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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
Gremlins: A Xennial Holiday Rewatch
Scary, cute or confusing?
Join us as we unpack the 1984 holiday classic Gremlins, a film that Katie watched for the first time ever to research this episode.
Puppets and animatronics -- and the perfect amount of 1980's camp -- are what make it iconic. But will it win over Scrooge-like movie critic Katie?
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Hello everyone and welcome to Generation in Between, a Xennial podcast where we remember, revisit, and relearn all kinds of things from being 80s kids and 90s teens. My name is Danny. Hi, I'm Katie. And um, you've joined us during Christ. What? It's Christmas. Joined. I don't I said joined weird. Um, you've joined us during Christmas season. And if you're watching us on YouTube, we are in some festive gear. Um kind of do you have bears on your? I just noticed. I do.
SPEAKER_00:I have little bears. One's in a Santa hat, and there's like little it's like a 3D sweater with all these little craft pieces attached to it.
SPEAKER_01:It's way cute. And an elf hat. I've got on a Merry Christmas uh sweater and a hat and smearings, and we're ready to go. We are. Uh we have a lot of sparkle happening, which is funny because the movie we re-watched for this episode has nothing to do with sparkles, but it does have something to do with Christmas, and Katie has never seen it. Tell everybody what we re-watched for this week. We watched Gremlins. I can't believe you've never seen it.
SPEAKER_00:I and as I was watching it, I was like, I I wonder if it's gonna come back to me. Did it? No. Oh my god, nothing. I mean wild. Like I knew who Gizmo was, but that's just from like pop culture. Yeah. I don't remember like the main guy. I was like, who's that guy? I've never seen that guy before. Didn't remember the plot points.
SPEAKER_01:Um, so I really truly think I've never seen it. Did you did your kids watch it?
SPEAKER_00:No, I just watched it by myself.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna watch it with my youngest, but it was over Thanksgiving weekend, and we had a lot of family in town. So I would have had to like take them away from things to do it. So I was like, just let me get through the holiday weekend and then I shall watch it and give it my attention, which I did.
SPEAKER_01:I can't I gotta all right, we're gonna jump into your thoughts first because I have to know. I love this movie and I still do. I think it's campy and fun and great. Did you like it? It was not my favorite. I knew it. It was not my favorite. I was at the animatronics.
SPEAKER_00:I think so. And I understand that it's an older movie now, so I I'm not like being an animatronic snob. It's the presence of them. I thought the plot was odd. And then again, if you love this movie, good for you. I was saying this on the way over because my husband dropped me off. Had he seen it? He says he's never seen it. What? Which surprises me because he saw a lot more movies than me growing up. He's older. He says he's never seen it, but he like he knows what it is. So I said, I don't want to get on the podcast and be like, I didn't like this movie. Because like, what's the point of that? He's like, he's like, he goes, Why not? We do it all the time. I know, and I feel bad because I know people love this movie and there's so much negativity in the world. And then you got me going, I didn't like this movie.
SPEAKER_01:But that's that's why we rewatch. I know.
SPEAKER_00:I know.
SPEAKER_01:Poor Katie. I was like, why do you feel bad? You literally hate every movie I tell you to watch.
SPEAKER_00:Like all of a sudden. But I was trying to think of like specific, so it wasn't just like so uh plot was one. I also felt like I didn't know what kind of movie it was at any point. Like, I'm like, oh, it's like this like kind of interesting sci-fi kind of movie. But then, like, um, the story that Phoebe Cates tells about her dad, I'm like, what the hell? I know, like, why did this movie just get so dark? And I know we'll talk about it. And then it was scary, but then they were watching Snow White and they were all super cute. And I was like, I don't know how to feel about this movie.
SPEAKER_01:And the other thing, and I think this is also because it was an older movie and it was Steven Spielberg, is it was just long. It was like an hour and a half, it was an hour and 50 minutes, because I kept looking to see how much was left. Yeah, but a movie like this, I don't it was too long.
SPEAKER_00:The scenes, this that's I think it was individual scenes went on for too long.
SPEAKER_01:I bet I know. Like I was like, we're still here. Like I bet you like that dog. I loved Barney. And then they sent him away. Well, to save him. I know, but I'm like, oh, now the dog's a lady. And there's still an hour and 42 minutes left of this movie. I knew you weren't gonna like this movie. Okay, Troy was like, why wouldn't she like it? And I'm like, oh, I know at least one reason, and it's called animatronics. Yeah. And especially 80s animatronics. All right, well, we're gonna get into more of our. That being said, there are specifics of the movie I did really like we can talk about. So I'm gonna give facts first, and then we'll go through our thoughts that we watch that we had while we were watching. Okay, no shock here. I love this movie. Yes, of course. Um, here is the IMDB summary of Gremlins, if you've never seen it. After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town. That is wordy. It is. What year did this come out? 84. Okay. I was gonna guess 83, so 84. Okay. So it came out in 84. It was directed by Joe Dante, who we talked about before when we watched the Twilight Zone movie. Okay. He directed the segment um called It's a Good Life that had the kid. Oh.
SPEAKER_00:The Joe Dante that I don't like.
SPEAKER_01:Like literally, of the four things we watched, that was the only one I didn't like in the Twilight Zone movie. I know. Oh my goodness. So that was the segment that had the animatronic bunny. And okay. Um, and it was written by Chris Columbus. We talked about him before when we did Goonies. So, what you're gonna notice as we go through some facts is a lot of people and a lot of things associated with this movie we've already talked about. Okay. So I'm not gonna go into like tons of detail about people we've already talked about in previous episodes. But for those of you who might be new here, I will reference the episodes. We talked about them. I love it. If you want more, okay. So um, I'm on Katie's computer. Bear with me. Here we go. It's always an adventure for me. And it's a touch screen. I don't know. Whatever. So let's talk about the actors first. So let's start with Billy, the guy who played Billy. That you said you were like, Who is this guy? Yeah, who is this guy? So you didn't recognize him at all? No. Okay, which it's pretty valid. Um, his name is Zach Gallaghan. Uh, his first acting gig in the 80s was for uh an ABC after school special in 1982. He was in a TV movie actually with Molly Ringwald and River Phoenix, though. The year after this came out, um, Gremlins came out, it's called Surviving. No idea what it's about. I didn't care enough to look. Uh, he was in the sequel to Gremlins, Gremlins 2, The New World. What? There's a sequel, and they're in New York City. Oh my god, it's okay. Okay, and that might be okay. I I think we should watch this one. I can't remember if this one also takes place at Christmas time. I think it does. We should watch that next year because honestly, I remember that one a little more because I remember going to the movies to see that one. Okay. Gremlins itself, we had on like VCR tape. Okay. But that I remember going to the movies, and there's one scene in particular that was really fun. Whatever. Okay, I'm jumping ahead. Um, Gremlins 2 came out in 1990. So it's quite a while after the episode. Okay. Um, but he was in, like, I was wondering if he looked familiar to you, maybe a little, because he was in tons of like smaller movies or like made-for-tv movies that were popular in the 80s and 90s. Um, he was in Tales from the Crypt, he was in Dr. Quinn, he was in Star Trek Voyager, Law and Order. The list goes on and on. And he's still acting. Good. She said good for you.
SPEAKER_00:You go off, Zach.
SPEAKER_01:Zach Gallagher. Um, he actually voiced, I I don't know if it was Billy or somebody else. In 2023, Mac there was a Max, like um HBO Max original cartoon called Gremlin Secrets of the Mogwai. And he was a voice in there. Oh wow. So, and I I looked up some clips of it. It looks terrible. Oh. Yeah. It looks like you know that like kind of rushed animation that they do. I feel like that's what it was. How dare you taint the legacy of Gremlins? Anyway, HBO Max. Um, I got lost. Hold on. I got lost in my notes that are literally right in front of my face. Okay, this was a fun fact. He had the opportunity to audition for Back to the Future for Marty McFly. Ooh. But his family encouraged him to finish school first before he started pursuing acting seriously.
SPEAKER_00:He's too tall. Yeah. I I don't know. I couldn't see. He's just even in this movie, he's just too grown up looking.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I I feel like that too. But remember Back to the Future, because it's gonna come back in a minute in a minute when there's another fun fact about this movie. Um, he's also an acting teacher, and he's a screenwriter too, so he's well-rounded. That's all I got on that dude. All right. All right, so let's talk about Phoebe Cates, who played Kate. Um now we talked about her in depth when we re-watched um Fast Times at Regemont High. Well, it was the first watch for Katie. Yes, yeah. So we talked about her already, so I ain't gonna like go all up in it. I'll just give you a brief recap and a couple facts. She started off as a model at age 14, which is not surprising because she's adorable. She pursued that um until she met a film agent at studio 54. What? Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Why was she at studio 54? Girl, everybody was there. How old was she? Well, she was she was like probably 18, I'm assuming, or maybe not. Not at 14. Um, but she had her film debut in Paradise, 1982. Fast Times came out that same year. She was in private school, '83, obviously Gremlins '84, Shag '88. She's also in Gremlins too, 1990. And then a early 90s classic that we must re-watch, Drop Dead Fred. Yes, I love that movie. Okay. You have seen that. I've seen that one. Um, we said a bunch about her and the other one. Notably, we had a whole discussion about her still being married to Kevin Klein. Yes. Remember that? They've been married since 1989. They are still married. Yes. We confirmed after. Yes. But I don't he is significantly older than her. They met when she auditioned for The Big Chill. I don't know if we talked about that. No, I don't think we did. So she auditioned for the role of Chloe, which, if you haven't watched that movie in a while, is she plays the girlfriend of the guy who dies. She's very young. That role went to uh Meg Tilly anyway. But that's where they met. And he, yes, he's quite a bit older than her, but they're still married, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Hey.
SPEAKER_01:But she was of age.
SPEAKER_00:Right. I think that's what we figured out.
SPEAKER_01:Like she was an adult, but he was also not nine or ten years older than her or something. But yeah, she was an adult. Yeah. Um, fun fact about her, she has an upscale boutique in New York City called Blue True. Ooh. She opened it in 2005. Um, it's it's known for its eclectic and inspired selection of women's clothing and jewelry. It also has unique and carefully chosen items and home gift, fragrance music, delicate delicacies, etc. There are no rules. That's from their website. There are no rules for what they have for what they have to sell you. It looks really cute. Oh. Okay. But it's in like an upper end.
SPEAKER_00:Like Do you think they sell goose clothing?
SPEAKER_01:Probably not.
SPEAKER_00:Not a lot of porch geese around New York City to dress in boutique style clothing. I would say no. But there are no rules. There are no rules.
SPEAKER_01:You should send her a message.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:All these wonderful things she's gonna be like, hello, do you have porch goose clothing? Specifically, I'm looking for a yellow raincoat.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, my sister also said she remembers Portuguese. Okay. She said we did not have one, but she remembers them where you live. She remembered them, yeah. Okay. And also she confirmed for me that yes, we indeed had a pink bathtub, toilet, and the countertop was pink. Okay. I did not remember a pink countertop, but she said, yep, sure was. Anyway, there you go. Okay, we heard that from another episode. That was our decor episode, by the way, if you're on. So let's move on to talk about the guy who plays Billy's dad, Randall Pelzer. His acting name is Hoyt Axon, which is just a fun name. That's fun. So you mean like that's his name in real life. Real life as an actor. Okay. He played Randall Peltzer in the movie. Got it. Remember Peltzer? What is it? Yeah. No, I loved him. Oh, you did? He was one of the parts of the movie I really liked. Did you recognize him at all? I was trying to figure out. Oh, um, was he in Fried Green Tomatoes? No. But he was in a lot of stuff. So you've probably seen him in the voice was familiar. He did a lot of voice stuff too. And on actually, I have a fun fact about his voice. He's um, he was a singer, he was a country folk singer. Okay. He actually had his own record label called Jeremiah Records. Cool. And he wrote the songs Joy to the World and Never Been to Spain for Three Dog Night. You know that song. Joy to the World. He wrote that. Wow. I know. I knew I liked him. Um, he did lots of TV roles, TV movies in the 80s and 90s, which is probably why he looked familiar to you. Um, he also did lots of voiceovers and voice acting. Um, I wrote down a bunch of movies that I don't think interested in.
SPEAKER_00:Was he in the earnest movies?
SPEAKER_01:Did you ever write it? I didn't see that. Yeah, I did see the earnest movies. There's someone in the earnest movies that looks like him or sounds like him. It might not be him, though. I'll look that up. I did not, I've just wrote down a bunch of movies, but I've never heard of any of these. Okay. You ready? Yeah. Disorganized Crime, 1989, Were No Angels, 1989, Harmony Cats, 92, and Space Case 92. Never heard of those. Me either. Uh, but he was in a lot of TV shows, like just as guest roles. He was in the movie Black Stallion. Oh, okay. Or wait, Black Beauty, Black Stallion. What the hell? I think there's well, there's both. I think. But Black Beauty. Okay, well, I forgot to write it down. Black Beauty was like this time frame, probably. Maybe he was on that? I don't know. Whoops. I I remember seeing that after I was done. I was like, I'll for that. Yeah. Um, anyway, in November of 2007, he was inducted posthumously because he died in 1999 into the Oklahoma country Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Okay. Him and his mom were um inducted posthumously. Wow. She was also a singer-songwriter. Cool. So that was a fun fact about him. We've only got a couple more. Uh, let's talk about the mom. Her name is Frances Lee McCain. Did you recognize her? Was she in that Twilight episode too? No.
unknown:Oh.
SPEAKER_01:But she has played a mom in a lot of iconic Xennial hits. Okay. Such as she played Ren's mom in Footloose. Uh okay. She played Marty's grandma in the past as Lorraine's mom in Back to the Future. Okay. Yep. Um, she was in Stand By Me. She was in Scream. She was a mom in Scream. Okay. I don't remember whose. And she's still acting. So she was very, I feel like she was like the mom to cast. Like she just has that essence about her. She does. Um, she was a stage actress by nature, though, and she first appeared on Broadway in a Woody Allen uh show called Play It Again Sam. So I just I love it when I find out that um movie actors were also stage actors. I like that too. I like that. I like that even now when they'll be like someone I only know from like movies or whatever, and they're like, they're on Broadway right now. I'm always like, that's so fun. Because it's a very different kind of acting. So if you can do both, I think that's impressive. I think so too. Um she played Stella to Faye Dunaway's Blanche Dubois and John Voigt's Stanley Kowowski and Streetcar Name Desire 1970s Los Angeles. Oh, I bet that was good, right? Dang. I know. What a cast. So there's some fun facts about her. Uh moving on. I liked her too. I liked when she was like messing with the different inventions. I know. But okay, she was way too nice about it. Because Troy was like, Troy's, maybe this just says something about me. But he was sitting there watching it and she's just always like, oh ha ha, your dad, oh ha ha. And he's like, she would be pissed as hell that everything's fucking breaking all around her. I know. Especially when the coffee wasn't right. I was like, oh hell, no. Right. Don't be messing with my coffee. Well, not only does nothing work, it makes a goddamn mess that she does pick up. It does. Yeah. Like she has to clean it. The orange juice and the and the coffee and the egg thing. Yeah. And also, let's note it now that that dad buys some weird ass animal and then leaves again. And these animals. I have that in my notes. And he just be like coming back. I I had that in my notes. Like, what? Right. Right. Okay. Uh, just a couple more. Uh, Corey Feldman plays Pete, which we talked a lot about Corey Feldman in two episodes of our podcast, Lost Boys and Goonies. So you want to hear about him, go back there to those. And also, I'll just zoom through really quick. He was in um two Friday 13th movies, 84 and 85, Goonies in 85, Stand By Me, 86, Lost Boys, my number one movie, 1987, and then um Licensed to Drive with Corey Haim, 1988, The Burbs, and then How Can We Forget? He was the voice of a teenage mutant ninja turn. I love that. I know it makes me so happy. Um, he actually has said that the Goonies was his most fun acting experience of his entire career, which I get. Goonies was oh, I could see that. I mean, he was at a great age for it. It's fun, you're with all your like all the time. Like yeah, he said, but he's most proud of his role in an independent film called The Birthday, which came out in 2004. So that was You might need to check that out. But get this his first acting gig was a commercial for McDonald's gift certificates. Nice. And I'm like, I don't think we talked about that. I don't think we did, no. You remember how you used to get those gift certificates in your stocking? Yeah. Yeah. I would still now it's just like a plastic card. I still put them in the stocking, but yeah. It's not the same. It's not the same. Let's talk about uh Judge Reinhold, uh, who played Gerald. Uh yes. Which I hate the name Gerald. No offense, Gerald's out there. I don't, it just doesn't feel right. Gerald. What? Just to say, you mean? Like in your mouth? Like do you usually say things out of other places? No. Okay, good. But like, does like the shape of your mouth feel strange something? I don't know. Say it. Gerald. Say that don't feel right. Yeah, it feels a little weird. All right. Do you think that's why most of them go by Jerry? That feels weird. Do you know people named Gerald? Yeah, I do. You actually I know a surprisingly way. I can I think I know five. How do you know five, Gerald? Are you serious? Yeah. Is it an Indiana thing? Um, well, one I know here.
SPEAKER_00:One's my uncle from Kentucky, and the other three are from Indiana, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Well, did they listen to this? My bad, Gerald that Katie knows of plethora of. I really doubt that they listen to this. Yeah. Okay. Don't worry. It just feels weird to see that. There could be other Geralds that are and look, maybe they agree with you. Maybe they yeah. Maybe. Okay, anyway. Uh we talked about Judge Reinhold in our Fast Times at Richmond High episode. So go back there, hear more about him. But here's some Zennial highlights for you. Obviously, I just said he was in Fast Times in '82, also with Phoebe Cates. He was in Beverly Hills Cop one, two, three, and a new one called Axel F. Whoa. He's in all of 'em. Uh, and all three of the Santa Claus movies, which he was a stepdad. So he actually got an Emmy nomination for a guest role in Seinfeld, the episode that he was the close talker.
SPEAKER_00:Yes! I forgot he was the close talker.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my gosh. I also cannot stand close talkers.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you wouldn't like Judge Reinholdt. I was gonna say Gerald is.
SPEAKER_01:No. Maybe it was. Well, it could be. Um, this is funny. He's an accomplished whistler. What does that mean? Uh he Hello? He whistled a Western tune for his monologue when he hosted um SNL in the late 80s. Like he's a really good whistler. Okay. I mean, which is great for you, but I feel like everybody can whistle. I'm just wondering how you would like to measure that someone was accomplished. Well, I don't think I honestly, I don't know if I could whistle a whole whole ass western tune. I could not on live TV. I know Anthony can't. Oh Anthony can't whistle? So so our friend and listener Anthony, him and I were on a show together, and he had to whistle on this one part, and he's gonna die when I'm telling the story. Him and all the guys in the scene had to do a little okay. Okay. Oh, I remember that. He I remember he struggled more than he didn't to get that whistle out. That's hilarious. There was always a different reason, so he says. Yeah. Um anyway, sorry. So he's not an accomplished whistler.
unknown:No, no.
SPEAKER_01:That's the difference between our friend Anthony and Judge Reinhold. One accomplished whistler. Sure, there's one is the mothers, but yes. Anyway, hilarious. Watch. He's gonna send us a voice message and be like, I can whistle, it's here. Um, moving on to the actor who played the grandfather in the stock in the shop that sold the Mogwai. Yes, his name was Key Kihee Luke. Um, and he had quite the career. He had his first film debut. Well, you only have one film debut. The first film, his only film debut in a movie called The Painted Veil in 1934. Whoa. Yeah. Um, and he was used in like almost every film around that time that had a Chinese character, which is not the best, cringy. But he did look familiar. He was typecast, and I'd seen him in other stuff, and it happened to him a lot, and he was in a lot of TV and movie roles during the 80s and 90s. But the one that made him prominently known to a younger generation um was he was in the TV series Kung Fu that started in 1972. Okay. Yeah. Katie's like, I don't know what that is. I do, but you said a younger generation. Well, I meant because his film debut was in 1934. Oh. So by 1972, that's true. That's what I just thought you meant younger than us. Oh, no, no, no, no. Okay. Because then I'll get to our generation. Got it. Our generation has seen him in guest roles on shows like Golden Girls, Miami Vice, The A Team, MacGyver, Magnum P.I., plus, he did voices on Fairy Tale Theater with Shelley Duval. Yay. Jim, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Spider-Man and the Smurfs. Oh, that's so great. So you know this guy. Yeah, for sure. You know this guy. For sure. Uh, he actually continued working until the age of 86, and he died three weeks after his last film, which was a film by the name of Alice that came out in 1990. So um, yeah, he was 86 and he worked till his death for that. That's really cool. I know. I think, I mean, if I'm assuming he wanted to work that long. Whoa. Whoa, uh Mike jumping. I just got attacked by my fuzzy Mike. Um, uh, he was also an accomplished artist who specialized in painting murals. And you can actually see some of his murals in films. So he got paid. What was the one, Lost Boys, where they had the mural? Do you think he painted that? I didn't see that in his credits. Okay. So I don't know. It could be. Yeah. Um, so we're getting to the end of the actors, but do you know who the voice of Gizmo was? You're not going to, but I just thought I'd ask in case. Howie Mandel. Oh, really? Yeah. I didn't know that. But he did not do the singing. You know where Gizmo's singing? Yes. He did not do that. Um, the song was written by Jerry Goldsmith, and he hired a 13-year-old girl who was a member of his synagogue to sing it for the film. That's cute. I know. Super cute. Um, Michael Winslow was the voice of all the gremlins. And do you know who that is? Michael Winslow. That sounds really familiar. He is better known as the guy who makes all the funny noises in the police category. Yes, okay. Yeah. I see his face right now. Yeah. So he made he was every other gremlin. Uh-huh. Okay. Isn't that fun? Yeah. And so did they have them talk and then sped it up and stuff, or was that like really the way they surely they did, right? They doctored the noises they made. You know, I didn't see anything about them speeding it up. Wow. Okay. I saw nothing about that. Okay. You're thinking of Snoopy. I know. I'm always thinking of Snoopy. Forget these gremlins. Bring me Snoopy.
SPEAKER_00:I watched two quality Snoopy productions before the last time we recorded. And then you're just gonna throw me into gremlins. Come on.
SPEAKER_01:Quite the turn.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:All right. So now we have some random facts, and then we'll talk about our thoughts during the movie. Some of these facts are kind of fun, some are stupid. So bear with me. It's Danny research. Oh boy. All right. I was curious, and I'm so glad that my research brought this up, like where the idea of like a quote unquote gremlin came from. And the history of it is pretty interesting. It dates back to the Royal Air Force during World War II. Um, after something went wrong with a plane that they couldn't really describe, they would blame it on little monsters that they called gremlins. Which is what the guy talks about in the movie. Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Weird. The mechanic guy. Yeah. And then author Roll Dahl, who was in the Royal Air Force, um, he wrote a book called The Gremlins in 1943. And that is what put the idea of gremlins into popular culture. And so the j I mean, obviously in the movie, I know what a gremlin is in the movie, but the idea of a gremlin in general is what? Just something you can't see that's like messing things up. I just said little monsters called Gremlins. Right. So that you can see them. Well, yes, I think it's that you can't. I think the idea is that they do shit tr like they destroy things without you seeing them, but yes, you should like it. Which is like the Twilight Zone episode is basically a gremlin. Like like things you can't see necessarily, but they do exist. Okay. Correct. Um, and the original, the original Gremlin script. Now, none of my facts are in order, so we're gonna bop around, as we do. It was much, much darker. So this was kind of campy and funny, and there was a lot of humor. Um, earlier scenes had you're not gonna like this, had Gremlins eating Billy's dog, then decapitating his mom, and throwing her head down the stairs. Oh my god. I know. But look, those are terrible, that's terrible. But I would have been like, it's this kind of movie. Well, and I felt like there was like little bits of that, but not enough for it to be full-scale horror. Well, they wanted to tone it down because they wanted it to be family friendly. Okay. So they all agreed, let's let's bring it back so it can be a family-friendly movie, which is why it still had essence of a darker, but then they just kind of changed it around. Okay. To make it a little it was dark, dark comedy light, I guess. Um this was originally planned for a Christmas release, but it did not come out at Christmas time. I know, which is funny because it is a Christmas time movie. Um it cut they kind of rushed it into production shortly after Warren Warner Brothers realized that they had no major competition coming out against Paramount's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Uh-huh. And or Columbia Pictures Ghostbusters. They were all coming out at the same time. They're like, shit, we don't have anything to compete with them. Let's hurry up and get this out there. Wow. So they did. Uh it came out in the summer. Wow. Right. That's wild because those are like three incredibly iconic lasting films and franchises. And you know, when I was doing Race Order, it it made me remember like how big of a deal it was for stuff to come out in the movies. Like it was a big deal. I feel like that's not that way anymore because of streaming. Depends. Like, like wicked and wicked for good have been a huge deal. Right, but that's not often. That's not normal. Right, right. And in the 80s, it was like every weekend you couldn't wait to see what was gonna come out. I agree. You know, you'd call the little movie hotline. Uh-huh. And it would read all the times, and you just have to sit there till they got to your movie. Yes. And like read the time. Yeah. I remember a friend of mine that worked at the movies got all excited because they got to read it one time. Oh. I would be excited about that too. I'd be like, y'all better call. I listened to me reading the movie hotline. Telling you what time Ghostbusters is coming out. Um, okay, remember I said I had a um Back to the Future fact? Yes. Okay, so the set for Kingston Falls, which is the name of the town in this movie, is the same one they used for Back to the Future.
SPEAKER_00:I felt that. Yeah. Because once or twice I thought that. Like I was like, oh, this is very similar to the town in Back to the Future. Yep. But then I was also like, well, maybe this is just like the look of towns in movies at this time.
SPEAKER_01:Do you know what I mean? Like, well, Troy said it too. He was like, this looks like Back to the Future. I was like, I know. And then I was like, well, there's a reason. It is. Okay. Um, both of the movies were filmed on the Universal Studios Backlot, and director Joe Dante insisted on shooting it on backlats um because he wanted to create a small town setting that evoked Fank Capra. God, what is wrong with my mouth today? I can't talk. It's Saint Gerald all day. It's the Gerald. Gerald messing me up. Um Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. So he wanted to have that essence. Um, and he actually included It's a Wonderful Life as a clip in the film, um, in case the audience didn't like get the message. Even Billy running down the street with the dog is kind of is it's a wonderful George Bailey moment. Yeah. Um okay. I have to breathe for a second because I have something funny and I realize I put it later. I'm trying to decide if I'm gonna skip ahead, guys. I'm just gonna I'll wait. Okay. Okay. So originally Stripe, the bad, the bad gremlin, and Gizmo were the same character. They were gonna turn Gizmo bad. Yeah. But that changed when Steven Spielberg insisted that at least one of the gremlins had to be a good guy, um, so the audience could identify with him. And um also for merchandising purposes. Right. You want to have a bad and a good, and you want to have a cuddly, stuffy, not a scary thing you've got again. So part of it was capitalistic gains. Yeah, makes sense. Um and Joe Dante said that um making that decision is why this movie is fondly remembered. Because if if it would have been the opposite way, I don't know if it would have had the stickiness of memories. So I agree. I agree too. It's a good choice. Uh because he's the producer of the movie, Spielberg. Uh-huh. Okay. Yeah, he's the producer. So the coloring of Gizmo, the white patch, a fur on the right eye. You're gonna love this so much, was directly modeled after one of Steven Spielberg's dogs. Oh. And the Mogwai themselves were mod well, molded and kind of inspired from the Japanese chin dog breed. Okay. I have no idea what that is. I mean, they yes. I mean, I don't know necessarily what that breed looks like, but I can I can see how the gremlins are look like a dog, like a small dog. I could see that, except I don't like dogs, and I like um you like gremlins. You like Gizmo. But you know, that's fine. They just have to be aliens, I guess, and then I'll like dogs. Alien dogs. So there was no CGI for this movie. Like all these, there's one still animation shot, and I can't remember where it is, but it's very obvious and it's weird. Um, but they were all animatronics. Every gremlin, geez, there was a lot. So a lot of the budget for this movie was the animatronics. Yeah. And Zach Gallaghan, who played Billy, said in an interview like they were so expensive and so important to the movie that when everybody left for the day, they would check everybody's trunks to make sure nobody was stealing one. Wow. Like, yeah, wow. Yeah. Because think about, I think we forget too nowadays, everything is CGI. But like those animatronics are detailed, and there was a lot, especially that one scene when they're in the movies. That's what I was just thinking of. That none of that was computer generated. Oh my gosh. I know, right? Um, so Chris Columbus actually went through a few drafts before a shooting script was finalized. And I already told you about the creepy part, but there was something else. I deleted it. What? Oh well. Did you? Or is it on the street? I just copied and pasted two things that I just said. Erase that from your memory, listeners. Because we don't ever edit. So we're just gonna erase back. We're not going back. Um, okay, so this movie and Indiana Jones, which came out the same year, those movies are said to have inspired the Motion Picture Association to create the PG-13 rating. Because this was rated PG and so is Indiana Jones. But the this is a kind of a scary movie, and there's some violence. Indiana Jones. Didn't we watch the first PG-13 movie? Was that Fast Fast Times? No. No, that's R. We've we've done we definitely was it Looney's? Maybe it was. Maybe it's Goonies. Maybe it was because it came out the year after. Because I remember we were like, and this was the first PG 13, and we were like, What? Yeah, uh, because a lot of people felt like both of those movies were too violent for PG, but not violent enough for an R rating. Yeah. So that's how they and it's like weird because I can't imagine not having that PG 13 rating. I agree. But then it makes sense when you start watching old movies and you're like, this is rated PG. Yeah. Because it wasn't quote unquote bad enough to have an R. Yeah. Oh, actually, I did write this down. Yay.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:The first movie to be released into theaters with a PG-13 rating was Red Dawn, 1984. Oh, okay. I don't know what that is. Oh, is that the one about the bombs, the Russians, and the kids are like out of school or something? Yes. We don't know. We just guess on the show. We just guess. That's the way we work. My friend told me it is that one. Just now? No. Oh, like by telepathy?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:What? Okay, so going back to the animatronics, they were also puppets. That's what I forgot to say. Okay. But the fun part is the sets, um, a lot of them were built up off the floor so the puppeteers could be underneath. Oh, cool. Um, kind of like Muppets. Well, they were. They were like Muppets. Yeah, I love puppets. Um, they did use marionettes in a couple scenes. This is what I was talking about, not stop animation, but they weren't convincing. So, like, it was too like jerky and all that. Um, Joe Dante said good puppetry is an art when it's done as well as it was in Gremlin. CGI technology cannot do it better. I agree. I agree too. I agree. Um, speaking of special effects, one of the reasons for the no bright lights um rule with the Mogwai was because of special effects problems. Because bright lights caused issues. So they're like, let's just throw that in the let's just make the whole thing dark. Um now we're gonna move on to the doggy facts, which you're gonna love. Okay. Did you notice what his name was? Barney. No, I mean in the credits. No. He had a credit line. No, I didn't see it. His name is Mushroom. Oh I know. I was like, Katie's gonna love this. So he actually would was a good dog on set. Everybody agreed, except the one thing he wouldn't do was follow Billy across the street. So for like, yeah. So what they had to do was attach them with a monofilament line so he would come. But aside from that, he was super easy to work with.
SPEAKER_00:Maybe he just like a clear fishing line. I don't know. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:And they said he he worked really well with the animatronics and the puppets. Like his reactions were real because he thought they were real. Oh which is so cute. So cute. Because you could see in a few scenes, he'll like jump or he'll like sniff them, and that was like his real mushroom dog reaction. Cute. Um so but though, the one problem though, was that some of the gremlin problems, gremlin effects and problems, they had issues with them. It could take a while to sort it out. And one day the delay was so long, the actors were just sitting on the set waiting, and um, a few of them fell asleep. The actors it took that long to sort out the gremlin puppet issues. I don't know what they were doing, puppeteers, but yeah. Um, okay, so now I just have some more random shit. You know, in the bar scene where the gremlins are like drinking and doing all the funny stuff. I loved that. I did too. The video game that they're that the one of the gremlins is playing is Star Wars. Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, that's just a fun little Zenny Alf. Gizmo in this movie has been documented as the inspiration for the Furby that came out in the 90s. So this is wild. Okay. We know Furbies, right? So most of our listeners probably know what Furbies are. And for Advent, I got my youngest um a Furby Advent count.
SPEAKER_00:Oh cute. She's never had Furbies, nothing. And to the point that my husband was like, I didn't know she liked Furbies. I was like, I don't think she really knows about Furbies, but I know she'll love it.
SPEAKER_01:Where did you find that? Um, online. Oh, yeah. I was just like perusing like whatever Black Friday sales or something, and I was like, ooh, cute.
SPEAKER_00:Instead of like candy or whatever. I'm like, she'll actually really like that. And it's funny though, because it like arrived and I like put it out like a round when I was watching Gremlins, and I'm like looking at the advocate there, looking at Gremlins, looking at the and I was like, this is weird, they look so much alike.
SPEAKER_01:I never I never put that together, but as soon as I read that, I was like, even the sounds that Furbies. Yes, the or whatever. Yeah. So the Furbies can sing too and they sound like gizmo. They can and they do. The only thing is she's they can and they do. Um, the only thing she's like, and we're only on day two of the advent calendar, so this makes sense. Like she opened the one and she was like, Okay, because it's this little like mini.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm like, it'll be more fun once you open a few and you can like play with them. So then today she's hoping to have get it a friend, and it's like, you know, sometimes the advent calendars have little things you have to put together. And it's like there's this little like plastic like hoop. And she's like, Where's I guess I'm gonna build something.
SPEAKER_01:Oh so poor thing. Hopefully by the 24th, she'll have like a little Furby fam. An acceptable amount of Furbies to play with. Oh my god, that's so funny. Yeah, it was just so funny that like of all things I bought it, I bought that, but maybe gremlins were on my mind. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe. Uh I lost my spot again. Jeez. Sorry. I thought that I'd be like on my game because I had coffee before I got here this morning. Smart. But then I had this huge disaster and it was so dumb because I tried to fix my hair, guys, and I am not good at styling my hair, and I did it last minute, which is probably bad. And I it was such it was a mess. I was late getting here. Katie didn't sleep good last night. Did not although she's not making any mistakes, it's me. Well, I went back to bed for a little bit. I don't usually do that, but I I felt horrible. Yeah, yeah. But now I feel good. Okay, it worked. Going back to bed was the trick. Her brain's working, actually. It's working her to read my notes. Yes. All right, so another random. In fact, you know uh the school scene where they're watching that educational film in the science class? Yes. Okay. That is actually an educational film in the Bell Science series, uh film called Hemo the Magnificent. Not even joking. It came out in 1957. Hemo the Magnificent, yes. Um, ironically, that film, that short, was written and directed by Frank Capra, who wow did It's a Wonderful Life. Yeah. Better known for that than Hemo the Magnificent. Isn't that hilarious? That's really good. Okay. So another random fact. Near the beginning, as Randall Peltzer, the dad, makes his way to the curio shop in Chinatown. Did you see there was like a big wrecked car? Yeah. Okay. That car is an AMC gremlin. Just a fun Easter egg for you. Love. I was like, why are they making that car so prominent? Like it's on the sidewalk. Who cares? Yeah. But that's why. It's just a little throwback. And I guess if you know cars, you would know that. And you would notice it. But obviously, we didn't. We did not. Um, another fun little Easter egg is you know, when Billy is in the bar drawing the Dragon Lady cartoon, the man, there's a man who like sits next to him and he's like compliments him. That is actually Chuck Jones, who is the legendary Warner Brothers cartoonist. He was friends with um director Joe Dante, and Billy even calls him Mr. Jones. Oh, that's fun. I know. Fun little throw-in there. Listen, if any of y'all people out there ever get famous, you better let me have a little bit. I was gonna say, I'd be like, put me in your movie immediately. Fun fact for Stranger Things fans out there have probably already known this. You know, the new season just came out. Um, in season five, the Duffer brothers um put their high school drama teacher in in a small role because they credit her with inspiring them. So she's in season five. Yeah, as a cameo.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that's cool.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, it's not a cameo, she's like a small role, but right, as a teacher. That's cool. I know. So y'all better remember. I mean, I didn't teach nobody, but listen, look if I'm your friend, throw me in there. Yep. Um, okay, another little Easter egg when Billy leads Pete up to his room. Oh, that was the other weird fact I was gonna share. So, did you think it was weird that Billy was like hanging out with like a 13-year-old kid? Yes. Okay, the reason that it's written that way is Billy was originally going to be younger. Okay, but when they got into the casting process and saw Zach Gallagher, they wanted to cast him, and so they aged him up. But I guess they forgot to change that. And they Corey Feldman was cast before him. Okay. Yeah, I guess I didn't, it wasn't like overly strange, but now that I think that was weird, I was like, why are they like that's weird? It'd be it'd be different if it was like his brother or something, but just like some neighborhood kid that he's friends with. I don't know. But that's why that's why, because Corey Feldman was cast first, right? And I'm I love Corey Feldman in the movie, yeah, but it is an odd yeah, discrepancy. This grown man who works at the bank and goes out for beers after work and 13-year-old coming to hang out. It's a little strange. Weird anyway. When he leads him up to his room, also weird, uh, to show him the Mogwai. Yeah, um, there's a rolled-up movie poster um for Twilight Zone, the movie. Cool, which I just said Joe Dante was a director for one of the segments. So that was a little little throw-in there. And Steven Spielberg also directed the segment on the old people. Older people. I can't remember what that was called. I can't remember what that was called either. That was a good one. Um, the last little Easter egg I have, and then we'll talk about our thoughts as we watched. In the very first scene where Billy's dad is at that like convention, that invention, invention convention. Yes, there's a time machine, and that is actually the time supposed to be the time machine from a movie called The Time Machine that came out in 1960. It's in the background, and so you see it in the background when he's on the phone, and then it cuts away to them being on the phone, and then when it cuts back to him, the time machine's gone. Oh, that's cool. And I did notice that because I was like, why is that not there again? That's why. Because they meant to do it, yeah, because it's a time. I just I love Easter eggs and movies, and I love when I find them, they're just fun. Like, because I feel like the filmmakers are just having fun, and it's like inside jokes are always a good time. Okay, that's all my random rights. I loved that. So let's talk about well, we already know you don't like it. Yes, all right. So, first of all, and I I do think it had a lot of throwbacks and direct references to other films, yeah, which we've mentioned. Like we just said, yeah. Like, and literally, like on the TV screen, there was always an older movie playing.
SPEAKER_00:So there was its wonderful life. I think Casablanca was on there, and then there was like another one, which was funny because I was like, this is very Dawson's like, because on Dawson's Creek. True, but Dawson is a Spielberg fan, yeah. So Dawson's is a throwback to things Spielberg does in his films, but then Gremlin's was a throwback to these other films. Yeah. So I thought that was that was kind of cool.
SPEAKER_01:Another thing I forgot to say was you know the scene where the Gremlins hiding with the stuffed animals? Yes. There's a bunch of Looney Tunes characters in the cute for like a Warner Brothers. And then E.T. does that too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So the old lady who hated the dog. Yes. That was very wizard of us. Oh, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01:I'm going to take your little dog. You know what she was supposed to be reminiscent of was Ebenezer Scrooge, though. Oh, really? It was a Christmassy movie. I kind of get that because she was just like so rude to everyone. And well, and all her cats were named something related to money. True. True. Okay. And she was a rich lady.
SPEAKER_00:I see that now.
SPEAKER_01:It was mean.
SPEAKER_00:And there was that little part where they talk about her husband embezzling.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Did you hear that? It was like later in the movie, and I was like, oh, that was weird.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I don't know what was that all about. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:I can't ever just to further show that they were bad people, I guess. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I wanted, you know what? I wanted a Gizmo stuffed animal so bad. Oh, yeah. And I can't remember if I had one or not. My sister's gonna have to help me around. Probably did. I probably did because I had so many. But I remember wanting one so bad. But this movie did scare me because it came out early 80s. So I was little when we had it on VCR tape. And y'all just get off hating on me for saying VCR tape. Just say it. It's there. I'm gonna say it. It's gonna keep happening. There it is. Um, that was for you, Sarah. I love you. Okay. Uh, because it is kind of scary. That's like when you're like, Can I watch it with Tegan? And I was like, oh, I don't know. I I was glad I didn't. Although I do think she probably would have been okay. But um, okay, I have a question for you. Uh-oh. Don't feed it after midnight. Oh, I have that written down. What does that mean? Okay. From midnight till when? They clear this up in the second one. Because that came up in my research. Because Cooper, it drove Cooper crazy. It's me too. He was like, okay, like he's like, if you can't feed them after midnight, they never say at what point you can feed them. Correct. They clear that up in the second one. And I don't, I'm not gonna know because we have to watch it. And I don't remember, but I came across a lot of things. So there is an inter I was I was like, is it till dawn? Is it till right noon? Like after midnight, right? What does that mean? So they talk about it, they did say um they do say something about it in like I guess I guess the guy who played Billy and Joe Dante did an interview together and they were talking about that. And he was like, Well, we clear that up. We clear it up, okay. Maybe they realized, oh shit, we fucked up. That's a huge plot hole. Or it got edited out or something. Who knows? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um we did so it's funny because a reference that reference was clear in my brain.
SPEAKER_01:We did a show here at my studio in the fall, Firebringer. You came and saw it. Yeah. And there's a character in it named Chorn who's like this Neanderthal. And um, they keep saying not to feed Chorn after midnight, which is just funny anyway. So I would laugh at it, but I was like, oh, they're referencing Gremlins. Yeah. Like, and remember, I know, don't feed it after midnight. And I and I would laugh watching it, but I'm like, I see. And you didn't know the joke. I didn't know the joke. I thought you at least would know the three rules. No. Wow. That's why I'm telling you, I've never seen this movie. This is wild to me. Nothing, nothing was clicking. Nothing. Yeah, nothing. Um, okay. Okay. Well, I put you're gonna laugh. I wrote down, I said, Why do I think Katie would totally buy a Mogwai? I feel like you would buy one. Maybe I would. I think you would. Maybe I mean maybe I would. Because they're very cuddly until they're not. Maybe I just feel like you would because they're very small, dog-like. They remind me of your little dog. They and the ears, too. My dog's got my little dog has those big ears like that. She kind of looks like a grandmother. I would not be buying anything that could kind of talk and communicate. Oh, what? Yeah, that is that's the only thing. That's a little weird. Uh-uh. Um, I said poor Barney in those Christmas lights when they strung him up. Oh, Jesus, that was crazy. But also, Billy bringing his dog to the bank and like hiding him under the counter. This was before emotional support animals, guys. It was.
SPEAKER_00:It was. That was really cool.
SPEAKER_01:He's like, just come on under here. Like nobody would know that dog would be stanky and barking. See, so that's an example of something in this movie that didn't square up for me. Because I you think when that that stuff happens at the beginning, oh, the point is this guy's never separated from his dog. That's gonna be a huge plot point that they're always together. And then, like 20 minutes in, well, the dog's gone. Remember, it the dog was gonna be eaten. I know, but I'm just like, why do all that setup at the beginning where he's going to the bank with you, da-da-da-da, for the dog to literally be absent the rest of the movie? I don't know. That didn't make sense to me. I mean, yeah, I didn't like it. I I guess you know what? As we're talking, I I remember Troy and I talking about this, and I said, Katie's never seen this. And I said, you know what though? I feel like if I watch this never having like the nostalgia piece, maybe I wouldn't like it. Actually, I probably still would. But like, and there's a lot to like. There really is. Like, you don't have to make yourself sound nice now about it. I've already been mean, I've already ticked everyone off. No, um I guarantee I there's gonna be someone who's like I agree.
SPEAKER_00:I guarantee.
SPEAKER_01:I I really and I really like the dad, and I really liked all the little different inventions. I didn't like how he, like you said, he kind of dropped off the animal and then like he just kept kind of like making messes in his family's life and then leaving. Yeah, and then he wasn't there for Christmas Eve because even Troy said something about that. It's so I did not like that. I liked the actual inventions, I thought they were funny, and like that particular actor I just like probably because I've seen him in other stuff. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But yeah, the role he played where it's like, okay, I'm gonna mess everything up, either literally orange juice all over the counter, or bring you a demonic pet, and then I'm gonna leave. And it's like hello, bye.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, what about the part where the mom put the put one of the gremlins in the microwave? Oh, that was so urban legend. It was. Oh, and they use balloons for um when the gremlins like got big and popped. That was balloons. Okay. Oh, I forgot something I that I skipped over. Remember how we talk we'll just and we'll we're probably gonna talk about it anyway, but the whole speech Kate gives about how her dad dies. Yes. So that was like pretty controversial, and studio executives um kind of wanted to remove it because they felt they felt like it was too ambiguous to decide if they were trying to be funny or serious. That was my problem with it. Yeah. So I'm like, why this right now? But he said this this will help you in your understanding of this movie. And I can't this is what I was gonna go back to, and I never went to, but now I am. Here we are. So Joe Dante refused to take it out because he said it represents the movie as a whole, which combined horrific and comedic elements. So that's why you're confused. Like, is it supposed to be funny? Is it supposed to be scary? It's supposed to be both. What was comedic about her story though? Well, I because he's dark comedy. Because he got stuck in the chimney being Santa? That's and they lit him on fire. I mean, that's dark comedy. Like, it's not it's not funny, it's horrible, but and tragic. But um, and Steven Spielberg didn't like that scene. Yeah. Um, but he said it was Joe Dante's project, yeah, and he respected him. That's fair. He's like, I'm the producer, so like, but he didn't like it either. The scene I did really like that was toward the beginning is when they're walking home from the bar and it's Kate and Billy, and she's talking to him about like suicide rates and stuff. Uh-huh. And I and like I feel like people liked that. I wrote I'll tell you why, because I feel like people talk about that a lot now. You you hear that. This, but I feel like back in like 83, 84, they didn't. So, like these stats that she was throwing out about I feel like that might have been an aha moment for people. Maybe. But what did you say about it? I just wrote Billy and Kate's combo about Christmas, suicide, etc. Jesus. Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, it went deep fast. I was like, gee. She had she had to carry both of those moments in the movie. And she did a great job. But I was just like, why why? I know. Can we talk about a line I loved though? What was when Gerald was trying to pick up on her and he was like, Come on, we're talking cable. So girl. Also, Judge Reinholdt introduced and then sort of disappears. I know. Like, why?
SPEAKER_00:Why have this whole buildup with him?
SPEAKER_01:He's a throwaway. I think he's because you're just supposed to see like the diff like Billy is one way and this guy's another way, and the kind of people she deals with at the bar, maybe. Yeah. I did love the mechanic guy. He was cracking me up and all the like foreign references the whole time. Now that guy, Joe Dante uses him in every single one of his movies. Really? Yeah. Okay. He was in Twilight Zone. Oh. Was he one of the family members? Yeah, he was the dad. Oh, yeah, you're right. You're right. Yeah, I I don't know. I thought it was I thought I just thought he was funny. He liked he's good. I thought he was really good. Oh, okay. But also, can we please talk about Gizmo playing the keyboard and singing? That was great. That is the cutest thing. So adorable. I I love that. And that would be what would get me a one of those. One of the key mogly. What are they saying? Mogwai. Mogwai. Mogwai. Mogwai. Mogwai. Okay. Got it. I'll never mess up again. Thank you. Okay, also, though, everybody is way too calm in this movie. Yes. Like crazy shit is going down, and they're just like, oh no. And they're just like, it Troy was like, why are they still so calm? Like I'd be screaming my shit off. The mom going upstairs and those fucking pods or slimy pods. She just walks up there and goes like this. Billy, what's going on? If I walk, if you walked into your kid's room and there is six slimy hairy pods, I'd be screaming my head off. Okay. Yelling for help all the time. They are too calm. Why? That is so weird. I don't know. Why are they so calm? I I did like I did like the bar scene. I thought it was really funny where they were like drinking from the keg and playing the video game. And I like the part where Kate says, just okay, just don't bite me. I don't know why. I just like I loved that part, but then like that part was relatively short. And then there were other parts that were like so long. I'm trying to think if I can think of anything specifically that I was like, oh um, oh, another question. And because this is, I feel like a genre all its own now. Movies that are this spooky Christmas. Yeah. That wasn't really a thing yet, right? Was this one of the like first spooky Christmas hits? I don't think so. I think there were you know who would know? Ben would know that. Ben would know. Um, Cody might know too. I don't know. I don't think this was the first.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:I don't think this was because it's a whole thing now. Like you just accept like dark Christmas horror movies or whatever, even even like Nightmare Before Christmas and stuff like that was later. Yeah, I don't know. So I don't know. Anyway, okay. Um, so yeah, I've wrote nobody is wigging out. I wrote, nobody's wigging out. Weird creatures from some mysterious shop, slimy ass pods, like nobody's wigging out. I'll I wrote I love all the puppets because I keep I kept saying animatronic, but I think most of it was puppets. I think most of them probably were. I can't. Let me let me fix that on air. I most of it was puppets. I mean, there were some animatronics, but most were puppets. Um also some of the like the set the scene sets were really good. I also loved that the first time you see what the bad gremlin looks like, um, it was in the jump scare. Yeah out of the school cabinet. Yeah. And then you see a shadow of him on the wall in the house before she like she sees what it is. That was that was good. That was good. That was some good. And I like that science teacher.
SPEAKER_00:I know. I liked him. Well, I couldn't tell. I was like, is he bad? Because he was like taking his blood and stuff, but I think he was just trying to figure him out. It's science. Yeah, he didn't kill it. No.
SPEAKER_01:But then also, this was dumb. He like, well, I guess I'll go now. He took one bite of a sandwich and then left it there. It's like, who gonna just leave for the day with a giant sandwich? You just took one bite of take it home. Right. So how here's another one. How I know there's really no explanation because this is a fictional movie. But I where are the spawned ones coming from? Like when you put water on them. Yeah. But then they made more. Remember when they jumped in the pool? Yes. But where do they just they it's like uh it's like what do you call it? Regeneration. Okay. So they make them make more of themselves, but it's bad ones. Right. Okay. That's it. That's it. Period. That's all. Okay. They just pop out they back, and they pop a pot out. Pop it out of where? They're back. Remember, that's what happened to Gizmo. So he like screamed and fell down, and they all popped out of his back. Okay. It's gross. I don't like that effect. It wasn't like that effect either. Cooper was like, Oh, I don't like that. I was like, yeah, neither. It's gross. It's weird. But yeah, that's how they do. Okay. Like speaking of that YMCA pool of Gremlands. And that YMCA building, I was like, I swear that was my YMCA. I think they all look the same. They all look the same. But also, Billy just like dropped his mom off at a doctor's personal residence. Yeah. He's just like, here's my mom. She's here. Here's my mom help by. It's Christmas Eve, so take care of her. Yeah. Wasn't it Christmas Eve? I don't know. It might have been. And then the and the doctor's like, sure, come on in. Like, bitch, I'm off. Yeah. I am not on call. Yeah, I don't care if our whole town's being destroyed by gremlins. I don't know what I was talking about. Oh, I wrote the Carolyn Gremlins were hilarious. They were funny. But then for some reason, I don't know why I wrote this. I don't know. I said Gremlins at the Bar was me in my college days. I guess because they were just being crazy. They're just being crazy. Smoking cigarettes, jumping on tables. That's probably it. Probably it. The one doing flash dance. Oh my god, that was so funny. I loved that scene. You did? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I loved that scene. All right. Okay. I think maybe what you just didn't like about it was you couldn't put it in a box. I think so. Let it be out of the box, Katie. I know. It's hard. I don't think I can. Um. Hold on. I God, I was on. I don't know. Was I drinking wine? I was. So I was like, my notes get a little more interesting as we towards the end of this movie. I was high did have a glass of wine. I put Kate's monologue about how her dad died. I said, I'm gonna perform this next year on an open mic. Oh Well, you heard it first. And that's how I found out there's no Santa Claus. That's what I wrote out. That was the way to end that. Yes. I mean, that is a little dark comedy right there. That the the ending was good. I'm doing it. Open mic next year. Find me. Find me. I'm doing it. Um, I also wrote, how did they get the rights from Disney to have Snow White in this movie? Because it's Warner Brothers. Yeah. And also they're wearing like mouse ears and stuff in the audience. I don't know. Because I don't think that could happen nowadays. Disney would be like not. But I mean, you figure Steven Spielberg probably had a ton of friends in the industry by then and was probably able to work out some kind of deal. Yeah. Obviously, they had to get the rights from somebody. And I I felt like the dwarf gremlin connection was there too. Yeah. The little dwarfs and then the little I don't know. I thought it was hilarious when they were singing in that theater. That part was funny. It was hilarious. I still wrote again, again, everybody is so calm. Yes. Oh, also, did you notice that that damn dog, his mouth was always wet? I mean, it was gross. It was always slabbery. Like he always had like wet on his chin beard. A lot of dogs are like that. No, I don't know. My golden doodle's like that. Ew. Yeah, that's the reason I don't be like a dog.
SPEAKER_00:And he always be trying to give you a kiss too.
SPEAKER_01:Gross. Always. Ask me how many times I've been to Katie's house because. Well, not since I've had the doodle. Oh, that's true. You used to come. We were recording. And they were still the other two are annoying as well. No, you've but the doodle would be like in your face. Never. I think I think your son is not a huge fan of doodle. Well, Caden doesn't like dogs because one attack. He'll say hi to kill him. He'll say hi to them, but he's like, he don't like dogs either. I don't blame him. Um, my last note was Americans mess everything up.
SPEAKER_00:Which was basically what the guy said when he came back to get it. That is what it was. You guys take every but also like you're gonna let him take this thing that has all this power and just be like, oh, by the way, don't get it wet, no bright lights, don't feed it after midnight.
SPEAKER_01:The grandpa didn't give it to him, the kid stole it. Oh, that's true. The grandpa said, no, you are not prepared for this. So how did the grandpa find him? He just heard about the chaos. Well, remember, because it was on the news and stuff. Yeah, that's true. So he just keeps up. And they show a scene of him seeing the news.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, okay. But like, how did he like find their house? No, because I remember him coming to the house.
SPEAKER_01:That was that's the last scene, though.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You think in the middle I fell asleep? I might have. She's like, those scenes went all the time. It's because I was dreaming. You remember how the actors fell asleep when it was taking too long? That was me. I was like, okay, let's move this plot along or it's nap time. Period. Come on. I'll come back for the ending so I know what happens. That's okay. I was falling asleep in The Stranger Things the last episode because it was super long. And I was like, I gotta go back and watch it because I think I missed a bunch. I think I missed a bunch. Anyway, that's all I had. All right. Look at us keeping that right at an hour. Oh, yeah. Almost exactly. I love it. See, no one will say that about our scenes. About our what? Scenes that they're too long. They might. Well, I mean, this is just a podcast, not a movie. That's true. That is such a good point. Maybe people fall asleep to our voices. I doubt it. I don't I don't think that's a good thing. We jump scare them with like a with a laugh theory. Well, I am glad I finally watched this movie. That's it. That's all done. I still love Gremlins. Yeah, that's fine. We are gonna watch Gremlins 2. That's fine. You're gonna hate it. But I love New York City. Anything like based in New York City, I will watch. But I think now that you know what kind of movie this is, you're gonna be prepared for Gremlins 2. Maybe. Yeah, maybe. It's let's hope so. We'll find out in this year. They start talking, one of them talks. Okay. And it is hilarious, the voice that comes out of this. Okay, all right. I'm excited for that. I'm excited for that. I will wait until next year. It might not be a Christmas one. I'll look into that. I don't I yeah.
unknown:All right.
SPEAKER_01:All right, cool. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for listening. We hope you're having a great holiday season. Please leave us a little review wherever you listen and share us with your friends. And um, if you're looking for a great Christmas gift for yourself or someone you love, join us over on Patreon and you can get all of our bonus episodes too. Yay! All right. We'll see you next time on Generation in Between. Bye.
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