In this episode:
- popular movie series Rob hasn’t seen,
- the upcoming Indiana Jones movie,
- the rap version of “The Gambler” by Coolio and Kenny Rogers,
- the upcoming movie Star Trek (2008) starring Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy,
- William Shatner and Captain Kirk’s death,
- Stan Lee,
- Lost in Space (1998) starring William Hurt and Matt LeBlanc,
- the upcoming movie Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) starring Jason Lee,
- Droopy,
- the upcoming movie Rush Hour 3 (2007) starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker,
- and USA Network’s Jean-Claude Van Damme vs. Steven Seagal movie marathon.
Download this episode:
24 minute MP3 file – 11 MB (right-click to save)
Listen to this episode:
I have wondered about how widespread the shared American pop culture experience really is. The number of people who go see any given movie is a very small portion of the overall population so by definition, people who have seen any of the movies mentioned in the show are in the minority. I take for granted that everybody but me has seen Scarface or the Godfather but maybe it’s the other way around.
I’m rather envious of Rob because there are so many fantastic things he can still see for the first time. That first time is really special, although I don’t know if the experience is as good watching a movie on TV or anything other than a full blown movie theater.
Rush Hour two was only the second movie I ever walked out on in a theater. The first was some absurd Bill Murray comedy involving him and a parachuting elephant. God those were horrible.
Growing up, I was much more into TV shows, cartoons, and video games than movies. I have seen The Godfather trilogy and thought there were some good parts, but overall they’re not my favorite movies…not even close.
One of my problems is that I only watch most movies once, so I barely remember them several years later. I saw Scarface about ten years ago on VHS. I remember sitting on the couch and watching it, but I don’t remember any details or even the overall plot.
The same goes for Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, etc. I’ve seen them so long ago that I hardly even remember what they were about, so it’s almost as if I haven’t seen them at all.
Of course, there are movies that I have watched repeatedly, like UHF, The Transformers: The Movie, Rush Hour, This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally…, Groundhog Day, What About Bob?, Legend of the Drunken Master, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, etc.
I agree that Rush Hour 2 was nowhere near as good as the original, but I’m looking forward to part three anyway. I’ve never left a theater partway through a movie, but I came close with the 1998 Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Knock Off, in which the Russians tried to take over the U.S. by manufacturing and exporting a line of exploding pants.
I would have liked to walk out during The English Patient, one of the most boring and pointless movies ever made, but I didn’t want to anger the person who dragged me to see it.
have you heard the rumour about seagal and van damme were supposed to team up in a film around the mid-’90s? apparently it was about a rampaging yeti that attacked a military base in the himalayas and van damme was sent out with a team of soldiers to hunt and kill the yeti. however, they come up against shaolin monk seagal who doesn’t take kindly to war-mongering van damme usurping the peaceful surroundings in the name of revenge and defending the yeti who he sees as a friendly creature. so seagal picks off van damme’s team one by one until the inevitable face off. maybe with the yeti as a referee? it sounds like a good pitch; but a shame it wasn’t to be.