario Bros. 3?
If you ever dreamed of hitting the road to California with a sibling, evading every adult along your path, you might be a Xennial fan of The Wizard. And we are too.
Join us as we rewatch the 1989 classic "The Wizard" -- a movie all about adventure, independence and video games.
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Hello, hello everyone. It's me Katie and I'm Dani, and welcome to Generation In Between, a zennial podcast where we remember, revisit and sometimes relearn all sorts of things from our 80s childhoods and 90s young adulthoods. That's right. If you've been listening, you know that our very last episode was all about the history of arcades, so if you missed that, go back and tune in. I did very extensive research for it, but while I was doing that research, it made me remember a movie from the late 80s called the Wizard, starring my very first Hollywood crush, fred Savage. And before we start talking about the movie, I have to tell y'all about the relic that I brought with me today. This is amazing, okay. So, like I said, fred Savage was my very first Hollywood crush. Ironically, he's the same age as my husband, so he's four years older than me, but he was on a show called the wonder and I was in love with him.
Speaker 1:And so back in the day, to all you youngsters out there, you could write fan letters to all kinds of celebrities and you could find the addresses to their fan clubs in the back of teen magazines. Do you remember this? I do, okay, yeah, so you could get like Teen Beat or what were some more of them? Tiger beat, tiger beat, teen bop or whatever. All these, all these teen magazines in the back would have like their official fan club letters and in fact, if y'all listen to our Reba super fan, jen um talked about that, yeah, and about like being in the official fan clubs. This used to be a big deal. This was before the internet, everybody, and snail mail. You send your, you send your dues in if it costs anything. Not all of them did, right. You send your letters by mail. You wait for, potentially, an autograph photo to come back to you or whatever it may be. So I don't remember if I had to send away money. I don't think so, but it was right during his wonder years heyday, which was 1988, 89 timeframe. So I was eight, nine years old, which is about the time for your first crush, right, yeah? And you guys, I got an autographed picture back. Yes, it was really autographed on the back with a marker, not on the front, and I still have it. How I still have this is beyond, because I've told y'all before, when I talked about my childhood, a lot of stuff that I thought I didn't have anymore because of Hurricane Katrina. Still have it. This was in my box of shit and you are on youtube, you can see. Here is fred savage, here is the back. Let me see what he said. Yeah, what did he say? Are you ready? I'm ready? It says hope, all yours are wonder years. Fred savage okay, that's really cute, right, actually. So I loved him. I did go see this in the theater. I remember going to see it in the theater the Wizard, okay, yep, but anyway, I just had to show you all my little relic from the 80s that I still have.
Speaker 1:Did you have a Hollywood crush? Who was your first? Do you remember? Don't remember, I have no idea, for, sad, I have no idea. Okay, I was obsessed with him. After him was New Kids on the Block. That was my second. Yeah, of course, and it was all of it.
Speaker 1:Jordan was my favorite. Did you have a favorite? You know what I did like Jordan? Yeah, I like Jordan a lot. I think that's probably my first celebrity crush. You know what it is, those high notes, uh-huh, right, and you know how they would make they almost look like Ken dolls. I have mine. You still have them. I have him. Yes, I got him. I got Jordan for Christmas. Same, and he had the rat tail have a red jacket. I think mine has a different outfit, okay, but yeah, he had the rat tail. It was like a plastic head, yeah, but then a little piece of like obviously synthetic hair for his rat tail. It's not real, I don't know, maybe it was his hair that would make it really valuable. So why have we not done a new kids on the block episode yet? I have no idea. It's in route though. We have to, and you can bring in your little toy, your action, I'm going to, yeah. So anyway, there there's my fun little tidbit. If you uh, go on youtube and you will see fred savage, or I'll put it on social, stupid anyway. So, okay, that was just my little relic.
Speaker 1:So let's, let's start talking about the movie the wizard katie. Did you see this movie back in the 80s? This is crazy. I didn't think I had, and when I watching it, there were a few times I knew what was about to happen and that final scene, which we'll get to, I remember watching. So I don't know if I saw it at my house or at a sleepover. I'm pretty sure I didn't see it in the theaters, but I was like, oh, I remember this, so I must have seen it at some point during those early years when it was out. Okay, yeah, look it. Look at memories coming back, little memories, all right. So before we start digging into our thoughts on the movie, I've got some trivia and stuff. Cool.
Speaker 1:Why don't you read the summary for us, so those people out there, if they have no idea what we're talking about, they can know? Ready Sounds good. Here's the official summary. After his little brother, jimmy, played by Luke Edwards, is put in a mental institution this is the official summary, folks, not our summary Corey Fred Savage breaks him out and the pair run off together to California. On their travels, corey meets a girl named Haley, played by Jenny Lewis, and discovers that Jimmy is a master at playing video games. With talents like his, he could easily win the top prize of $50,000 at Video Armageddon. While the three travelers hitchhike to the competition, the boy's parents hire a bounty hunter to track them down.
Speaker 1:My favorite, my favorite horrible plot point which we'll get to and this was released in 1989, which you said yeah, I said that. So like there's so much 80 yeah, I said that. So like there's so much 80s in that one paragraph. So much, and speaking of lots of 80s, there were lots of 80s stars in this, in this movie. Yes, I forgot how. I totally forgot some of them.
Speaker 1:So what I wanted to do, before we started talking about the movie itself, I want to talk about some of the actors, okay. So, um, I'm only going to give y'all a little bit of trivia that pertains to, like, the eighties, nineties timeframe, with each one, and we can chat as we go. So, of course, my first heart throb, fred Savage played Corey. You may have seen him in the princess bride in 1987. Yep, uh, of course, the wonder years in 1988. Vice versa, which I forgot, he was also in that. In 1988, he, uh, I think it's kind of like a, um, freaky friday situation, okay, um, and then little monsters in 1989. Do you remember that? I remember that one, yep. So here's some interesting little facts about fred savage from those days.
Speaker 1:He was nominated for an emmy and a Golden Globe for his role in Wonder Years at the youngest age ever. He was 12. He was Cooper's age. Wow, okay, he didn't win, but he was nominated. That's pretty cool and he still holds that record of being the youngest ever nominated. Okay, when Wonder Years ended in 93, he went back to high school at 17, and then he went to Stanford. Oh, I, I feel like maybe I did know that. Did you know that? I didn't know that? Yeah, yeah, he went to stanford, so good for him. Um, this is such a fun little 80s trivia.
Speaker 1:He was a guest voice in hello kitty's furry tail theater. Remember that? From cats versus dogs episode? Yes, uh, in 1987. So he was a guest voice, not a regular. Remember that? From Cats vs Dogs episode? Yes, in 1987. So he was a guest voice, not a regular. No, he was a guest voice. What was his character? I don't know. I didn't say that's crazy. So for you, if you don't know what Hello Kitty's Furry Tail Theater is, you need to go listen to our Cats vs Dogs episode, where I talk about it. It was such a cute little show, oh my cute little show, oh my God. And I forgot about this. But then, as soon as I read the thing, I was like, oh my God, I remember this.
Speaker 1:He was in this made for TV movie with Candace Cameron. Okay, all right, it was 1996 and it was called. No one would tell, and it was about this teenage abusive relationship. He was the abuser and he ends up murdering her. Spoiler alert what yeah? And they were alert what? Yeah, and they were okay. So they were a teen couple in the in high school and it was a tv movie. Yeah, it was made for tv movie. You know, that's that's something that's gonna come up, not an after-school special. No, it was a made for tv movie. Okay, in 96 I mean that's quite a bit later yeah, what? I mean they were teenagers, not 12 year olds, so that makes right.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, he and, and it was like the first time I think anybody saw him outside of his little all-American boy persona. How did it go? Did you read anything Like if critics liked it or if audience, I don't know, but I remember watching this Okay, I do, it was probably a big deal. And then I was like Katie should probably look it up because it's like true crime. I mean, it's not true, but it seems like something you would, yeah, still enjoy. That out.
Speaker 1:That's called no one would tell, yeah, love it, okay, anyway, uh, unfortunately, speaking of that, yeah, we have to touch on this because in real life guys, he's had a lot of charges of sexual and verbal harassment right against him from multiple years and multiple sets and productions like. I read two that were specific to costumers, yep, who were women. Yeah, one when he was like 16, which doesn't excuse it, but technically still a minor when that one happened. But another one from like I don't know, probably in his 30s or something, yeah, where he it's like unwanted, like sexual comments and advances and, um, also just kind of being an asshole. Yeah, in general, yeah, like to to women mostly, yeah, but really like.
Speaker 1:And then I saw this like statement he put out after, like the like, the one the later adult years where he was like he was very apologetic at first. He's like I apologize anyone who ever felt uncomfortable around me I'm paraphrasing guys, etc. Etc. But then he said like I'm gonna make changes moving forward in my behavior on how I can make sure, blah, blah, blah. So it was like he kind of admitted it, but not really Okay, it was kind of vague. You'll have to look it up. I mean, just for anyone he comes across in life. You hope that that's true, I know. So it made me sad to read that. Yeah, that's a bummer, I know. And then he's got his younger brother, ben Savage, which was so big on Boy Meets World.
Speaker 1:I've never heard anything necessarily derogatory about him, but I haven't looked either. Yeah, I just wonder if, like yeah, and I'll tell you what. Again, not that it's an excuse, but growing up with all that fame it's got to make, it's got to give you, even as adults, adults get a little bit of a God complex. I imagine it happens when you're young and then all the developmental phases for you know, girls and boys where you kind of push the envelope a little, but usually there's like a natural consequence, whether it's your family or your teachers or your peers. If you're living sort of in this like Hollywood bubble where everyone kind of works for you, you don't really get like that feedback that like hey, maybe you shouldn't talk to women like that or whatever. Again, not an excuse, especially if he did as a grown ass adult. But you can kind of see where that mentality might be shaped and like fostered. Well, and also, I mean, let's be real, he's a straight white man, oh yeah, with tons of privilege already and entitlement already. But then you become famous, yep, and then the power dynamics are even more in your favor, yep, so yeah, anyway.
Speaker 1:So, moving on from that, I don't want to stay on that too long? Yeah, because right. So then we have Luke Edwards, who played little brother Jimmy. Do you recognize him from anything else? Before I tell you I looked him up because, but I, but all I saw was a grown-up picture of him. Okay, that's all I saw, but I didn't look at his bio or anything. He played less in newsies in 1992. Yes, yeah, I forgot. I see it now. No, I didn't know that either.
Speaker 1:I didn't recognize him without the hat. He was like one of those I didn't. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, you mean the news boy hat. Yes, he wears that hat the whole movie, doesn't he Probably? I mean, and mostly to be real, back in newsies days, all I was looking at was Christian Bale. Well, that's true too. Anybody else in that movie who knows, don't care, but it was one of those things where, as soon as he was on the screen that's why I looked up, like him now, and it gave me like a modern picture of him in his 40s, because he's a Zennial. I wrote it down he was born in March 1980. So I was like, okay, so he's like our age. And I was just like God, he looks so familiar. There you go. Well, and, okay, he was also in his first big thing. He was like seven, he was in a miniseries. So here's the thing.
Speaker 1:You're going to hear me talk a lot about miniseries and made for TV movies. A lot, because all these actors, that was like a giant thing For those of y'all who were not even born in this time in the 80s, especially the late 80s and and early 90s, like miniseries events. We talked about that on um, stephen King, I think, or something. Yeah, I was about to say was he in it? No, no, no, okay, hold on, I'm gonna get there. But miniseries events and made for tv movies were a giant thing. They're a big deal and they was on network tv. It was huge and big stars did it and big stars did and a lot of people got their beginnings doing these little not little. They were big productions.
Speaker 1:Anyway, he was in one called I Know my First Name is Steven and you should probably look this one up because it's a true crime miniseries about a kidnapped kid. He got kidnapped when he was seven and he was held captive for seven years and then got out Whoa, yeah, I don't remember his last name but and then they made a movie about him and so, yeah, it was horrible. And I, as soon as I saw that, I remember watching that Cause again. I watched stuff that I shouldn't have watched in the eighties and there wasn't a lot of like, and I guarantee my mom was watched that because she likes true crime stuff. But you should look it up. Okay, I will. Um, it was.
Speaker 1:It was really horrible as an a man. So it wasn't like he got kidnapped and they like just pretended he was part of their family. No, they did, but they, they like it was. It was a man I don't know all the details, but it was a man who kidnapped him. Um, I don't know all the details, but it was a man who kidnapped him, who is a pedophile, and abused him but would take him out and stuff and act like it was his son. But he eventually and I'm, you know, mental, you know had mental manipulation and stuff, but somehow the kid I don't know the whole thing, but the kid got out and he, he's like I know my first name is Steven, but he didn't like know anything else, right, o else, right, oof. Okay, yeah, so 1989. Okay, that was the or I, maybe it was 1988. I think I read that wrong anyway. And, like I said, he was a newsies. He was also in little big league in 1994. Okay, so that's where the kid becomes a coach of the Minnesota twins. No-transcript. So if you look familiar, that's why.
Speaker 1:But Jenny Lewis, who played Haley, yeah, you, if you grew up in the 80s, you recognize her instantly. Yep, do you know what she was in? Uh-uh, she was the redhead in True Beverly Hills. Okay, yeah, okay. Came out also the same year, 89. She was a redhead.
Speaker 1:But also listen to all these guest roles she had on tv. Um, she was in the twilight zone tv series, golden girls, growing pains, mr belvedere, just the 10 of us, roseanne, and then a whole bunch of like mini series and made for tv movies. Wow, so you had, if you grew up during that time, you seen this girl somewhere, yeah, yeah. And she got her start in a Jell-O commercial. Really, oh, I could see that. I could see that, yeah. But she is now well, not now, she's been in it for a while. She's a lead singer of a um, a band based out of Los Angeles called Rilo I don't know if it's Rilo, kylie, it's R-I-L-O-K-I-L-E-Y which formed in 1998. Cool, so she's an amazing singer and they're like they're really popular actually, and she looks exactly the same. Oh my gosh, okay, I'll have to look her up. Yeah, so fun facts about her. And then I forgot completely.
Speaker 1:Christian slater was in this movie. Yeah, completely forgot. Yeah, he played nick the other brother, um, and I'll just I mean, obviously y'all know christian slater, but young people you may not. He was in heather's 1988. Uh, he was in tales from the dark side, the movie in 1990. Young guns 2, 1990. Pump up the volume which the movie in 1990. Young Guns 2, 1990. Pump Up the Volume, which I totally forgot about 1990.
Speaker 1:Robin Hood, prince of Thieves, 91. Untamed Heart. Oh my God, I love that movie. Yeah, 1993. And then I just put et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and it goes on forever. Yes, but did you know? Do you remember the animated movie firm gully? Yeah, he was the voice in there. He was the voice of pips. I didn't realize that. No, I didn't know that either. Okay, so, yeah, fun little fact, I could see it.
Speaker 1:This was also very interesting. He was in interview with a vampire in 1994. He was the uh, he was the interviewer that interviewed the vampire. Right, got it. So River Phoenix was originally supposed to have that role but he died tragically from an overdose right before they started filming. And so Christian Slater donated his entire paycheck to Phoenix's favorite charities Really, his entire paycheck from that movie. Wow, because they hired him after, yeah, so he donated all his money. Now he was at a very financially stable point in his career at this point, but still To be able to do that, yeah, but still, I thought that was very he was still a very young person, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, he was thought that was very sweet.
Speaker 1:And but then also he made his theater debut at the age of nine in the Music man. Oh my God, on Broadway. I don't think so, I don't think it was in general, yeah, it's like when he started doing theaters it's probably like his hometown theater school or something, but that's so cool, thank you. But then he also got in trouble. Yeah, in the 80s and 90s, multiple times, mostly for, like, driving under the influence. He got in trouble for cocaine possession, he had some addiction issues, he evaded police, but he also got in trouble for physical assault, I think, while he was under the influence. Yeah, not that, that doesn't that, that doesn't. That's not an excuse, but it kind of all goes together. It does, but he is now clean and sober.
Speaker 1:Okay, you go, christian Slater, you go Christian Slater With that part. And then we have the dad, whose name is Sam and he was played by Beau Bridges, who you probably recognize. What do you recognize him from? Oh, my gosh, like everything. But you're going to laugh because the first thing I thought of I've been watching the new Matlock on Paramount and he's in it. Oh, he is in the new one, he's in it. Oh, how funny. He is.
Speaker 1:The like the owner of the big law firm where Kathy Bates gets a job. Oh, nice, nice and so, like all the lawyers are like young and powerful. But then there's like him who's like older and her who's older, and so he's in that. He looks and sounds exactly. Oh yeah, he just looks like an older version of the guy that was in this movie that we just watched, the wizard. I totally thought while I was watching he looks a lot like the, the actor who played the dad and teen wolf, uh-huh, and I totally thought that was him. But it's not and I don't remember that guy's name.
Speaker 1:But anyway, another fun little made for TV movie he was in in 1989 was Everybody's Baby. The Rescue of Jessica McClure oh, he was in that, he was in it. Oh man, I remember watching that. For y'all that don't know, jessica McClure was this little girl that fell down a well and got stuck in it. Like the nation was riveted with her rescue, which is maybe we should do an episode on that Because she was saved. She was saved, but I'm just saying it was such a like I just think about now the things we watch on the news yeah, oh, I remember watching that. Oh, I do too. The actual event of, like, trying to save her. And then the movie, right, and then the movie, yeah, for sure, and it was a TV movie, guys. Like I said, you're going to hear a lot about it.
Speaker 1:He was also in the fabulous Baker Boys in 1989. Michelle Pfeiffer OK, he was in a Tales from the Crypt episode, everyone, he was in an episode called Abra Cadaver, yes, in 1991. And he was also in Jerry Maguire. He was Cushman's dad. Okay, it was a little tiny role but he was Cush's dad, yeah, 1996. He was on that.
Speaker 1:So I kind of cheated, but that's very relative to Xennials, yeah, but honestly, you probably recognize him because he was in like a bajillion million. Oh yeah, you'd know him the second you saw him and his voice is very like recognizable. Yeah, I mean like I was looking at his imdb like profile bajillion tv made for. Oh yeah, I think he's one of those like he's been in the industry his whole life and now he's like older, so he has so much stuff speaking and of course he also was an after-school specials and actually all these cast members were in at least one during the 80s, at least the. We need to do an episode on afterschool specials. It might need like a whole series. There's so many of them, but he he has acting in his blood Cause Jeff bridges is his younger brother.
Speaker 1:Yes, he's the actor. And then his dad was an actor too, named Lloyd bridges. And this is so cute they have three stars on the Hollywood walk of fame next to each other. I love that, don't you love that? Lloyd Bridges, oh my God, was he in? He was a funny guy. I feel like he was in the Naked Gun movies. I don't know. I don't know who the dad is. Honestly, I can see his face in my head. So, anyway, I don't remember. He was in a lot of stuff too, but lot of stuff too, he. But here's a funny piece of trivia I found about beau bridges and his youth. He was a very good basketball player and he I mean, yeah, basketball, and he was scouted by the nba okay, by several nba teams. I don't know what happened, why he didn't do it, but there you go, he's like give me that movie money. I mean, maybe he was like I don't want to do that.
Speaker 1:And then I I just had to mention this one other actor I didn't even mention the mom because I didn't recognize her, just to remember about it but Sam McMurray, who played the stepdad Bateman, yeah, where do you recognize him from Christmas Vacation? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he played Clark's coworker in Christmas Vacation, which was in 1989, which was so funny because I watched this movie with Troy and Cooper and Cooper was like that's the worker guy from, yeah, from clark's job, and he's in like one scene, but he's so memorable he's in a couple of them, yeah, but it's just like always in the office. Yeah, yeah, I know that's where he. I'm sure he was in other stuff too. Just, yeah, he's one of those recognizable faces, but that was where I recognized him from immediately. Yeah, same, same, same, yep, you're the last true family man, clark, all right, anyway, he may look familiar too because all his TV guest roles he had a whole bunch, just like Haley. So he was in 21 Jump Street, head of the Class, empty Nest Matlock, dear John, golden Girls, who's the Boss? Home Improvement and Blossom. That's just some of his guest roles, jeez, okay, so that's why you recognize him. Yeah, you've seen him, and this was so fun.
Speaker 1:He was the first person to guest star on the Simpsons in 1989. Well, I mean guest voice, really, yeah, and that show has the most guest stars of any network show ever. Yeah, I mean guest stars of all, any of any network show ever. Yeah, I mean, it's been on, I know, forever and they always have celebrities on. Was he honest himself or did he voice? He just voiced something? Okay, yeah, but you know, sometimes, like lady gaga was on, oh, yeah, the character, but it was her voicing it. It was lady gaga. I was watching that episode the other day. I love that one with the little monsters. Oh, it's so good. Okay, so now we're done're done. That's just our little back.
Speaker 1:I have trivia about the movie, but I'm going to throw it in as we're talking in order about the movie. Katie has her cute color-coded notes. Yes, well, these are my Dawson's notes. Never mind, these are just all in black, but they're all good. They're all good, so let's just jump right in.
Speaker 1:Okay, what's your first thought that you have written down? Um, okay, this is funny. Right away I can tell this guy, mr Bateman, is a douche. Okay, so the thing was speaking of him and the family in general. We were so confused on the family dynamic, like, yes, I think I figured it out. We finished the movie and we were still like who the fuck goes with who? Not, like it matters.
Speaker 1:But we're like, we were so confused, yeah, and like, and then I saw this piece of trivia and I was like, ah, that makes sense, okay, because this film was written very quickly. Ah, okay, there's some plot holes. They wrote it in three weeks, okay, right, three weeks, okay, right. So then once I saw, I was like oh, okay, all right, because the studio was worried about an impending writer strike, so they were trying to hurry up and getting written so then they could get going. So they hired David Chisholm, who was under contract at the time, to pin the script, since he was used to fast paced TV writing. Okay, so he was a TV writer, which you know is very different than very different, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I was so confused we were like okay, so the mom is the mom to all three boys, or is it just the two? For a while we had to rewind, Rewind. We were so confused and then Cooper figured it out first, and then at the end we're Googling it. Okay, let me see if I got it right. Then you tell me, since you Googled it, I Googling it. Okay, let me see if I got it right. All right, you tell me, okay, since you Googled it, I did not.
Speaker 1:The three boys are all full siblings. Yes, and the two older boys go to live with dad in the divorce. Wait, wait, hold, and there's another sibling, but that's another story. Hold on, no, no, because, okay, because, okay, and the guy that I said was a douche is a stepdad Corey, who is Fred Savage. Yes, middle son, who is Christian Slater Okay, they are full brothers, yes, okay.
Speaker 1:This is where it got tricky, because in the very first scene, in the kitchen that has those two boys, and the dad Corey says to Nick something like he's like, jimmy's going, they're putting him in an institution, dad, and he's like, well, that's the mom, you know your mom's choice, whatever. And then he tells Christian Slater, well, it's because he's your half brother. So I think, okay, the Jimmy, and then the sister, and then so the younger ones, not Christian Slater, no, I think Christian Slater and Fred Savage are full brothers. Oh, no, that's wrong. I think it. I think mom is mom to all. I don't, I don't think so, not to Christian Slater. Dad, I think is, is dad to all. Okay, and mom, I think Christian Slater, he's from a different mom. Okay, because he kept calling her christine, true, okay, see, I thought I figured it out and now I don't remember, and also like why, and then it'd be easier just to write that as like, I don't know, it was so confused. So then I was like, well, where's his mom? And then who it? It was so confusing, so maybe I'm wrong, I don't know Well, whoever they belong to.
Speaker 1:The dynamic of the movie is, it was confusing. Beau Bridges' dad has the two older boys, right, however, they're related. And then the younger one, jimmy, is their brother. Jimmy's the youngest and he's with mom, mom and step, right, correct, right, ok. And so stepdad. Like, again, it was not the best acting. I like that actor, but it was like from the start he was just an ass and he was an asshole the whole time and you were meant to be like, oh, that guy's the bad guy. Blah, blah, blah that was like the first thing I wrote down. Yeah, so, so, right.
Speaker 1:So then the plot point, like you said right from the jump, is that the stepdad mostly, is pushing for jimmy, the younger one, to kind of be put like live somewhere else in an institution, somewhere else. Um, because from what I could tell, I mean and this is just our framing around things like autism and being on the spectrum at that time, which weren't mentioned at all in this film. I actually looked that up. I was like, when did people start using that term? Well, I have trivia on that in a minute. Yeah, so essentially that's it, though he's just not like the other kids and he likes to stack things and he compulsively does stuff like that. And then the reason that they say they need to put him away or whatever is because he keeps just kind of like leaving and wandering off and then the police have to find him. He's never hurt, he's never. He doesn't seem to have any sort of like outbursts or anything like that, he's just very quiet and he leaves California all the time and he says California all the time. So the interesting thing about that is they don't say what's wrong with him. But this is very. This is such.
Speaker 1:This is a problematic thing of the 80s because to me you could tell instantly he had some kind of undiagnosed trauma. Number one because she said something about when they're like in the, in the I guess it was a social evaluation or something, yeah, and he was like well, he always gets out and walks down by the river and she's like no, he never goes to the river. And I was like ah, there was some trauma with something with a river, yeah, with the river river, something with a river with the river. Um, I actually didn't catch that, but you're right, I did it because to me, as somebody who had trauma as a small child, of course, like I recognize, oh well, something happened to him. That's why he's acting like that. But they never say, they never really address it.
Speaker 1:The whole movie, even at the end. You don't even I mean you, you find out some trauma, you do, but this was such a 80s thing about sending people away to a quote unquote home who have special needs or abilities, and God, that scene where he busted the brother, bust in to break him out and show those kids by the oh, and they're just sitting by themselves in rooms watching TV, oh, I it. But I mean, I knew someone Whose parent, like they, had a sibling and they're like before they were born and they're there. Their sibling had special abilities, needs, or I don't know what it was, and their parents sent them away, and I feel like the reason why that happened a lot, though, is because you didn't have the resources to provide the care that we have now. I agree, so it's easy to judge from our eyes now, but there just wasn't resources for you to take care of someone in your home to the best of your abilities, right, anyway? So here's a trivia piece about that.
Speaker 1:Like we said, they don't mention exactly what mental disorder or physical ailment or whatever is that jimmy has, but it's strongly implied that it's autism. Yeah, and the filmmakers actually decided not to mention it by name in the film because they wanted to avoid comparisons to the movie rain man, I wondered, which was released just a year earlier. Okay, interesting, because if you would have watched rain man right, let's say, in theaters where they talk about autism, and then you would have watched this one a year later. Then you would have caught on to that and you would have said, oh, that's the same thing, but they didn't. Maybe like right, but what I'm saying is like I guess they didn't really need to for people to make that connection. But now me watching it in 2025, not right after I'm going. Well, why are they not? Why are they not after I'm going? Well, why are they not? Why are they not?
Speaker 1:I'm like Googling and I was like, did we not have this word, like what's going on? And it was like no, no, it was there. I mean, obviously, it wasn't talked about as much anyway, well, and not on a spectrum either. Well, that's what I'm saying. There was such a in that notion, right? So, anyway, we didn't have the depth of conversation around it. We didn't. We do now, which you know doesn't make it any necessarily better, but it was just different than what we have.
Speaker 1:And I think what you said about that, about institutionalization or whatever you want to call it, you know those views have changed too, as well as the resources that, and there's still not enough, oh my gosh, there's still not enough, well, and now there's even less because of shit that's going down. Yeah, I'm just saying, and I don't care, I'm saying that because I, yeah, whatever I can go, so because you can, right now, who knows how long I'm gonna be able to say what I want. But anyway, moving on, let's talk about something else. That's okay. What? Okay, I have a fun.
Speaker 1:The music in this movie was so nostalgic, it was good. Also, the product placement had me just so excited for the hostess truck with Wonder Bread on it. That was really good. Did hostess make Wonder Bread? Yeah, I think it's the same company. Okay, I didn't know that. I don't know if they're still the same company, okay, but I think. But I think it's the wonder company and wonder bread and hostess are like under the umbrella. Well, that was fun. Yeah, that was fun. Well, and then, like the obvious one, like the different video games and at the end, super mario brothers, which I will say once they got to the big video game thing at the end and I'm skipping ahead a little and then the game was Super Mario Brothers. I was kind of on Super Mario 3. And there's a whole big thing about that we'll get to. Well, I was just sort of like, oh no, but there's a reason why. So I'm going to save it till we get there. Ok, let's save it, I'll save it because you'll get it.
Speaker 1:I had one thing I didn't like that much what was that it? And couldn't make food for them. I know right, he's like sorry, I don't know how to cook and they're like you suck at cooking. You could never make anything. I was like, can he just like maybe make them breakfast or give them cereal, or something Like why does it have to be a whole? Well, you know, we don't have a mom here. We just want you guys to know all of us don't know how to cook and we don how many meals I've cooked that look like that? Uh, me too. I mean, maybe you could look at it like that too. Maybe it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a single dad.
Speaker 1:It was the eighties. They were trying to set it up, in my opinion, to be like. This is the struggles they're having, but who knows? Um, I put writing a skateboard on the highway and using maps to find the way across country. Yes, yes, god, do you remember having to use a map like that? It sucked. It sucked and if anything changed from the time your map was right, like a road was closed or a new road was there, you just you just better hope you figure out where you're going and people travel like that forever. My dad still travels like that. He's got like maps of like indiana and michigan just in his truck and I'd be like where am I going? Okay, like dad, you can look it up on your phone. I mean, maybe he does that too and he just likes having the maps. But no, he likes looking at maps. But the skateboard on the highway, that was pretty cool, had us cackling, that was really good. Two of them, two of them on one yeah, that was, yes, I I also had, and I know there were other movies like this.
Speaker 1:There's one I can't think of the name of it, I meant to look it up and maybe everyone else will know where it's like four kids who try to like run away because they're going to get split up because their parents died or something, and it was around this time, maybe in the 90s. It sounds like a lot of movies probably. But that's what I said, like this whole idea, yeah, yeah, of running away and like somehow being safe and getting where you were going. I know it's kind of like a theme in these movies and TV shows of the time. I just remember that really being something that I was interested in. Yeah, and oh, wow, you know kids can do that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:Did you ever try to run away? I used to all the time. I was just not for real. I think I got mad about it outside, but I don't think I ever went anywhere. I walked around the block Because you know what my mom would tell me. This worked with me because she knew I was being dramatic and I just wanted the attention. She said to me well, if you run away and leave, don't try and come back. And I would be like but what she would also tell me. Sometimes I'd be like well, I'm going to call the police and report you for stupid shit, like I was not abused, guys. But she, she, she. She would say to me that's fine, danny, you call the police. You know what happens. They take you away, not me, which is true, it is true. Which guys? That sounds awful, but also it makes a child who's trying to be an asshole be like oh snap, right, then that's not the burn. I wanted it to be, and if it is a situation where you're better off being taken away, then it doesn't hold you back. Well, right, I mean, I was like guess what? That's why I said I was not in a dangerous situation, like I was just being an asshole, I just want to. Yeah, I was not in a dangerous situation, like I was just being an asshole, I just want to. Yeah, I just want you to get in trouble, mom, I was being an asshole, yeah, and this was one of anyway. So, okay, that's crazy.
Speaker 1:Did you see the video game table in the diner? I did. Okay, we talked about that on the arcade. And you were like what are you talking about? I still don't think I've ever seen one in real life. Now, the one, the ones we had at the place I talked about were smaller. It was like a two-person table. Okay, they had like a huge like diner table, but anyway, did you hear the song playing in the background? No, I don't think so. It was hanging tough New kids on the block. Yes, and ironically, the next diner they went to also had that song playing.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's funny, and I think that was probably an editing oversight, because everything seems rushed in this movie. Because, of course, I noticed and I was like, why is that song on again? And I was like, wait, is every time they're in a diner we're going to hear New Kids on the Block? No, it was just those two scenes, but they were back to back and I wonder if they filmed them on the same day or something. Yeah, or, just like you know, the audio track sometimes exists outside the video track. Right, they just didn't cut it off in time and it just went through two scenes instead of just one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so here's a little piece of trivia, since we're talking about some arcades things. So several NES games appear in the arcade scenes and in the late 80s and early 90s, nintendo actually had an arcade cabinet, which is what arcade games are called, guys, arcade cabinet, okay, and it was called play choice 10. And as soon as I read that, I remember this arcade game and this would allow the gamer to choose between, like, a bunch of NES games. Okay, so if you don't have an NES at home, you could go to the arcade and pick from, like their whatever popular games and play it, um, and you could just play freely between them all until your time ran out, so you would just put your quarters in and it would give you an a lot amount of time to play as many of these games as you wanted, which was a good. It's a really good idea because, if you're look, the games are expensive, and I mean games are still expensive. Yeah, um, so if, because, if you're look, the games are expensive, I mean games are still expensive. So if you were trying to convince your parents to get you one or you're trying to save up, you could try them out and then be like, oh, I want to go buy Super Mario 2 or I want to go buy Tekken or whatever. So that's a little piece of trivia for you there, love that. So what else you got? I said the Hostess Cake Wonder Bread truck. Well, I texted you about this. Said the hostess cake wonder bread truck? Um, I, well, I texted you about this.
Speaker 1:I was like, so did kids really just like ride on greyhound buses by themselves? So when they come across hayley, she's just by herself and there's appeared to be no one else at the bus stop except the worker. Listen, I told katie. So katie and I had different experiences growing up and she's supposed to be like 12, right, yeah, okay, yeah, I mean I knew kids that did that, like divorced families, like they would get on a bus and go across countries, either or just from state to state because it's expensive to fly. It is yeah, so I don't my point in saying that was in the eighties. I don't think it was unusual for a kid to be traveling by now. Granted, there probably is an adult somewhere as they're getting on whatever, right, yeah, I just thought that that was interesting that there was no one else in the entire bus stop and um, cory and jimmy walk in and there's one other girl their age, that's so who's about to hop like across state bus, her by herself, and how expensive it was. And I was just kind of like I don't know, and so I, I just thought that that was just kind of like I don't know, and so I, I just thought that that was kind of funny.
Speaker 1:But the eighties were crazy. I mean, the eighties were listen, especially for those of us who were latchkey kids, which I was like a halfway latchkey kicks. My grandma was there sometimes, but like Katie's, like I wish I could have done that, like we're texting back and forth and she's like I wish I could have done that and what. I almost texted you back, but I was driving and I was like, I was like in my backyard at 12 years old, smoking cigarettes. That's what. That's what was happening. Maybe you should have been on a Greyhound bus going somewhere instead. That's, the eighties were wild. They were wild man, yes, well, okay, so can we talk about the plot point that I wish just wasn't even in this movie? Oh, I can't wait.
Speaker 1:I don't know what it's the bounty hunter guy. He's terrible. So, so the kid? So jimmy goes missing, and then cory goes missing too, and so the mom and the douchebag stepdad hire literally this guy. He's like I find kids for a living creepy, and he's really creepy. He's not nice, he's, he's horrible. And I just like he just kept showing up and I mean I get it. He's like a foil because they keep having to run from him. And then, but my also thought, but, but then I had another thought on it too. Okay, so they hired him to try to find the kids.
Speaker 1:But then the dad, beau bridges, and the older brother, christian slater, they're on their own trying to find, yeah, and they keep trying to thwart the bounty hunter, which I'm like if your kid is missing, right, wouldn't you just be like yeah, but whoever finds him first, let's just find him. Well, they address that. The bounty hunter addressed that with him when they were leaving that console, whatever they were, wherever they were at, with the stepdad and the mom trying to, I guess. When they found out the kids were missing, mm-hmm, when the dad was like I'm going to go, blah, blah, blah, the bounty hunter told him he's like don't stand in my way, because I only get paid if I bring him back, right. Well, so that pissed the dad off. Yeah, because they weren't going to find Corey, they were just going to find Jimmy. Okay, well, I get why the dad's looking. Well, yeah, well, I get why the dad's looking well, yeah, but wouldn't you still want the bounty hunter to look too? No, because the bounty hunter threatened him from the jump.
Speaker 1:Okay, you must have missed that. Were you awake? I was awake, I was awake, I was just like shocked. I mean, listen, there's plot holes in this whole fucking movie, like it was written. But every time that the dad like would like puncture his tires or whatever, I was like don don't you want to find these children? I don't know, I just thought I thought that was weird, but I mean, it also added some comedy.
Speaker 1:Okay, we got to talk about some more of this, the video game stuff. Because I watched this with my husband, right, who, like he had never seen it. He's like how did I miss this? And I'm like I don't know, you were like prime audience for it, yeah. And the power glove scene that was amazing. Okay, that was so good, y'all so right. When the power glove came out, it was right around this time, so the marketing for it was high but, as we know, it sucked. The product sucked itself. Troy talked about this a little bit on the Nintendo two-parter that we have. We keep referencing back to that because it was so good. The Nintendo two-parter that we have we keep referencing back to that because it was so good. But my favorite thing was when the kid Lucas goes. I love the power glove.
Speaker 1:Yes, I know it was like a commercial in a movie, okay, but listen to this fun piece of trivia that I found out A very young Tobey Maguire has a cameo in this movie. He's one of. Do you know the scene at the video? I don't remember if he was also in Lucas's little posse in the hometown, but at video Armageddon for sure, where he has his little posse of people. Toby McGuire is in there. He's got a mullet. He has no lines, he's got a nice. He's just in the group, nice mullet. I'm gonna have to look that back up because I wasn't looking for him. Yeah, I was not looking for him. That's so great.
Speaker 1:And then, okay, the dad playing the ninja turtles game, I know, all night long. I know I loved that in the hotel. Right, they had at the hotel. No, christian slater had it brought his, brought it into the hotel. Yeah, okay. But the funny thing is that game is fucking hard. Y'all really has. Yeah, it's really hard. Troy was like, and they were like oh, I'm on level whatever, and Troy's like that's not what that level is, that's like the first level. Die hard to like. So gamers are Get it right, gamers are going to know if you fuck it up. Yeah, they're going to know. And that game is so.
Speaker 1:So I had like a weird Zenniel moment where when I watched that I was like wait, were the Ninja Turtles a game first or a series first? Because I thought they were a series first and then the game like spun out of it. But then I was like, was it a popular game? And then they made a series. So I looked it up, oh yeah, I don't know, series was first. Ok. I was like actually that's a good question Cause I was like, yeah, maybe it's one of those that will like, went in reverse, like there's a popular game and then they did a series. But no, there was a series and it was popular. So they made the game Gotcha. Yeah, yeah, because super Mario brothers, they were a game and then they had a series. Yeah, exactly, so sometimes it goes the other way, okay.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of the bad guy, I said why are bad guys in 80s movies always in an old pickup truck at some point? Right, always, always, always. Yeah, remember the scene in Footloose? Yes, oh, my God, I forgot about that. Oh my gosh, yeah, it's always. It's very much a trope Holding up a hero, that's.
Speaker 1:I love that song. Sorry, I didn't mean to sing over you, that wasn't nice. Well, it's funny that you said the thing about songs, because we were talking about the music, the Send Me An Angel song. Send me an angel. Who sings that, I don't know. Oh, I thought you were going to know. No, I just said I remember singing that high riff when I was a kid. Of course you did. And then I was singing it again when I was watching the movie. He does sing that one. It's someone pretty popular Right now, I don't know. I know I thought they were new wave people so I thought you would know that. Yeah, you would think Brant knows All right. Well, where's Brant when you need him, anyway, okay, so let's talk about.
Speaker 1:We talked about funny stuff, but like 80s movie, 80s movies have some sad stuff. Guys, like kids movies had some sad shit back in the day. Yep, like so sad. And also why in 80s movies is undiagnosed trauma always seen as a quote unquote handicap? Yeah, they said that word a whole lot they did.
Speaker 1:And then when you find out the story, you're like Well, let's start with like the not that it's a lesser of a trauma, like the more of a tertiary trauma, which is hayley's trauma. Oh yeah, we know her parents are divorced right away because she's talking about going back and forth. And then she talks about how her dad's a trucker because they end up in like an abandoned cab and she like knows how to set it up because she stayed in one with her dad. But eventually, when they get back to her quote-unquote home, which is just kind of out in the middle of the desert and not really a home at all and there's no parents there, she tells them essentially that her mom it sounds like I think I got this right that she gambled their money away. Yeah, and she references her being like a showgirl at one point, which you know go off be a showgirl, but it's like kind of tied to this whole like and that basically they have. She's addicted to gambling. She's addicted to gambling. Yeah, so there was that and I put down um, sweet kiddo worried about her family and home, because she, she wants to go to this game again or whatever video game arm again, whatever it's called, because she wants to get enough money to get a house for her family, and it's just, you're just like oh, so there's that. So then, spoilers on the way if you decide you're going to watch this now that we're talking about it, you might not want to listen to this part because it is a plot point of the movie.
Speaker 1:But we find out Jimmy has a twin sister, had had, who has passed away in a tragic accident. Yeah, and I texted Danny because in his little box that he carries around. He's got pictures of him and her and the little girl looks like little girl, danny, no, I thought she did. I'm gonna pull up a screenshot from the movie and one of yours you put on our socials. I thought it looked like you. Okay weird, were you? Were you a model for pictures? And you didn't know? I was like, wow, that's danny. So, and of course, of course, these pictures he's carrying around with him, jimmy's carrying around with him and and we know, you know, twins are even more bonded than average siblings.
Speaker 1:Does that just wreck you? When I left me, when they open up that lunchbox, oh, cooper, instantly, cooper looked at me because he knew I was about to start balling. Yeah, but he tried to. So, whatever, um, oh, like it, just I, I, I little kid. Trauma gets me the hardest. Yep, totally, like every time.
Speaker 1:And then when you realize the whole movie up until that point because that's towards the end of the movie you realize that he's just so misunderstood and alone. They're all grieving because it was a family member, yeah, but his grief is so much showing itself differently than everyone else. Well, and the big brother too, because he was supposed to be watching them. So, like he, like in the beginning of the movie, like he's having issues with the dad, like fighting, and he's drinking and staying out late, obviously dealing with this trauma because he feels responsible, which he's not. It was a is an accident, right, and he was a child watching a child, right, and you would feel like that, though, when you get it Correct. Yeah, but even though it wasn't his fault, right, but also he's young, like he can't grasp onto that, yeah, so Jimmy's trying to get to California because we find out in this like scene towards the end, they went.
Speaker 1:What was it? It was like I dream. This is the scene. I remembered that I was like I've seen this movie. What, when they go and there's like the giant dinosaur, oh wait, we'll get that's, we'll get there. Okay, you're skipping ahead. Well, that's where they. We're gonna get there. The picture. We still have things to get to.
Speaker 1:Yes, so before I start talking more about the video games, you're talking about hayley's house. Yes, yeah, the kissing scene they have, oh, yes, oh, my God, come on, that was so cute, that was adorable. She was like. My favorite, though, was when she was like I'm not kissing a boy and he's like a girl, maybe yeah, and I was like, ok, well, that was actually like not bad. And she goes, you smart ass, which I thought was fine. He said that. When he said that, I was like oh shit, what are we about to say? That's awful. But I was like actually that wasn't awful. Yeah, no, it's fine, but but I thought it was funny, it was cute. It was cute like first kisses for it, but then also shit. You know what?
Speaker 1:We didn't talk about, who the producer of this movie was. Yeah, I wasn't sure when we wanted to bring that up. It's such a downer rap, we have to say it, because I was about to say and this is why I'm bringing it up uh, I was about to say he was, you know, 12 years old. Having to do a kissing scene. That's got to be awkward for her too, for her too. So the producer was Dan Schneider, the executive producer, which I missed completely until Katie texted me this morning and I was like what, yeah, yeah? And I looked up like if any of these three main actors because Christian Slater was a little older but like the younger kids ever spoke up about any impropriety and none of them have on the record that I found, but he's just and if you don't know who that is, in a nutshell he's a subject of Quiet on the Set.
Speaker 1:A documentary about a lot of Nickelodeon stars which were a little bit later, what, like early 2000s, and just really some awful stuff, creepy, to like criminal. Oh yeah, with these young performers. And so when I saw that name at the end I was like, oh God, performers. And so when I saw that name at the end, I was like, oh god. And and it does make you kind of like not that I didn't, I didn't think anything was too over sexualized in this movie, but it does make you double think. Like even just the kiss and then it towards the end, um, they all kiss each other on the cheek and then jimmy kisses her on the yeah is a lot of kissing, yeah, and I was just sort of like unnecessarily too. I don't know about this, but I mean I thought the first kiss scene was cute, but then I was like, but they're young, like they are children, like it's not even like teen love, it's like, yeah, kids, yeah, yeah, so it's a little weird. So, anyway, enough about him. Um, he was the producer on this one. Yeah, I, I also wrote down. That the bad guy irked me a lot and then I wrote in caps nobody wore seatbelts.
Speaker 1:This whole movie, the whole movie, so 80s, so 80s. I never wore a seatbelt as a kid. My mom still does not wear a seatbelt and, guys, what she is? She was an ER nurse. So people die because they did not have seatbelts. My life was completely saved by a whore. I was in two really bad wrecks in my life and I survived because I had a seatbelt on.
Speaker 1:And my mom she'll wear it, but not properly. Because here's the thing we're short and she's a lot shorter than me, so a seatbelt hits you weird. But, guys, we live in 2025. They make all kinds of attachment bullshit that you can put on and cushions. So she would like put it on and then put like the crossbody thing behind her, so she would just have the lap belt on. But she only started doing that when they started giving you tickets for not wearing a seatbelt. Gosh, yeah, and if she's just riding in a car, she won't wear a seatbelt. Man, well, that's on her, I guess I mean, anyway, well, well, not to mention the scene where they're going through Reno and they're standing up in the back of the pickup truck.
Speaker 1:I forgot to say this. I forgot to say in every 80s movie people are riding down some big city street out of a sunroof or the back of a car or a window, standing in cars or heads out of sunroof, with like big city or casino behind it. I wrote that down. Many, not even just kids, remember big, big out of the limo. Every movie has somebody with their head out of something or standing up and you see the big city lights behind them. Yes, and the three of them. I know, I know, I love that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so then when they're in Reno and the bad guy catches up to them oh yeah, that was crazy. And so he goes to grab Jimmy and Haley screams in the middle of the casino. He touched my breasts. I was like you go, girl. I know, I just assumed they were going to be like he's being kidnapped. But she knew what would get their attention more. Hers was more effective. So immediately, security is taking the bad guy out and they can kind of get away. And yeah, that was. I thought that was really funny and really smart. Um, yeah, I also put I put in caps yes, truckers saving the day, because I actually had a trucker, save me one time.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I was in a bad wreck, not I mean, truckers are great, wonderful people, by the way but I was in a really bad car accident driving home from college one time and it was raining. And it just started raining, which is actually, by the way, public service announcement, the slipperiest a road is is like 10 minutes after it starts raining. And I wasn't even speeding, because I get nervous driving in the rain. I was not even speeding but I hydroplaned and spun off the road. I was in a Volkswagen Beetle and I spun off the road and hit trees on the driver's side and then spun around again. So my windows busted. I had to. I couldn't open the door. I had to climb out through the window and I remember I like, grabbed my for somehow or another like and I had, like, my laundry in the back and it flew out everywhere, like throughout the window. I remember I grabbed, I had the wherewithal to grab my purse that was on the front seat and it had my little Nokia cell phone and my wallet and stuff. And I climbed out and I'm like, and nobody was on the road, thank God Cause I'm glad I didn't hit anybody, but there was nobody around. Thankfully it was daytime.
Speaker 1:But I remember I was climbing out the window and a trucker saw me and I was literally the only, and he pulled over and he opened his door and he was like come on up in here, and I was terrified. Yeah, and I was. He was an older gentleman. I was like no, no, no, no, no, no, I was. I was in shock, yeah. And he's like, just so, he turned his truck off and he's like I'm not going to go anywhere. He's like just come on up here and get out of the rain. And so I like climbed up.
Speaker 1:Amazingly, I wasn't, I wasn't hurt, I had some bruised ribs, but that was about it. But we didn't know this at the time. And he was like let me. He's like I'm going to call the ambulance, I'm going to. He got on his radio and called whoever and he's like is there somebody I can call for you? And I was like uh and I like gave him my phone and he called my mom, wow. Like uh, and I like gave him my phone and he called my mom, wow. And anyway, the ambulance came pretty quickly.
Speaker 1:But I was like in some like random spot on the interstate closest, like some rural, tiny town in Louisiana. They take me to the hospital and you know they run all these tests. I had like leaves in my hair, like it was crazy, it was very traumatic, like they weren't sure if I had any injuries so they had to like put me on the board and they had to cut my clothes off and like it was this whole thing so fast forward to a few hours later when my mom got there panicked and she had gone to where they towed my car and she was like the truck driver had picked up all my stuff. It stayed with my car until they got there and all this stuff. Long story short, my mom asked for his information and nobody had it. Wow, they were like no, we don't have any information for a trucker. And like my mom's, convinced he was like a ghost or an angel or something of that, but like because normally they'd file it like an incident report, oh yeah, even back then there was nothing but he.
Speaker 1:I think every time I see a truck driver helping someone, I think of that man. Yeah, I don't remember what he looked like. Wow, because I was in complete. I was in, of course, shock, it's. Yeah, you were just trying to get some. But when I see, like, because you know, I feel like sometimes truckers get like a really bad rap. Yeah, but they are some of the and I've had friends whose parents are truckers and they're amazing, yeah, amazing people who really do want to help and you fuck with kids. No, ma'am, no. So yeah, that scene.
Speaker 1:And then after the truckers kind of corner the bouncer guy, the bad guy. After the truckers kind of corner uh, the bouncer guy, the bad guy. The next scene you see is him sitting outside a 7-eleven on the curb with a slurpee, which is awesome anyway, and then he's putting his hand in the slurpee. Oh, you put the slurpee on his black eye. That was awesome, okay. So, like then I was like, okay, I take it back, this guy's okay in this movie because, no, for this, like one scene, oh, I don't like him. But I didn't like him in the movie. I was like why is he here? But then when I saw that scene I was like, well, okay, the trucker into the slurpee on his black eye. I was like we're good, we're good. Oh, and the one trucker's name that was friends with hayley was spanky, spanky, and so I just put Spanky to the rescue, the one that you Spanky to the rescue. Whoa, check our Christmas story episodes for that one. That's not going to get them there. No, that's not going to get. Not that they're like, no thanks. They're actually pretty good, though, so don't worry. What else do I have? Everything else I have is about Video Armageddon. What do you have? Same, okay, so let's talk about it.
Speaker 1:So the crowd there first of all, the hair, the makeup, the clothes was so nostalgic and it was at Universal Studios, hollywood. And let's talk about how everybody's just walking around. I know there's no security. No, there's no tickets. No, there's just like the back, oh, and on the back lot tour ride, uh-huh rip, because that ride's amazing. They used to have it here in orlando and it's gone and it was the best. Um, everybody was just like letting the crazy man like be walking through trying to grab these kids, and they're just like on the ride. Yeah, I'm like, but that was so 80s. It's just like I'm gonna mind my business. I'm on my ride right now. Then they're like climbing around the ride and stuff, like the King Kong part, and like nobody's grabbing these kids. I know, I know that could never happen today, and so another.
Speaker 1:Ok, so I have two kind of specific things. One is that the mom and the stepdad then are there. Are they just there? And he was just like eating popcorn. I was like. I was like is your child missing? And you've just decided today you're going to go to Universal Hollywood, or were they like tracking him to there? I think the bounty hunter called them or something. This is another thing. They missed somewhere. Yeah, see plot holes. Because I'm like they're just spending a leisurely day eating popcorn when their kid is missing. But she tells his stepdad like stop eating. And I'm like well, I mean, you still have to eat. But also he's like eating popcorn. It was weird, that was weird.
Speaker 1:And then, okay, the host of the video game Armageddon. Are we supposed to know who this is? I forgot to look him up. He was so like. I was like is this a personality from the 80s that I should know? Because he wasn't just like let's do it. He was like come on, now, here's the. And I was like look it up, cause I think he may have been like a wrestling commentator, but I could be wrong. Don't, don't, don't quote me on that, guys. We'll come back to that. It was just so niche the way he was behaving that I was like who is this? Am I supposed to know who this is? You know what? Know who this is? You know what? We have to pause for a second. I have to pee really bad. Maybe you can look it up. I am gonna look it up. Let's pause. Pause, hold on everyone. All right, guys, we're back. We had a little uh potty break. Um, hopefully, if you need one, you paused too. But anyway, in that break we looked up this video game armageddon.
Speaker 1:Host announcer whatever he was. He has been in other films, but at least at the time that this was filmed, he wasn't anyone notable from like pop culture or anything. Maybe I missed something, but Katie was like but what's the reason? I'm like I think you're reaching too deep here for a movie that was written in three weeks. Correct, I think he was. I think they just wanted it to be kind of cheesy, kind of cheesy, kind of yeah, because acting choices are interesting. So if you don't know who I'm talking about and you watch this, let me know what you think. Um, so cool, all right. So video game armageddon.
Speaker 1:I did notice and I liked, yes, that there were a lot of girls and women in the gaming stuff in the crowds and and one in the finals and in the finals, um, and like you saw them playing leading up to the finals and then one in the finals, um, it was kind of weird. The announcer guy was like kind of like touched her braids and was kind of weird. I didn't like that handy but I was like, okay, so we got a lot of women gaming. Awesome, yeah, that made me happy. Well, I have a whole lot of fun things to tell y'all about stuff that goes with video Armageddon. Okay, are you ready?
Speaker 1:So you mentioned Super Mario 3, yeah, yeah, so this whole movie was used for marketing by Nintendo and they used this movie to release Super Mario 3. So nobody had seen it till this movie. They wanted this movie to be the debut of super Mario three. Okay, so, and the most interesting thing that Troy and I noticed, throughout the movie you see little peaks of the game. Yeah, cause we were like that's super Mario three, why aren't they talking about? But that's why, cause there's like little peaks, little peaks, little peaks. Yeah, like, cause Christian Slater is playing it and then that's their final game is like this brand new game that nobody played. So when you were like, why is it Super Mario 3? That's why. Because it was supposed to be this new release, which, by the way, is my favorite Mario game. I was so good at it.
Speaker 1:Anyway, they wanted people to see the game first in the movie Interesting, okay it. Um, anyway, they wanted people to see the game first in the movie interesting, okay, well, that makes complete sense. So another fun piece of trivia, um, which I think I passed by it. So you know how they're getting ready. When they're getting ready for, uh, the video armageddon, they're calling that hotline. They're in the hotel. She's calling a hotline, right, yeah, okay. So nintendo power really did have hotlines you could call for help. I think troy talked about that when he was on here. Um, I mean, what a fun job for a gamer. And troy flipped out because one of the hotline people had an og like legend of zelda hat on his computer and t Troy's like, oh my God, I want that hat.
Speaker 1:And then so the film actually utilized former Nintendo gameplay counselors that's what they were called to play most of the games in the film. So it wasn't really the actors, it was them. I wondered about that. I was like this. They have to have professional gamers actually playing the games. Yeah, you just don't see them. And the funny thing that goes along with that is, at the video Armageddon in the final contest, those big, large screens that they were playing on at the time they were all rear projected screens because there were no TVs that big at the time. Yeah, oh, okay, isn't that funny? That's really funny, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then, speaking of Nintendo power, there were some participating movie theaters. When this movie came out, they distributed special issues of a pocket size version of Nintendo power, called pocket power. I guarantee they're worth a whole lot of money If you can find them on eBay. Yeah, that is so cool. Also, nintendo gave each of the producers which one of them is shitty, but a brand new Game Boy handheld, because those were brand new at the time. But one of the producers couldn't figure out how to do it, so he gave it to Christian Slater. That'd be me. We'd be like I don, I don't know here, come here youth, come here, teen, teen, yeah, uh. But actually the year after the release of this movie, nintendo really did have a national contest, um, to find the world nintendo champion. That's cool, yeah.
Speaker 1:So it was kind of like they use it to release mario 3 and then they use it as like a lead-up to their own, their own event, their own event, which hello 80s and marketing, and oh yeah, I mean this whole movie was just so they could release that game. That's what I was gonna say. So was so what studio released this? I don't know, probably universe. Oh, it was universal, because a they're at universal and I remember at the beginning it had the universal like the earth and the old, because I remember thinking, oh, that's the retro universal like logo at the beginning of movie. So it was universal, but it must have been commissioned by nintendo, or universal was just gonna write it, and then nintendo's like, hey, we'll give you x amount of dollars to like prominently display us and it like product placement, I don't know.
Speaker 1:But then they released a whole game on it. I don't know. I'm sure there was someone who knew someone and they all just work together. That probably sounds like a bunch of like business stuff that we would be bored if we found out the details. You're right, it's probably as simple as like someone knew someone else and they were just like let's do it, someone else, and they were just like, let's do it. I'll tell you what it was Money money, studio money, video games Plus, yeah, okay. So, jimmy, when he wins which we knew he was going to win like, of course, oh my God, when he's standing there with the lunchbox, oh, I know, I know it wrecks me.
Speaker 1:And then let's talk about the dinosaur part. Yes, all right that. First of all, sobs, that's what I had, literal sobs. Um, that place is real. It's a real place. It's in cabazon, california, and it's the cabazon dinosaurs. That's what it is. It's a tourist attraction in the middle of the desert. It's a real place.
Speaker 1:But it was also used in another eighties movie. It was. It had a romantic scene from Peewee's big adventure in 1985. Have you seen that movie? I have. I don't remember this part. I don't either. Yeah, so I got to look it up.
Speaker 1:Well, speaking of that, the line they said on the backlot tour, where they're like um, a new romantic movie coming out with jaja gabor and peewee herman, oh, did you miss that? When they're on the backlot tour and there's like the tour guide, oh, I didn't even hear it and I mean it's made up because there's no such movie. But I was like that's a really funny. Um, that's a really funny line. And then when the um tour guide on the back lot things like everyone, shut up and have fun. I know whatever he says, be quiet, have a good time. Yeah, I loved that. Anyway, that was literally me when we would come for family vacations in disney. Uh-huh, literally. There was one time I was screaming at caden right in front of the magic kingdom.
Speaker 1:I, I feel like if you're anywhere on any amusement park property, but certainly disney, and you just stop for a second and look around, that is mostly what you see. Well, I feel people melting down. It's true, because you spend so much money, it's so much money. There's a lot of pressure for it to be everything, and then, like, kids are gonna be kids, of course, and then they're gonna be ungrateful, they're going to be complaining, they're going to be tired, they'll be hot. You're going to be tired, you're going to be grumpy. Um, almost certain, one of the two adults doesn't even want to be in disney world, wasn't me? The other adult that I'm with, yeah, you, you know it's a lot, but anyway, okay, so that was. So it's a real place. Okay, cool, and they used to.
Speaker 1:I saw something from the early two thousands. So I don't know if it's still valid, but the lunchbox that they put there, they left it there at the end of the movie so you could still. It was still like in that little hidden spot, oh, but here's a fun little thing. So the end of the movie originally had a different ending. Oh, so I'm going to tell you about it. The original scripts ending was was um had Haley leaving with her share of the money to take back to her dad, okay, and then Jimmy throws the lunchbox and the river, oh, right. So the, the, the director, whose name was todd holland, uh, he didn't like it, so he rewrote it in one night and they shot it the next day.
Speaker 1:It seems to be a theme with this movie I'm gonna write it in one night, I know. But also like, let's talk about the end where the mom is like just take our boys, and they're in the back of a fucking pickup truck, while she's in this nice sedan, yeah, and aren't they all kind of going the same direction? And they're in the back of a fucking pickup truck while she's in this nice sedan, yeah, and aren't they all kind of going the same direction and they're driving across country. She's like, just take our boys and I'm like where they're gonna ride in the back of that fucking pickup all the way and while you're just cruising and y'all live by each other. Like it was so weird. We were like what, yeah, and then I was like is she? And then was the implication that she was thinking about getting back. They're thinking about getting back together. No, I think it was just like we'll talk when we get home, like to make it more amicable. Probably, okay, probably no.
Speaker 1:I mean, like also, like divorce in the 80s was such like a common theme in movies. Yeah, for sure, for sure, which, for sure, which. I mean my parents were divorced. There were choices. Yeah, I mean it was common themes, because it was a common thing and it still is. Yeah, do you have any more? No, that was it. Those were all my notes. So we're at the end. Yeah, so what is your final opinion?
Speaker 1:I really loved it. Okay, I thought that I loved the, all the actors. Well, the bounty hunter and then the weird Armageddon guy could have done without. But, like, I loved the sons and the dad and Haley and just that, that spirit of adventure that I remember having as a kid, wanting to kind of go do my own game when I was 12 or whatever. I loved that and I really liked the video games. I know I thought it was so fun, like it was a fun little trip back. We watched it like last Friday night or something, and it was me and Troy and Cooper and it was or maybe it was Saturday because Cooper was sick, but it was a good time. We all had a good time watching it.
Speaker 1:Like, yeah, it's, it's a very good, fun, nostalgic trip back down memory lane and if you didn't live during those times, you can. It's a good. What do you? What do you call it? I don't know, I don't know, like a primer or like a, like a snapshot. There we go, there we go, a snapshot of life at that time. Yeah, a lot of ways. Oh, certainly the video games. And look for Tobey Maguire. Okay, I have to go back. He's in the Bad Boy Posse. I can't wait to see that His mullet is nice. I can't wait, it's quality mullet. You go, tobey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was a cute little kid though he was, I mean, obviously he got cast in a movie as an. I'm still laughing when you asked if I was a model, because, guys, I had no business being in anything. I'm telling you, okay, that is going to be my social media contribution in the next week. I'm going to find the picture of you as a kid. I'm going to find a little screenshot from the movie. I'm going to put them next to each other. But she was a cute little kid. I was not Well, I was cute for a little bit. Well, it happens, I feel that All right.
Speaker 1:So that brings us to the end of chatting about the Wizard, the movie, but now we're going to jump into our little closer for each episode that we just started doing, which is where we do trivia. Yes, 80s and 90s trivia, yes. So play along with us. Today, katie's going to do one from the 80s trivia game and I am going to do one from 90s. Okay, I'm going to try one that doesn't have to have a picture.
Speaker 1:Okay, nope, that's a picture. Hold on, hold on. Okay, here we go. I always give you spelling ones, though. Okay, okay, this is this is a multiple choice.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is the 80s, which one of the following major world events did not occur in the 80s? Okay, your options are chernobyl disaster, fall of the Berlin wall, the Gulf war, tiananmen square protests. I don't know what that is. So the Gulf war started in the late eighties, I think, or did it not the Berlin wall? I remember watching that on TV, but, hello, I watched TV all during the 80s and 90s. Oh, I don't know what the last thing is. And Chernobyl was not the 80s, that was the 70s, right, or the 60s, I don't know. That's my guess. Chernobyl, yeah, no, it's actually the Gulf War. Gulf War started in 90, I believe. It doesn't have more of an explanation. I was thinking it was like the 80s. Berlin Wall was like 85 or something.
Speaker 1:I remember seeing that Tiananmen Square. I thought that was in. Oh my God, I could be totally wrong. I thought it was in China, oh, I don't know. It had something to do with the dictatorship and protests and people being killed. Does it say when all the things happen, uh-uh? Oh darn, I know that's a bummer, but Chernobyl, I think, was in the early 80s. Was it early 80s? I think so. Okay Dang, that was a hard one. That was really hard. Jeez, when we don't have pictures and I bet we just mess up all kinds of facts right there, well, it's trivia.
Speaker 1:This is our non-researched portion of the podcast, just so you know. Oh, this is going to be a funny one. It's a numbers game. So the answer is just a number. We don't have to do any math, although you're good at math. So, anyway, it is the number of consecutive years the Buffalo Bills lost in the Super Bowl in the 90s. In the 90s, oh Lord, which is funny because they were like in the playoffs recently. Oh, they were. Yeah, I don't even know. Yeah, I don't know. Just guess that they lost the Super Bowl. Three, close, it was four. I almost said four. I didn't know it was good, it would have been a guess, but awesome. I didn't like those trivia questions. Those were kind of bad. Sometimes these are duds, but that's what happens sometimes. So anyway, thanks for listening.
Speaker 1:Everyone, make sure that you review us wherever you listen to podcasts, whatever platform you're on. It helps us out a lot to give us a five-star review and leave a nice comment. And same with YouTube. If you can go on there and subscribe, like some of our videos, leave a comment here and there. It really makes a huge difference. It's something free you can do, obviously. Here and there it really makes a huge difference. It's something free you can do Obviously. Time is worth money, so we do appreciate you for that, but we really appreciate it and we'll see you on our next episode. See you next time. Bye.
