Speaker 1: Welcome to Playback, a Variety podcast. I'm your host, Variety
Speaker 1: Awards Editor Chris Tapley. On today's show, we throw around
Speaker 1: a few ideas for Oscar's host and take stock of
Speaker 1: Moonlight's big box office weekend and limited release. A little
Speaker 1: bit later, are we talking to hacks All Ridge director
Speaker 1: Mel Gibson. So stick around, okay, folks, I'm back here
Speaker 1: with Janelle. Good morning, Good morning. Now I'm just Janelle.
Speaker 1: I'm not Janelle first name, Deputy Awards and Features Editor,
Speaker 1: Queen of all the Fish in the Ocean, and smiling
Speaker 1: Janelle Riley, I am smiling on a Monday. That's weird.
Speaker 1: Smiling Janelle. Yes, so Moonlight, oh so happy? Crushed it
Speaker 1: at the box office release. What were the numbers? Did
Speaker 1: you have those pulled up? I did one second ago. Um,
Speaker 1: it was basically four Street and fourteen thousand, seven hundred
Speaker 1: and forty opening weekend in four theaters for a per
Speaker 1: location average of a hundred and three six hundred seventy five. Man,
Speaker 1: I think people like us deserve some credit for that.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean, come on, we're sitting here talking
Speaker 1: about these movies since tell you right now much we
Speaker 1: love them and the people that go out to see
Speaker 1: these movies and you know when they're on four screens
Speaker 1: or like the film intelligencia community, right, you know, I
Speaker 1: had a lot of it were clearly dying to see
Speaker 1: the movie. Yeah. I had a lot of people come
Speaker 1: up to me this weekend and just ask if i'd well,
Speaker 1: funny they ask if I've seen Moonlight, and then they
Speaker 1: just tell me, you know, they saw it. It's the
Speaker 1: most beautiful movie they've ever seen, like just repsodic about it.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's really awesome. Every time someone asked me
Speaker 1: this year, what's the best thing you've seen, I instinctively
Speaker 1: say Moonlight, really and it's and then I don't go
Speaker 1: on to talk about it for a long time. I
Speaker 1: haven't even written about it since. Tell you right, It's
Speaker 1: one of those things that's such an absolute It's like, look,
Speaker 1: it's an amazing film, Like, yeah, factually, what can you
Speaker 1: argue with that? What could I add to this equation?
Speaker 1: I think Ao Scott's review and the New York Times
Speaker 1: actually was beautiful and he headlined it is this the
Speaker 1: best movie of the year. And I saw the headline
Speaker 1: in other places too. I mean, it's kind of just like,
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny because I do this movie no
Speaker 1: service when people ask me what it's about. I was
Speaker 1: actually at a Q and A the other night for Moonlight,
Speaker 1: and the bartender was asking me beforehand, oh, I've heard
Speaker 1: about this movie, like what is it about? And I
Speaker 1: tried to explain it, and halfway through I was like, A,
Speaker 1: I'm terrible at elevator pitches and be I am not
Speaker 1: helping this movie by trying to describe it. Just go
Speaker 1: see it. But Merschel Ali actually said when someone sent
Speaker 1: it to him, they said it's the Black broke Back Mountain,
Speaker 1: which I don't think is really accurate. But if it
Speaker 1: gets p weill to see it. Yeah, if that helps.
Speaker 1: I mean it's certainly reductive. I think the best thing
Speaker 1: to say is it's like, it's what it's about. It's
Speaker 1: about a black youth who comes from a troubled home
Speaker 1: who uh learns to just come to terms with his
Speaker 1: budding homosexuality. And when anyone sees this film, they will
Speaker 1: be able to relate to it. That's a crazy thing.
Speaker 1: That my next trademark. It's it's about looking for a connection.
Speaker 1: It's about there's just no way to go to this
Speaker 1: movie and not feel what the artist behind the movie
Speaker 1: is trying to convey. And Barry Jenkins is a genius.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've never seen Medicine from Melencholi and neither
Speaker 1: I'm embarrassed to say, because apparently everyone loved this movie
Speaker 1: and I've never even heard of it. I was at
Speaker 1: an art house theater last night and there were all
Speaker 1: these um post it weirdly doing a Q and A
Speaker 1: for Arrival, and uh, there were all these posters out
Speaker 1: for movies I've never heard of, and I mean, I
Speaker 1: think we're fairly well informed. Were these like asylum movies,
Speaker 1: like transmorphor legitimate movies? One of them had Vincent Cassell
Speaker 1: in it. I was like, wait, Vincy Cassell, is he
Speaker 1: the one who's married to Monica Bellucci. Yes, I'm thinking
Speaker 1: Vincent Cassell and see more. Cassell confused smour Cassell was
Speaker 1: married to Monica Blushi. Good, good jobs, not that you
Speaker 1: have Vincence the one. But you know, speaking of Arrival,
Speaker 1: it's it's I'm so happy Moonlight is out because I
Speaker 1: can talk to people about it. Arrival is another movie
Speaker 1: that I absolutely loved, but I feel like difficult to talk. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can't we've already upset some people or I have
Speaker 1: on this podcast for that's right. Yeah, I got yelled
Speaker 1: at at a screening because they felt you spoiled something.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I was like, I will pass that punch, Chris. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So go see Moonlight whenever it finally, I don't know
Speaker 1: what it's released them, but fourth it goes wide. I
Speaker 1: don't know how wide, but but it is the biggest
Speaker 1: per screen average of the year so far. That's great. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: very happy. That's good news for people like Barry making,
Speaker 1: you know, movies that aren't immediately financed in this war. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like and really a cast of mostly unknown or unproven
Speaker 1: um you know Mershel Ali and Andre Holland and Naomi
Speaker 1: Harris have. You know, they've definitely been around and they're
Speaker 1: well respected. But do they get a movie greenlit when
Speaker 1: the central character is played by three people, No one's
Speaker 1: ever really right and all fantastic. In fact, Trevante Rhodes,
Speaker 1: who plays the older version of the character, used to
Speaker 1: be a waiter. Like a film filmmaker friend I know
Speaker 1: was like you really think this Trevante Rhodes guys like
Speaker 1: a supporting actor possibility, and like he deserves to be
Speaker 1: in the conversation and this guy says he used to
Speaker 1: serve me drinks like restaurant. I hope. Honestly, the whole
Speaker 1: supporting actor category I feel like could be filled with
Speaker 1: actors from Moon might Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Uh, well, let's
Speaker 1: let's jump over the next topic to, you know, speaking
Speaker 1: of supporting, I guess I have a little bit of
Speaker 1: egg on my face since is now officially going supporting.
Speaker 1: But I think it's just a symptom of the fact
Speaker 1: that they they were at ends at odds with each
Speaker 1: other internally, I think for a while on the offences
Speaker 1: as to where she would go. It's also hard to
Speaker 1: talk about because we haven't seen the film, and I
Speaker 1: feel like a lot of people are rushing to judgment
Speaker 1: and assuming it's category fraud, whereas I don't know if
Speaker 1: you've seen the play, but I haven't seen it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in the play, it's a supporting role, and I feel like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, let's see the movie. It might be a
Speaker 1: supporting role. I know she's Viola Davis, but you know,
Speaker 1: the play really kind of is the Denzel Washington character story. Well,
Speaker 1: if anyone has a complaint, they can direct it to
Speaker 1: Miss Davis. It was her decision. I finally saw the
Speaker 1: film last week and she said, look, I think that,
Speaker 1: um my role is in support of the other characters.
Speaker 1: That was her take. I mean, if you want to
Speaker 1: be cynical and say there's an gaming of things going
Speaker 1: on or trying to find an angle on things, because
Speaker 1: obviously it seems clear that she's going to be a
Speaker 1: dominant possibility to win and support, she would be an
Speaker 1: either category. I feel. I agree, Yeah, so you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see. But like I I can't wait to see
Speaker 1: the film, and she has made a lot of women's
Speaker 1: day by eating that lead category. I mean, for me,
Speaker 1: I had Ruth Negga on the outside. Yeah, definitely, and
Speaker 1: now she's coming. Now she has a path to a nomination.
Speaker 1: I mean, because who are locks are? Emma Stone, um,
Speaker 1: Natalie Portman and a net betting and then there's a
Speaker 1: lot of amazing women. You know, I'm a big fan
Speaker 1: of Amy Adams and Arrival, Ruth Nega Isabelle who pair,
Speaker 1: We'll see how Taragi is. Haven't even seen Hidden figures.
Speaker 1: Meryl is pretty strong personally, yes, Meryl um I was
Speaker 1: a big fan of Susan Sarandon in the Meddler movie
Speaker 1: came out probably too long ago, but you know, great
Speaker 1: matter the category Actually before I feel like, because I'm
Speaker 1: having deja vu Sally Field, there's a perforce, so it's
Speaker 1: nice that you know there'll be a Spetisica, Chess Dane
Speaker 1: and Miss Loan. I mean, it's it's insane this category.
Speaker 1: The people who are on the bubble. What do you
Speaker 1: think about Jessica and Misslan? I really are we let's
Speaker 1: talk about it. I don't know if there's an embarkment.
Speaker 1: I haven't been told, so let's just talk. Okay. Well,
Speaker 1: I actually really liked miss Loan, you know, and most
Speaker 1: people I talked to her like yeah, you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's good. It's kind of like sark and esque, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, I know, that's awesome. I kind of I
Speaker 1: compare it to Michael Clayton sometimes, just just in terms
Speaker 1: of structure and the general trajectory of the main character. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I was. I was with it the whole time. And
Speaker 1: the funny thing, I don't want to make anyone think
Speaker 1: that the movie is all about a twist, because it's not.
Speaker 1: But like the bet, when there's a twist in a movie,
Speaker 1: the best ones are, oh, I should have seen that coming,
Speaker 1: you know. And that's why I like, there are certain
Speaker 1: movies that, like, you know, are predicated on a twist
Speaker 1: and you're like, yeah, that was pretty obvious. Some of
Speaker 1: them in theaters right now. But like something happened in
Speaker 1: miss Loan that like, and it's not what the movie
Speaker 1: is about. So I don't want to say, like, go
Speaker 1: see this movie because there's a big twist, but it's
Speaker 1: so clever and I just thought the dialogue crackled. I
Speaker 1: thought Jessica was fantastic. I really liked this movie. I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know how it all play, but I
Speaker 1: think it'll play well for her, just because we've never
Speaker 1: seen her, even in Zero Dark thirty, we haven't seen
Speaker 1: her play this kind of a role, like really strong
Speaker 1: willed shark of a person. She's a lobbyist, and h
Speaker 1: it's yeah, she's she's great in the movie. John Madden
Speaker 1: directed the film, by the way, um, and I feel
Speaker 1: like like I personally haven't really seen a movie about
Speaker 1: a lobbyist before. Well, it's got to be a hard
Speaker 1: thing to make entertaining, and they your way in is
Speaker 1: through an interesting character, and I think that's what they
Speaker 1: have here, So she's going to be a possibility in
Speaker 1: the lead actor. Yeah, I would love to see her
Speaker 1: get in. We'll see how that shakes out. Um, by
Speaker 1: the time, um, you know this is all decided, hopefully
Speaker 1: there will be an Oscar house. Yes, look at Jael
Speaker 1: with the segus. Thank you, thank you very much. Hopefully,
Speaker 1: I mean we apparently there an announcement is imminent. We're
Speaker 1: recording this on Monday, so maybe by the time this
Speaker 1: runs on Thursday. Uh, they'll have producers lined up. But
Speaker 1: Janelle and I want to just chew on some some
Speaker 1: host possibilities. Can we just say, like, I just hope
Speaker 1: they don't return to the Billy Crystal well, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean he was a great Hosts, but like, let's that's
Speaker 1: its own era. Time to move. It was great when
Speaker 1: he came in and saved the day, you know whenever
Speaker 1: they was that the Eddie Murphy year, Yes, I think
Speaker 1: it was. He came in saved the day and that
Speaker 1: was nice. But like, I need some new blood and
Speaker 1: not well in Hathaway James Franklin, which was clearly we
Speaker 1: need new blood unless Hugh Jackman is available, unless Hugh
Speaker 1: jack woke. Yeah, he counts his new blood because he
Speaker 1: probably such a fresh He's a showman from top to bottom.
Speaker 1: It's the only Oscars that I actually own a DVD
Speaker 1: of thecar have them internally. I got them, that is
Speaker 1: through Bill Condon actually directly let me just sorry, sorry, sorry.
Speaker 1: That was the reason that show was so great was
Speaker 1: Bill Condon and Lawrence Mark where the producers musicals. He's
Speaker 1: a showman, he also is a movie guy, and so
Speaker 1: he knew how to translate the idea of a movie
Speaker 1: into the show. And so you started with like the
Speaker 1: design elements and then you moved on into you know, script,
Speaker 1: which was interesting because that year they had the script.
Speaker 1: I think the scripts were announced first or like early
Speaker 1: in the show, because the idea was, this is we're
Speaker 1: going to take you through the making of a movie.
Speaker 1: So you start with the script, go to design elements.
Speaker 1: I just thought, have a great idea, what's that Harvey
Speaker 1: Weinstein should produce it? And let me tell you why.
Speaker 1: I wish you guys gonna see Christmas face just now.
Speaker 1: It was if you had water would have been spittake.
Speaker 1: Did you see the Stronger Together show where where Broadway
Speaker 1: got together and did a fundraiser for Hillary. It was
Speaker 1: excellent and it did produce that I believe, so Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, and who knows movies better than Harvey Weinstein. Yeah,
Speaker 1: everything would be a clip package of Weinstein movies. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it would just be all about Lyon probably, which actually
Speaker 1: I'm okay with. Yeah, great movie, you know, I love
Speaker 1: me some Lyon Huge, Iman would be great. I've always
Speaker 1: thought Kevin Spacey would be a really good host. He's
Speaker 1: just kind of got the showman thing about him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he does too. Theater background. Once again, I mentioned Russell Crowe.
Speaker 1: I love that idea. I've been thinking about it more.
Speaker 1: And Mark, you should just have a drink in his
Speaker 1: hand all the time. It's kind of surly, you know.
Speaker 1: Alec Baldwin and Steve Mark and I thought the year
Speaker 1: they hosted, we're pretty great. And if we could ever
Speaker 1: get Eddie Murphy to maybe be into it again, that'd
Speaker 1: be great. Well, you know, he's I don't he doesn't
Speaker 1: really campaign, but he sort of put himself out there
Speaker 1: this year for Mr. Church, which was a movie that
Speaker 1: I actually liked. Um. I mean, look it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's not a great movie, but like it reminds
Speaker 1: you what a good actor he is. And yeah, I
Speaker 1: would love it if he would host. Some people have
Speaker 1: talked about Kevin Hart in the past. I don't know
Speaker 1: if it was just because he was kind of the
Speaker 1: it thing at the time. What do you think about him?
Speaker 1: You know, I have a weird like, you know, I
Speaker 1: go see every Kevin Hart movie. I well, it's weird
Speaker 1: because I don't know why. Like I wouldn't call myself
Speaker 1: a fan, but there is something infectious about him, you know,
Speaker 1: And so I I just I just like seeing him
Speaker 1: on screen, Like it would be okay with him hosting. Sure,
Speaker 1: why not? You know, he'd be great. The Rock, Oh
Speaker 1: my god, The Rock is He sings in Moana, so
Speaker 1: he's able to sing. Maybe he would work out. The
Speaker 1: Rock is one of the greatest Saturdayight Live hosts ever,
Speaker 1: so let him do it. I sometimes feel like they
Speaker 1: use Saturday Night Live as a place to vet hosts
Speaker 1: because the year James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosted, they
Speaker 1: had both done really well on Saturday Night Live. Yeah
Speaker 1: that's true. Yeah, and look how that turned out to Tom. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Tom Hanks just hosted last week. He should Tom Hanks
Speaker 1: would be awesome Oscar host, But would it be a
Speaker 1: conflict of interest since he might win. Bastranco had twenty
Speaker 1: seven hours out there. Yeah, but he wasn't winning. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I don't think Tom Hanks is winning. You don't
Speaker 1: know for some more. The more this season goes on,
Speaker 1: the more I think Tom Hanks could win. Wow. No,
Speaker 1: I don't think that at all. But you know, do
Speaker 1: you think he's getting nominated? Not at the moment? Really
Speaker 1: you think there are five Best Actor potentials that were
Speaker 1: stronger than him. What do we have? We have Casey,
Speaker 1: Casey's the Lock, Denzel Um, Andrew Garfield. I'm I've gotten
Speaker 1: there for Silence at the moment that I'd love to
Speaker 1: see him nominated for hacks our Ridge. I'm pulling up
Speaker 1: my predictions. Joel Ledgerton. I don't have Joel in there.
Speaker 1: You don't Um obviously, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Gosling I have
Speaker 1: in there. But I do feel like he could fall out.
Speaker 1: Just we've talked about it before. It's the kind of
Speaker 1: role that can be thankless. Um, here we go. McConaughey
Speaker 1: and Gold. Mcconaughan, Gold, Yes, it just seems like a
Speaker 1: fun performance that's possible, you know. Uh, Jenneal's being very
Speaker 1: quiet right now about gold. I know, but I don't
Speaker 1: want anyone to read anything into that. I think Matthew
Speaker 1: McConney is definitely a contender for gold. That's all I
Speaker 1: can say. Awesome. Yeah, he looks like he's having a blast,
Speaker 1: and I think people would enjoy having him back on
Speaker 1: the circuit. Maybe they're not part of Uh this is
Speaker 1: a second reconnaissance. Yeah, the mcconnaissance the WiFi and here
Speaker 1: is amazing. So I'm not pulling up my predictions, but yeah,
Speaker 1: those are the five I have. And I mean, I
Speaker 1: guess Tom could get in. I mean, look, they're gonna
Speaker 1: but there's also an athlete coming down the pike, Benn
Speaker 1: the older Uh, you know, so we'll see how I
Speaker 1: lived by night is um. Look, by the way, I
Speaker 1: don't know what I can say about rules don't apply.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure the embargo doesn't apply to podcasts. Embargo
Speaker 1: doesn't apply, So embargo doesn't apply. But I think Warren
Speaker 1: Beatty was pretty good in the movie for lead actor. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's a lead now, you know. Warren Beatty
Speaker 1: is such a good actor. Can I like bad trek record?
Speaker 1: On lead versus supporting this year, but I think he's
Speaker 1: a lead in this movie. He um in Bugsy was
Speaker 1: one of my favorite performances, and I know that year
Speaker 1: it was all about his directing, but I it just
Speaker 1: reminded me what a great actor he is. That year
Speaker 1: was all about jfk in my opinion, was it? Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the Beast you got a better memory than I do.
Speaker 1: The science of the lamps Wow, speaking of you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about that last week screen time as it
Speaker 1: pertains to category placement. But we'll see what the Academy
Speaker 1: decides if they've did you ever get an answer to
Speaker 1: your question? You asked if someone has ever won the
Speaker 1: Tony and he's the only one hoarding or featured as
Speaker 1: they call it, was featured in the Tonys. It was
Speaker 1: the ra was called the King, and I I think
Speaker 1: there was there's something that people were talking about. I
Speaker 1: didn't get into it, but there was something about the
Speaker 1: rules back then we're different. Well, it's interesting because I
Speaker 1: thought that Joel Gray one for lead actor in a
Speaker 1: musical the Tony and then went to supporting. But but
Speaker 1: it was supporting at the Tony's when Alan Cumming won
Speaker 1: in the lead category when they did the revival and
Speaker 1: then as we know, Mary Alice won supporting for Fences
Speaker 1: and then viol the one lead for the revival. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and uh, potentially we'll join just youal Brenner as the
Speaker 1: only two. That's kind of interesting history, I guess. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I'm just shocked that Youl Brenn, who was a featured
Speaker 1: actor for The King and I did you see it?
Speaker 1: My mom took me to see The King and I
Speaker 1: and I counted the screen time. Maybe it felt that way.
Speaker 1: So do you have on the podcast? This week? We
Speaker 1: have Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson and we have a great chat.
Speaker 1: I think we talked about hecks all Ridge a couple
Speaker 1: of times. Such a great movie. Yeah, and more and
Speaker 1: more people are seeing that and like they were skeptical
Speaker 1: when I said that how much I adored it, And
Speaker 1: they're coming up and they're like, that is a great movie.
Speaker 1: And by the way, UM, I don't want to out anybody,
Speaker 1: but a couple of people here at work, we're very
Speaker 1: split on Vince Vaughn. A couple of people feel the
Speaker 1: way you feel, and then a few people feel the
Speaker 1: way I feel, which is that Vince Vaughn is great
Speaker 1: in this movie. Well, this is the thing, like, I
Speaker 1: don't it's not like I want to look away. It's
Speaker 1: just way not what I'm expecting in the moment. So
Speaker 1: I'm just like, I'm looking at casting against type. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: And and you know, I'm just looking at your money
Speaker 1: baby the whole time. Which, by the way, Swingers just
Speaker 1: celebrated a tenth anniversary get out. I mean, oh god Jesus, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're making me feel young for a second. That's one
Speaker 1: of my favorite movies. Made me realize you can just
Speaker 1: go make a movie. Yeah, and how I mean I
Speaker 1: love that Jon Favreau, what that career has turned out
Speaker 1: to be. He had the script in his trunk of
Speaker 1: his car for like just months, and he just showed
Speaker 1: it to a friend at a party and off it went.
Speaker 1: That's so great. But in any case, stick around for
Speaker 1: mel Gibson. Right after this, I was dreamed about being
Speaker 1: a doctor. But don't get my school. I can't stay
Speaker 1: here all them go fight for me. What you figured
Speaker 1: this war is just going to fit in with your ideas.
Speaker 1: While everybody else has taken life, I'm gonna be saving it.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be my way to serve it. This is
Speaker 1: a personal gift from the United States government because I
Speaker 1: don't bring death to the end of it. Well, I'm sorry, sorry,
Speaker 1: I can't touch a gun. She don't kill, No, you don't.
Speaker 1: Quite a bit of killing does occur in war. Private
Speaker 1: Dogs does not believe in violence. You'll not look to
Speaker 1: him to save you on the battlefield. I don't think
Speaker 1: this is a question of religion. I think this is
Speaker 1: callous because you weren't like anyone else. You're saying you
Speaker 1: could go to prison. I don't know. I'm going to
Speaker 1: live on myself. I'll stay trived of what I believe.
Speaker 1: Like the world so set on tearing itself apart. Don't
Speaker 1: seem like such a bad thing to me to want
Speaker 1: to put a little bit of it back together. Welcome
Speaker 1: back everyone. I'm here with the director of hexs all Ridge,
Speaker 1: and he's many other things. Obviously he's an icon and
Speaker 1: we're very happy he's here. Thank you. Mel Gibson coming
Speaker 1: onto my show. Well, I'm glad to be here. We
Speaker 1: were just talking. This is your first podcast, do you
Speaker 1: think I think it is? I you know, I've got
Speaker 1: a shocking memory, so maybe I've done one before, but
Speaker 1: I think I'm pretty sure this is my premiere. Wow.
Speaker 1: Well thanks man. Uh it's been ten years since you're
Speaker 1: in the director's chair, and uh, I think listeners know,
Speaker 1: I feel like I've come up with some reason to
Speaker 1: mention Apocalypto on a number of episodes so far. I'm
Speaker 1: a big fan of the movie. So, uh, I'm just
Speaker 1: curious creative creatively for you in that time, do the
Speaker 1: ideas just start to stack up and you're eager to
Speaker 1: get there again or are you not really in that
Speaker 1: headspace over that period of time. Well, that period of time, no,
Speaker 1: I wasn't that headspace, but it's you know, something like
Speaker 1: uh you know, for example, well, Braveheart was easier because, um,
Speaker 1: you know, I was more of a kind of a
Speaker 1: hot box office ticket at that stage, so it was
Speaker 1: easier to get that made. But um, something like The
Speaker 1: Passion and Apocalypto, nobody wants to make those films, so
Speaker 1: you really have to kind of reach in your own
Speaker 1: pocket to do it. And U and of course you
Speaker 1: know then they paid dividends, but it's hard for other
Speaker 1: people to see that. Um, and the stuff that I
Speaker 1: wanted to do were like those, Um, you know, I
Speaker 1: had a thing I wrote about Vikings and some other
Speaker 1: stuff i'd written, you know, about the fifteenth century in
Speaker 1: Europe and some other stuff. And I guess my vision
Speaker 1: isn't automatically, you know, a great thing for for other people.
Speaker 1: So and uh, I wasn't reaching into my own pocket
Speaker 1: this time, because that has that has just some downside
Speaker 1: to some potential downside. You know, you can end up
Speaker 1: in the pauper's bank. So you feel the pressure then
Speaker 1: when whenever that yeah, and and so you know, in
Speaker 1: the absence of my doing it myself, which I had
Speaker 1: done the two previous times, no one else was going
Speaker 1: to step in. So I guess a lot of stuff
Speaker 1: didn't happen. But you know, I kept busy with other things.
Speaker 1: I wrote a film and produced the film that time,
Speaker 1: and then I was in a couple of other films.
Speaker 1: So you know, it's uh, you know, you stay busy
Speaker 1: kind of try and keep keep the rust from building up.
Speaker 1: Although you know, I had to blow the cylinders out
Speaker 1: on this one. I think it was. But it was
Speaker 1: great to get back in the chair. And it's like
Speaker 1: riding a bike, um, except for now you know, ten
Speaker 1: years later. Um, the budgetary limitations and and and the
Speaker 1: time limitations are the challenges are greater in that regard.
Speaker 1: So you have to um go in and be far
Speaker 1: more judicious uh with your direction and how you shoot
Speaker 1: and what you shoot. Um and if you can edit
Speaker 1: the screenplay before you get going, and you know you
Speaker 1: one has to be you know, a lot more frugal
Speaker 1: in in the way one works and trying not to,
Speaker 1: you know, strangle your creativity for the sake of expedients
Speaker 1: and uh and the interests of saving money. But you know,
Speaker 1: it's not the same industry as it was. If you're
Speaker 1: not making a superhero movie about somebody in spandex, nobody
Speaker 1: gives you a budget, you know. So we we did
Speaker 1: a lot on this for not so much. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: and it's it's one of those movies. It looks like
Speaker 1: it costs more than it did. It probably costs, so
Speaker 1: that's always good. It looks like it cost a hundreds
Speaker 1: of mill it really does. Uh. This story, Desmond Daws's
Speaker 1: story is extraordinary. We had Andrew on the show last
Speaker 1: week talking about it. Were you aware of it at
Speaker 1: all before the project kind of came to you? I
Speaker 1: had heard of Desmond DAWs, but not in a way
Speaker 1: that I delved into. The project came my way three
Speaker 1: times like Caesar with the Crown, you know, and uh
Speaker 1: I I rejected um being the director of it twice
Speaker 1: over the last maybe ten years, and finally it kind
Speaker 1: of came again. I looked at it, and sometimes you know,
Speaker 1: it's just you're in the right headspace the right time
Speaker 1: I read it. I was incredibly moved by it, and
Speaker 1: I thought, I think I can add my skills to
Speaker 1: this and and tell this story. Um, and so off
Speaker 1: we went off to the races. Uh it's Desmond Is
Speaker 1: And that's when I really found out about this character,
Speaker 1: and he was something. He's amazing. Yeah, I mean wow,
Speaker 1: not too many like him. Yeah, absolutely. And the story
Speaker 1: the film, I feel it shares DNA with a number
Speaker 1: of your films, which is it kind of deals with
Speaker 1: this idea of hardship of faith in a way, how
Speaker 1: difficult it can be to maintain one's faith in the
Speaker 1: face of adversity. And I'm just curious, not to like
Speaker 1: put you on the couch or anything, but beyond just
Speaker 1: like you know, the Catholic upbringing. Do you think there's
Speaker 1: any reason that these themes you keep coming back to
Speaker 1: them in your work. Well, you know, and I tell
Speaker 1: you probably hit on something there. I mean I was
Speaker 1: always taught, um, from when I was very young, that
Speaker 1: some thing's ideas or some things were more important than life.
Speaker 1: So you know a lot of these characters um in
Speaker 1: films that I've shown, they actually have that attitude. And
Speaker 1: Desmond was one of those guys. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: through filial love he wouldn't touch a weapon, but also
Speaker 1: through filial love he wanted to serve and he went
Speaker 1: beyond that in the ultimate sort of active of love
Speaker 1: is to you know, lay your life on the line
Speaker 1: for somebody else. And I think, uh, there's very few
Speaker 1: people who can actually, you know, do that and maintain
Speaker 1: their equilibrium. I mean, you have an ordinary man doing
Speaker 1: extraordinary things in incredibly different, difficult, difficult circumstances. And I
Speaker 1: think there's very few people that can maintain their their
Speaker 1: higher self, uh and maintain that equilibrium and inter calm um.
Speaker 1: When everything around you is telling you to become an
Speaker 1: animal and everyone you know, you get down to the
Speaker 1: level of an animal. It's just primal. And this guy
Speaker 1: went into that and uh with armed with nothing but
Speaker 1: his faith, and did the most extraordinary things Um, this
Speaker 1: to me is like and it's true story, so it's
Speaker 1: like it's not I'm not faking anything or making it up.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's astounding to me. Um. And I think
Speaker 1: that you know, as storytellers, were exploring stories, hero stories
Speaker 1: to inspire others and to give us some kind of
Speaker 1: indication of who we might be, what we're capable of,
Speaker 1: what at least some members of our race are capable of,
Speaker 1: and maybe you know we can we can take something
Speaker 1: from that. I know Desmond was the first man to
Speaker 1: receive the Congressional Medal of Honor um and he was
Speaker 1: a conscientious subjector. But actually I think he inspired many
Speaker 1: because there have been more of those guys since who
Speaker 1: go into bad without a weapon, who are medics and
Speaker 1: they just do extraordinary things and it's generally a kind
Speaker 1: of a a strong faith and conviction that they have. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And regarding the primal nature, I think Andrew called it
Speaker 1: the messy human nous kind of working through that, And
Speaker 1: it's fascinating that you come back to that in your work.
Speaker 1: You're attracted to making that kind of art? Are you
Speaker 1: attracted to that kind of art? Like, for instance, what
Speaker 1: I kind of looked around to see if I could
Speaker 1: find anything. But what are your favorite films? Do they
Speaker 1: tend to have this kind of a theme. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: I have so many favorite films, everything from you know,
Speaker 1: see what I mean. I like Scorcesese films, I like,
Speaker 1: you know, copple As films, and like I like old
Speaker 1: classics and Westerns and war films. Oh my god, what's
Speaker 1: the favorite Western? Favorite Western? I think was something called
Speaker 1: a Big Country, which I'm a huge fan of the genre.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, it's a it's a that's a good Western.
Speaker 1: And um, you know, of course the Godfather films. You know,
Speaker 1: how can you not dig those movies? The just the
Speaker 1: sheer artistry and the naturalism, and you know, it was
Speaker 1: it was the seventies. Man, it was like they're so cool. Um,
Speaker 1: is there any hope for getting back because we talked,
Speaker 1: we touched on this just where the business is now.
Speaker 1: Is there any hope for getting back to that kind
Speaker 1: of a mentality? Oh? I think so. I mean one
Speaker 1: of the best compliments I received when people watched Hacksaw Ridge,
Speaker 1: they went, Wow, it's like the way they used to
Speaker 1: make films, And I said, you mean, like back in
Speaker 1: the forties. He says no, like back in the eighties,
Speaker 1: you know, and like it's ancient history. Yeah, like it's
Speaker 1: ancient history because I guess, um, you know, the character
Speaker 1: of the of of you know, feature film business has changed. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like chain food restaurants or something. So,
Speaker 1: you know, but I believe that I believe that if
Speaker 1: something's good, it's gonna resonate. Um, it's just gonna have
Speaker 1: a harder time being heard because it's it's not an
Speaker 1: They get obliterated by the by the marketing budgets. I mean,
Speaker 1: nobody has any nobody's got enough nerve to sort of
Speaker 1: put the money where the mouth is, you know, unless
Speaker 1: it's unless the guys wearing spandex. So people often go to,
Speaker 1: uh to Braveheart, but uh, you know, maybe they forget
Speaker 1: that your directorial debut was a few years before that
Speaker 1: Man Without a Face, which is from I like a lot.
Speaker 1: Uh it was. I remember it was one of those
Speaker 1: movies that was on HBO like every weekend when I
Speaker 1: was growing up, so I saw it so many times.
Speaker 1: When you first got behind the camera to direct, was
Speaker 1: it like a like, you know, a bucket of cold
Speaker 1: water to the face or were you very prepared and
Speaker 1: ready to take it in stride, and I was not prepared.
Speaker 1: I think, Um, I just well, I kind of had
Speaker 1: an idea of what was required, simply from being around
Speaker 1: the Hub for so many years and watching how the
Speaker 1: directors who I admired kind of step in and do it.
Speaker 1: But when I was about to get going, I was terrified.
Speaker 1: I remember calling. I bumped into Peter Weir and I said, man,
Speaker 1: I'm scared, and he said you should be stopped. Don't
Speaker 1: say that. A yea, thanks Pale and uh and he
Speaker 1: said no, and he said don't worry. He said, all
Speaker 1: you gotta say is action and cut and of course
Speaker 1: that's not true, but he was just trying to make
Speaker 1: me feel better. And then um, and I also called
Speaker 1: Cleant Eastwood, I remember at the time who he just
Speaker 1: directed Unforgiven, which I liked very much, And I called
Speaker 1: him and I said, hey, Clean, I'm scared. You know that.
Speaker 1: I called the tall one and he said, don't be scared.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, why why? And he said, there's a
Speaker 1: bunch of subliminal ship in your head and you're gonna
Speaker 1: remember when you need to. I said, thanks Clean. He said,
Speaker 1: don't mention it you click, you know, was that he
Speaker 1: was he was very cool and um was he right? Yeah?
Speaker 1: A lot of stuff just came out. Not that I
Speaker 1: didn't need some. There was a few good learning experiences
Speaker 1: that I read had to get onto, but I found
Speaker 1: I learned as I went. I mean, we had a
Speaker 1: really good, uh director of photography who is like an
Speaker 1: old drill sergeant, a guy called Don McAlpine who was
Speaker 1: like phenomenal and he was like, um, you know where
Speaker 1: I was deficient in my dayrectorial experience, he'd been there
Speaker 1: and done everything, and uh so it was like it
Speaker 1: was great to have a guy like that. I think
Speaker 1: dud I believe he did. Yeah, yeah, yeah, pretty good.
Speaker 1: I mean he's he's and he's shot a man without
Speaker 1: a face and was like you know, and would take
Speaker 1: my ideas and go, yeah, let's try that. Because he's
Speaker 1: he's just he's youthful. He still is. I saw him
Speaker 1: not so long ago and he's not a youngster, but
Speaker 1: he's still like a kid. He's got that youthful enthusiasm.
Speaker 1: Like a lot of the Aussie um directors off it's
Speaker 1: the film guys, the camera guys. They maintained their childlike
Speaker 1: enthusiasm from what it is that they do. Like Dean Samler,
Speaker 1: I mean the guy is amazing. Yeah, he's like a
Speaker 1: big kid. Yeah absolutely, And uh you went, you went
Speaker 1: on to work with John Tole the next time with
Speaker 1: Hole is amazing. Yeah, Toll is like amazing. He just
Speaker 1: shot Angle's war film he did. Have you seen that yet?
Speaker 1: I haven't seen it. No, Yeah, very curious because I'm
Speaker 1: a big fan of tolls work. So yeah, he's not amazing. Man.
Speaker 1: I just remember John, I think, had done his first
Speaker 1: director of photography job on Legends of the Fall and uh,
Speaker 1: I went into an editing room just to look at
Speaker 1: his work on that, and I said, Wow, this guy
Speaker 1: is amazing. And I hired him on Braveheart and he
Speaker 1: went back to back Oscars and he won back to
Speaker 1: back Oscars. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely right, he got He got
Speaker 1: back to backs. So I pulled the right rayin there.
Speaker 1: I also stole the editor from from Legends of the
Speaker 1: Falling guy called Steve Rosenblum, who to this day is like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's He's in a handful of editors that I think
Speaker 1: he's just like amazing. Yeah, there's a few, there's a
Speaker 1: few of those guys around. Well, speaking of Braveheart, I'd
Speaker 1: love to just kind of go back Oscar night that year.
Speaker 1: It was March, which gosh, I imagine if the oscars
Speaker 1: were late March still it would be such a long
Speaker 1: stretch of time before getting to the oscars. But do
Speaker 1: you remember that night? Oh? Yeah, pretty well? How was it?
Speaker 1: The sweaty? I was tired. It was. It was you know,
Speaker 1: kind of when you're counting down to the Oscars and stuff,
Speaker 1: you end up doing a lot of Q and A's
Speaker 1: breakfasts and this talking to a lot of people, and
Speaker 1: by the time you get to it, you're sort of numb.
Speaker 1: It's like being on you know, the election campaign or something,
Speaker 1: and you start to wonder, why am I doing this?
Speaker 1: You know, it's like and then you know, they call
Speaker 1: your name and you go up there and you you
Speaker 1: kind of got the butterflies, and you're excited and very
Speaker 1: gratified that your fellows and your peers recognize your work,
Speaker 1: and it's, uh, you know, it's always a it feels good.
Speaker 1: You know. It's an interesting Oscar history footnote to me
Speaker 1: because that year Ron Howard's Apollo thirteen was very strong,
Speaker 1: felt like the one to beat really going into the Oscars.
Speaker 1: You pulled it out and you guys were working on
Speaker 1: Ransom at the time, that's right. And then a few
Speaker 1: years later you presented him his Oscar for Best Director here,
Speaker 1: so no hard feelings. I guess it for Beautiful Mind.
Speaker 1: Yeah there. Yeah. I think that was pretty quick after,
Speaker 1: wasn't it. Yeah, it was like two or three years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right. Um. You know, I wanted to talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about this sequel, for lack of a better word,
Speaker 1: to the Passion of the Christ that you you've talked
Speaker 1: about recently, where you're going to go and work on
Speaker 1: the resurrection. Uh. You know when when someone comes back
Speaker 1: into the spotlight after airing a dark chapter publicly. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I think the public nature of that is what's
Speaker 1: so unusual and difficult maybe for people to to relate to. Uh.
Speaker 1: So I'm just kind of fascinated the choice of subject
Speaker 1: matter here. Um. Again, not to put you on the couch,
Speaker 1: but do you feel like where you're at in your career.
Speaker 1: You've talked about your sobriety of ten years, congratulations on that. Uh,
Speaker 1: just a general feeling of getting back on track. I mean,
Speaker 1: is there any of that that's drawing you to the
Speaker 1: idea of the story of the resurrection. I can't tell
Speaker 1: you what's drawing me to that, but it's it's it's
Speaker 1: a calling. So it's um so, I think it's it's
Speaker 1: out of my hands, but I'm compelled to go there again.
Speaker 1: And I think, um and I think I can tell
Speaker 1: that story. And it's a difficult story to tell because
Speaker 1: it isn't just some kind of facile rendering of events. Um.
Speaker 1: It's beyond that. You have to extract far more from
Speaker 1: what's there than appears to be. I think you can
Speaker 1: do it by juxtaposing other things from other eras against it,
Speaker 1: um and then kind of make a statement that in life,
Speaker 1: these people um so, you know, going back into and look,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a while away too. I think I'm
Speaker 1: sort of working on that with the scribe of Braveheart,
Speaker 1: you know, and he's uh he and I are throwing
Speaker 1: ideas around about that, and you know, we're getting some
Speaker 1: pretty good ideas. But the more you talk about it,
Speaker 1: the more it seems to open up. And and uh
Speaker 1: so it's a very big story and I'm not quite
Speaker 1: sure how to tackle that monster yet. But it's um
Speaker 1: it I think it's going to be good when it happens,
Speaker 1: because there's a great deal of thought and consideration going
Speaker 1: into it. Would you bring back Caleb Dischanel, He's the
Speaker 1: greatest man? Wow? And then the same question for Jim Caviezel.
Speaker 1: Would would this be the kind of thing where you'd
Speaker 1: want all that connective tissue or Cavizel would be great,
Speaker 1: you know. And he hasn't even aged, right, you know,
Speaker 1: he just looks the same, you know, easily, just perennially.
Speaker 1: You know, he's always gonna look like he's thirty years old,
Speaker 1: this guy. And um, you know Caleb, you know, I
Speaker 1: asked him for a moving Caravaggio, you know, and so
Speaker 1: we were looking at Caravaggio's paintings instead of light sources
Speaker 1: and all this kind of stuff and the movement in them,
Speaker 1: and um, and he he kind of showed me some
Speaker 1: some of the first days of Rushes. I'm like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, I said, it is a moving Caravaccio. And
Speaker 1: he said that's what you wanted, wasn't it. It's like, no, biggie,
Speaker 1: you know, he just like threw that one off as fantastic.
Speaker 1: And so, you know, a guy's amazing, and he's acquainted
Speaker 1: himself now with the digital medium, as all cinematographers must.
Speaker 1: Really we took the big dive on that in two
Speaker 1: thousand and six with Apocalypto and Dean Yeah Genesis Man. Yeah,
Speaker 1: kind of a prototype now, but it was good enough
Speaker 1: and uh we were able to scan that on the
Speaker 1: film easily, so and it didn't suffer any I be
Speaker 1: him a big fan of digital at that point. We
Speaker 1: shot the whole thing in digital. I don't think an
Speaker 1: entire feature had been shot digitally. Maybe like Michael Mann
Speaker 1: had done something Collateral, Yeah, like like Collateral or one
Speaker 1: of those. Yeah, But but he used that other camera.
Speaker 1: I forgot what it was called. He was doing a
Speaker 1: lot of different things with little a little little different
Speaker 1: cameras that he you know, he was in a very
Speaker 1: different world than like I think the world that led
Speaker 1: into the Alexa and stuff like that. Yes, it was different.
Speaker 1: But what was it called the Scorpion or something had
Speaker 1: a weird name. And the stuff he did in Ali too,
Speaker 1: where he had this little pin camera where you just
Speaker 1: get in there on the action like holding it like
Speaker 1: this very unique stuff that hees. Yeah, No, he's he's
Speaker 1: exciting I mean, he's like, some of his stuff is
Speaker 1: amazing and uh yeah. But going in there with the
Speaker 1: Genesis was like wow. And there were things that couldn't do,
Speaker 1: but there were things that could do really well. Like
Speaker 1: Dean Simmler was like a kid and that handy store going, well,
Speaker 1: look at this. I'd be outside with the actors and
Speaker 1: I couldn't even see them. I sat Dean, it's too
Speaker 1: dark out here because I'm still thinking film, you know,
Speaker 1: and he's calling to me from inside this black tent
Speaker 1: and he has, you know, all the knobs and whistles
Speaker 1: in there to adjust the picture and the exposure and
Speaker 1: everything else, and he's going, now, it should be right,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, Dean, I can't see the actors. He's
Speaker 1: don't worry about it. Shoot it. I'm like, oh jeez,
Speaker 1: So we shoot it, and of course later on you
Speaker 1: see it and it's just fine. Yeah, it's amazing. But
Speaker 1: digital it really opened up the canvas. You know, You've
Speaker 1: got more than two stops in either direction now, way
Speaker 1: more you can do anything. Yeah, it's exciting, and it
Speaker 1: kind of democratizes the form a bit too, for it does,
Speaker 1: and you know, I mean, it's really about what's going on?
Speaker 1: And I mean it's great if you can have those
Speaker 1: beautiful images and it's pristine, you know, whatever you want,
Speaker 1: you know the effects that you want. Um. But but
Speaker 1: it's really about what's going on inside the camp. You know,
Speaker 1: what's going on, what's the story going on in there?
Speaker 1: What are you telling? What's happening in the actor's eyes? What? Um?
Speaker 1: So that um? You know, I think that the means
Speaker 1: or the opportunity for anybody, even an enterprising college kid,
Speaker 1: to make a masterpiece now on an iPhone, it is possible.
Speaker 1: I just need a couple of those I touched on
Speaker 1: this and I'm not going to belabor the point. But
Speaker 1: we find ourselves often in a kind of art versus
Speaker 1: artist debate, separating the art from the artist. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: I think that Nate Parker this year is dealing with
Speaker 1: you know, there's people who feel like they can't support
Speaker 1: him or see his film. And there's people that feel
Speaker 1: like they can't support you or see your films after
Speaker 1: your history, And I'm just c what is it do
Speaker 1: you think that? Just be clear about what do you
Speaker 1: think it is that? What do I think? What is
Speaker 1: that that would make people not support my film after
Speaker 1: my history, like what aspects. But I can't speak to
Speaker 1: the to to why they would feel that. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm talking about your two thousand and six episode and
Speaker 1: in the slur and whatnot that we're caught on camera
Speaker 1: and I mean on microphone. And again I don't want
Speaker 1: to be labor The point my question to you is
Speaker 1: how do you respond to that? How do you process that?
Speaker 1: Is it something you just write off and figure you
Speaker 1: can't control it? Or do you doesn't make you feel
Speaker 1: as if you want to change perspectives all the more? Well,
Speaker 1: that's pretty old stuff. It's ten years old. It's an
Speaker 1: unfortunate incident. I was loaded and angry and arrested, you know,
Speaker 1: so you know, these things happen. I was recorded illegally
Speaker 1: by an unscrupulous police officer who was never prosecuted for
Speaker 1: that crime, and then it was made public by him
Speaker 1: for profit and by you know, members of we'll call
Speaker 1: it the press. Uh. You know, So I'm not fair, Okay,
Speaker 1: So I guess as who I am, I'm not allowed
Speaker 1: to have a nervous breakdown ever, especially when the you know,
Speaker 1: when the pressure is great, and the pressure was great,
Speaker 1: you know, but and years have elapsed. This is an
Speaker 1: old story, my friend, and old I've forgotten it. I've
Speaker 1: forgiven now whether I've been forgiven not for what? For what? Really?
Speaker 1: Forgetting lowd and saying some stupid stuff that people put
Speaker 1: on micro now I apologize for it. Has the apology
Speaker 1: been accepted? I don't know, But that's not my job.
Speaker 1: I made it. Uh. Ten years have gone by, I'm
Speaker 1: feeling good, I'm much better sober, all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: and for me, it's a dim thing in the past.
Speaker 1: But others bring it up, which kind of I find
Speaker 1: annoying because I don't understand why after ten years it's
Speaker 1: any kind of issue. Um. Surely, if I was really
Speaker 1: what they say, I was some kind of hater, you know, Um,
Speaker 1: there'd be evidence of actions somewhere. There never has been.
Speaker 1: I've never discriminated against anyone or done anything that sort
Speaker 1: of supports that reputation, you know. And for one episode
Speaker 1: in the back of a police car on a double
Speaker 1: tequilas to sort of dictate all the work, life's work
Speaker 1: and beliefs and everything else that I have and maintain
Speaker 1: for my life is really unfair. But some people talk,
Speaker 1: you know, they took it upon themselves to sort of
Speaker 1: have a crucifixion. So there you go. I understand, and
Speaker 1: I'll just I've talked more about this with you than
Speaker 1: with anyone else. But it's like, you know, that's that's
Speaker 1: where I'm at. I'm in a better place. I'm healthy,
Speaker 1: I'm happy. I got you know, family members that I
Speaker 1: love and support. They love and support me. And I
Speaker 1: have many friends, um, and many friends in the industry,
Speaker 1: but they were always there. Um. Well, again, the reason
Speaker 1: I bring it up is just this idea of the
Speaker 1: art versus the artist. I feel. I feel very strongly
Speaker 1: that if you feel strongly about the actions of someone,
Speaker 1: that should not bleed into how you feel about the
Speaker 1: art that they've potentially created. Well, that's true also, and
Speaker 1: I think, uh, the art that they create, um speaks
Speaker 1: loud to do who that person is. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: people say, oh, let's say what you will about this
Speaker 1: piece of you know shit, he made a great movie.
Speaker 1: Well that doesn't make sense, you know, because i'd make
Speaker 1: a piece of ship movie. You know, I hear you,
Speaker 1: and I don't think I have. I'll end on a
Speaker 1: lighter note, which is uh leathal weapon is uh, you know,
Speaker 1: looms large Martin Riggs. Amazing character that you brought four
Speaker 1: in the property has taken on life again. It's a
Speaker 1: TV show. Have you seen the show? I haven't got
Speaker 1: a chance. I don't wanna. Yeah, they've taken the procedural
Speaker 1: route with it, you know, so it's like me like,
Speaker 1: you know, here's the crime of the week on this episode.
Speaker 1: Kind of so it's kind of like what they did
Speaker 1: with Hawaii five. Oh but you know, Shane Black was
Speaker 1: recently over the summer promoting his film and talking about
Speaker 1: what his pitch for Lethal Weapon five would be, which
Speaker 1: I thought sounded kind of cool. It's like you guys
Speaker 1: in a blizzard in New York or whatever. My question
Speaker 1: as a and of the franchise and the characters, is
Speaker 1: that something that we can at all hope for or
Speaker 1: do you think that that chapter is Definitely I think
Speaker 1: it's a cool idea. Yeah, you know, and I like
Speaker 1: the idea of Shane doing it, you know, but I
Speaker 1: wonder about Donner, you know, be Gooder to get him back?
Speaker 1: Well yeah, little he directed all those things, and I
Speaker 1: kind of was like wondering, Hey, where's Donner and all this? So,
Speaker 1: you know, we need we need to get that guy
Speaker 1: back behind the camera. Um. But but yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: cool idea, I think, uh, I think maybe Warner Brothers
Speaker 1: are kind of is it warners that put the TV
Speaker 1: thing out? Is that I don't know actually TV Fox, Okay,
Speaker 1: you know, I hope they make a buck. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I haven't seen it. What's it like? Is
Speaker 1: it good? You know? I'm glad Damon Wayne's is working.
Speaker 1: I'll put it that way. Damon and he's funny. Is
Speaker 1: he funny? He's funny. I saw the pilot, that's all
Speaker 1: I saw, and he was good. And it's they'll have
Speaker 1: a good character dynamic. I think these characters are strong
Speaker 1: enough that any two good actors that play them, they're
Speaker 1: going to have a fun on camera relationship. So hopefully
Speaker 1: we'll get lead the Weapon five with you soon. Uh
Speaker 1: So again, the movie is hacks All Ridge opens November four,
Speaker 1: and so everyone goes see it. It's a great movie
Speaker 1: and we're happy to have you back in the director's chair. Sir.
Speaker 1: Thank you for coming onto the show. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. Everyone, don't forget to subscribe and
Speaker 1: check back next week when I'll be talking to MS
Speaker 1: Sloane star Jessica Chastain. You've been listening to playback at
Speaker 1: Variety