1 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey are you welcome to Weird House Cinema. 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 1: This is Rob Land and I'm Joe McCormick. And today's 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: selection is the nineteen eight one Canadian sci fi horror 5 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: thriller Scanners, directed by David Cronenberg. Film that I first 6 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: became aware of because it was much beloved by my 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: dad when I was young. I remember being a little kid, like, 8 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: I think, sort of hearing my dad needle my mom 9 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,840 Speaker 1: by being like, remember Scanners, um, And so long before 10 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: I ever saw it, I knew the one thing that 11 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: everybody knew about this movie, which is that Scanners is 12 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: a movie in which a guy's head explodes, which means 13 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: Scanners is a certain type of film, and that type 14 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: is the film that is apparently widely known for one 15 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: thing that happens in it, for one particularly shocking, horrifying, 16 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:11,119 Speaker 1: or otherwise uniquely salient scene or moment, whereas the rest 17 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: of the film is much less known. I think this 18 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: might be like the prime example of that. So, like, 19 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: if you mentioned Scanners to most people, I think maybe 20 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: the majority of people will be able to say, like, 21 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: oh yeah, and't that the movie where a dude's head 22 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,839 Speaker 1: blows up, but not many people will know anything else 23 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: about it. I was trying to think of other examples 24 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: of this, Uh, like the kind of movie that is 25 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: mostly known for like one moment or scene in isolation, 26 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,199 Speaker 1: and people don't remember that much else. Multiple Ridley Scott 27 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: movies come to mind. Uh. I I am generally very 28 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: intimately familiar with Alien because I've watched a bajillion times, 29 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: but I think that's sort of one of them. It's 30 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: a movie where a monster bursts out of a guy's 31 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: chest at the dinner table, and maybe most people know 32 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,559 Speaker 1: that but don't know anything else. Rachel suggested another Ridley 33 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: Scott move, of the Thelma and Louise. It is the 34 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: movie where a car goes over a cliff. Yeah. Like, 35 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: I don't think I've seen Thelma and Louise, but I've 36 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 1: seen that scene, you know, Like that scene has been 37 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: presented to me, Parodies of that scene have been presented, 38 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: and therefore I feel like I know Filmo and Louise, 39 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: even though I do not. A one that came to 40 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: mind for me. A more recent example might be Gamma 41 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: Do Tours The Shape of Water, the movie in which 42 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: a woman and a fishman make love, albeit I think 43 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: tastefully an off screen if I'm remembering correctly, or one 44 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: of those two things. Um, but but that's the film 45 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: where there's a lot more going on there, and then 46 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: I think it's a pretty solid picture. But that was 47 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: the thing that was, you know, showing up in late 48 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: night monologues and so forth. In other ways, I think 49 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: you might look at films like Basic Instinct and Bad 50 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: Lieutenant that can come to mind for for other reasons 51 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: that people would call them out for, Oh, there's this 52 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: one scene where something happens, um and in a backwards 53 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: way to channel another fishman movie. The promotional material for 54 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties Screamers, which was the US Corman re release 55 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: of an Italian film, Island of the Fishmen, uh tried 56 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 1: to promote itself as the movie in which a man 57 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: turns inside out, despite no such scene occurring in the 58 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: motion picture. That's a good idea that the I can't 59 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: think of. Another example would be like if Scammer Scammers 60 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: Scanners was known as the movie where Ahead explodes, but 61 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: it didn't actually happen in the movie. Yeah, that would 62 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: that would be really really lame. Whereas in reality, I mean, 63 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: they knew they had a great scene there. I was 64 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: reading that originally that scene was going to happen first, 65 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: but given the cinema and movie going culture of the time, 66 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: they knew It's like, well, people gonna come in late. Um, 67 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: I guess they put anyone who's watching films at the 68 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: theater in. Please tell me. I'm assuming there were fewer trailers, 69 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: because now you've got a solid half hour of trailers. 70 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: But the concern was at the time, well, people are 71 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: gonna come in late, They're gonna miss our key scene. 72 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: We've got to offset it a bit with some other 73 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: introductory and material. I mean, it is a really great scene. 74 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: So anyway, I grew up hearing about this movie in 75 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: the terms previously described. I saw it at some point 76 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: after which I thought it was a cool, creepy thriller. 77 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: I had, you know, modestly positive feelings about it. I 78 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: also thought there were a few elements that didn't work 79 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: so well, and they were some of the same elements 80 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: that have been criticized by critics, especially when the movie 81 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: initially came out, but in the intervening years, I think 82 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: critics who have looked back on Scanners have had a 83 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: more robustly positive appraisal of it, and I found myself 84 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: having having exactly the same reaction. On my most recent rewatch, 85 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,039 Speaker 1: I gained a much more unqualified appreciation for it. I 86 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: think Scanners is just just awesome, and some of the 87 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: criticisms or the things about it I used to criticize, 88 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: I now actually think our strengths. This movie is so 89 00:04:55,480 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: much more than an exploding head. Oh absolutely, and I 90 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: I was also surprised at how well it held up 91 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: and and how much I enjoyed it. In past viewings, 92 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: I think I had that similar experience where it's like, well, 93 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: there's a lot of great things going on here, but A, 94 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: B and C don't really work for me all that well. 95 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: I think for the most part, my criticisms were somewhat 96 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: dulled in my my recent rewatch of the film. So 97 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: it's gonna be fun to get into all that now. 98 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: You were talking about your your dad being a fan 99 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: of it and talking about the exploding head, and all 100 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: I have to say from my part, before I even 101 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: knew there was an exploding head scene in this movie, 102 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: my earliest memories were of the box art at the 103 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: VHS rental store and the poster for it, which I 104 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: think would have also been on the wall of the 105 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: VHS rent Oalds store, because this alone really freaked me out. 106 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: Chef Kiss, Yeah, this is the one you see. You 107 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: see this in a lot of the current materials for 108 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: the film. This is the one that shows Michael Ironside's 109 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: character and just full rending, like straight limbed scanner mode. 110 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 1: Uh nearly like a full body representation, just completely scanning out. 111 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,160 Speaker 1: It's just absolutely terrifying. It represents, of some it's supposed 112 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: to represent the way the character looks in the final 113 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: showdown of the picture, which is in and of itself 114 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: a horrifying sequence. I would say more horrifying, maybe less shocking, 115 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: but more horrifying than the headburst scene. This art, I 116 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: had to look it up. This is apparently post art 117 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: by Joe Anne Dailey, who is credited with some other 118 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: really awesome VHS ara poster in box art stuff like 119 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,679 Speaker 1: creep Show, Popcorn, Prison Prisons, one that I never saw, 120 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: but I remember distinctly this weird like skull prison looking 121 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: VHS box art. Oh yeah, she did something truly amazing here. 122 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: So it is representing the scene where like the veins 123 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: are popping out and all that, but there's also just, um, 124 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: there's an aura around Michael Ironside and the way that 125 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: all of the textures of his skin and clothes and 126 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: his hair or like they're like right sing up off 127 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: of him, as if he's literally sublimating, like his body 128 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:08,679 Speaker 1: is is so hot it's turning into a gas. Yeah, 129 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: And there's this it's not even like a subtext to 130 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: it because like the post art, some of the poster 131 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: art and the lobby cards I was pulling up for it, 132 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: it has the taglines on it like ten seconds the 133 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: pain begins, fifteen seconds you can't breathe, twenty seconds you explode. 134 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: It's saying, look at this horrible vision of a man. 135 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: This could happen to you. Watch this movie to find 136 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: out why. That's what happens when you combine pop rocks 137 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: and and uh PEPSI right. Yeah. But at the same 138 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: time you have this poster really does capture I think 139 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: that a lot of the shocking imagery of that final 140 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: scanner showdown this vision of psychic power as this thing 141 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: that kind of channels violently through you and will have 142 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: left unchecked, just completely destroy you. In the process. It 143 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: reminds me a bit of them, which of course came 144 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: out a decade later. Toby Hooper is spontaneous combustion that 145 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: we talked about on the show. Yeah, um, yeah, I 146 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: see the similarity. Though I have to say I think 147 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: The Scanners is in a league above spontaneous Combustion. But yes, 148 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: I see what you're talking about. Yeah, but but both 149 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: films do have a similarity and that they're both films 150 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: where psychic powers of different types are dangerous to everyone 151 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: that there. This is this wild, unchecked energy and also 152 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: has potentially disastrous effects for the individual that is experiencing them. Yes, 153 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,679 Speaker 1: all right, Joe, what's your elevator pitch for this film? 154 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:36,719 Speaker 1: All right? Cameron Vale can hear people's thoughts and it 155 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 1: makes his life a living hell. He wanders the underground 156 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 1: malls of Canada as a miserable outcast until he meets 157 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: a mysterious scientist who informs him that he is a 158 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: Scanner and there are others like him. But instead of 159 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: a community of brothers and sisters, Cameron discovers a secret 160 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: war and now the war has discovered him. That's pretty good. Yeah, 161 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,719 Speaker 1: that secret war is key to it, Like and that's 162 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:07,319 Speaker 1: I think one of the things that works so well 163 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: about this film is there are all these different layers 164 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,079 Speaker 1: of intrigue to it as you proceed through the picture. Well, 165 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: I would say, actually, the secret War is um something 166 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: that I really noticed on this viewing of it. It 167 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: really stood out to me as a shared theme between 168 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: Scanners and one of Cronenberg's other big movies, Videodrome, because 169 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: if you think about it, both movies are about a 170 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: naive protagonist who gets inadvertently swept up into an ongoing 171 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: secret conflict between at least two existing factions or forces, 172 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: which I'm not sure why, but that in itself is 173 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,559 Speaker 1: just like a really exciting, almost intoxicating plot dynamic. It's 174 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: specifically the thing about the fact that, like, the conflict 175 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: is ongoing and it's done by these powerful forces, but 176 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: it's like invisible to to all regular people. Uh And 177 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: uh so you know, Videodrome and the cathode ray Mission 178 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: are already out there, they're plotting their campaigns against one another, 179 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: but somehow the war has remained in the shadows, and 180 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: suddenly the main character is made aware of it and 181 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: sucked into it and is being played by one side 182 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: against the other. And in the case of scanners, the 183 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: secret war is between an amoral arms manufacturer or arms 184 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: manufacturing and security firm, and that's consact. And then on 185 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: the other hand you have this murderous front of the 186 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: scanner underground. Yeah, and I love how the players in 187 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,680 Speaker 1: this game and the secret war, if you will, they're 188 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: not nation states, they're not governmental agencies. They're corporations and um, 189 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: social movements and uh and in rogue organizations that again 190 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,079 Speaker 1: are just kind of all in the not even all 191 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: in the underworld, like some of it is in a 192 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: corporate boardroom, you know, that kind of setting. And I guess, 193 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: I guess that does kind of match up with some 194 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: overarching themes that you see in media from the eighties. 195 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: You see it in cyberpunk, see it, and uh in 196 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: various other pictures where it's yeah, we're in this this 197 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:09,559 Speaker 1: this realm, where it's it's corporations against corporation and and 198 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: these other entities. I think Um Cronenberg and and also 199 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: William Gibson are both have both proven themselves of the 200 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: is really good at it also integrating these uh yeah, 201 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: the social movements, artists and other things into these weird 202 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:28,959 Speaker 1: views of the future and of course of the present. Now, um, 203 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: I mentioned one of the taglines for the picture, actual 204 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: taglines for the picture earlier, but uh, here are just 205 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: a few more. There's of course, their thoughts can kill. 206 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: That's kind of what the picture is about. Also, there 207 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 1: are four billion people on Earth two d and thirty 208 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 1: seven or scanners. I like that. That's kind of cherry 209 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: picked from the screenplay that's referring to a part in 210 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: the film. They're kind of bending it a little bit, 211 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,319 Speaker 1: but it gives it that kind of provocative feeling that 212 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,080 Speaker 1: that works well with the tagline. Yeah, I don't know 213 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,319 Speaker 1: if that's actually accurate to the script because I think 214 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,079 Speaker 1: the number is two d and thirty six, and that 215 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: comes from the list of known scanners, the ones that 216 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: are known to concept, but there are other ones that 217 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: are not known to them. Yeah, and and also it's 218 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 1: not just like this is the percentage of the human 219 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: population that are just going to be scanners. We find 220 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: out why there are scanners in the picture. But the 221 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: one that really stood out to me this time is 222 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: you were about to experience the outer reaches of future shock, 223 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: and that of course that taglines obviously invoking the nineteen 224 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,599 Speaker 1: seventy Toffler book Future Shock. Uh, And it's one that 225 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: I hadn't run across before regarding this picture, But it 226 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: really got me thinking about this film in a different 227 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: light because Future Shock just remind everyone, and it was 228 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:47,079 Speaker 1: this this concept that essentially you were dealing with, or 229 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 1: would be dealing with, a kind of trauma brought on 230 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: by rapid advances and technology that would outstrip our ability 231 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,560 Speaker 1: to understand them or change with them. Um, So don't 232 00:12:57,559 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: don't think of it necessarily as some sort of like 233 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: a movie future shock, like a technology is advancing too 234 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: quickly and I my head explode, But more of a 235 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 1: of a like a cultural malaise even But I wonder 236 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: if if the scanner, that the individual that is a 237 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: scanner in this picture is in some ways kind of 238 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: a physical embodiment of this idea of future Shock. They're 239 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: they're changed, they're potentially dehumanized in the process of this change, 240 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: and they run the risk of being less than themselves 241 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: and more of a conduit in the film by doing nothing, 242 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,199 Speaker 1: one man is almost reduced to a kind of zombie state, 243 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 1: and other becomes a monster, and two other characters we 244 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:40,680 Speaker 1: meet are able to channel this change into creation and community, 245 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 1: but it's like they're all dealing with it in different ways. Yeah, yeah, well, 246 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: I mean I think about one reaction too, if you 247 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: take the concept of future shock seriously, I think one 248 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:52,719 Speaker 1: of the most common reactions to it actually is a 249 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: kind of disengagement or listlessness that comes from the fact that, like, 250 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: if you can't understand the force is that are driving 251 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: the world, it just kind of makes it feel like 252 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: it's pointless to try to do anything or change anything 253 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: because you don't you don't understand how the machine works, 254 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: so you know, why would you even try to mess 255 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: with it? Um and I I see similar themes running 256 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 1: around in scanners, like the idea that you your agency 257 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: can be removed when there are forces governing your life 258 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:27,720 Speaker 1: that you don't understand. Yeah. Absolutely, all right, let's go ahead, 259 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: and here's some trailer audio for this one. In this case, 260 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: we're drawing on the actual radio spot, which is a 261 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: lot of fun because everything is audio. This is the 262 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: audio as it's intended. You are not supposed to glimpse 263 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: and exploding head in this trailer. Ten seconds the pain begins, 264 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: and your flesh and your brain fifteen seconds. You can't breathe, 265 00:14:54,840 --> 00:15:01,119 Speaker 1: It chokes you, it destroys you. Twenty seconds, Yeah, you explode. 266 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: Experience the terrified of Scanners. Their thoughts can kill. RATEDAR 267 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: restricted under seventeen, not admit about parent. I like this 268 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: radio trailer too, because it's again a very sonic experience 269 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: that I think delivers on some of the the just 270 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: the excellent music and sound effects in this picture that 271 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: help bring about this weird, creepy, psychic feeling. The movie 272 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: that only has good music, but I would say the 273 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: sound design is really important in Oh, I don't know, 274 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: moments that feel less like music but more just kind 275 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: of like the pulses and throbbing and drone sounds that 276 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: occur when the scanning session is taking place. Absolutely now, 277 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: before we get into the plot. Just if you're wondering, well, 278 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: where can I watch Scanners? Well, it's widely available. You 279 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: can streain this one, purchase it, rent it very many 280 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: places in eating as part of the Criterion collection. This 281 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: one's uh up. This one's cemented in the collection alongside 282 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: the likes of Fiend Without a Face. That's wonderful. I 283 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: like when a film that was initially regarded by reviewers 284 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: as as trash or as just you know, some scummy 285 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: bit of garbage. It gets the Criterion stamp of approval. Yeah. Yeah, 286 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: because you look back on writings about Cronenberg during this 287 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: time period and a lot of times that he's treated 288 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: with a sense of danger, like this is a dangerous 289 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: weirdo they're letting make films, um and do we dare 290 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: watch it ourselves? And to a large extent, I feel 291 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: like we're past that, Like we've seen the uh, this 292 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: this full career by Cronenberg, a career that's still ongoing, 293 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: and we have a more complete understanding of what his 294 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: sensibilities are and yet many of them are weird. Um. 295 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: But I guess there's less of a feeling of this 296 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: is a dangerous man making dangerous films. And yet in 297 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: Rewatching Scanners, I could definitely feel some of that. It's 298 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: especially in the final showdown between our our main Scanner characters, 299 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: that there was an unhinged, unsafe energy to it. I mean, 300 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,640 Speaker 1: I I love his films by and large, but yeah, 301 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: it's it's hard to maintain that illusion of absolute danger 302 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: after you've seen his scene in Jason X, for one, 303 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 1: and after you've seen his hair yes, it's it's a 304 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 1: marvelous head of hair. All right, Well, let's talk about 305 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: him a little more in depth. Yeah, David Cronenberg, the 306 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: director and writer this picture born yree as of this recording, 307 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,360 Speaker 1: very much still alive and still making films, thank goodness. Yeah, 308 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: what what can you say? Legendary Canadian master of the weird, 309 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: profit of the New flesh. His first full length film 310 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,120 Speaker 1: was nineteen sixty nine Stereo, and from there he went 311 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 1: on to direct nineteen seventies Crimes of the Future and 312 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,679 Speaker 1: a whole string of TV projects before returning to the 313 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: weird with nineteen seventy five Shivers, followed by nineteen seventy 314 00:17:54,640 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: seven's Rabid and also the Norman Nine racing movie Fast Company. Um, 315 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: that's what I was actually tempted to do on the 316 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: show here, because we've been kind of building up to 317 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,439 Speaker 1: actually doing a David Cronenberg film on a podcast series 318 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 1: about weird films. It seems like it shouldn't have taken 319 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:15,239 Speaker 1: us two years to get here, but it's we had 320 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: to pick the right one, And for a little bit there, 321 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: I was thinking, well, we almost can't pick a regular 322 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: Cronenberg film. We should just do Fast Company. Yeah, there's 323 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: a lot of I mean, like, I think we tend 324 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: toward movies that are a little bit like funnier or 325 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,159 Speaker 1: more fun to discuss, And a lot of Cronenberg movies 326 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: are really fascinating, but they're also like really downers. They're 327 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: like really bummers in one way or another. Um, I 328 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: think Scanners is not quite that. So it's on it's 329 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: on the lighter side of even as dark as it is, 330 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,400 Speaker 1: it's on the lighter side of the Cronenberg spectrum. Yeah 331 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: you would. I don't think you would ever describe Scanners 332 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: as fun, but it's but compared to the larger philmography 333 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: of Cronenberg, yeah, it's it's it's on the fun end 334 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: of the spectrum. Anyway. After Fast Company, that's when he 335 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:02,800 Speaker 1: did a trio of films that kind of, I feel like, 336 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,879 Speaker 1: kind of set the tone for Cronenberg Weirdness, The Brood, Scanners, 337 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: and Video Drome, all three of those between nineteen eighty three. 338 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 1: He followed these up with nineteen eighty three Stephen King 339 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,919 Speaker 1: adaptation The Dead Zone. Uh. He did one episode of 340 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:23,439 Speaker 1: Friday the Thirteenth, the series Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch ninety 341 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:29,719 Speaker 1: three s M. Butterfly Existence two thousand two Spider, and 342 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 1: from here he drifted more into I guess serious crime drama, 343 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: violent crime drama for a spell there with two thousand 344 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: five History of Violence in Eastern Promises. Then he did 345 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: a Dangerous Method and uh, and then Cosmopolis. But at 346 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:46,880 Speaker 1: this point, oh, there's also a map what a map 347 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: of the Stars I think is in there as well. Um, 348 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: but now he's back to his roots. He's returned to 349 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,479 Speaker 1: his roots with two Crimes of the Future, which I'm 350 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: to understand has no actual connection to uh, the nineteen 351 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: seventy film c Times of the Future beyond the title. 352 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: But yeah, he's he's he's back working on weird films again. 353 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,160 Speaker 1: I mean not I guess they're all weird films, but 354 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: certainly weird speculative films. And I believe his upcoming picture 355 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: is going to be about Communion with the Dead. Okay, 356 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,920 Speaker 1: which was I've never seen it, but as exist Ends, 357 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: the one that I've heard described as just a remake 358 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: of Video Drone but with video games instead of TV. Yeah, 359 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: I think that's that's that's a pretty fair statement. Now 360 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: I haven't seen it, probably in twenty years, but I 361 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: remember it having that kind of like, uh, you know, 362 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: creepy new flesh vibe, but with game cartridges and weird 363 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: uh flesh guns and so forth. I just bring that 364 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,399 Speaker 1: up because it's the video games, of which I think 365 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,120 Speaker 1: has got to be like the funniest era of games ever, 366 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,359 Speaker 1: like the Nintendo sixty four PlayStation one kind of era, 367 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: like those early three D games that if you look 368 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: at any game from at here and now, chances are 369 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 1: it's gonna be hilarious. Yeah, unless you had a Cronenberg 370 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 1: sixty four. Now that now that was a console. You 371 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: took your cartridge and you uh you just I shouldn't 372 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,639 Speaker 1: explain how it all worked anyway. Scanners is based on 373 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: a couple of different psychic scripts that he apparently had 374 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 1: going in the late seventies, the Sensitives and Telepathy two thousand. 375 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: These were apparently both films he was going to pitch 376 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:28,639 Speaker 1: to Roger Corman and uh. This whole thing, though, was 377 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: rushed into production to take advantage of Canadian tax subsidies 378 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: at the time, so uh, he was apparently writing scenes 379 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,960 Speaker 1: for Scanners, oftentimes the morning before they would film later 380 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 1: in the day, so it made for a rather demanding 381 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,719 Speaker 1: production overall, I think there may have also been some 382 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: issues as some conflict between some of the cast members, 383 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,480 Speaker 1: if I'm to understand correctly. Uh So, I don't think 384 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: it's necessarily film that Cronerberg himself looks back on as 385 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: being like, you know, this this great experience. And maybe 386 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: I mean, when if we considering it being a film 387 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: that was that was rushed, maybe you can see some 388 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 1: of the rush and the resulting picture. But I don't 389 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: know it it's still pretty solid. I don't know. Yeah, 390 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: I mean I would say that the writing is actually 391 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:18,120 Speaker 1: quite good. I think, yeah, yeah, there's maybe one speculative 392 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: leap that doesn't work so well, but we'll we'll get 393 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,400 Speaker 1: to them. I know exactly what you're talking about. We'll 394 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 1: get there. Yeah. But yeah, this film certainly made its mark, 395 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: and not everyone understood it at the time. Um it uh, 396 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:33,919 Speaker 1: some of the critics didn't get it, but it it 397 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: earned its place in in cinematic history and certainly developed 398 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: a cult following and garnered what four sequels over the years, 399 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: I think two proper Scanner sequels and then also to 400 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:50,640 Speaker 1: Scanner cop films. Yeah, I think I've seen all the sequels, 401 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: and I don't really remember much about them, except that 402 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: I think we had a really fun time watching a 403 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:03,920 Speaker 1: uh probably the second Scanner cop movie with like check dubbing. Yeah, yeah, 404 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: they and they keep uh, they keep threatening to remake Scanners, 405 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 1: either either as a movie or a TV series, and 406 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 1: I think it it's never come together for one reason 407 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 1: or another. I think at one point director said they 408 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: would do it if Cronenberg said it was all right, 409 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: and Cronenberg said nah, And so it didn't happen. Um, 410 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,439 Speaker 1: they didn't give it his blessing. Uh. So, I don't know. 411 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: It's it's one of those, like a lot of these things, Like, yes, 412 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: if it had to be remade, I can imagine somebody 413 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,199 Speaker 1: could do it correctly and it went a way that 414 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 1: would would be a cool and insightful exploration of the 415 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 1: world that is created in the original picture. But on 416 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,919 Speaker 1: the other hand, we don't really need it because the 417 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 1: film works exceedingly well on its own. Agreed. Now, I 418 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,120 Speaker 1: do want to mention one more thing about Cronenberg before 419 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:52,439 Speaker 1: we move on from him, which is recurring themes of 420 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: cronenberg movies. Of course, Cronenberg makes a lot of movies 421 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: in the horror genre, and unlike the most common horror 422 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,400 Speaker 1: movie threat of straightforward danger to your life. Right, That's 423 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: what most movie monsters are, bad guys are. They're threatening 424 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,919 Speaker 1: you with physical violence of some kind. The most common 425 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: threat in Cronenberg movies, I would say, is not direct 426 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,879 Speaker 1: threats to your life, but threats to your self identity. Uh. 427 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: He makes movies most often that are about a loss 428 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: of the boundaries of the self, for a change of 429 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,120 Speaker 1: the self into something monstrous, and a lot of these 430 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 1: have a very uh kind of like squishy tacticle quality 431 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: to them. Like his movies are known for body horror, 432 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: where there's some kind of disgusting change happening to your 433 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,400 Speaker 1: body and you are becoming something alien. In the case 434 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: of Scanners, I would say the broader theme does hold, 435 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: but it's less about the body and more a type 436 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,239 Speaker 1: of mental identity horror, like there are threats to the 437 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 1: integrity of the mind or the soul. Yeah, Like it's 438 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,439 Speaker 1: it's not just oh my Torso is now all VH player, 439 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: it's that added level of what does it mean that 440 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: I am now a physical receptor for media? That sort 441 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: of thing Like it's it's it's always a more more 442 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 1: thoughtful and intellectual exercise, but always weird. I do want 443 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:17,840 Speaker 1: to drive. It's easy with someone like Cronenberg to get 444 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 1: really you know, you start talking or thinking about it 445 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: too much, and you're like, yeah, man, it's just this 446 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: is a metaphor for the way that we think about 447 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: ourselves and media. Like, yes, all of that is true, 448 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: but also it's just really weird too, Yes, undeniable. I mean. 449 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,960 Speaker 1: The other thing is like, I didn't really mention this 450 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: so much because it's hard to describe exactly what it is. 451 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: But all of Cronenberg's movies that I've seen have in 452 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: common this creepy, uneasy Canadian vibe. There's just something that's 453 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,919 Speaker 1: that's an energy that all of them share, uh, that 454 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,119 Speaker 1: is difficult to put into words. It's sort of a 455 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: type of coldness, a kind of observing of human human 456 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,920 Speaker 1: reaction with a bit of a distance that that makes 457 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,880 Speaker 1: it a little more alien and a little more dangerous 458 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 1: and a little more removed from mundane reality. Yeah, yeah, 459 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: I would agree, but it is hard to really nail 460 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: down exactly what it is at times. Alright, getting into 461 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: the cast here, and I have to mention one of 462 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 1: the things I always love about cronenberg films the character 463 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: names are always really interesting. And our first character here 464 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: is the character Camera and Veil, but the actor who 465 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: plays Camera and Veil our our main protagonist here also 466 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: his His real name also sounds like a Cronenberg movie name, 467 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,159 Speaker 1: Stephen Lack, So I might end up getting mixed up 468 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: and referring to the character as Stephen Lack or to 469 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,359 Speaker 1: the actress Camera and Vail, because they both kind of 470 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: come together for me here, I will deduct no points. 471 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,160 Speaker 1: So Stephen Lack was born Canadian act or active from 472 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: the mid nineteen seventies through around two thousand and two. 473 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 1: This is probably his biggest role, though they also pops 474 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: up in a small role in Cronenberg's Dead Ringers. He 475 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: also wrote and starred in nineteen seventy seven The Rubber Gun, 476 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 1: directed by Allan Moyle, and another couple of films of 477 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 1: note es head on in Perfect Strangers. Perfect Strangers being 478 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: a Larry Cohen erotic thriller, I had no idea there 479 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,199 Speaker 1: was such a thing. If he could put butts in seats, 480 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,800 Speaker 1: then then Larry Cohen probably wrote at least wrote a 481 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:35,239 Speaker 1: screenplay for it. Perfect So, regarding Stephen Lack and the 482 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: character Cameron Vale, this is one place where I want 483 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: to fully criticize and rebuke my own previous opinion about Scanners. 484 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: I remember thinking in the past that a weak point 485 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 1: in this movie was the protagonist is sort of a cipher. 486 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 1: He lacks defining individual characteristics and often seems to be 487 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:01,479 Speaker 1: operating without a sense of personal agency, you know, like 488 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: you often don't quite know why he's doing what he's doing. 489 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,640 Speaker 1: He's just sort of been launched into an action by 490 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 1: the people around him, and he just follows through. Now, 491 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: upon reviewing, I still think this assessment of the character 492 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,959 Speaker 1: is true, but I actually don't think it's a shortcoming 493 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: of the movie at all. I think it is literally 494 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:25,120 Speaker 1: the point of the character. There are multiple scenes exploring 495 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:30,119 Speaker 1: the effects of telepathy on the development of personality. This 496 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: character is a is a scanner. He's a telepathic character, 497 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 1: and the movie posits that if a person has the 498 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: ability to read other people's thoughts and they have no 499 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 1: power to control this ability or turn it off at will, 500 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: it essentially prevents them from developing a personality or from 501 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: having individual thoughts. So in the world of Scanners, the 502 00:28:55,800 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: sort of lost, wandering, untreated scanner's mind is like living 503 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: in a world where every single person in your vicinity 504 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 1: is constantly just incessantly screaming at you with a megaphone, 505 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: And in such a world would you ever be able 506 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: to develop a voice of your own. So I think 507 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: the fact that Cameron Veil is sort of like an 508 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,280 Speaker 1: adult with the mind of a newborn, launched on missions 509 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 1: he doesn't understand following through with them for reasons that 510 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: don't quite seem clear. Uh, you know, is the things 511 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,480 Speaker 1: are going on without his agency and he's just sort 512 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 1: of like going along with the flow. It makes complete 513 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: sense in my opinion. The arc of the movie is 514 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: the character going from this state of undifferentiated mental cacaphony 515 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: and uh and lack of agentic control over his own 516 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: missions and behavior to the point of having a mind 517 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,400 Speaker 1: and purpose of his own. I completely agree. Yeah, this 518 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 1: is a performance that I think in the past I 519 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 1: saw was a weak point I saw. I think I 520 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: focused too much on the similarities between this performance this 521 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: character and poor performances are poorly defined characters in various 522 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 1: other be movies. Um, but but yeah, I think it. 523 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,840 Speaker 1: It totally works within the context of the film here. Uh, 524 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,200 Speaker 1: for all the reasons you point out um and the 525 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: and and also I have to to say, like, there 526 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: are a lot of movies that feature what I think 527 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: of his doll men or baby men, where you have 528 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 1: some sort of reason for a person being like this, 529 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,280 Speaker 1: like maybe they're a clone or they're an alien in 530 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 1: human form from another world, and sometimes it just plays 531 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: completely stupid on the screen and you just feel like 532 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: you're watching a farce. But Veil doesn't really fall into 533 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: this category, at least for me, Like he's still molded 534 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: by the world. He's not a complete babe in the woods, 535 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 1: at least in many respects. We see him with help 536 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: become far more functional. Uh so, there there seemed to 537 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: be plenty of things about him that are unmolded, of course, 538 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:59,040 Speaker 1: and he's never developed a personality. His inner thoughts have 539 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:01,560 Speaker 1: have just been the deef fault networks and and inner 540 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 1: thoughts of those around him rather than his own. So 541 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: he is he's almost like this, this robot, but in 542 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 1: a way that I don't know it just they Cronenberg 543 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:12,720 Speaker 1: is able to strike the right balance here. And of 544 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: course credit to lack too. No, I know exactly what 545 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: you're saying, Like he's not the he's not the sort 546 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: of pure doll man kind of creature you're talking about. 547 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,080 Speaker 1: This is a character who has faced a lifetime full 548 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: of experience and hardships. So he's not without experience. He's 549 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: had tons of experience, He's had tons of struggle, but 550 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: he just hasn't really had a self throughout all of it. Yeah. Yeah, 551 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: and uh. And also it's never played out for comic 552 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: relief either. Yeah. Yeah, he's never like, what is love 553 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: doctor or anything like that, ignoring also the fact that 554 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 1: it's Dr Ruth. But we'll get to talk to Ruth 555 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: in a bit. One more point on Stephen Lack, though, 556 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 1: I have to say, great eyes on this actor, and 557 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 1: he has he's just wonderful, um like wide eyes that 558 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: are just brimming with childlike in a sense, but also 559 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:05,080 Speaker 1: the sense of absorption, that childlike absorption, like everything is 560 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: being taken in by these wide eyes. Yeah, so I 561 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: disagree with my former self. Thumbs up to the character 562 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 1: and thumbs up to the performance by Lack. All Right, 563 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: that was our chief protagonist. Our chief antagonist is Darryl Revack, 564 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 1: played by the wonderful Michael Ironside. I would argue Michael 565 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:26,880 Speaker 1: Ironside is in the running for best film Heavies of 566 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 1: all time. He emits fumes of menace. And it's not 567 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: just his physical presence. I mean he does have a 568 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: great villain or hinchman. Look, he's a great actor, and 569 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: every line reading in this movie is like the tip 570 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 1: of a box cutter being extended. It's just perfect, superb villainy. Yeah, 571 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: it's an intense performance that absolutely works with his character 572 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: who is again it's this is a Scanner character, much 573 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 1: like several different Scanner characters, but he has an extreme 574 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,880 Speaker 1: individual uh so you need an extreme performance powering it. 575 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: That's not to say that it's just always cranked up 576 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,960 Speaker 1: to ten. There are also plenty of scenes where it's 577 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,600 Speaker 1: a much more subtle performance. But when when Ironside needs 578 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:14,120 Speaker 1: to crank it up, he can crank it up like 579 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: few others. I'll suck your mind dry. Ironside was born 580 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty Canadian character actor who's played just yeah, 581 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: so many fantastic heavies and authority figures and maniacs over 582 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 1: the years. His work goes all the way back to 583 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,600 Speaker 1: the mid seventies, but the Scanner seems to have helped 584 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:37,239 Speaker 1: propel him into larger villain rolls. He followed this one 585 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: up with one Surfacing Night, two is Visiting Hours and 586 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: the fun sci fi romp uh Space Hunter Adventures in 587 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: the Forbidden Zone, in which he plays an evil, snarling 588 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: cyborg opposite Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald and Ernie Hudson. WHOA, Yeah, 589 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 1: it's a fun one we made with that. One's kind 590 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 1: of on the in my back pocket for some time 591 00:33:57,400 --> 00:33:59,960 Speaker 1: when we're not sure what pictured a view for weird 592 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,960 Speaker 1: else it sounds wonderful. He did a lot of TV 593 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: work smaller pictures after that, but in the mid eighties 594 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: he appeared in Top Gun Uh. He was in Watchers, 595 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,880 Speaker 1: the adaptation of the Dean Koont's novel with the Talking Dog. 596 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:16,680 Speaker 1: He's in The Highlander to the Quickening We can't bring that. Yeah, no, 597 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,480 Speaker 1: and he's a richter in ninety nineties total recall Grey's 598 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,600 Speaker 1: heavy role in that and Yeah, he's just continued to 599 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: keep the tap flowing with villain and heavy rolls like 600 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:29,719 Speaker 1: he's a This is an actor who has worked a 601 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,720 Speaker 1: lot and continues to work a lot. Two d seventy 602 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 1: one credits on IMDb as of right now, so he's 603 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: done a lot of TV tales in the crypt the 604 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,400 Speaker 1: nineties Outer Limits, Canada's Danger Bay that I watched as 605 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,319 Speaker 1: a kid. Um And uh, there's also a film by 606 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: the name of Neon City from that I have not seen, 607 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,040 Speaker 1: but I know has been recommended to us by by 608 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: viewers rather listeners. You're not viewing this, you're listening to it, alright. 609 00:34:56,120 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 1: Another Scanner character in the picture is Kim Obrist. It's 610 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 1: another nice cronin brick character name played by Jennifer O'Neill Born. 611 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: I'd say another great performance. Jennifer O'Neil is excellent in 612 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: this role. In her character is a very interesting one 613 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:17,279 Speaker 1: in contraposition to the other sort of powers in the 614 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:21,360 Speaker 1: movie that this character emerges essentially when Cameron Vale discovers 615 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,799 Speaker 1: a third faction. So you've got the powers of Consect, 616 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: the the Evil Corporation and Revic Scanner Army, and they're 617 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:32,759 Speaker 1: going at it against each other. And uh, of course 618 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:35,960 Speaker 1: Revic wants to control scanners as like an army to 619 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:40,240 Speaker 1: sort of dominate the weaker non scanner human beings. Contact 620 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,160 Speaker 1: wants to control an individual scanner's power to use them 621 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 1: as a weapon for the highest bidder um. And these 622 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:51,640 Speaker 1: are portrayed as potential like lone wolf psychic assassins. And 623 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,960 Speaker 1: in contrast to the sort of like individual will to 624 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,560 Speaker 1: power of these other two uh factions going at each other, 625 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:02,640 Speaker 1: kim Oprist seems to be starting what looks almost like 626 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:07,120 Speaker 1: a Scanner religion or something where one where the Scanners 627 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:13,400 Speaker 1: deliberately sort of reject individuality and commune with one another, 628 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:18,360 Speaker 1: and they host rituals where they fully inhabit one another's minds. 629 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:22,319 Speaker 1: In these group circle rituals, they even form a sort 630 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,560 Speaker 1: of like like a shared collective consciousness. Uh And there 631 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 1: there's a haunting scene where they're doing this. They're fully 632 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,759 Speaker 1: mind melding in a circle. They keep talking about like, 633 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:35,319 Speaker 1: you know, lose yourself. It is power, you know what 634 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,040 Speaker 1: do they say? Like it is terrifying, it is beautiful 635 00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 1: or something. And then Revick's assassin's bust in and start 636 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,200 Speaker 1: shooting them and some of them are killed. And in 637 00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:47,400 Speaker 1: the escape after the scene, Jennifer O'Neil's character turns to 638 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,560 Speaker 1: Cameron and says, now I know what it feels like 639 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,440 Speaker 1: to die. Yeah, it's a great performance and I do 640 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 1: love as well. How this is as presented as this 641 00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:59,879 Speaker 1: sort of third option in in the the scanner chain 642 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:02,360 Speaker 1: that's occurring in the world, Like what if it what 643 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: if we didn't approach this as as as a as 644 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:07,160 Speaker 1: a method of violence, or why what if we didn't 645 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,640 Speaker 1: approach this as like a security threat but an opportunity 646 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,680 Speaker 1: as a way of coming together. But I do think 647 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:16,560 Speaker 1: that's the case. But also I like that Kim Oberst's 648 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:20,920 Speaker 1: community is not presented as just purely wholly like good 649 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:24,719 Speaker 1: and wholesome, Like there's something kind of freaky about there. 650 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:26,919 Speaker 1: You know, the scene where they're all communing with each other, 651 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:32,200 Speaker 1: like they they are clearly being entranced by something, some 652 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,759 Speaker 1: other level of consciousness they're achieving by by linking their 653 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 1: minds together in that way. And while they're not they 654 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:41,880 Speaker 1: don't have overtly violent intentions that we see in the movie. 655 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:44,600 Speaker 1: There's a sense of like, we don't know what this 656 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 1: is becoming. This is just could be some other thing 657 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:50,640 Speaker 1: that could be great or could be awful. Yeah, there's 658 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,440 Speaker 1: potential dangerous opportunity here, And we get a sense of 659 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:56,480 Speaker 1: that too when they kind of fight back and catch 660 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,560 Speaker 1: the assassin's on fire. Um, like there's a sense or 661 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:00,840 Speaker 1: at least this and so I got from it was 662 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:02,880 Speaker 1: that this was not an individual movement, but this was 663 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,600 Speaker 1: maybe like a reflex of the collective consciousness that they 664 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:10,400 Speaker 1: were summoning between their their collective minds. Yes, and the 665 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:14,120 Speaker 1: performances is pretty solid too. Yeah. This Jennifer O'Neil Brazilian 666 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:16,400 Speaker 1: born actor and former model who had quite an acting 667 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,040 Speaker 1: career in the sixties and seventies. Especially. She was in 668 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:23,000 Speaker 1: Howard Hawke's last film, Real Lobo in nineteen seventy. She 669 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,800 Speaker 1: worked with such directors as Robert Mulligan, Otto, Premater, Blake 670 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:29,880 Speaker 1: Edwards and j Lee Thompson, and she was the titular 671 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:35,360 Speaker 1: character and Lucio Fulci's The Psychic from seven Oh. Interesting, 672 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,480 Speaker 1: a little bit of overlap there. Yeah, So I don't 673 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:39,680 Speaker 1: know if that if they were like, we need a 674 00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:41,480 Speaker 1: psychic for this picture, and they're like, well, I just 675 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 1: saw this great Italian movie. Well let's get Jennifer O'Neil. 676 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,520 Speaker 1: All Right, we've mentioned the scientists that leads our protagonist 677 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:53,279 Speaker 1: into um well, gives him a sense of himself back, 678 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:55,640 Speaker 1: but also them and gives him a spy mission. This 679 00:38:55,719 --> 00:38:58,160 Speaker 1: is Dr Paul Ruth. So yes, the character is Dr 680 00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:02,719 Speaker 1: Ruth played by Pat McGowan who through two thou and 681 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:06,680 Speaker 1: nine another great performance. I mean again, the cast is 682 00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:10,840 Speaker 1: just great all around. I think uh McGowan always brings 683 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:15,120 Speaker 1: kind of interesting and unexpected take to his roles. I 684 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,520 Speaker 1: think one great example of this, which is a movie 685 00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:21,000 Speaker 1: that I overall do not like. I am not a 686 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:25,200 Speaker 1: fan of Mel Gibson's Braveheart, uh for multiple reasons, but 687 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:28,920 Speaker 1: I have always found McGowan's acting choices as the villain 688 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,440 Speaker 1: in that movie he's played plays King Albert the first 689 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,080 Speaker 1: you know, the Long Shanks. He plays him as this 690 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:38,479 Speaker 1: absurdly psychotic villain, but in a really irresistible kind of way, 691 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:43,320 Speaker 1: chewing the scenery but with this odd, bemused, high pitched voice. 692 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:46,920 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah. And in this picture as the as the 693 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:51,040 Speaker 1: Dr Paul Ruth, he has this kind of there's the 694 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,359 Speaker 1: kind of shiftiness to him, you know, like we often 695 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,440 Speaker 1: see him looking away or looking down at the floor, 696 00:39:56,719 --> 00:39:59,759 Speaker 1: not making eye contact with the with the characters that 697 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:03,720 Speaker 1: he he's interacting with. That it creates an interesting energy. 698 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:08,080 Speaker 1: It's We've seen similar characters of this type and plenty 699 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:10,480 Speaker 1: of other films, you know, the he's sort of in 700 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:13,319 Speaker 1: the Mad Scientist Mold. He has also in this kind 701 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,400 Speaker 1: of uh, you know, teacher and savior mode or it 702 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:19,560 Speaker 1: seems to be for a large portion of the film. Um, 703 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:22,719 Speaker 1: but but he has a has a different energy. I 704 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:26,360 Speaker 1: love the moral ambiguity of this character. Like is is 705 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,520 Speaker 1: this character a good guy or a bad guy? I 706 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:32,960 Speaker 1: mean he's clearly some of both and in and not 707 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:36,400 Speaker 1: just transitioning from one to the other, like he's he's 708 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:41,080 Speaker 1: both in an ongoing capacity. Yeah. So McGowan, I don't know. 709 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:42,680 Speaker 1: He might have been the biggest name in the film 710 00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:45,839 Speaker 1: at the time and and maybe even so in retrospect. 711 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:49,799 Speaker 1: An American born Irish actor, probably best remembered as the 712 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 1: Prisoner on the late sixties TV show, but he was 713 00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:56,680 Speaker 1: also in the successful Danger Man from the early sixties. 714 00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:00,920 Speaker 1: He was in seventy nine Escape from Alcatraz, Any Fives, Braveheart, 715 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:03,720 Speaker 1: Is A Time to Kill, and one of his final 716 00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:06,120 Speaker 1: credits was a voice actor in two thousand and two 717 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:09,880 Speaker 1: his Treasure Planet. I've never seen Danger Man, but that 718 00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:13,560 Speaker 1: that's a funny name. Yeah, you know, early sixties spy 719 00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:16,080 Speaker 1: TV show. I think I may have watched an episode 720 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:18,480 Speaker 1: of it back in the day. Do they have gadgets? 721 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:21,279 Speaker 1: I don't know if this was gadget earro you know, 722 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:23,040 Speaker 1: this might it might have been too soon, but then 723 00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: the prisoner certainly leaves an impression that suitably weird late 724 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:32,120 Speaker 1: sixties show that some of the other bit players are 725 00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:37,080 Speaker 1: also pretty fun. Robert Silverman plays Benjamin Pierce, a sculptor, 726 00:41:37,239 --> 00:41:39,879 Speaker 1: a scanner sculptor that we meet in the in the 727 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:44,400 Speaker 1: film three. Kind of a weird Canadian character actor whose 728 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:46,960 Speaker 1: work lines up with a couple of folks already mentioned, 729 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:51,080 Speaker 1: especially Cronenberg. He pops up in Rabid the Brood, Friday 730 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,880 Speaker 1: the thirteenth, the series Naked Lunch, Existence and Jason X, 731 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,640 Speaker 1: which of course Cronenberg did not direct, but Cronenberg acts 732 00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:00,360 Speaker 1: in as one of the mad scientists that an actually 733 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,720 Speaker 1: resurrects Jason Vorhees. I think he gets like a spear 734 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:09,600 Speaker 1: thrown through his torso. Yeah. Um. Robert Silverman is also 735 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,120 Speaker 1: in head On, which we referenced earlier, and he's in 736 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,759 Speaker 1: water World. Oh. I don't remember him in that, but 737 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:18,440 Speaker 1: he's great in this. He's good in his Cronenberg roles. 738 00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:21,760 Speaker 1: He and I think in both of his Cronenberg movies 739 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:25,879 Speaker 1: that I've seen, he plays like a character who had 740 00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:28,840 Speaker 1: some kind of bad interaction with the villain that the 741 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:31,719 Speaker 1: protagonist is seeking out and the and the protagonist has 742 00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:35,160 Speaker 1: to track him down. Yeah. Uh so we also have 743 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:37,840 Speaker 1: a villain by the name of Braden Keller. This is 744 00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:42,000 Speaker 1: a this is like a Hinchman character played by Laurence Dane, 745 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,480 Speaker 1: who lived ninety seven through two thousand and two. Canadian 746 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:47,880 Speaker 1: character actor who was in a ton of things including 747 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:50,680 Speaker 1: Happy Birthday to Me from N eight one, Heavenly Bodies 748 00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:55,399 Speaker 1: from four, Bride of Chucky from Head On, dart Man two, 749 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:57,560 Speaker 1: and much more. He did a lot of TV work 750 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:01,480 Speaker 1: in the sixties and seventies, and being a Canadian actor, 751 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,400 Speaker 1: of course he was on uh nineties Outer Limits. He 752 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,080 Speaker 1: also pops up on Danger Bay and a show called 753 00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:10,400 Speaker 1: Seeing Things that I'll describe it just a second. He's 754 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:12,640 Speaker 1: a he's a good villain. He's h he's sort of 755 00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:16,120 Speaker 1: a suit villain. As opposed to whatever Michael Ironside is. 756 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:19,279 Speaker 1: I would say, Um, if Michael Ironside's character is the 757 00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:23,440 Speaker 1: Clearance Bodicker of this movie, uh, Lawrence Dane plays the 758 00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:27,920 Speaker 1: Dick Jones of the movie. Yeah. Yeah. Ironside is anti establishment, 759 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:31,920 Speaker 1: or so it seems, and and Dane is his establishment. 760 00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:35,600 Speaker 1: For sure. There is a character that is just credited 761 00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:38,960 Speaker 1: as first Scanner. Uh. This is the kind of Frank 762 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,400 Speaker 1: oz loooking guy whose head explodes in that famous scene 763 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:46,320 Speaker 1: from Scanners. This character is played by Louis el Grande 764 00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:49,440 Speaker 1: born ninety three, and I think I've mentioned del Grande 765 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,239 Speaker 1: on the show before due to his various connections, but 766 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:56,000 Speaker 1: Canadian actor who is mostly known to me that I 767 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:59,040 Speaker 1: saw him well well before I saw Scanners, because he 768 00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:03,200 Speaker 1: was on a series on CBC titled Seeing Things that 769 00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:06,000 Speaker 1: ran from one through seven, and I think he was 770 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:08,680 Speaker 1: also one of the creators of the show. But it's 771 00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:12,759 Speaker 1: kind of a lighthearted psychic detective show where he, you know, 772 00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:16,719 Speaker 1: he's always having visions, he's seeing things with his psychic abilities, 773 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,520 Speaker 1: and in doing so he helps to solve the crime 774 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,239 Speaker 1: in the episode of the week I would watch that. 775 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,359 Speaker 1: I like his his vibe. He's only got a very 776 00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:28,440 Speaker 1: short scene in the movie, but he's quite memorable in it, 777 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:30,840 Speaker 1: and not just for what happens to a plaster cast 778 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:33,840 Speaker 1: of his head. Yeah, he he gets to address the 779 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:37,680 Speaker 1: audience and yeah, yeah, it's a nice little performance bit, 780 00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:40,600 Speaker 1: partly very memorable. He's done a lot of work over 781 00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:44,080 Speaker 1: the years, especially in Canada. Other credits include Happy Birthday 782 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:47,880 Speaker 1: to Me of unknown origin from eighty three, the nineties 783 00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:52,239 Speaker 1: Outer Limits, goose Bumps and Lex and a couple of 784 00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:55,960 Speaker 1: behind the scenes credits here. Howard Shore did the score 785 00:44:56,239 --> 00:44:59,920 Speaker 1: for this movie. So score by shore Um. Born nineteen 786 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,040 Speaker 1: forty six. Howard Shore's, of course a Canadian composer and 787 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:06,719 Speaker 1: conductor who's worked extensively in film. He's probably best known 788 00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:09,520 Speaker 1: for his work on the Lord of the Rings movies 789 00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:12,359 Speaker 1: for Peter Jackson. He won an Oscar for at least 790 00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:15,680 Speaker 1: one of those, and he's also scored all but one 791 00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:18,680 Speaker 1: of Cronenberg's film since nineteen nine. I believe The Dead 792 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:22,200 Speaker 1: Zone is the the the exception in that list. Uh. 793 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:25,040 Speaker 1: Not only did he write the score to Cronenberg's The Fly, 794 00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:27,280 Speaker 1: but he also wrote an opera based on the film 795 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:30,840 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight. But wow, that's something. Yeah, 796 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:34,680 Speaker 1: I've I've never seen it, but I remember seeing stills 797 00:45:34,719 --> 00:45:36,759 Speaker 1: from it when this was first making the news, and 798 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:39,000 Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, this looks amazing. This is this 799 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:42,080 Speaker 1: is the opera for me. Would it be the gooeyst 800 00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:45,319 Speaker 1: opera ever? I don't know. Actually, some classic operas get 801 00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:48,360 Speaker 1: get quite bloody yeah, but you can't have people slipping 802 00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:50,920 Speaker 1: in the slime, so there's only so much you can 803 00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,000 Speaker 1: It looks like they had a pretty cool functional brundle 804 00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:57,440 Speaker 1: fly costume for it, because you get into unique challenges 805 00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:03,040 Speaker 1: for a stage performance like that. Anyway, as far as 806 00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:07,239 Speaker 1: Howard Shore's score for Scanners goes, I really liked it. 807 00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:09,600 Speaker 1: I was. I listened to it in isolation prior to 808 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:12,919 Speaker 1: rewatching the film, and it has It has this kind 809 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:15,920 Speaker 1: of boisterous main theme that kind of sounds like all 810 00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:19,520 Speaker 1: of the Mountain king Um. But in general it has 811 00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:22,839 Speaker 1: a lot of these sort of creepy, kind of late 812 00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:26,279 Speaker 1: seventies early eighties vibes that I guess are also this 813 00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:28,600 Speaker 1: is probably just Cronenberg energy. As well said you can't 814 00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:32,719 Speaker 1: really divorce Cronenberg's films from Shore's music all that much. 815 00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:36,000 Speaker 1: But outside of the more traditional sounding stretches the score, 816 00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:40,799 Speaker 1: there's a lot of like weird electronic warbly bits and 817 00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:45,839 Speaker 1: drone stretches that I absolutely love, uh so, and also 818 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,759 Speaker 1: some like percussive chaotic segments as well. Even a lot 819 00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:54,440 Speaker 1: of the traditional instrumentation sounds unusual, like there are these 820 00:46:55,160 --> 00:47:00,160 Speaker 1: moments of just sort of descending disson and horns. Yeah, 821 00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:03,200 Speaker 1: so it's it's really good stuff. This is definitely this 822 00:47:03,239 --> 00:47:05,120 Speaker 1: is a score that's worth listening to as an album 823 00:47:05,120 --> 00:47:08,120 Speaker 1: in my opinion. And before we move on, yeah, let's 824 00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:10,480 Speaker 1: go ahead and just hear a sample from the score. 825 00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:13,799 Speaker 1: This is just a taste of main title and public skin. 826 00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:31,240 Speaker 1: And finally, Dick Smith has credits on this film. Special 827 00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:36,040 Speaker 1: makeup effects consultant Dick Smith Live through two thousand and 828 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:39,440 Speaker 1: fourteen just one of many special effects pros on the 829 00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:42,759 Speaker 1: motion picture that he's often singled out as playing a 830 00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:46,200 Speaker 1: key role in the opening head explosion. Well it's not opening, 831 00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:48,440 Speaker 1: but you know, early head explosion in the film, and 832 00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:52,160 Speaker 1: the final showdown. He's a special effects makeup legend who 833 00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:56,600 Speaker 1: worked on such pictures as The Godfather, The Exorcist, Taxi Driver, 834 00:47:57,000 --> 00:47:59,600 Speaker 1: and Death Becomes Her. He won an Oscar for his 835 00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:04,719 Speaker 1: work Amadeus. Other notable films include Altered States, seventy two 836 00:48:04,719 --> 00:48:08,200 Speaker 1: episodes of the TV horror anthology Monsters, Tales from the 837 00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:10,440 Speaker 1: Dark Side, The Movie Star Man. Oh, and this one 838 00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:14,680 Speaker 1: is pretty fun n sevens The Alligator People. Ah, Well, 839 00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:16,880 Speaker 1: I hear the dogs choke on their barking when they 840 00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:19,960 Speaker 1: see alligator persons in the bog and fog. Yeah, the 841 00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:31,920 Speaker 1: very same. All right, well, let's get into the plot 842 00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:35,239 Speaker 1: for this film. Let's head to the mall. It does 843 00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:37,520 Speaker 1: start in the mall, doesn't it, But it's it can't 844 00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:40,239 Speaker 1: be just any mall. It's a really creepy mall. It 845 00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:44,040 Speaker 1: really is. I don't know if Cronenberg picked it because 846 00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:47,120 Speaker 1: it was an especially creepy looking mall, or if all 847 00:48:47,239 --> 00:48:49,560 Speaker 1: malls in Canada were this creepy at the time. I 848 00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:53,200 Speaker 1: don't know. How would you describe this mall? Oh? I 849 00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:57,200 Speaker 1: mean it's yeah. I I didn't look up where they 850 00:48:57,280 --> 00:48:59,920 Speaker 1: filmed this. It seems like there was some great location 851 00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:04,040 Speaker 1: scouting in this picture. It's kind of a splendid scarlet 852 00:49:04,120 --> 00:49:07,120 Speaker 1: sanctuary of a mall, but at the same time, not 853 00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:11,360 Speaker 1: in a way that feels manufactured. Like there's a scarlet 854 00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:15,360 Speaker 1: sanctuary feel to some of the settings in Dead Ringers, 855 00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:18,280 Speaker 1: for example, there's very much intentional and very much works 856 00:49:18,280 --> 00:49:21,600 Speaker 1: in that movie. This feels like maybe they just found 857 00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:27,440 Speaker 1: this really weird crimson augmented mall environment in Canada and 858 00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:29,680 Speaker 1: it's just, Oh, it's great. It's one of these where 859 00:49:29,719 --> 00:49:31,320 Speaker 1: I was just taking in all the little like I 860 00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:33,200 Speaker 1: wanted to deposit and see what the stores were in 861 00:49:33,239 --> 00:49:36,040 Speaker 1: the background, you know, um part of it being sort 862 00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:40,160 Speaker 1: of the cultural um archaeology of watching anything said in 863 00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:43,040 Speaker 1: a mall from the eighties totally, but also I would 864 00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:46,600 Speaker 1: emphasize that it feels like it's underground. I did not 865 00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:50,879 Speaker 1: detect any hint of natural light whatsoever. And the ceilings 866 00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:56,719 Speaker 1: are aligned with just rows and rows of light bulbs 867 00:49:56,719 --> 00:50:02,360 Speaker 1: projecting down from the ceiling. Yeah, it's it's absolutely splendid. 868 00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:04,520 Speaker 1: And that there's somebody looks like. There's this one scene 869 00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:08,360 Speaker 1: where our protagonist pauses in front of a poster for 870 00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:11,239 Speaker 1: hot Pogos and it shows a like a cartoon of 871 00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:13,719 Speaker 1: a kid holding a corn dog, and I was like, 872 00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:17,520 Speaker 1: what is what's going on? Here? Is our hot corn 873 00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:20,520 Speaker 1: dogs called hot pogos and Canada I just never realized it. Well, 874 00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:23,520 Speaker 1: I looked it up and according to Wikipedia, in Quebec 875 00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:26,239 Speaker 1: and Ontario, a battered hot dog on a stick is 876 00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:30,080 Speaker 1: called a pogo and it's traditionally eaten with ordinary yellow mustard, 877 00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:33,440 Speaker 1: which is a solid choice. I think yellow mustard is 878 00:50:33,440 --> 00:50:37,680 Speaker 1: your best condiment for any corn dog experience, at least 879 00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:40,000 Speaker 1: if you're eating a a real corn dog, and a 880 00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:43,759 Speaker 1: real corn dog, in my opinion, should either be a 881 00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:46,319 Speaker 1: fake hot dog at the center, you know, like a 882 00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:49,040 Speaker 1: soy dog or something, or if you do eat meat, 883 00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:51,279 Speaker 1: it should be a meat hot dog that is on 884 00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:53,839 Speaker 1: the verge of being fake meat, you know, like it's 885 00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:57,000 Speaker 1: so processed that the difference between it and a soy 886 00:50:57,120 --> 00:51:01,040 Speaker 1: dog is just negligible. But either way, mustard. You gotta 887 00:51:01,080 --> 00:51:03,279 Speaker 1: have mustard. Yeah, I gotta get that yellow mustard out 888 00:51:04,120 --> 00:51:07,400 Speaker 1: for your pogo, So Canadian listeners, I was not aware, 889 00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:09,799 Speaker 1: but I like it. It sounds more fun in some 890 00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:13,359 Speaker 1: respects than corn dog Pogo. Might go for the hot 891 00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:17,239 Speaker 1: pogo next time. Well, here is where we meet our protagonist, 892 00:51:17,280 --> 00:51:20,319 Speaker 1: Cameron Vale. He is wandering the food court of this 893 00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:27,160 Speaker 1: subterranean underworld mall, snagging people's leftovers, and he he looks disheveled. 894 00:51:27,160 --> 00:51:30,040 Speaker 1: He's wearing kind of a dirty trench coat. He's being 895 00:51:30,080 --> 00:51:37,200 Speaker 1: presented as a oh, sort of disoriented, um uh, skulking outsider, 896 00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:41,120 Speaker 1: and he's just grabbing people's leftover pogos and stuffing them 897 00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:45,120 Speaker 1: in his mouth. But unfortunately, he catches the attention of 898 00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:48,080 Speaker 1: a couple of ladies at a nearby table and we 899 00:51:48,160 --> 00:51:51,520 Speaker 1: begin to hear them speaking. They're they're saying things like, oh, 900 00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:54,680 Speaker 1: I've never seen anything so disgusting in my entire life. 901 00:51:55,040 --> 00:51:58,120 Speaker 1: We're being stared at. They let creatures like that in here. 902 00:51:58,200 --> 00:52:01,840 Speaker 1: It's just awful. Wait a second, Like, are their lips 903 00:52:01,880 --> 00:52:05,280 Speaker 1: actually moving while they're saying these things? That's not so clear. 904 00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:08,239 Speaker 1: And Cameron Vale here he I guess we don't know 905 00:52:08,280 --> 00:52:12,520 Speaker 1: his name yet, but this this character, he's uh, he's 906 00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:16,640 Speaker 1: bothered by their talking. We see it appearing to cause 907 00:52:16,719 --> 00:52:20,520 Speaker 1: him almost physical pain, and so he turns his attention 908 00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:23,759 Speaker 1: to these these two ladies, and the one of them 909 00:52:23,800 --> 00:52:26,600 Speaker 1: who seemed to be speaking, though maybe her lips weren't moving, 910 00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:29,960 Speaker 1: starts to have something that looks like a migraine, which 911 00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:33,400 Speaker 1: evolves into something that looks like a seizure. Uh, and 912 00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:36,080 Speaker 1: she's collapsing on the floor. People are trying to help her. 913 00:52:36,239 --> 00:52:39,360 Speaker 1: But this interaction gets the attention of a couple of 914 00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:43,080 Speaker 1: tough looking dudes nearby, and they chase Cameron and immobilize 915 00:52:43,120 --> 00:52:46,800 Speaker 1: him with a dart gun. Yeah, there's a fun action 916 00:52:46,880 --> 00:52:48,960 Speaker 1: sequence where he tries to get away from him by 917 00:52:49,040 --> 00:52:52,560 Speaker 1: jumping from one escalator to the next, and it it 918 00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:55,279 Speaker 1: looked looked kind of dangerous. I was like, I was like, 919 00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:59,720 Speaker 1: I don't, don't get caught between them escalator and the ceilings. 920 00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:02,120 Speaker 1: Sort the situation. But he manages to make it over, 921 00:53:02,160 --> 00:53:05,960 Speaker 1: but then succumbs to the tranquilizer dart. Yeah, he collapses 922 00:53:05,960 --> 00:53:07,799 Speaker 1: on the escalator and I had the same reaction. I 923 00:53:07,840 --> 00:53:10,120 Speaker 1: was like, Oh no, don't let like your shirt collar 924 00:53:10,200 --> 00:53:13,439 Speaker 1: get caught in the Yeah. But anyway, Yeah, So he 925 00:53:13,440 --> 00:53:15,560 Speaker 1: he wakes up later strapped to a hospital bed in 926 00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:18,520 Speaker 1: a large room where he is confronted by Dr Paul 927 00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:21,600 Speaker 1: Ruth Patrick McGowan, who gives him kind of a speech. 928 00:53:21,719 --> 00:53:24,359 Speaker 1: He you know, he says, Cameron, why are you such 929 00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:28,759 Speaker 1: a derelict? Uh. They've never met before, but he's introducing 930 00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:31,040 Speaker 1: himself and and he says he can tell him why 931 00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:34,320 Speaker 1: he's a derelict. He says, you're a scanner and that 932 00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:37,359 Speaker 1: has been the source of all your agony. But I 933 00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:39,480 Speaker 1: will show you now that it can be a source 934 00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:44,560 Speaker 1: of great power. And from here dozens of people and 935 00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:47,120 Speaker 1: begin to walk into the room. Dr Ruth just has 936 00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:49,240 Speaker 1: them come in and sit in these rows and rows 937 00:53:49,280 --> 00:53:52,080 Speaker 1: of chairs. And the more people pour into the room, 938 00:53:52,239 --> 00:53:55,279 Speaker 1: the more Cameron is in distress. We hear all of 939 00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:58,680 Speaker 1: their internal monologues at once, as a kind of great 940 00:53:58,719 --> 00:54:02,760 Speaker 1: ocean of voices, and this is this is torture for Cameron, 941 00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:05,640 Speaker 1: you see, He's like writhing in pain at hearing all 942 00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:09,480 Speaker 1: of their voices at once. But eventually Dr Ruth provides 943 00:54:09,520 --> 00:54:12,640 Speaker 1: the cure. He gives Cameron an injection of a drug 944 00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:17,080 Speaker 1: called ephemarole, and it makes the voices stop, and Cameron 945 00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:19,719 Speaker 1: has relief. Almost he has a relief as if for 946 00:54:19,880 --> 00:54:24,200 Speaker 1: the first time in his life. Now next comes the 947 00:54:24,239 --> 00:54:27,440 Speaker 1: most famous scene in the movie, the demonstration. So we 948 00:54:27,560 --> 00:54:30,840 Speaker 1: see that we're at the headquarters of a corporation called CONSAC, 949 00:54:31,239 --> 00:54:35,040 Speaker 1: and there's a demonstration being held for a private audience 950 00:54:35,160 --> 00:54:38,800 Speaker 1: in an auditorium, and we we meet a sort of timid, 951 00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:41,960 Speaker 1: bookish man in a suit and glasses on stage. This 952 00:54:42,040 --> 00:54:44,680 Speaker 1: is Louis del Grande or del Grande. I don't know 953 00:54:44,719 --> 00:54:47,000 Speaker 1: how you pronounced his name. Yeah, I've been saying del Grande, 954 00:54:47,080 --> 00:54:49,239 Speaker 1: but you know, it's just that's because it's such a 955 00:54:49,280 --> 00:54:53,160 Speaker 1: big performance, you know, it's it's a big um uh. 956 00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:56,640 Speaker 1: And so this guy begins by giving a speech. He says, 957 00:54:57,120 --> 00:54:59,200 Speaker 1: I would like to scan all of you in this room, 958 00:54:59,239 --> 00:55:01,799 Speaker 1: one at a time. I must remind you that the 959 00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:07,239 Speaker 1: scanning experience is usually a painful one, sometimes resulting in nosebleeds, earaches, 960 00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:11,840 Speaker 1: stomach cramps, nausea, sometimes other symptoms of a similar nature. 961 00:55:12,560 --> 00:55:14,560 Speaker 1: But he assures them there is a doctor present. He 962 00:55:14,760 --> 00:55:18,120 Speaker 1: points out the doctor Gatineau, and he asks that no 963 00:55:18,160 --> 00:55:20,880 Speaker 1: one leave the room once the demonstration has begun, and 964 00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:23,839 Speaker 1: he calls for volunteers, and of course there's a long, 965 00:55:23,920 --> 00:55:27,160 Speaker 1: awkward silence because I don't know who knows what scanning is, 966 00:55:27,160 --> 00:55:30,880 Speaker 1: who wants to be scanned. But finally a board looking 967 00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:33,720 Speaker 1: man in one of the back rows raises his hand 968 00:55:33,880 --> 00:55:38,320 Speaker 1: and comes to the stage, and why it is Michael Ironside. 969 00:55:38,360 --> 00:55:40,880 Speaker 1: What do you know? And it's not just Michael Ironside. 970 00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:44,240 Speaker 1: He has an interesting ring shaped scar above the bridge 971 00:55:44,239 --> 00:55:48,440 Speaker 1: of his nose. Yeah, I wonder what that is. Perhaps 972 00:55:48,440 --> 00:55:52,799 Speaker 1: we'll find out later. M So, the scanner doing the 973 00:55:52,840 --> 00:55:56,920 Speaker 1: demonstration asks Michael Ironside to think of something that the 974 00:55:56,960 --> 00:55:59,160 Speaker 1: scanner would have no way of knowing, something that will 975 00:55:59,160 --> 00:56:02,240 Speaker 1: not breach this purity of his organization. Maybe a personal 976 00:56:02,320 --> 00:56:06,359 Speaker 1: detail from his life, and Michael Ironside says, all right, 977 00:56:06,400 --> 00:56:09,120 Speaker 1: I have something in mind. And when you watch the scene, 978 00:56:09,480 --> 00:56:14,520 Speaker 1: knowing what's coming, you can see little sinister flourishes, like 979 00:56:14,640 --> 00:56:18,640 Speaker 1: little smirks and flares of delivery from Michael Ironside as 980 00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:21,000 Speaker 1: as he's getting ready for this thing. They kind of 981 00:56:21,000 --> 00:56:23,840 Speaker 1: go by you the first time. For example, Michael Ironside 982 00:56:23,920 --> 00:56:26,360 Speaker 1: asks the scanner if he has to close his eyes, 983 00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:29,719 Speaker 1: and the scanner assures him that it doesn't matter, and 984 00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:34,840 Speaker 1: scanning begins. Both men start by getting very intense looks 985 00:56:34,880 --> 00:56:39,480 Speaker 1: on their faces, like they're very focused. Uh, maybe perhaps 986 00:56:39,560 --> 00:56:42,560 Speaker 1: both struggling. Maybe perhaps both in a little bit of pain. 987 00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:46,200 Speaker 1: And because we don't know what we're looking at, you 988 00:56:46,239 --> 00:56:49,160 Speaker 1: could just assume this is what it looks like when 989 00:56:49,239 --> 00:56:54,920 Speaker 1: the scanner demonstrator read somebody's mind. But this just escalates 990 00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:58,120 Speaker 1: and things look weirder and weirder. Eventually it really starts 991 00:56:58,160 --> 00:57:00,239 Speaker 1: to seem like something might be wrong, like are they 992 00:57:00,239 --> 00:57:04,040 Speaker 1: supposed to look like they're in this much distress? Uh? 993 00:57:04,040 --> 00:57:06,840 Speaker 1: And there is an awesome, painful droning sound in the 994 00:57:06,920 --> 00:57:10,400 Speaker 1: musical score. I feel like, actually, just in a recent movie, 995 00:57:10,480 --> 00:57:13,600 Speaker 1: I was like, do not include painful noises in the 996 00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:15,799 Speaker 1: score of your movie. I take it back. This, this 997 00:57:15,880 --> 00:57:18,040 Speaker 1: is why you should have it in Scanners. That was 998 00:57:18,080 --> 00:57:24,120 Speaker 1: completely wrong. And then suddenly, without warning, the demonstrator's head explodes, 999 00:57:25,080 --> 00:57:28,920 Speaker 1: and I can see exactly why even people who haven't 1000 00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:32,320 Speaker 1: seen the movie or don't remember anything else about the 1001 00:57:32,360 --> 00:57:36,040 Speaker 1: movie will remember this scene for the rest of their lives. 1002 00:57:36,680 --> 00:57:41,000 Speaker 1: It is one of the most shocking, disgusting, unexpected, unbelievable 1003 00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:44,440 Speaker 1: moments I can think of in any movie ever. I 1004 00:57:44,440 --> 00:57:46,520 Speaker 1: would go so far as to describe this scene as 1005 00:57:46,560 --> 00:57:50,240 Speaker 1: an almost awe inspiring act of filmmaking. Like, yes, it 1006 00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:53,320 Speaker 1: is gory and gross, and so part of its effect 1007 00:57:53,400 --> 00:57:57,400 Speaker 1: is like pure vulgar exploitation of our squeamishness, But it's 1008 00:57:57,400 --> 00:58:02,480 Speaker 1: also a masterful exercise in in like building uneasiness and 1009 00:58:02,600 --> 00:58:05,840 Speaker 1: the sense of uncertainty and suspense and then relieving that 1010 00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:10,160 Speaker 1: tension with a spectacle that is so nasty it leaves 1011 00:58:10,200 --> 00:58:15,080 Speaker 1: people absolutely speechless. Yeah, you can even knowing what's coming. 1012 00:58:15,200 --> 00:58:17,120 Speaker 1: And again, you don't even have to have seen the 1013 00:58:17,160 --> 00:58:19,920 Speaker 1: film because to know what's coming, because the moment of 1014 00:58:19,920 --> 00:58:23,040 Speaker 1: the explosion has just been reported. It's become a meme. 1015 00:58:23,520 --> 00:58:25,400 Speaker 1: You can find it all over the place. It's a 1016 00:58:25,800 --> 00:58:30,000 Speaker 1: it's a gift for Jeff, you know, on various formats 1017 00:58:30,040 --> 00:58:33,680 Speaker 1: and on Discord and so forth. But when it when 1018 00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:36,280 Speaker 1: it hits in the film, Yeah, there is that feeling 1019 00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:40,960 Speaker 1: of release that built up pressure, like literal psychic pressure 1020 00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:45,040 Speaker 1: inside uh this character's head. And then the reaction to 1021 00:58:45,240 --> 00:58:47,480 Speaker 1: from all the characters that are present is pretty amazing. 1022 00:58:47,520 --> 00:58:51,880 Speaker 1: Like even uh iron size character Reva is. I don't 1023 00:58:51,880 --> 00:58:54,040 Speaker 1: know that you would say he's horrified, but there is 1024 00:58:54,080 --> 00:58:56,480 Speaker 1: a sense that he is perhaps a little shocked at 1025 00:58:56,520 --> 00:59:02,600 Speaker 1: how how gross the result sor or how powerful um 1026 00:59:02,760 --> 00:59:05,480 Speaker 1: his attack was. Like he he kind of looks down 1027 00:59:05,600 --> 00:59:09,960 Speaker 1: at the exploded head, going like, oh, yeah, I know, 1028 00:59:10,040 --> 00:59:12,960 Speaker 1: I've read stuff about how this special effect was accomplished. 1029 00:59:12,960 --> 00:59:15,320 Speaker 1: Like I think they tried it several different ways and 1030 00:59:15,360 --> 00:59:18,560 Speaker 1: thought it didn't look right, and they eventually landed on 1031 00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:20,640 Speaker 1: the way that ended up in the final movie, which 1032 00:59:20,640 --> 00:59:24,880 Speaker 1: involved a shotgun. Yeah, which is not surprising given how 1033 00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:29,600 Speaker 1: many shotguns are in this picture. I know, I was 1034 00:59:29,640 --> 00:59:31,520 Speaker 1: really this is one of the things on this viewing 1035 00:59:31,560 --> 00:59:34,400 Speaker 1: that I was kind of commenting to myself. I was like, Wow, 1036 00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:38,400 Speaker 1: lots of shotguns in this picture. This picture has a 1037 00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:42,919 Speaker 1: thing for shotguns. Uh so, yeah, a shotgun was apparently used, 1038 00:59:42,920 --> 00:59:46,360 Speaker 1: A shotgun loaded with salt I believe, Um, I used 1039 00:59:46,400 --> 00:59:49,840 Speaker 1: a latex head filled with I believe, dog food leftovers, 1040 00:59:49,920 --> 00:59:53,479 Speaker 1: fake blood, rabbit livers, all sorts of gross stuff. And 1041 00:59:53,520 --> 00:59:56,280 Speaker 1: I think one of the challenges apparently was they wanted 1042 00:59:56,280 --> 00:59:59,560 Speaker 1: it to explode, but they couldn't have it explode with 1043 00:59:59,640 --> 01:00:03,560 Speaker 1: spark because they wanted it to feel very organic, um, 1044 01:00:03,600 --> 01:00:06,800 Speaker 1: at least in this one instance of of psychic energy, 1045 01:00:06,840 --> 01:00:08,960 Speaker 1: and the picture like the ideas that like this is 1046 01:00:09,000 --> 01:00:13,600 Speaker 1: not it's not fire, it's not electricity per se. It 1047 01:00:13,720 --> 01:00:19,160 Speaker 1: is some sort of almost organic process it's taking place here. Yeah, 1048 01:00:19,200 --> 01:00:22,080 Speaker 1: so it's disgusting. But also, I mean, I just want 1049 01:00:22,080 --> 01:00:24,920 Speaker 1: to emphasize again how if you haven't seen it before 1050 01:00:24,920 --> 01:00:26,800 Speaker 1: and you don't know it's coming. I don't know if 1051 01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:29,640 Speaker 1: that's possible for anybody, because you know, everybody knows that 1052 01:00:29,720 --> 01:00:32,680 Speaker 1: about this movie, But if you didn't actually know what 1053 01:00:32,840 --> 01:00:36,000 Speaker 1: was coming going in, it would be so shocking and 1054 01:00:36,080 --> 01:00:39,720 Speaker 1: leave you absolutely baffled. And I love that, you know, 1055 01:00:39,760 --> 01:00:42,480 Speaker 1: the audience is just as baffled as like the characters 1056 01:00:42,480 --> 01:00:45,000 Speaker 1: in the room are. But then there's this moment of 1057 01:00:45,200 --> 01:00:49,160 Speaker 1: focus where people start turning to Michael Ironside and it's 1058 01:00:49,240 --> 01:00:53,360 Speaker 1: like did he somehow do that? Like did the scanner 1059 01:00:53,400 --> 01:00:57,560 Speaker 1: get scanned? And so Michael Ironside's character is apprehended by 1060 01:00:57,600 --> 01:01:00,680 Speaker 1: the Concect security guards, the head of secure He instructs 1061 01:01:00,760 --> 01:01:03,919 Speaker 1: the staff doctor to give Michael Ironside a shot of ephemarole, 1062 01:01:04,400 --> 01:01:07,440 Speaker 1: which that's the same stuff that Dr Ruth gave to 1063 01:01:07,520 --> 01:01:11,000 Speaker 1: Cameron Veil to quiet the voices earlier. And we we 1064 01:01:11,120 --> 01:01:14,120 Speaker 1: later find out that a femarole is a scan suppressant. 1065 01:01:14,200 --> 01:01:17,160 Speaker 1: It is a drug that essentially turns off a person's 1066 01:01:17,240 --> 01:01:20,560 Speaker 1: scanner abilities. So they're giving the shot to this guy 1067 01:01:20,600 --> 01:01:24,760 Speaker 1: to disable him. But for some reason, the doctor when 1068 01:01:24,800 --> 01:01:27,320 Speaker 1: he goes to give the shot to Michael Ironside, Oh, 1069 01:01:27,400 --> 01:01:30,480 Speaker 1: it's like he can't quite line it upright. It's something's 1070 01:01:30,520 --> 01:01:33,440 Speaker 1: going on in his head, and he accidentally gives the 1071 01:01:33,440 --> 01:01:37,320 Speaker 1: shot to himself instead of the Michael Ironside's hand. And 1072 01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:40,360 Speaker 1: in this we're seeing the more subtle powers of the 1073 01:01:40,840 --> 01:01:45,080 Speaker 1: of the scanner. Here, he's able to easily manipulate and 1074 01:01:45,120 --> 01:01:48,600 Speaker 1: puppet those around him into into doing things they don't 1075 01:01:48,600 --> 01:01:52,080 Speaker 1: intend to do. Right, So, while the concept cagoons are 1076 01:01:52,200 --> 01:01:57,040 Speaker 1: transporting Michael Ironside to another location by car. They get overwhelmed. 1077 01:01:57,080 --> 01:01:59,760 Speaker 1: They strangely start wrecking their own cars and turning their 1078 01:01:59,760 --> 01:02:02,960 Speaker 1: guns on themselves, while the prisoner just looks on smiling. 1079 01:02:03,920 --> 01:02:06,560 Speaker 1: Uh and uh. Well after that, time for a corporate 1080 01:02:06,640 --> 01:02:10,000 Speaker 1: leadership meaning and uh and what do you know? The 1081 01:02:10,080 --> 01:02:14,040 Speaker 1: scientists who earlier apprehended Cameron Vale this Dr Ruth. He 1082 01:02:14,200 --> 01:02:17,000 Speaker 1: is there at the table with the with the CEO 1083 01:02:17,040 --> 01:02:20,720 Speaker 1: of Consact. So the big Boss Travillion says, in a 1084 01:02:20,800 --> 01:02:22,880 Speaker 1: line that I found so funny I wrote it down. 1085 01:02:23,000 --> 01:02:26,200 Speaker 1: He says, last night, we a concect chose to reveal 1086 01:02:26,280 --> 01:02:29,960 Speaker 1: to the outside world our work with those telepathic curiosities 1087 01:02:30,040 --> 01:02:34,080 Speaker 1: known as scanners. The result six corpses and a substantial 1088 01:02:34,120 --> 01:02:38,400 Speaker 1: loss of credibility for our organization. I don't know why 1089 01:02:38,400 --> 01:02:40,640 Speaker 1: I keep wanting to compare this to RoboCop, which I 1090 01:02:40,640 --> 01:02:43,400 Speaker 1: guess came later. But the RoboCop meeting with the ED 1091 01:02:43,440 --> 01:02:46,720 Speaker 1: two oh nine when he's like, it's just a glitch. Yeah, 1092 01:02:46,880 --> 01:02:49,680 Speaker 1: I mean, I think the clamp character and grim Ones 1093 01:02:49,720 --> 01:02:52,480 Speaker 1: too has a has a very similar line where it's like, 1094 01:02:52,960 --> 01:02:55,720 Speaker 1: like the grim Ones have been rampaging and he's like, like, 1095 01:02:55,840 --> 01:02:57,840 Speaker 1: the people could actually get killed, you know. That's what's 1096 01:02:57,840 --> 01:03:00,240 Speaker 1: what's gonna do for the the company, what it's going 1097 01:03:00,280 --> 01:03:04,560 Speaker 1: to do for So anyway, in this scene, which I 1098 01:03:04,560 --> 01:03:07,200 Speaker 1: thought was a very interesting and well written scene in 1099 01:03:07,240 --> 01:03:10,360 Speaker 1: the way it kind of unfurls the scenario of the movie, 1100 01:03:10,400 --> 01:03:12,760 Speaker 1: we we learned that the company as a new director 1101 01:03:12,760 --> 01:03:16,680 Speaker 1: of internal security, Michael Ironside, made the previous one shoot 1102 01:03:16,760 --> 01:03:19,080 Speaker 1: himself in the streets, so they've got a new guy 1103 01:03:19,160 --> 01:03:23,600 Speaker 1: named Braden Keller, and Keller recommends that the company discontinue 1104 01:03:23,680 --> 01:03:26,240 Speaker 1: its scanner program at once. He says, our company is 1105 01:03:26,240 --> 01:03:29,880 Speaker 1: supposed to specialize in weapons and private armies, not fantasies. 1106 01:03:30,520 --> 01:03:33,520 Speaker 1: And Dr Ruth replies that, hey, the fact that six 1107 01:03:33,560 --> 01:03:36,120 Speaker 1: of their people were killed and the company was embarrassed 1108 01:03:36,120 --> 01:03:39,920 Speaker 1: in front of industry heads by a lone assassin using 1109 01:03:40,000 --> 01:03:44,480 Speaker 1: only scanning techniques in itself proves that scanners have immense 1110 01:03:44,600 --> 01:03:47,040 Speaker 1: potential as weapons, so we got to keep developing them 1111 01:03:47,080 --> 01:03:52,080 Speaker 1: as weapons. But Keller replies coming back saying, but hey, 1112 01:03:52,320 --> 01:03:54,920 Speaker 1: how many scanners do we have working with us right now? 1113 01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:58,280 Speaker 1: Ruth says as of last night, Nune, so apparently they 1114 01:03:58,320 --> 01:04:01,360 Speaker 1: had one guy cooperate, and that was Louis del Grande, 1115 01:04:01,560 --> 01:04:04,680 Speaker 1: the demonstrator. He was there one scanner on the payroll, 1116 01:04:05,080 --> 01:04:07,360 Speaker 1: and Michael Iron's side blew up his head. So they 1117 01:04:07,400 --> 01:04:12,160 Speaker 1: have none now. But then Ruth says, Concect Surveillance has 1118 01:04:12,200 --> 01:04:15,480 Speaker 1: gradually lost contact with all the names of scanners on 1119 01:04:15,520 --> 01:04:18,560 Speaker 1: our list, and I submit, this is not an accident. 1120 01:04:19,120 --> 01:04:22,000 Speaker 1: I think we've lost them to a program far in 1121 01:04:22,040 --> 01:04:26,320 Speaker 1: advance of ours. Oh and that's a good moment, he says. 1122 01:04:26,400 --> 01:04:28,520 Speaker 1: From my study of the situation, I've come to the 1123 01:04:28,560 --> 01:04:34,600 Speaker 1: conclusion that there is a scanner underground developed in North America. Uh. 1124 01:04:34,640 --> 01:04:37,520 Speaker 1: And Keller, you know he's not buying this. He says, 1125 01:04:37,560 --> 01:04:40,200 Speaker 1: that's ridiculous. You can't get two scanners to sit in 1126 01:04:40,240 --> 01:04:43,120 Speaker 1: the same room together without going berserk. They can't stand 1127 01:04:43,200 --> 01:04:47,919 Speaker 1: being around one another. But nevertheless, Ruth says, nope, they're 1128 01:04:47,920 --> 01:04:50,840 Speaker 1: working together, and the underground has a leader. In fact, 1129 01:04:50,880 --> 01:04:53,480 Speaker 1: he's probably the man we met the night before, and 1130 01:04:53,640 --> 01:04:56,920 Speaker 1: his name is Darryll Revock. So he's got a solution. 1131 01:04:57,600 --> 01:05:01,360 Speaker 1: Either we let Daryl Revock just strike get us without retaliation, 1132 01:05:02,040 --> 01:05:07,000 Speaker 1: or we infiltrate his organization and decapitate it, and he's 1133 01:05:07,000 --> 01:05:09,040 Speaker 1: got just the weapon to use on that, the one 1134 01:05:09,080 --> 01:05:13,000 Speaker 1: scanner he just found, Cameron Vail. And so the board approves. 1135 01:05:13,000 --> 01:05:14,840 Speaker 1: They're like, all right, well, let's move with that program. 1136 01:05:14,880 --> 01:05:16,800 Speaker 1: We don't we don't really need to see a presentation 1137 01:05:16,840 --> 01:05:18,960 Speaker 1: on it. We don't need to meet this guy. We 1138 01:05:19,040 --> 01:05:21,760 Speaker 1: trust you to do what you do. Dr Ruth. And 1139 01:05:21,800 --> 01:05:25,400 Speaker 1: here we reunite with Cameron Vail. Now Ruth is back 1140 01:05:25,400 --> 01:05:28,760 Speaker 1: in sort of the gentler mode, less in the like 1141 01:05:28,880 --> 01:05:31,720 Speaker 1: we must have weapons and assassin's mode. Now he's talking 1142 01:05:31,720 --> 01:05:34,440 Speaker 1: to Cameron again and they discuss how Cameron is not 1143 01:05:34,520 --> 01:05:37,520 Speaker 1: used to talking much. This is the scene where they 1144 01:05:37,600 --> 01:05:41,680 Speaker 1: establish how with other people's thoughts always filling his head, 1145 01:05:42,120 --> 01:05:45,760 Speaker 1: he was never able to develop an identity or a personality, 1146 01:05:46,320 --> 01:05:50,000 Speaker 1: and that the injection of a femaroal to inhibit his 1147 01:05:50,200 --> 01:05:54,040 Speaker 1: scanning abilities. Since then, he's had a kind of clarity 1148 01:05:54,080 --> 01:05:56,320 Speaker 1: in a sense of self that he never had before. 1149 01:05:56,800 --> 01:05:59,360 Speaker 1: But he's also afraid because for the first time he 1150 01:05:59,400 --> 01:06:03,320 Speaker 1: can quote here himself. Yeah, And this is something that 1151 01:06:03,440 --> 01:06:07,960 Speaker 1: this whole view of scanning is is so nicely rolled 1152 01:06:08,000 --> 01:06:10,200 Speaker 1: out throughout the film. You learn a little bit more 1153 01:06:10,240 --> 01:06:12,200 Speaker 1: and more about it and it never feels like a 1154 01:06:12,400 --> 01:06:15,920 Speaker 1: like an info dump or anything um because yeah, you 1155 01:06:16,040 --> 01:06:18,360 Speaker 1: learn that it's like what's going on with scanning is 1156 01:06:18,440 --> 01:06:20,840 Speaker 1: kind of that they describe it as like uh, nervous 1157 01:06:20,880 --> 01:06:24,400 Speaker 1: systems interacting with each other. It's this kind of like 1158 01:06:24,840 --> 01:06:30,200 Speaker 1: communal um engagement between one mind and body and the other. 1159 01:06:30,680 --> 01:06:32,720 Speaker 1: And then it just comes down to like levels of 1160 01:06:32,760 --> 01:06:38,240 Speaker 1: awareness and abilities to manipulate or block that shared state. 1161 01:06:38,720 --> 01:06:41,640 Speaker 1: So with with Cameron Veil, it's like this this idea 1162 01:06:41,760 --> 01:06:44,240 Speaker 1: that you know, it's not just that the thoughts are 1163 01:06:44,240 --> 01:06:48,680 Speaker 1: coming in, but there are neural processes that he hasn't 1164 01:06:48,720 --> 01:06:52,600 Speaker 1: really had a chance to develop because the neural processes 1165 01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:55,560 Speaker 1: of others have been flowing in to take up that 1166 01:06:55,640 --> 01:06:58,520 Speaker 1: space in him. Yeah, I think this aspect of the 1167 01:06:58,560 --> 01:07:01,480 Speaker 1: movie is so interesting, and I wonder if I almost 1168 01:07:01,600 --> 01:07:07,240 Speaker 1: detect in common with Videodrome a subtle media critique, which 1169 01:07:07,280 --> 01:07:09,920 Speaker 1: is the idea of okay, so the scanners are unable 1170 01:07:09,960 --> 01:07:13,920 Speaker 1: to develop a healthy self identity without either some kind 1171 01:07:13,960 --> 01:07:16,640 Speaker 1: of treatment like taking a femmerole the silence the voices, 1172 01:07:17,280 --> 01:07:21,520 Speaker 1: or using some other method of getting other people's voices 1173 01:07:21,600 --> 01:07:24,000 Speaker 1: out of their heads. So like some scanners seem to 1174 01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:26,600 Speaker 1: have been able to cope by like living in total 1175 01:07:26,640 --> 01:07:30,280 Speaker 1: isolation and uh and sort of like we we learned 1176 01:07:30,280 --> 01:07:33,120 Speaker 1: about one scanner later who does this through creating art 1177 01:07:33,840 --> 01:07:38,400 Speaker 1: um and I wonder could this be a commentary on 1178 01:07:38,920 --> 01:07:42,600 Speaker 1: NonStop passive consumption of media such as radio or TV, 1179 01:07:43,440 --> 01:07:46,920 Speaker 1: which if it fills your head constantly with other voices 1180 01:07:47,000 --> 01:07:51,000 Speaker 1: and you're never alone with your own thoughts, could Cronenberg 1181 01:07:51,080 --> 01:07:54,240 Speaker 1: be maybe presenting a subtle argument that that sort of 1182 01:07:54,320 --> 01:07:56,920 Speaker 1: in a way prevents you from having a personality of 1183 01:07:56,960 --> 01:08:00,400 Speaker 1: your own. Yeah, I think that's a that's a he said, 1184 01:08:00,480 --> 01:08:02,560 Speaker 1: read on it. I think there's a lot of merit 1185 01:08:02,600 --> 01:08:07,760 Speaker 1: to that. So everyone turn off the podcast No, no, no, 1186 01:08:07,960 --> 01:08:11,640 Speaker 1: keep listening to the podcasts NonStop at a double speed, 1187 01:08:11,880 --> 01:08:14,120 Speaker 1: a triple speed. It's got to be triple You can 1188 01:08:14,120 --> 01:08:16,000 Speaker 1: do triple speed if you do a half dose of 1189 01:08:16,000 --> 01:08:18,519 Speaker 1: epemarole on top of that. I mean, it's going to 1190 01:08:18,640 --> 01:08:21,840 Speaker 1: vary from listener to listener, but that's a general way 1191 01:08:21,880 --> 01:08:24,479 Speaker 1: you want to handle it. We also in this part 1192 01:08:24,479 --> 01:08:27,679 Speaker 1: of the movie get some some background on Darryl Revok, 1193 01:08:28,320 --> 01:08:31,240 Speaker 1: which is Dr Ruth shows Cameron some old footage of 1194 01:08:31,320 --> 01:08:35,320 Speaker 1: him in an institution of some kind after he drilled 1195 01:08:35,439 --> 01:08:38,120 Speaker 1: a hole in his own skull. That's the scar on 1196 01:08:38,200 --> 01:08:41,640 Speaker 1: his forehead. Uh, to to let the pressure out, to 1197 01:08:41,720 --> 01:08:44,280 Speaker 1: release the pressure, And I think we get the impression 1198 01:08:44,320 --> 01:08:47,200 Speaker 1: that that he means like the voices, and so this 1199 01:08:47,280 --> 01:08:51,040 Speaker 1: was Revlick's way of trying to cope with the cacophony. Yeah, 1200 01:08:51,040 --> 01:08:54,360 Speaker 1: this is a nice bit of Trepid Nation sploitation here, 1201 01:08:54,680 --> 01:08:57,080 Speaker 1: and and of course this is based on the very 1202 01:08:57,080 --> 01:09:00,120 Speaker 1: real history of Trepid Nation. You want to learn more 1203 01:09:00,120 --> 01:09:02,880 Speaker 1: about trap Nation, go back into the archives. We did 1204 01:09:02,920 --> 01:09:04,640 Speaker 1: an episode of stuff to blow your mind about it 1205 01:09:04,720 --> 01:09:07,960 Speaker 1: several years back. But here we get some indoctrination, right 1206 01:09:08,120 --> 01:09:12,120 Speaker 1: like Dr Ruth is teaching Cameron that Revck is his 1207 01:09:12,240 --> 01:09:14,720 Speaker 1: enemy and that reVC will try to recruit him to 1208 01:09:14,840 --> 01:09:19,240 Speaker 1: serve in his crusade to destroy the society that created him. 1209 01:09:19,320 --> 01:09:22,000 Speaker 1: And so Ruth wants to encourage Cameron to get to 1210 01:09:22,080 --> 01:09:35,160 Speaker 1: Revick first. So how is he going to find Revick? Well, 1211 01:09:35,479 --> 01:09:37,320 Speaker 1: from here, I guess maybe we can take a lighter 1212 01:09:37,400 --> 01:09:39,720 Speaker 1: skip through the plot because we don't have to go 1213 01:09:39,800 --> 01:09:42,519 Speaker 1: seene by seeing on everything. But some of the main 1214 01:09:42,600 --> 01:09:45,640 Speaker 1: plot points are He's got a first lead, which is 1215 01:09:45,760 --> 01:09:50,360 Speaker 1: another unaffiliated scanner, a guy named Benjamin Pierce, who is 1216 01:09:50,920 --> 01:09:54,360 Speaker 1: an artist, a sculptor who apparently has been able to 1217 01:09:54,560 --> 01:09:59,439 Speaker 1: keep himself saying by creating art. Yeah, creepy weird art 1218 01:09:59,520 --> 01:10:03,000 Speaker 1: with heads and all sorts of cool stuff. It makes 1219 01:10:03,000 --> 01:10:06,200 Speaker 1: for a great scene, like when they when he's talking 1220 01:10:06,240 --> 01:10:10,439 Speaker 1: to the Cameron Vale, they actually go inside a large head, 1221 01:10:11,120 --> 01:10:14,040 Speaker 1: like an enormous human head that has like a little 1222 01:10:14,120 --> 01:10:16,880 Speaker 1: like area with pillows in it inside or something, and 1223 01:10:16,920 --> 01:10:20,040 Speaker 1: so they're inside the head talking about the voices inside 1224 01:10:20,040 --> 01:10:22,599 Speaker 1: their head and it's it's it's it's nice. It works. 1225 01:10:23,200 --> 01:10:26,639 Speaker 1: So Veil tracks him down through some trickery and uh 1226 01:10:26,720 --> 01:10:30,880 Speaker 1: and some scanning techniques. But then he also, uh, you know, 1227 01:10:30,920 --> 01:10:32,639 Speaker 1: when he meets him, he's like, I need to find 1228 01:10:32,720 --> 01:10:36,080 Speaker 1: Darryl Revok and and dude wants nothing to do with this. 1229 01:10:36,160 --> 01:10:38,439 Speaker 1: Benjamin Pierce is just like, leave me alone. You don't 1230 01:10:38,479 --> 01:10:42,200 Speaker 1: want to do that. Go away. But while Veil is 1231 01:10:42,240 --> 01:10:46,040 Speaker 1: their assassin's attack, Revlick's guys show up with shotguns and 1232 01:10:46,080 --> 01:10:49,960 Speaker 1: it's just shotguns. Wall to Walt. Both types of bad 1233 01:10:50,000 --> 01:10:52,280 Speaker 1: guys in this movie have shotguns. The concept guys have 1234 01:10:52,320 --> 01:10:55,880 Speaker 1: shotguns Revlick's guys have shotguns. It's like there was a 1235 01:10:55,920 --> 01:10:59,839 Speaker 1: sale at the shotgun store. Yeah, a lot of shotguns 1236 01:10:59,880 --> 01:11:03,920 Speaker 1: and this picture. But after this attack, Veil survives sort 1237 01:11:03,960 --> 01:11:09,320 Speaker 1: of psychically repelling the assassins. But Pierce as he dies 1238 01:11:09,479 --> 01:11:14,559 Speaker 1: tells Veil psychically to find somebody named Kim Oberst. And 1239 01:11:14,600 --> 01:11:17,760 Speaker 1: this is where here in this section, Veil goes to 1240 01:11:17,880 --> 01:11:20,680 Speaker 1: Kim Obersts. Would you call it like a scanner commune 1241 01:11:20,760 --> 01:11:24,800 Speaker 1: sort of? Yeah, yeah, kind of a Kanyeane situation going on. Now. 1242 01:11:24,840 --> 01:11:27,280 Speaker 1: We already talked a bit about what happens at this place. 1243 01:11:27,320 --> 01:11:29,479 Speaker 1: They they seem to be engaging in a kind of 1244 01:11:29,640 --> 01:11:33,040 Speaker 1: ritual where they enmesh their minds with one another to 1245 01:11:33,560 --> 01:11:39,479 Speaker 1: achieve something previously unknown, beautiful and terrifying. And while they're 1246 01:11:39,479 --> 01:11:43,080 Speaker 1: doing that, Revic's assassin's track Veil down and attack yet again. 1247 01:11:43,600 --> 01:11:46,200 Speaker 1: There's a big like car chase scene, and only Veil 1248 01:11:46,320 --> 01:11:50,720 Speaker 1: and Kim Oberst survive. Yeah, the great sequence where the 1249 01:11:51,040 --> 01:11:53,840 Speaker 1: bus is crashed through a record store. I don't know 1250 01:11:53,880 --> 01:11:56,559 Speaker 1: about you, but I really enjoyed checking out all these 1251 01:11:56,640 --> 01:11:59,680 Speaker 1: various records in the background, some of which were instantly recognizable, 1252 01:11:59,760 --> 01:12:02,880 Speaker 1: Like they have multiple copies of a Frank Zappa album. 1253 01:12:02,920 --> 01:12:05,360 Speaker 1: Back there you see a Bowie album. But then there 1254 01:12:05,400 --> 01:12:07,439 Speaker 1: was other stuff I just had to look up. There's 1255 01:12:07,479 --> 01:12:11,200 Speaker 1: this one individual that there's a poster for Herman Brood, 1256 01:12:11,280 --> 01:12:13,240 Speaker 1: and I was like, has that made up? Is this 1257 01:12:13,360 --> 01:12:17,479 Speaker 1: some sort of a nod to the Brood or something? 1258 01:12:17,560 --> 01:12:20,040 Speaker 1: But I know this is a This is a Dutch 1259 01:12:20,160 --> 01:12:22,160 Speaker 1: musician that I just wasn't familiar with. It was a 1260 01:12:22,320 --> 01:12:25,519 Speaker 1: a pretty big deal in some circles. Um and you know, 1261 01:12:25,720 --> 01:12:28,639 Speaker 1: various other little details I had to look up and 1262 01:12:28,760 --> 01:12:32,519 Speaker 1: uh yeah, just a just a well crafted sequence and 1263 01:12:32,520 --> 01:12:36,320 Speaker 1: and and well constructed set um in in in a 1264 01:12:36,400 --> 01:12:37,880 Speaker 1: in a film that you're not going to remember for 1265 01:12:37,920 --> 01:12:42,880 Speaker 1: its bus crash. Well anyway, after this whole sequence, Veil 1266 01:12:43,080 --> 01:12:47,200 Speaker 1: uncovers a conspiracy. He does some corporate espionage and figures 1267 01:12:47,240 --> 01:12:50,640 Speaker 1: out that Michael Ironside is working out of the headquarters 1268 01:12:50,720 --> 01:12:55,559 Speaker 1: of a company called BioCarbon Amalgamate. Uh and he he 1269 01:12:55,840 --> 01:12:59,000 Speaker 1: sneaks in and he does some computer hacking and determines 1270 01:12:59,080 --> 01:13:03,320 Speaker 1: that they are manufacturing large quantities of a femarole and 1271 01:13:03,400 --> 01:13:06,080 Speaker 1: shipping them out for some secret purpose. And he wants 1272 01:13:06,080 --> 01:13:10,160 Speaker 1: to find out why. But access to that information is restricted. Yeah. 1273 01:13:10,400 --> 01:13:12,840 Speaker 1: I love the hacking in this because it is very 1274 01:13:12,880 --> 01:13:14,200 Speaker 1: I mean, it's very much in line with what you 1275 01:13:14,240 --> 01:13:17,320 Speaker 1: also see Ian Ridley Scott's Alien. This is that period 1276 01:13:17,360 --> 01:13:20,559 Speaker 1: where computers worked by asking them a question and then 1277 01:13:20,600 --> 01:13:23,960 Speaker 1: the computer would tell you. You You would type request access 1278 01:13:24,280 --> 01:13:27,240 Speaker 1: and I would say access denied, and then you would 1279 01:13:27,240 --> 01:13:32,880 Speaker 1: type request override the access denied. So anyway, Veil and 1280 01:13:32,960 --> 01:13:34,720 Speaker 1: Overest want to find out what's going on, so they 1281 01:13:34,720 --> 01:13:37,519 Speaker 1: come in to meet Veil's handlers with CONSAC, and then 1282 01:13:37,560 --> 01:13:39,960 Speaker 1: there's a big double cross because we find out that 1283 01:13:40,000 --> 01:13:44,680 Speaker 1: the head of security at CONSAC, Keller, Uh, he's secretly 1284 01:13:44,720 --> 01:13:48,160 Speaker 1: working in cahoots with REVK and he wants to kill them. Uh. 1285 01:13:48,200 --> 01:13:53,200 Speaker 1: They escape, but unfortunately Patrick McGowan or fortunately or unfortunately 1286 01:13:53,240 --> 01:13:56,679 Speaker 1: again and morally ambiguous character uh he he is killed 1287 01:13:56,720 --> 01:13:59,439 Speaker 1: in the process. And here we get into what I 1288 01:13:59,439 --> 01:14:02,439 Speaker 1: think many people now regard as the dumbest part of 1289 01:14:02,479 --> 01:14:04,519 Speaker 1: the movie. And I would say, if there is anything 1290 01:14:04,560 --> 01:14:07,120 Speaker 1: in the movie that doesn't really work well, it is 1291 01:14:07,160 --> 01:14:09,799 Speaker 1: what we're about to talk about. It is the sequence 1292 01:14:09,800 --> 01:14:13,200 Speaker 1: where Cameron is told by Dr Ruth that he can 1293 01:14:14,120 --> 01:14:18,559 Speaker 1: get the computer files by scanning the computer the same 1294 01:14:18,600 --> 01:14:22,160 Speaker 1: way he scans a human, because a computer also has 1295 01:14:22,160 --> 01:14:25,639 Speaker 1: a nervous system, So he goes to a pay phone 1296 01:14:25,760 --> 01:14:30,040 Speaker 1: and scans the computer through the phone line. Yeah, I 1297 01:14:30,080 --> 01:14:31,960 Speaker 1: feel like this is a part of the film that 1298 01:14:32,040 --> 01:14:36,479 Speaker 1: that even I just can't imagine anyone being on board 1299 01:14:36,520 --> 01:14:39,120 Speaker 1: with this at the time, because I just don't feel 1300 01:14:39,160 --> 01:14:43,040 Speaker 1: like a computer is a nervous system, and certainly these 1301 01:14:43,040 --> 01:14:46,880 Speaker 1: computers are not nervous systems. However, if you were to 1302 01:14:46,960 --> 01:14:50,680 Speaker 1: make scanners today and set it in the future, I 1303 01:14:50,680 --> 01:14:53,559 Speaker 1: could very well imagine a situation where your computers are 1304 01:14:53,600 --> 01:14:57,920 Speaker 1: wet were computers that have some sort of organic neural 1305 01:14:58,800 --> 01:15:01,439 Speaker 1: component to them, And in that case, I think you 1306 01:15:01,479 --> 01:15:04,760 Speaker 1: could you could make an argument that, well, our psychics 1307 01:15:04,760 --> 01:15:07,280 Speaker 1: are able to commune with the computer because there is 1308 01:15:07,320 --> 01:15:10,880 Speaker 1: this they have this organic base in common. So if 1309 01:15:10,920 --> 01:15:14,000 Speaker 1: the if they were trying to hack not the computer 1310 01:15:14,040 --> 01:15:16,920 Speaker 1: system here, but the elevator from the lift, you know, 1311 01:15:16,960 --> 01:15:21,160 Speaker 1: that would make more sense. Oh man, yeah, that would 1312 01:15:21,160 --> 01:15:24,599 Speaker 1: be good. But yeah, I think this I regard as 1313 01:15:24,640 --> 01:15:26,639 Speaker 1: the weakest point in the film. I think the sequence 1314 01:15:26,680 --> 01:15:30,120 Speaker 1: goes on a little too long. Um, it's not as 1315 01:15:30,360 --> 01:15:33,400 Speaker 1: interesting as the rest of the movie. Is so there's 1316 01:15:33,439 --> 01:15:36,920 Speaker 1: like an attack and counter attack through like the computers, 1317 01:15:37,280 --> 01:15:40,639 Speaker 1: uh self destruct features and so forth, and then there's 1318 01:15:40,640 --> 01:15:44,880 Speaker 1: a big explosion. Yeah, there is that cool. They're doing 1319 01:15:44,880 --> 01:15:47,720 Speaker 1: this all by the way, by by calling in from 1320 01:15:47,720 --> 01:15:52,479 Speaker 1: a pay phone to to hack it um and and 1321 01:15:52,600 --> 01:15:55,120 Speaker 1: when everything blows up there trying to like like shut 1322 01:15:55,160 --> 01:15:58,120 Speaker 1: it down and destroy camera and veil, and they don't 1323 01:15:58,160 --> 01:15:59,960 Speaker 1: quite destroy them, but they do channel a lot of 1324 01:16:00,040 --> 01:16:04,240 Speaker 1: psychic energy through a you know this uh this remote 1325 01:16:04,800 --> 01:16:06,720 Speaker 1: phone booth, and so we get the scene with the 1326 01:16:07,080 --> 01:16:10,800 Speaker 1: phone receiver melting in his hand and then yea more explosions. 1327 01:16:10,800 --> 01:16:13,559 Speaker 1: So there's some good stuff sprinkled in there. But yeah, 1328 01:16:13,560 --> 01:16:15,120 Speaker 1: you're right, it goes on a bit long, and of 1329 01:16:15,160 --> 01:16:17,439 Speaker 1: course it is rooted in this kind of absurdity that 1330 01:16:17,520 --> 01:16:19,240 Speaker 1: feels a little bit out of pace with the rest 1331 01:16:19,240 --> 01:16:22,439 Speaker 1: of the picture. I mean, I like an exploding telephone booth. 1332 01:16:22,520 --> 01:16:25,400 Speaker 1: That's funny. But yeah, it's a little totally different than 1333 01:16:25,439 --> 01:16:28,559 Speaker 1: the rest of the film. Yeah, but the good news 1334 01:16:28,640 --> 01:16:30,680 Speaker 1: is that once they get past that, like we're kind 1335 01:16:30,680 --> 01:16:33,800 Speaker 1: of back on the the original rails. So if you 1336 01:16:33,840 --> 01:16:37,000 Speaker 1: don't like this segment of the picture, uh, you don't 1337 01:16:37,040 --> 01:16:38,479 Speaker 1: have to worry too much about it because it's not 1338 01:16:38,479 --> 01:16:42,040 Speaker 1: going to ultimately play into the end game as much. Right. Okay, 1339 01:16:42,040 --> 01:16:43,800 Speaker 1: So if you don't want the final twist of the 1340 01:16:43,840 --> 01:16:47,720 Speaker 1: movie revealed, uh, you may take this opportunity to tune out, 1341 01:16:47,800 --> 01:16:50,080 Speaker 1: because we we have to to talk about what the 1342 01:16:50,320 --> 01:16:54,839 Speaker 1: big reveal is. What was it? What's inside the secret computer? Well, 1343 01:16:55,920 --> 01:16:59,920 Speaker 1: it is a list of doctors who are prescribing ephemaral. 1344 01:17:00,520 --> 01:17:03,000 Speaker 1: Are they're prescribing it? What do they have scanner patients 1345 01:17:03,040 --> 01:17:06,000 Speaker 1: who want to make the voices stop? No, In fact, 1346 01:17:06,080 --> 01:17:10,200 Speaker 1: they're prescribing a femarole to pregnant women as a just 1347 01:17:10,320 --> 01:17:14,080 Speaker 1: regular pregnant women as a tranquilizer. And we discover in 1348 01:17:14,120 --> 01:17:16,920 Speaker 1: fact that this is linked to the origin of the 1349 01:17:17,000 --> 01:17:20,840 Speaker 1: first batch of scanners. So if femarole the drug was 1350 01:17:20,920 --> 01:17:25,880 Speaker 1: developed by Dr ruth By Patrick McGowan as a tranquilizer 1351 01:17:25,920 --> 01:17:28,680 Speaker 1: to be used during pregnancy, but it had the unintended 1352 01:17:28,800 --> 01:17:33,240 Speaker 1: side effect of causing children to be born with telepathic powers, 1353 01:17:33,280 --> 01:17:37,880 Speaker 1: to be born as scanners, and after they discovered this, 1354 01:17:38,000 --> 01:17:40,760 Speaker 1: it was discontinued. But they're all these scanners out there 1355 01:17:40,760 --> 01:17:45,120 Speaker 1: now and Revick and his co conspirators are sending out 1356 01:17:45,280 --> 01:17:48,120 Speaker 1: more of this drug to be prescribed because he wants 1357 01:17:48,120 --> 01:17:51,919 Speaker 1: to make a new generation of scanners and eventually recruit 1358 01:17:52,000 --> 01:17:56,160 Speaker 1: them for his army. Mm hmm. It's a fiendish plot, 1359 01:17:56,840 --> 01:17:59,479 Speaker 1: but one that works, like it's not like Rebvock has 1360 01:18:00,600 --> 01:18:04,360 Speaker 1: hey for him a rational plan, like he wants to 1361 01:18:04,640 --> 01:18:07,960 Speaker 1: make more people that are touched by the same ability 1362 01:18:08,520 --> 01:18:11,599 Speaker 1: uh so that they can become the new status quote 1363 01:18:11,600 --> 01:18:15,120 Speaker 1: that they can take over and they can rebel against 1364 01:18:15,200 --> 01:18:18,200 Speaker 1: the uh the normal people that have made things so 1365 01:18:18,280 --> 01:18:23,040 Speaker 1: difficult for them. But Revck captures Veil and Oberst, and 1366 01:18:23,080 --> 01:18:25,679 Speaker 1: then it comes to the final showdown, which is another 1367 01:18:26,320 --> 01:18:29,200 Speaker 1: I'd say, you know, if there's a standout secondary scene 1368 01:18:29,200 --> 01:18:32,080 Speaker 1: in the movie, people remember after the demonstration with the 1369 01:18:32,080 --> 01:18:35,960 Speaker 1: exploding head, it's probably this last scene, the showdown. Yeah, 1370 01:18:36,000 --> 01:18:38,760 Speaker 1: like can they top the exploding head? Well, they don't 1371 01:18:38,760 --> 01:18:41,320 Speaker 1: try to top it. They do something different that is 1372 01:18:41,520 --> 01:18:44,240 Speaker 1: even more horrifying in my opinion, when we also get 1373 01:18:44,280 --> 01:18:50,200 Speaker 1: the reveal that that Revock and Veil our brothers, or 1374 01:18:50,280 --> 01:18:52,120 Speaker 1: at least that's what Revck says. Who knows if we 1375 01:18:52,160 --> 01:18:54,679 Speaker 1: can trust him, but he says that they're both Dr 1376 01:18:54,800 --> 01:18:57,720 Speaker 1: Ruth's sons. That they're the oldest of the Scanners and 1377 01:18:57,760 --> 01:19:01,840 Speaker 1: therefore the most powerful. Yeah, and somehow Dr Ruth did 1378 01:19:01,920 --> 01:19:04,360 Speaker 1: something to make them like more powerful than all the 1379 01:19:04,360 --> 01:19:07,960 Speaker 1: other Scanners, which is why they have these special abilities. Yeah, 1380 01:19:08,120 --> 01:19:11,240 Speaker 1: they can overpower even the other Scanners. Yeah, they got 1381 01:19:11,320 --> 01:19:13,479 Speaker 1: like extra if him are all in their their milk 1382 01:19:13,600 --> 01:19:16,479 Speaker 1: when their babies or something. So yeah, we basically we 1383 01:19:16,520 --> 01:19:19,360 Speaker 1: get the scene which you know might expect or if 1384 01:19:19,360 --> 01:19:23,400 Speaker 1: you've never seen it before, where Rebick is saying, join me, brother, uh, 1385 01:19:23,439 --> 01:19:25,479 Speaker 1: you know, joining me on the dark side will rise up. 1386 01:19:25,479 --> 01:19:28,800 Speaker 1: We'll rule over the new Scanner babies together and take 1387 01:19:28,840 --> 01:19:32,240 Speaker 1: over the world. Cameron Valego says says, Nope, I'm not 1388 01:19:32,240 --> 01:19:34,280 Speaker 1: going to do that, and hits Revick in the head 1389 01:19:34,280 --> 01:19:36,600 Speaker 1: with a paper weight, and at that point it's on. 1390 01:19:36,880 --> 01:19:41,000 Speaker 1: It's a Scanner battle to the death with one psychic 1391 01:19:41,080 --> 01:19:45,360 Speaker 1: mind attempting to dominate the other. And Oh, I don't 1392 01:19:45,400 --> 01:19:47,680 Speaker 1: know about you, Joe, but this, this entire sequence, the 1393 01:19:47,680 --> 01:19:50,719 Speaker 1: sequence that I've seen before. Mind, you just really creep 1394 01:19:50,760 --> 01:19:53,880 Speaker 1: me out this time. And I mean it. And I've 1395 01:19:53,880 --> 01:19:56,400 Speaker 1: seen a lot of stuff in films, you know. I'm 1396 01:19:56,439 --> 01:19:58,679 Speaker 1: a kid who grew up watching The Bad guy's melt 1397 01:19:58,720 --> 01:20:01,760 Speaker 1: in slow motion on the Raid is VHS. Yeah, it's 1398 01:20:02,160 --> 01:20:06,479 Speaker 1: gross and it's it's hard to watch, but it's also 1399 01:20:06,560 --> 01:20:09,880 Speaker 1: pretty astounding. Yeah, it's And I was really trying to 1400 01:20:10,040 --> 01:20:12,720 Speaker 1: break down like why is this so disturbing and why 1401 01:20:12,760 --> 01:20:15,920 Speaker 1: does it work so well? And I think they're basically 1402 01:20:15,920 --> 01:20:18,600 Speaker 1: like three factors. So first of all, uh that the 1403 01:20:18,680 --> 01:20:22,280 Speaker 1: obvious our protagonists and antagonists here are both like literally 1404 01:20:22,320 --> 01:20:25,600 Speaker 1: destroying each other's bodies with their psychic powers here, and 1405 01:20:25,680 --> 01:20:29,240 Speaker 1: perhaps destroying their own bodies as part of it as 1406 01:20:29,280 --> 01:20:33,280 Speaker 1: they channel these destructive powers. So like you know, faces pulsating, 1407 01:20:33,680 --> 01:20:39,360 Speaker 1: stuff bursting, Um, it's just really it's it's hard to watch, 1408 01:20:39,439 --> 01:20:45,519 Speaker 1: especially your hero go through this level of physical trauma. Yeah. Secondly, 1409 01:20:45,560 --> 01:20:48,400 Speaker 1: the effects are just really good. These are just really 1410 01:20:48,479 --> 01:20:52,639 Speaker 1: solid practical effects. Like when Veil ends up gouging out 1411 01:20:52,720 --> 01:20:55,120 Speaker 1: parts of his own face that have just been bulging 1412 01:20:55,240 --> 01:20:59,240 Speaker 1: and pulsating and popping, is just really just it's just 1413 01:20:59,520 --> 01:21:03,080 Speaker 1: really roasts. It's awful. I think part of the effect 1414 01:21:03,120 --> 01:21:06,120 Speaker 1: of why this scene is so bad because there are 1415 01:21:06,160 --> 01:21:09,000 Speaker 1: other scenes where, like the hero of the movie gets injured, 1416 01:21:09,200 --> 01:21:12,519 Speaker 1: even you know, traumatic injuries that aren't as awful as this, 1417 01:21:13,160 --> 01:21:15,920 Speaker 1: And I think it's because the injury appears to be 1418 01:21:16,040 --> 01:21:20,840 Speaker 1: some sort of deep systemic malfunction of the body rather 1419 01:21:20,920 --> 01:21:25,559 Speaker 1: than just like getting like cuts or or impacts or something. Yeah, 1420 01:21:25,600 --> 01:21:27,599 Speaker 1: this is not our hero getting shot in the shoulder 1421 01:21:28,160 --> 01:21:31,040 Speaker 1: or anything. This is like gouging parts of his face 1422 01:21:31,439 --> 01:21:34,360 Speaker 1: out and then eventually his eyeballs explode. That that level 1423 01:21:34,400 --> 01:21:37,679 Speaker 1: of of trauma. And I think that the third factor 1424 01:21:37,800 --> 01:21:40,200 Speaker 1: is that the body horror that we see in this scene. 1425 01:21:40,400 --> 01:21:44,719 Speaker 1: It's this weird mix of traumatic injury and mutation without 1426 01:21:44,800 --> 01:21:47,519 Speaker 1: ever actually crossing the line into a clear sense of 1427 01:21:47,600 --> 01:21:50,679 Speaker 1: movie mutation. You know, It's like their bodies don't seem 1428 01:21:50,720 --> 01:21:55,120 Speaker 1: to becoming completely other, but the weird energies flowing through 1429 01:21:55,160 --> 01:21:58,920 Speaker 1: them are kind of horrifically exposing a hidden anatomy, and 1430 01:21:58,960 --> 01:22:02,840 Speaker 1: it's just dreadful to hold. Like, like when you see 1431 01:22:02,960 --> 01:22:06,360 Speaker 1: veins like pulsating in their arms and across their face, 1432 01:22:06,400 --> 01:22:08,760 Speaker 1: You're like, that doesn't match up to what I know 1433 01:22:08,920 --> 01:22:12,200 Speaker 1: is underneath the face or the arm. But I'm totally 1434 01:22:12,200 --> 01:22:16,240 Speaker 1: believing that that what is being revealed there is real. Yeah, 1435 01:22:16,360 --> 01:22:19,320 Speaker 1: well it's the secret war being revealed. Yeah, but at 1436 01:22:19,360 --> 01:22:22,599 Speaker 1: this time it's like underneath the skin. So yeah, they're 1437 01:22:22,640 --> 01:22:27,639 Speaker 1: they're pulsating and exploding, eventually erupting into fire. We get 1438 01:22:27,640 --> 01:22:31,280 Speaker 1: this kind of religious um aura to it. His veil 1439 01:22:31,439 --> 01:22:36,160 Speaker 1: has twin flames and both of his palms and then yeah, exploding, 1440 01:22:36,760 --> 01:22:40,439 Speaker 1: And then we get the the ending here where Oberus 1441 01:22:40,479 --> 01:22:43,639 Speaker 1: comes in. She finds Veils just husk of a body. 1442 01:22:44,040 --> 01:22:48,559 Speaker 1: He's just completely immolated, and then she hears his voice 1443 01:22:48,840 --> 01:22:51,519 Speaker 1: from over in the corner. There's veils code. He has 1444 01:22:51,560 --> 01:22:54,439 Speaker 1: this big kind of cool jacket. BIG's not a jacket, 1445 01:22:54,439 --> 01:22:56,800 Speaker 1: it's a full fledged coat that he's wearing and most 1446 01:22:56,840 --> 01:22:59,000 Speaker 1: of the film and there's a character in the corner 1447 01:22:59,040 --> 01:23:01,519 Speaker 1: with that coat over them. They pull the code back 1448 01:23:01,840 --> 01:23:04,800 Speaker 1: and it looks like Revic, but it's not Revick's voice. 1449 01:23:04,800 --> 01:23:07,600 Speaker 1: It's not Revick's mind in there, like clearly in this 1450 01:23:07,720 --> 01:23:11,479 Speaker 1: battle of wills, this battle of minds vey'l one, and 1451 01:23:11,520 --> 01:23:15,559 Speaker 1: it's now his mind that occupies a Revock's body. Yeah, 1452 01:23:15,600 --> 01:23:17,400 Speaker 1: he like pulled a fast one on him. We're led 1453 01:23:17,400 --> 01:23:20,559 Speaker 1: to believe that, like he let Revok destroy his body, 1454 01:23:20,600 --> 01:23:25,280 Speaker 1: but somehow traded places with his consciousness. Yeah. Yeah, And 1455 01:23:25,320 --> 01:23:29,400 Speaker 1: so we get this wonderful Cronenbergie ending where the end 1456 01:23:29,439 --> 01:23:32,600 Speaker 1: is the beginning. Our heroes have won because they embraced 1457 01:23:32,640 --> 01:23:36,920 Speaker 1: extreme change and extreme weirdness and uh and perhaps kind 1458 01:23:36,920 --> 01:23:39,400 Speaker 1: of embraced a kind of post human identity. You know, 1459 01:23:39,760 --> 01:23:43,080 Speaker 1: it's like the way out of this problem is through 1460 01:23:43,120 --> 01:23:47,759 Speaker 1: it and you know, becoming this different being so computer 1461 01:23:47,800 --> 01:23:51,080 Speaker 1: scanning subplot aside, I think Scanners holds up great. This 1462 01:23:51,200 --> 01:23:55,240 Speaker 1: is uh, it's excellent. It's it's gross in the parts 1463 01:23:55,280 --> 01:23:57,760 Speaker 1: that are supposed to be gross, it's shocking and the 1464 01:23:57,800 --> 01:24:00,360 Speaker 1: parts that are supposed to be shocking. It's also think 1465 01:24:00,400 --> 01:24:03,920 Speaker 1: actually much smarter and more thoughtful and more interesting than 1466 01:24:04,040 --> 01:24:06,960 Speaker 1: a lot of initial reviewers gave it credit for. Yeah, 1467 01:24:07,080 --> 01:24:09,840 Speaker 1: and weirder than you might remember it. I found it 1468 01:24:10,040 --> 01:24:13,760 Speaker 1: weirder than I remembered it. Yeah. I should also say that, 1469 01:24:13,800 --> 01:24:16,200 Speaker 1: in rewatching the film, I was struck by the amount 1470 01:24:16,240 --> 01:24:20,120 Speaker 1: of care it seems to to give this granted fantastic 1471 01:24:20,160 --> 01:24:24,519 Speaker 1: and sci fi horror vision of neurodiversity. So, to be clear, 1472 01:24:24,560 --> 01:24:26,840 Speaker 1: horror movies are not a great place to look for 1473 01:24:26,920 --> 01:24:30,320 Speaker 1: nuanced or insightful views of things like mental illness. But 1474 01:24:30,400 --> 01:24:32,760 Speaker 1: there's there's probably a lot to dissect here. Concerning the 1475 01:24:32,800 --> 01:24:36,639 Speaker 1: way the Scanner characters present these different ideas of neuro 1476 01:24:36,720 --> 01:24:41,120 Speaker 1: divergent again fantasy neuro divergent people in the given world. 1477 01:24:41,720 --> 01:24:44,160 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, like the way the struggles of the different 1478 01:24:44,200 --> 01:24:47,920 Speaker 1: Scanner characters have manifested and like different outcomes in their lives, 1479 01:24:47,920 --> 01:24:50,160 Speaker 1: and we see the coping strategies they've come up with, 1480 01:24:50,320 --> 01:24:53,640 Speaker 1: and uh, yeah, I think that's that is interesting, Like 1481 01:24:53,720 --> 01:24:56,679 Speaker 1: that that Vale never really had a coping strategy until 1482 01:24:56,720 --> 01:24:59,600 Speaker 1: he got a medication, that like one guy had a 1483 01:24:59,640 --> 01:25:04,880 Speaker 1: coping strategy through through art that Kim Obrist did through community. Yeah, 1484 01:25:05,240 --> 01:25:07,800 Speaker 1: Like like he has that kind of heartbreaking moment with 1485 01:25:08,000 --> 01:25:11,000 Speaker 1: the artist with Pierce where uh he said, like Pierce 1486 01:25:11,040 --> 01:25:13,240 Speaker 1: is describing how the art keeps him sane and he 1487 01:25:13,600 --> 01:25:16,320 Speaker 1: and granted, he's you know, doing his spy game kind 1488 01:25:16,320 --> 01:25:19,760 Speaker 1: of thing here, so he's being deceitful, but he he 1489 01:25:19,840 --> 01:25:22,040 Speaker 1: says what seems rather honestly, He's like, but I don't 1490 01:25:22,040 --> 01:25:24,599 Speaker 1: I don't have anything like that. I don't I don't 1491 01:25:24,640 --> 01:25:28,320 Speaker 1: have this thing that you have to help me combat 1492 01:25:28,360 --> 01:25:30,040 Speaker 1: this problem. And that's why I need you to take 1493 01:25:30,080 --> 01:25:32,080 Speaker 1: me to Revock. And uh, I don't know that that 1494 01:25:32,080 --> 01:25:34,600 Speaker 1: that was that kind of resonated with me. Really, that 1495 01:25:34,760 --> 01:25:38,360 Speaker 1: was a nice small moment in this film. Yeah, I agree, 1496 01:25:39,080 --> 01:25:45,280 Speaker 1: all right, that's Scanners, Uh, the nineteen eighty one classic. Um. 1497 01:25:45,560 --> 01:25:48,519 Speaker 1: I don't think we'll be covering Scanners too, Scanners three 1498 01:25:49,040 --> 01:25:51,320 Speaker 1: or the Scanner Cop movies. I don't know, never say never, 1499 01:25:51,439 --> 01:25:55,240 Speaker 1: but I feel like we we covered the best one here. Yeah. 1500 01:25:55,280 --> 01:25:58,400 Speaker 1: I think the sequels kind of they keep all the 1501 01:25:58,479 --> 01:26:01,800 Speaker 1: gross stuff and the heads exploding, but they do not 1502 01:26:02,000 --> 01:26:07,360 Speaker 1: retain the uh, the level of thoughtfulness of the original. Yeah. Mostly, 1503 01:26:07,400 --> 01:26:09,679 Speaker 1: I think I remember at one point, this was years 1504 01:26:09,680 --> 01:26:12,120 Speaker 1: and years back, we were talking about scanner face and 1505 01:26:12,360 --> 01:26:16,439 Speaker 1: what actors make the best scanner face. So I don't 1506 01:26:16,479 --> 01:26:19,240 Speaker 1: remember our findings, but I think we generally agreed that 1507 01:26:19,280 --> 01:26:22,639 Speaker 1: Michael Ironside is hired to beat. I think Scanner Cop 1508 01:26:22,640 --> 01:26:25,519 Speaker 1: has Richard Lynch in it, and I believe Richard Lynch 1509 01:26:25,560 --> 01:26:28,720 Speaker 1: had a had a pretty good scanner face. I bet 1510 01:26:28,760 --> 01:26:31,040 Speaker 1: he had a good one. Yeah. Um, And where David 1511 01:26:31,080 --> 01:26:34,519 Speaker 1: Hewlett is in the initial sequel and I haven't seen 1512 01:26:34,600 --> 01:26:36,559 Speaker 1: him in that, or I don't remember seeing him in that, 1513 01:26:36,600 --> 01:26:39,080 Speaker 1: but I've seen Hewlett and other things that he's quite good, 1514 01:26:39,080 --> 01:26:41,320 Speaker 1: and so I was really impressed with a role that 1515 01:26:41,360 --> 01:26:44,720 Speaker 1: he has in gerald Do Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. He 1516 01:26:44,760 --> 01:26:48,679 Speaker 1: plays this grave robber who's who's desperate to get enough 1517 01:26:49,160 --> 01:26:52,439 Speaker 1: gold fillings out of teeth to pay off bookies, and 1518 01:26:52,479 --> 01:26:55,200 Speaker 1: so he's trying to rob graves and a haunted cemetery 1519 01:26:55,240 --> 01:26:57,360 Speaker 1: and counting all sorts of horror and it's a it's 1520 01:26:57,360 --> 01:27:01,719 Speaker 1: a it's a wonderful performance. All right, Well, we're gonna 1521 01:27:01,720 --> 01:27:03,800 Speaker 1: go ahead and shut the book on Scanners here, but 1522 01:27:03,880 --> 01:27:05,320 Speaker 1: we'd love to hear from everyone out there if you 1523 01:27:05,360 --> 01:27:09,559 Speaker 1: have memories or impressions of Scanners, if you saw it 1524 01:27:09,600 --> 01:27:11,400 Speaker 1: in the theater. We always love to hear those stories 1525 01:27:11,400 --> 01:27:13,719 Speaker 1: that people who saw these these films when they reginally 1526 01:27:13,760 --> 01:27:16,000 Speaker 1: came out, or you have memories of the first time 1527 01:27:16,040 --> 01:27:18,320 Speaker 1: you saw it. Um, I would love to hear from 1528 01:27:18,360 --> 01:27:20,080 Speaker 1: anyone who did not know that head was going to 1529 01:27:20,120 --> 01:27:22,439 Speaker 1: blow up? What did you think when you watch this 1530 01:27:22,520 --> 01:27:25,799 Speaker 1: film for the first time. A reminder that we're primarily 1531 01:27:25,840 --> 01:27:28,360 Speaker 1: a science podcast with core episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays 1532 01:27:28,360 --> 01:27:29,920 Speaker 1: and the stuff to Blow your mind podcast feed, but 1533 01:27:29,960 --> 01:27:32,559 Speaker 1: here on Friday's we set aside most serious concerns and 1534 01:27:32,600 --> 01:27:34,200 Speaker 1: we just talk about a weird film on a Weird 1535 01:27:34,240 --> 01:27:37,639 Speaker 1: House Cinema. I blog about these episodes at some meta 1536 01:27:37,760 --> 01:27:40,600 Speaker 1: music dot com. But also you can go to letterbox 1537 01:27:40,680 --> 01:27:42,200 Speaker 1: dot com. It's l E T T E R B 1538 01:27:42,280 --> 01:27:45,000 Speaker 1: O x D and you'll find our user name on 1539 01:27:45,040 --> 01:27:47,080 Speaker 1: there is weird House. We have a list of all 1540 01:27:47,080 --> 01:27:50,320 Speaker 1: the films we've covered. This is the ninety nine film 1541 01:27:50,360 --> 01:27:52,960 Speaker 1: that we've covered on Weird How Cinema. The next film 1542 01:27:52,960 --> 01:27:55,439 Speaker 1: we cover will be the one film. Who knows what 1543 01:27:55,479 --> 01:27:57,840 Speaker 1: we'll pick for that. Oh, that's putting a lot of 1544 01:27:57,840 --> 01:28:00,519 Speaker 1: pressure on Rolbi. We gotta make a good choice, yeah, 1545 01:28:00,640 --> 01:28:03,840 Speaker 1: or you just let that pressure dissipate by exploding through 1546 01:28:03,840 --> 01:28:05,880 Speaker 1: the head. I don't know. Wait, maybe we just pick 1547 01:28:05,960 --> 01:28:08,599 Speaker 1: something like normal and it will become special to us 1548 01:28:08,640 --> 01:28:12,679 Speaker 1: because it was the hundred picture. There you go, huge 1549 01:28:12,680 --> 01:28:16,240 Speaker 1: thanks to our audio producer J J. Pauseway. If you 1550 01:28:16,280 --> 01:28:18,479 Speaker 1: would like to get in touch with us with feedback 1551 01:28:18,560 --> 01:28:21,160 Speaker 1: on this episode or any other, to suggest a topic 1552 01:28:21,200 --> 01:28:23,120 Speaker 1: for the future, or just to say hello, you can 1553 01:28:23,200 --> 01:28:26,000 Speaker 1: email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind 1554 01:28:26,160 --> 01:28:35,840 Speaker 1: dot com. Stuff to Blow your Mind is production of 1555 01:28:35,880 --> 01:28:38,519 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, 1556 01:28:38,720 --> 01:28:41,439 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever 1557 01:28:41,479 --> 01:28:42,799 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.