WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: The Viewing 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:08.800 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:15.160 Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:19.000 This is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick, and 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:21.239 we've got something a little bit different for you today. 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.759 Today on Weird House Cinema, we're going to be talking 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:29.240 about The Viewing, directed by Panos Cosmodos, which is not 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:34.320 a feature film, but an anthology episode in the twenty 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:40.400 twenty two Netflix series Guermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Rob, 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:42.800 this was your pick. How did you end up bringing 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:44.480 us into this zone? 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.800 Well, you know, I certainly, of modern directors, Panos is 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.920 one of my favorite weird directors and certainly someone who's 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:54.680 always been in the back of my mind with Weird 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.760 House Cinema. I think one of the reasons I dig 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.280 this selection so much, though, is that it kind of 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:04.240 fills a vital gap in modern genre cinema. I don't 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:05.800 know if this will make sense or if this is 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:07.840 just like me thinking too long and hard about it, 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:13.080 but I feel like this movie of the Viewing is 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.080 in many ways like a B movie creature feature, only 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.959 without the B movie budget limitations and with everything you know, 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.039 some being somewhat subjected to a kind of like cinematic reduction, 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:27.520 you know, and concentration of the flavors. As we've discussed 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:31.120 on the show before, B movies of today, at least 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:33.559 to me and I think to us to some degree, 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.200 they lack the luster of those twentieth century B movies. 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:41.000 And we've discussed some of the possible reasons why. You know, 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.720 is it the technical proficiency or lack thereof sometimes in 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:48.840 the B movies, Is it digital film and digital effects 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:53.520 versus practical and film, or do these recent films just 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:54.840 feel too contemporary. 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.840 I think a lot of modern B movies are too 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:04.120 self conscious and not distinctive enough. They kind of lack 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:07.200 some of the character of the B movies of old 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.600 and have a level of self consciousness that takes some 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:12.560 of the fun out. Like I don't know, I mean, 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:16.640 I've never gotten deep into the Sharknado series, but is like, 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.400 I don't know how much of a drive I feel 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:23.840 to watch Sharknado five, but I do kind of want 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:25.360 to watch Jaws four again. 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:31.200 Yeah, you mentioned fun, and I think that's another key thing, 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.079 like a lot of B movies from the past, that 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:38.200 they are fun to watch this selection. The viewing is, 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:42.200 at least to my taste, a very fun viewing experience. 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:45.760 Every time I watch it, I laugh a little bit, 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.720 I geek out over some of the visuals and the sounds, 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.960 and I ponder over some of the strange choices that 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:56.080 are made, and I think all of those things kind 0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:00.520 of match up with the sort of suite of experienperiences 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:04.200 you tend to have with older B movies, though obviously 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.720 to create this nowadays, you've got to spend a lot 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.040 more money. You've got to throw in, you know, sort 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:14.000 of a mixture of retro esthetics, absurdism in the case 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.880 of Panos's film, certainly a heightened commitment to style. And 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:19.959 I guess it's understandable when we don't see more films 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.359 of this nature, because yeah, it's clearly expensive to generate. 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:25.200 And I guess at the end of the day, there's 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:26.880 kind of like a who is this for? Question? 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:30.920 Yeah, I mean, I don't really know. I feel like 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.680 his most recent feature film, Mandy, was moderately successful, was 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:36.800 it not? Or am I wrong? 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.320 Oh? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, Mandy was was successful, at least 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.920 as far as my understanding of its metrics go. You know, 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.080 it had several different things that sort of propelled it 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.720 and got people into theaters or certainly checking it out 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.560 digitally later. Be it you know, the whole you know, 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:56.920 cage rage aspect of it. You learned to see this 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.480 really walked out performance from Nicolas Cage or certainly the 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:05.320 face melting visuals and sounds of the picture. And also 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:12.240 it had a very I guess, dependable subgenre styling to it. 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.880 It is a revenge film, which is not my favorite 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:18.960 genre of film, but it's something that you go into 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:21.640 a movie like that you kind of know what sort 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.240 of ride you're in for, and that helps propel you 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:24.680 through it. 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.719 Yeah, so maybe the revenge film or other genre trappings 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:30.440 might explain part of the success there. But I feel 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.760 like there is an audience for Penos Cosmodos oh and 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.839 for his style driven approach. I mean, so I've seen now, 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:42.240 I guess, all of the major film projects of Penos Cosmotos. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.560 So he's done two features Beyond the Black Rainbow from 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:49.280 twenty ten and Mandy from twenty eighteen, and this Cabinet 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.680 of Curiosities episode. I've seen all three now and I 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.600 don't know of anything else. He's really released. One thing 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.600 I think they all have in common is that they 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:04.240 are primarily texture driven rather than narrative driven. So whereas 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:08.640 you assume most filmmaking projects start with the story idea, 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.400 they start with a script or a story concept, and 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:14.640 then they come up with the audio visual elements that 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:17.440 are necessitated by that. They come up with sets and 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.039 costumes and lighting schema and music and other visual and 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:25.360 auditory motifs to serve and enrich the story. I think 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:27.920 Panos's movies, I mean, I don't know about the process 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:30.080 if it really works this way, but it feels like 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:34.640 Panos's movies start with the texture. They start with maybe 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.840 a vision of a room with sunken couches in a 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:42.080 circle with a strange sort of pipe organ chandelier hanging 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.680 above them, and a revolving table covered in lines of cocaine, 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:49.640 surrounded by like mirrored orange radiance and AK forty seven 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.279 silhouetted in gold light. And then there's a specific soundtrack 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.159 to this. You can you know he's hearing it in 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.520 his head. There's like a chord progression playing in a dark, 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.200 saturated moge synthesize tone. Oh, and then you know, for 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.239 another movie it's like I'm seeing a biker that's only 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:08.479 in shadows, surrounded by pink light, covered head to toe 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.440 in spikes like a puffer fish. But they're not spikes, 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:12.440 they're made of rebar. 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:13.040 Oh. 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:15.520 And there's like a battle between two men wielding ten 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.680 foot long chainsaws, and so forth and so forth, And 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:21.800 it feels like they start with the images and the 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:24.919 color palettes, the lighting, the music and all that, and 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.039 they just kind of fill in a story or the 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:30.760 suggestion of a story to link together all of that texture. 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.880 I'd say, of the three things, maybe Mandy is the 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.360 most story driven of his works, followed by this episode 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:39.760 somewhere in the middle, and then beyond the Black Rainbow 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:42.120 seems the least story driven in the most kind of 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.400 texture driven. But in all cases it seems to me 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:48.560 like the plot content is secondary to the sights and 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:50.680 the sounds. And let me know in a minute if 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.960 you disagree with that characterization. But I'll say, at least 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:56.599 as far as my perception of his style goes, it's 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:58.880 interesting to me that this is not the only film 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:01.919 we've covered that feel like it operates this way. But 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:06.360 in other cases, for one thing, no, it actually did 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.880 operate that way in terms of how the film was made, 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.280 and we know why, and it was because of ruthless 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:16.480 concerns about budget and efficiency. So maybe Roger Corman says, oh, 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.560 hot dog, we got some stock footage and some leftover 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:22.000 sets and costumes from another movie. We got them on 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:24.760 the cheap. Let's throw together a script that can use 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:29.120 this footage of a rocket launching and these sparkly coats 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:33.239 and this rented mansion in La and et cetera, et cetera. 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:36.680 Panos's movies do not feel like this at all, to 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.800 the extent that it is actually guided by an ethic 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:43.920 of texture first, or production elements first, rather than story first. 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:48.720 It feels like a result of a lavish, indulgent passion 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.520 for the project, completely opposite from the sort of mercenary 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.440 or efficiency focused attempt to wring every last drop of 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.680 value out of your rentals and your commissions. 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.679 Yeah, there's a real commitment to vision, uh, with these pictures. 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.240 And I love that it that it has thus far 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.040 been sustained, because when Beyond the Black Rainbow came out, 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:12.480 I loved it. You know, it's just a film you 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:15.680 can just breathe in and and then came Mandy, and 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.840 then came this, and and like each time, I'm afraid 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:22.280 things are gonna get less weird, They're gonna maybe become 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:27.280 more concerned with with these other aspects of cinematic storytelling. 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.800 But but thus far, no, it's been it's been the weirdness, 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:33.360 the visuals and the you know, the sites and sounds 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.040 well beyond anything you've tested that come first. 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:39.280 And to be clear, I don't know that this is 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.800 how Panos operates. It's just that's how the product feels 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:45.400 in the end. I mean, it's it's entirely possible. They 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:48.040 do start with the script and then just something about 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:51.160 the way, you know, the way he realizes the sights 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.560 and sounds of that story are so strong they sort of, 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.800 uh take take the pilot's chair in the actual viewing experience. 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:01.800 But then this got me thinking about, well, what are 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:06.080 the common themes in the narrative content the stories of 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:11.760 Panos Cosmodosi's movies, And they seem to me to all 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:18.199 represent a dual infatuation with, but also deep suspicion of 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:23.199 the mini strands of the psychedelic and New Age American 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:27.920 counterculture of the sixties and seventies. So you've got murderous 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.560 cults of Manson type hippies. You've got demonic bikers that 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:37.760 deal drugs from hell. You have utopian alternative healing institutions 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.000 that turn into psychotic prisons, like the premise of Beyond 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.520 the Black Rainbow is sort of like an Esslin Institute 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:49.640 workshop took hostages and turned them into psychic assassins. You've 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:53.120 got hallucinogen use that is portrayed with a kind of 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.720 glamorous horror. It's a double edged sword. It's very alluring, 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:00.920 but it also causes people to lose their minds and 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:05.319 sometimes their souls. And the Viewing in particular has a 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:09.640 character who seems to me to be modeled on personalities 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:13.200 associated with the Stanford Research Institute, which we've talked about 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:15.640 on the show before, but basically, you know, a sort 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:20.160 of research program famous for claiming to have found scientific 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:25.319 evidence of paranormal powers like telekinesis and remote viewing, sometimes 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.200 associated with other figures in the broader New Age movement. 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.320 And this character in the Viewing is explicitly portrayed as 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:35.600 a Charlatan. And in general, it seems like Panos's vision 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:39.880 is one that's like obsessed with these sort of hippie 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.560 and new age concepts, but also views mind expansion in 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:48.480 all its forms as something that is beautiful and appealing 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:51.680 but often is a false promise that leads to suffering 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:53.079 and chaos and destruction. 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:57.120 Yeah. Yeah, I think that's very fair. I guess some 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.960 of it is also probably rooted in an exploitation cinema, 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.640 Like certainly when you think of Beyond the Black Rainbow, 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:08.120 instantly reminded of Blue Sunshine, which is very much a 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:14.520 you know, post hippies, sort of aging out hippies exploitation 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.200 film about oh, well, you know that that acid you 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:19.640 took years ago, Well, it turns out it'll make you 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:24.400 into a bald psychopath. Now, so watch out and think 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:26.640 twice about all the things you did ten or fifteen 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:27.160 years ago. 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:29.480 We may have to do Blue Sunshine one day on 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.160 Weird House. One of my favorite aspects of it is that, 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.120 if I remember right, doesn't all your hair fall off 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:38.920 at once? Yes, it happens in an instant. It's like 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.400 a wig that comes off. It's not gradual. 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.240 Yeah, that's an interesting film starring Zalman King. 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.480 Yeah, but I like that once it becomes clear in 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.160 that movie that it's the acid that's turning people into 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:55.199 to like kill zombies. Then you're trying to do a 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.640 kind of detective thing of weight. Can we remember who 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.360 took the acid at this party like twenty years ago. 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:04.720 Yeah. The big difference between Blue Sunshine and the works 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.319 of Panos because Monos, though, I think, is that Blue 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.320 Sunshine doesn't really, as I recall, doesn't really do much 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.160 to give you, like even a semi glamorous idea of 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.920 what the psychedelic experience could be like, like not even 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:21.960 like an exaggerated dreamlike cinematic quality to it. Whereas Panos 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.360 is going to dip into both wells. As you said, 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.320 you know, there's going to be something alluring and other 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.840 worldly about it all, but also there's going to be 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:30.760 this dark side. 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:35.520 Though interestingly, at least to me, while the narrative content 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:40.720 has this kind of tight obsession on like sixties and 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:44.640 seventies hippie and new age themes, I feel like the 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.640 texture that he's drawing from is time shifted a little 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.600 bit later than that, like there's overlap, but it goes 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:56.360 a little bit further into like the eighties, the kind 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:58.439 of sights and sounds that he seems to be most 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:03.160 sourcing from sort of a late seventies and eighties club 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:06.520 lighting and synthesizer bath in a way, kind of a 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:07.720 tech noir element. 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:08.600 Yeah. 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.000 Yeah, and you certainly know you're watching a Panosklausnato's film 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.200 certainly thus far based to a large degree on the 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.959 colors and the light and this like searing sense of 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.960 the lights, like it's like the dead lights, you know, 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:26.679 shining out of his pictures at you. I think some 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:29.080 of these are called Panos flares. I think that's his. 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:31.040 I think I picked it up somewhere. That's his name 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.280 for some of these these flares you see in his films. 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.760 I don't know specifically what that refers to, but there 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:41.600 are very distinctive types of Panos shots, like he loves 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:46.080 a car racing through the dark in the night with 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.600 the dials illuminated glowing in the dark, and like synthesizer 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:54.000 music playing, or like a character in silhouette just like 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.640 just absolutely washed in colored light from behind so you 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:00.840 can't really see their feature is you just see the 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.160 outline and behind them it is like an orange sun 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:05.360 or a pink son. 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.319 Yeah. And another big aspect of is a certainly in 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.000 play and Beyond the Black Rainbow, and also in play 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:14.840 in this film to a large extent, is a kind 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:21.480 of I would say, very like Queludian pacing at times, 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.600 and I think maybe that can be that can maybe 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.800 be a buried entry for some viewers who really want 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.520 something that's gonna really snap and move quickly, Like things 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.920 are not necessarily gonna move quickly in one of these films. 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.520 It's gonna it's gonna be like a slow burning feeling. 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.440 There's gonna be maybe some some some time spent like 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:46.360 watching a weird character actor like calmly emote for a while, 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:49.240 which which I love. But yeah, may not be everyone's 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:49.840 cup of tea. 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.840 Oh, I totally agree. No, that's another distinctive Panos thing. 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:58.720 His films, I would say, in comprehensively lack momentum, both 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.640 in terms of the overall plot and in terms of 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.480 the moment to moment experience of the scenes. Like in 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.880 the individual scenes, there's a lot of so like when 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.000 characters are talking to each other, there's a lot of 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.920 kind of stopping and starting dialogue. A lot of dialogue 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.960 scenes do not really kind of like build an intensity 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.400 and have an exchange of power, like you know, your 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.760 dialogue writing coach would say, you're supposed to have, but 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.760 they work in a totally different way. They're more just 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:29.040 kind of painting a weird picture of interactions rather than 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.800 escalating drama. That's not true of every scene, but that's 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.840 very often true. And then I would say overall, yeah, 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.520 there are the movies do build up towards something, but 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:44.080 they don't have that kind of relentless, snowballing feeling where 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:45.960 it's like, oh, I've got to see what happens in 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:49.080 the next scene. You have to kind of like submit 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.560 to one of these films and say like, I'm just 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.120 ready for it, and I think it's a very fun 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:59.600 and rewarding experience, but it Yeah, they don't pull you 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.560 with that like Page Turner thriller quality, whatever the movie 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:03.560 equivalent of that is. 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:06.360 Yeah, this this one. I have to say. When I 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:08.840 saw it for the first time, I went in without 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:12.400 I think even having seen a screenshot from it. I 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:14.280 just I knew that it was Panelsco's mottos and that 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:16.160 I was going to be on board for it, but 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.480 not knowing anything about even what the plot was or 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:22.520 what the viewing referred to it did feel very unsafe, 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.000 you know, like I just really didn't know what kind 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.040 of story this was going to be. And it's not 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.320 entirely clear for a large portion of the runtime what 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.080 kind of story it's going to ultimately be. It's not 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.440 really into the last say, twelve minutes of the like 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:39.840 just less than an hour runtime, that things really come 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:40.360 to a head. 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:42.960 I mean a lot of this thing is just character 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:44.120 is doing drugs. 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:48.480 Yeah, it's true. So yeah, that kind of brings me 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.160 to my elevator pitch, is that this is essentially House 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.360 on Haunted Hill, except instead of money and ghosts, it's 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.800 drugs and face melting encounters. 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:01.560 Now, Rob, is this one where you were saying that 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:03.240 the trailer spoils the ending. 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.560 I wouldn't say the trailer spoils anything, per se. I 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.560 just I kind of wanted for you something akin to 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.719 my experience with it, where you didn't know exactly what 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:15.440 was going to happen. 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:18.320 Well, based on your recommendation, I did not watch the trailer. 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:20.440 I just went in cold, and I'm glad I did. 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:20.720 Yeah. 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:22.640 I liked not knowing where it was going. 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:24.919 Yeah, so this is gonna be twenty five seconds of 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:27.520 trailer audio. So if you want to skip it, skip 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:29.800 ahead about twenty five seconds. Let's have a listen. 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:36.120 What are your name? 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:41.040 Tonight? 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.720 I'm going to gift you an eight transcendence. 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:47.720 At the greatest expense. 0:17:49.840 --> 0:18:07.840 Asmarizing all right now, if you would like to experience 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.040 the viewing before we proceed with the discussion here well 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:13.880 as of this recording, the only way to experience it 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.840 is as the seventh episode of Germeal de Toro's Cabin 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.400 of Curiosities, as you mentioned earlier, on the streaming platform Netflix. 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:22.879 But I really hope it does get a physical release 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.200 at some point, either on its own or as part 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:29.199 of this series, which as we were just talking to 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.040 JJ about, I think, I think it's it's rather good. 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.320 It's it's varied, it has some has a couple of 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:38.280 other high points as far as my taste go. And 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:41.479 also I think there's there's a nice variety. Like some 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:45.320 of the the episodes are more thoughtful and character driven. 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:48.399 A couple of them are certainly more tales from the 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:52.040 crypt ish in their you know, their basic structure. You know, 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:55.200 here's a terrible person. He's become involved with some sort 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:57.800 of supernatural element and he's going to get. 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:01.400 His This is the only ups of this I've actually seen, 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.439 so if I watch more, I may come back to 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.639 it in October. Be good seasonal viewing. I don't know 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:07.879 if they're going to do another one. 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:09.840 I don't know that they've said one way or another. 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.280 I think Del Toro has said that he's interested in 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.960 heading it up, but I think I saw a quote 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:17.880 where he's like, but if it doesn't happen, I'll also 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:19.640 be a little bit relieved because it's a lot of work. 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:32.800 So fingers crossed. All right, let's talk about the people 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.840 involved here, So we'll start at the top here with 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.720 Panos Cosmontos, the director and one of the writers on 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:43.200 this piece. Born nineteen seventy four Italian Canadian film director 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.560 and screenwriter. He's the son of director George P. Cosmotos, 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.080 who lived nineteen forty one through two thousand and five, 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.280 who himself gave us such weird films as nineteen eighty 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:56.440 three's of Unknown Origin and nineteen eighty nine's Leviathan. 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:00.880 I didn't realize that connection until right before we came 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.160 into record, but that'll come up again in a minute. 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:07.280 Yeah, he's also he's he also brought to brought us 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:11.720 some some mainstream action films like Rainbow Rambow, or rather 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:18.359 First Blood Part two Rainbow. Yeah, Cobra from nineteen eighty six, 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:21.760 that's another stallone, and Tombstone from nineteen ninety three, a 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:24.959 popular Western. Panos, by the way, who would have been 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.120 I think eighteen at the time, has a credit on 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.119 that film some sort of like assistant video operator in 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:34.159 the second unit. So, as we've been discussing, Panos's own 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.360 writing and directing debut was twenty tens Beyond the Black Rainbow, 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.879 followed by the Nicholas Cage helmed revenge horror movie Mandy. 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:44.240 And then comes the Viewing, which I feel takes a 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:48.199 slightly more absurdist approach and also dials down like the 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:51.479 number of things he's trying to accomplish in the picture, 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:55.280 while still going just all in and all out on 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:56.520 its main set pieces. 0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:58.960 Yeah, I would say, And this may just be in 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:01.800 part due to its shorter run time, but the viewing 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:06.080 takes us on fewer wild turns on the journey than 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:10.720 his other two movies do, but the turns that are 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:13.280 taken are just as wild. Yeah. 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:16.360 As for his next film, I believe it is set 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:21.480 to be something titled Necrocosm. I don't know that we 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:24.439 really know anything about what this is going to consist of, 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:26.119 except that it's supposedly going to be more of a 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:29.199 sci fi film, so I'm excited to find out what 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:32.320 it could possibly be. Now. His co writer on this 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:35.639 is Aaron stuart On. I'm not sure about the dates 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:38.679 for this writer, but he was one of the co 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:43.840 writers of Mandy, alongside Panos and one Casper Kelly. He 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:46.000 was also a staff writer on the twenty twenty two 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:49.040 series The Witcher Blood Origin, and as a director, he 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:51.159 directed a couple of Decembrist videos as well as a 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:55.399 video for Death Cab for Qtie. Now getting into the 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:58.719 cast here, yes, heading this up playing the character Lionel 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:04.840 Lassiter is Peter Weller for nineteen forty seven American actor 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:07.720 and director who's acting or goes all the way back 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:10.960 into the early seventies and he's still active today. He 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:13.840 started out on Broadway, then did some TV, did a 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:16.159 little bit of film, and then starred in George P. 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:20.520 Coosmatos's nineteen eighty three psychological thriller of unknown Origin, a 0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:23.000 movie I have not seen, but I've heard good things about. 0:22:23.000 --> 0:22:25.639 It's a psychological horror film about a man who becomes 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:28.600 obsessed with killing a rat that's infesting his home. 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:32.600 I don't know, that sounds like a premise of like 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:35.399 a comedy. You know, this guy's like, oh, this rat's 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:36.520