WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Astro-Zombies Walk Among Us 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:06.560 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.879 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind listener mail. 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:13.960 My name is Robert. 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:17.520 Lamb and I am Joe McCormick, and today is Monday. 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:19.159 With the day of each week we read back some 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:22.800 messages from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind listener mailbox. 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:25.640 If you had never gotten in touch with us before, 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:27.800 why not give it a try. You can email us 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:32.320 at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.680 Let's see, Rob, I think I want to kick things 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.320 off with this message from Kenny in Glasgow. If you 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.919 don't mind, go for it. So this is somewhat having 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:45.159 to do with beavers, but also in response to a 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:55.160 previous listener mail from last week. Kenny from Glasgow says, Hi, Rob, 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:59.080 Joe and JJ. First off, in response to Constantine's listener 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:03.760 mail can learning Canada's national animal the mighty beaver, he 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:08.520 remarked that the UK has the lion. However that's only 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:14.200 England's animal. Ooh, I'm sure that is a screw up there, Constantine. 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:17.560 I hope you find contrition about this. Kenny goes on, 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:21.520 We Scots opted for the unicorn and the Welsh went 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.520 for the dragon. If you must have an animal mascot, 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:30.039 why limit yourself to reality. Regarding the beaver, we reintroduced 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:33.600 them in Scotland about two decades ago after a five 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.440 hundred year absence. There's been a bit of resistance, especially 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:41.600 from farmers, but they appear to have increased biodiversity, reduced 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:46.240 pollution and downstream flooding. My direct experience of a wild 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.760 beaver was actually in Connecticut, where I worked at a 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.200 summer camp for many years. I always thought that the 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.280 stump gnad to a perfect point was a cartoon trope, 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:02.080 but we would regularly spot these on woodland walks. One day, 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.960 I took my division out on the lake in kayaks. 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:08.000 It was very warm and the lake was mirror smooth, 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.320 and the boys and I were drifting near the shore 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.760 in a blissful little group. From the corner of my eye, 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:16.440 I noticed a shadow in the water, and when I turned, 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.480 I realized there was a beaver staring right at me. 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:22.320 It was no more than a meter away, with only 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.160 its head above water. For a few minutes, we drifted 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:29.200 in silence before, evidently bored with me, it dove, slapping 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.280 the water hard with its huge tail. The lake was 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:35.000 crystal clear and I watched it swim until I lost 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.280 it in the distance. Anyway, thanks for your incredible work, 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:41.760 Kenny from Glasgow. PS is a future topic. Maybe you 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:45.880 could talk about the environmental effects of species reintroduction. It's 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:49.960 a subject of some debate and I think education is vital. Yeah, 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:53.359 thanks Kenny, that is an interesting subject. I don't think 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:56.880 I quite realized. I know, beaver's had been hunted to 0:02:57.000 --> 0:03:01.040 extinction in the British Isles, or at least I guess, 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:02.920 as you say, in Scotland, I think throughout the whole 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.600 British Isles. But yeah, I didn't realize they'd been reintroduced. 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:10.080 So that is interesting and I'm glad your encounter with 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.200 a beaver did not go like that like that one 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:15.400 we read about on the show with the guy on 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:15.880 the bridge. 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.639 And indeed, this is a good topic for future consideration. 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:22.160 I feel like we've maybe touched on it a little 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:23.880 bit in the past, but I don't know that we've 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:28.079 ever done like a full episode on species reintroduction. Could 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.960 be wrong, all right. This next one comes to us 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:38.960 from Ian Ian writes in and says, Dear Robin, Joe, 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.480 I wanted to write in just to say thank you 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:44.040 to Robert for an offhand comment he made several weeks 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.720 ago about getting something new out of Doom every time 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.680 he's reread it. The reason I'm thanking you for this 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.120 is kind of involved, but I wanted to share. My 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:56.400 local library has a reading program that I participate in, 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:58.880 where each month there is a new category of books 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:01.640 for you to read. The May's category was a book 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.840 from your past, and I had not been able to 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:07.360 settle on anything yet. I'd been leaning towards Matter by 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:10.640 Ian M. Banks, the first Culture series book I read, 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:14.000 certainly a fine choice, by the way, But then when 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:17.880 I was listening to your show, rob mentioned rereading Doune, 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.960 and I knew that was the one. I first received 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.200 a paperback copy of Dune as a Christmas gift from 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.320 my grandfather, who recently passed away, when I was around 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.200 twelve or fourteen years old. I love of science fiction 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:31.679 was something we always shared, and he liked to introduce 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:35.039 me to older classic sci fi, which I always appreciated. 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:38.400 He also gave me the complete Hitchhiker's Guide series another year. 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:41.200 I loved Dune from the first time I read it, 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:43.479 and have read it several times since, so the last 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.200 time was when I was in college, longer ago than 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.440 I care to admit. I still have the original paperback 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:51.800 he gave me all those years ago. Unlike the rest 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.080 of the series, it hasn't even been relegated to the basement. 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:57.520 It's on a shelf in my home office, and that 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.240 is the copy I read again this time. I think 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:02.640 it's the same edition Joe once talked about, with some 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:07.080 portions of the typeset slightly askew and other printing oddities 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.520 like that. It had a lot of character when it 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:12.200 was new, and even more now that it's rather the 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.680 worse for wear slash Love with a beat up cover, 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.640 the corners of the whole book worn to a round 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:22.080 shape instead of a sharp corner, and water stains on 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:26.000 the back ten percent or so of the pages. Reading 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.440 it again now was very special, and in addition to 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:30.440 getting more out of the text itself than I did 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.839 when I was younger, it helped me feel closer to 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:34.280 my grandfather. So thank you. 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:38.680 Yeah, oh well, that's heartwarming. Regarding that copy of down 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.320 Ian mentions this came up on the show at some point, 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:43.760 But I think what I said is that the first 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:46.840 few times I tried to read Dune. I got stalled out. 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.919 I don't know, some small amount of pages in and 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:51.960 I think it was because of this copy I was 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:55.760 reading had like tiny print and like weird margins and stuff. 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.240 It's just not a good physical printing of the book. 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.039 And I got a better one later, and of course 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:02.880 loved it once I actually read the whole thing. 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:05.440 Yeah, some of these old paperbacks, I love them. I 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:09.040 love the field, the smell of them. But I've gotten 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:13.159 so spoiled by my Kendall reader that it's hard to 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:15.800 go back to some of these physical books with their 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:20.160 tiny typeset. But at any rate, Yeah, this is great 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.520 to hear Ian. Yeah, I'm madter by Inan Banks as 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:25.040 great as well. I haven't read a culture book in 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.440 a while, but at this point, but I should re 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.400 explore them again, because those are some great books with 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.600 some wonderful ideas in them. And of course I love Dune, 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:37.760 and of course, and I think it's great anytime you 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.360 have a book like this, be it Dune or anything else, 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:44.120 that has this sort of cherished, recurring place in your 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.839 life and or a connection to people who introduced you 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:51.080 to these books. That's my hot take. Reading is great. 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:55.320 Okay. This next message is in response to our episode 0:06:55.400 --> 0:07:04.800 on Blue Space and on fountains. Edward says, Hi, Robin Joe. 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:06.880 I was listening to your episode on fountains. When you 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.920 mentioned the calming aspects of fountains. My mind immediately went 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.400 to the bucket fountain we have in Wellington, New Zealand, 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:18.400 because I don't think it has those aspects. Water fills 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.320 up the buckets, causing them to tip out their water 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:25.280 in the general direction of the buckets below them before 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:28.440 they thunk back to their normal position. There isn't even 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.960 any regular pattern to the buckets emptying, but it does 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:35.880 distribute water to the nearby public, especially when it gets 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.400 windy and most of the water doesn't make it into 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.920 the lower buckets or the pool below them. And then 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:45.320 Edward provides some links well, thank you, Edward. I can 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:48.760 sense a little bit of snark in your description here. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.840 I've seen this described as a kinetic sculpture more than 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:56.760 a fountain. I don't know where the line between fountain 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:01.080 and sculpture involving moving water is. A I don't know 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:02.120 what you think about that, roub. 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.040 I mean, I don't know. I don't have a strong 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.840 opinion about it. But looking at just still pictures of 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:11.080 this particular fountain, I think it looks looks great. I 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.600 have no problem with it. It reminds me of some 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:19.480 kinetic structures I've seen. Had various splash pads in our area, 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.160 you know, for kids on hot days to sort of 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.120 play around and splash in the water without actually being 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.840 in a pool. And some of these are a lot 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:29.560 of fun for the kids because it's like, oh, is 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.320 it about to tip? Is it about to spill? And 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:33.960 then it spills and you know, it splashes water all 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:34.920 over your head, et cetera. 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:37.520 You know, I haven't double checked the sources on this, 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:39.840 but the wiki tells me that during the filming of 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.600 Lord of the Rings, Elijah Wood climbed on this fountain 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:43.560 and peed in it. 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:50.679 Hmmm, well I can't condone that, but interesting that it's 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.160 been something of a cultural epicenter for a number of 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:57.320 different things. Oh really, I mean, like we said before, 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.760 all water has been p perhaps all water has been 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:01.920 a lot would speak and you know we should just 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:03.640 we should just accept it. 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.160 Yeah, how long does that take? I feel like this 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:08.360 question has come up before. 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.400 All Right, show we get into some Weird House Cinema 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.040 listener mail here. This first one's pretty exciting. This one 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:23.679 comes to us from bb BB writes in and says, Hi, guys, 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:25.600 I love the show. I'm a truck driver who spends 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.240 many hours, primarily at night, listening to podcasts, and yours 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.240 is one of my very favorites. Well. I love all 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.280 the episodes. I especially look forward to the Friday installments 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:37.160 of Weird House Cinema. I've almost written in on a 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.520 couple of occasions, but just never got round to it. 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.280 I saw both Phantasm and The Devil's Rain in the theater. 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.240 One small detail in Fantasm scarred me for life, but 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:48.040 I digress. 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:51.480 Last don't say what the detail is. 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:54.680 I know I want to. There's so many disturbing details 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.360 in Phantasm. It could have could have been numerous things. 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.680 It wasn't the Blood Funnel. It was the performance of 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:05.440 sitting Here at Midnight by hot As Love the Reggie 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:06.320 what's his name band? 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.880 Oh yeah, yeah, that's a great, often underappreciated moment in 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:14.680 the film. Anyway, Babe continues this last Saturday morning, I 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.440 was listening to the Queen of Blood episode and waiting 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:18.880 for a good friend of mine to pick me up 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:20.920 so he could go grab a cup of coffee. The 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.400 episode was just wrapping. As he pulled up, I told 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:25.559 him about your show and the deep dive you had 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:28.520 just done on Queen of Blood. He said, wait, what. 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:33.040 My friend is the son of Judy Meredith and Gary Nelson. 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:35.800 I told him that you had some really nice things 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.440 to say about his mom. She was, of course in 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.760 the film. He said, how could they not. She was 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.080 a wonderful person and a great actor. He went on, 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.480 she was in some bad movies, but you know she 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:47.720 had to pay the bills. It brought a smile to 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.960 his face. Oh. While I personally never met Judy, I 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:53.319 did get to meet Gary Nelson on a couple of 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.280 occasions and listen to some of his stories. I also 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.640 think you should cover The black Hole on Weird House. 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.199 It's very rich and deep in some ways and very 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:04.560 cheesy in others. Fun fact, The black Hole was Disney's 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:07.880 first PG rated movie. Thanks again for all the hard 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.880 work and thorough research you put into all your subjects. 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.040 Bebe well. That is a connection I did not expect. 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:17.880 But yeah, it makes me doubly glad that we had 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:21.160 nice things to say about Judy Meredith, who again the 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.640 limitations of Queen of Blood as a movie being quite apparent. 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:25.840 Judy Meredith was great. 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:29.160 Yeah, I mean we always try and find the positive 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:33.040 spin on the performances, and yeah, it's kind of neat 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:35.920 to get this personal story from a listener. Not since 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.200 the time we heard from the guy who was almost 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.280 skewered by John Saxon also in Queen of Blood have 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:43.560 we had this sort of listener mail. 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.160 That's all right, I forgot about that. There was a 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:48.359 sword fight for what movie? 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:52.200 Oh, some sort of authorian sort of thing. As I recall, 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:54.760 we've looked it up before. It was some low budget 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:59.240 fair It was some maybe a little bit dodgy stunts. 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:10.480 Okay. This next message is from Pat subject, Son of Frankenstein. Guys, 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.480 as always, thanks, Queen of Blood was a cool choice. 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:16.600 I remember seeing this as a release in a grindhouse. 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:20.840 Oh man, great. We always love to hear about those experiences. 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.640 But Pat tells us nothing else about that experience, so 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.320 maybe it was unremarkable. Pat says, you briefly mentioned Son 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:31.520 of Frankenstein. I'm a big fan. No, the plot is silly, 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:36.959 but this piece is character driven, and what characters Wrathbone. 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.720 I guess, referring to Basil Rathbone as Baron wolf is 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:45.200 wonderful as the maddening scientist. I guess is that different 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:49.080 from a mad scientist. A maddening scientist, like he maddens others, 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.720 or maybe he is turning mad in the process of maddening. 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.560 I don't know, Like, you know, you need a it's 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:58.280 like having a life for career coach. A mad scientist 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:01.400 good needs a good maddening science, just like we saw 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.160 in Bride of Frankenstein. 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:06.320 Right to Madden, you up exactly, Yeah, and that would 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.000 make sense because much in the same way people. You know, 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:11.559 some family names that are passed down originally the name 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.840 of professions. People called Cooper, you know, they made barrels 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:21.439 or whatever. John Madden's family, they were originally maddeners. Anyway, 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.960 back to Pat's message, Pat says Bella Lagosi is creepy 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:29.400 as the living hanged man. Igor Carloff's last turn is 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:33.160 the monster and a weird House favorite Lionel Atwill as 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:37.400 the Inspector, a role spoofed in Young Frankenstein. Plenty of 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:41.040 strange dialogue, like Baron Wolfe in his entrance explaining to 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.920 his wife about the monster quote which some of the 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.840 villagers actually call this monster. And then there's a break 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.760 here where Rathbone's voice is overridden by the train crew 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:59.680 announcing arrival at Frankenstein. That's a place, now, I guess. Anyway, 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.440 Thanks Pat, Yeah, I haven't seen it, but I'll put 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:03.680 that on the list. It sounds good. 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.760 Yeah, this is the for the context if you didn't 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:08.600 listen to the Queen of Blood episode. Basically we were 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:12.880 talking about like the original Frankenstein Classic Bride of Frankenstein 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:17.800 even better, like a like a shining pillar in cinema 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:19.240 and horror cinema especially. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.200 But then the ride is the Empire strikes back to 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:23.760 Frankenstein Star Wars. 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:29.400 Yeah, and then but then this, but then I guess, yeah, 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:31.880 Son of Frankenstein is I don't know where you wouldlass. 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:34.440 It's not even the Return of the Jedi of the series. 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.120 It's the third film in that series, but it's I 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.480 don't know, it's somewhere down with the Ewok movies probably, 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.560 or at least I've never seen it. That's all. That's 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:45.520 how it seems to be discussed. But I'm you know, 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.920 I'm always open to be surprised. And turn it around 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:50.880 concerning some of these films. 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:52.920 I think we should put it on the list fair. 0:14:52.800 --> 0:15:03.400 Enough, all right, here's one from Liam Liam Wright Sen 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:07.080 and says, hey, just listen to the Super Mario Brothers episode, 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.960 and I wanted to flag that Big Bertha is a 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.960 character named after a phish from the games. No idea why, 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:16.480 but I guess it's an extremely forced way to incorporate 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:21.360 more game references, albeit with no relevance. The large bucket 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:25.120 Koopa is standing in before being made to primordial sludge 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.800 also looks similar to the flying machine Bowser uses to 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:33.280 battle Mario in at least one of the games. Didn't 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.680 hate the film, but feels like it could have been 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:39.920 a prequel to Super Mario sixty four given proximity to release. 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:42.520 Loved the episode all the best. Liam. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:47.120 This kind of, uh, what we like, A non resonating 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:51.280 simple reference is I think so common in comic book 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:55.880 movies now that we've kind of like learned to ignore it, 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.440 like not notice that it's strange anymore. I bet somebody 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.480 has written a good piece on this, but I'm kind 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:04.840 of interested in this phenomenon, the phenomenon of cramming a 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:10.520 piece of media with references to other related media. I 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:13.520 think this is mostly understood today as you know, what 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:16.800 people call fan service, like a series of little gifts 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:19.960 to people who are in the know, Like, Oh, did 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.840 you hear that the character was named Bertha? That's what 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.320 the fish in the Mario game is called. I got 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:29.040 that reference. And obviously some people find this very pleasing. 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.760 I guess sometimes in some contexts, I also find it pleasing, 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:35.160 though in others I just find it a little perplexing. 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.640 I'm not sure what makes the difference, but like, why 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.360 is it fun to notice things like this in the 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.160 cases when it is fun? And how far back does 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.080 this practice go? I mean, they're doing it in this 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:50.160 nineties movie. I would have to assume that things like 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:53.800 this were happening even before movies existed. In literature, there 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.560 must have been people burying little references to pre existing 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.520 literature that were just like fun things for people to 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.240 pick up on and get and don't really have any 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:04.360 relevance other than that. 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:07.160 Yeah, I'm not sure about this. This might be something 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:11.040 to sort of keep our our eyes open for in 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.119 future episodes of Weird House, you know, Like, I'm like, 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.399 I'm thinking back to say the Dunwich Horror, which was 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.720 such a fun, fun film based on Lovecraft stories, or 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:24.320 one particular Lovecraft story of the Dunwich Car. But I 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:27.760 don't recall that having any winks or nods to any 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:31.120 other Lovecraft tales or anything of that nature. I could 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.399 be wrong, but because that kind of thing is generally 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.679 it's unnecessary in order to tell the story. It's all about, like, 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.200 to what degree do you want to engage a more 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:44.840 hardcore audience or I guess sometimes it maybe feels like 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.479 I don't know, maybe maybe it's just me overthinking it, 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.440 but like if you have enough little nods and sort 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:56.280 of cryptic references that it kind of creates a substructure 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.760 to what you're doing, or the illusion of a substructure. 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:01.679 I'm not sure. I guess. Also there's a discussion to 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:05.240 be had about how subtle it is, how forced it feels, 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:07.960 you know, and that's just going to vary from work 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.280 to work. All Right, what else do we have? This 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.400 can't be the only person to have written in about 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:13.480 Super Mario Brothers. 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:17.480 Oh no, we got quite a few. Let's see. Here's 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:25.400 one from Dan. Dan says, Hello, Robert and Joe. I'm 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:28.399 currently listening to your Super Mario Brothers Weird House Cinema episode. 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:30.479 From a couple of weeks ago. You had asked for 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:35.399 Lance Hendrickson movie suggestions, and I have two. First, Stan 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:40.560 Winston's nineteen eighty eight supernatural horror revenge movie Pumpkinhead, which 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:45.520 stars Hendrickson, and Jim Jarmusch's nineteen ninety five art house 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:49.320 acid western dead Man, in which Hendrickson plays a supporting 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.439 role as a cannibalistic bounty hunter in a cast that 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.720 also stars Johnny Depp when he was Good, Gary Farmer, 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:59.800 Robert Mitcham, Michael Wincott, and Iggy Pop, with an electric 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.639 horror score by Neil Young, whoa Both are quite weird 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.680 in their own distinct ways and would be worthy of discussion, 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.960 though personally I lean more towards dead Man. Dan Well, 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.280 thank you Dan. I watched dead Man back when I 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:15.920 was in college. Weirdly, I don't remember much about the movie, 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.560 but I do remember Neil Young's guitar score. 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:22.040 Yeah, you are a big Neil Young fan, I am. Yeah, 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:23.920 I don't know. It might be one to consider. Yeah, 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:25.600 I don't think i've I don't think i've seen it. 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:27.560 I think maybe I watched like the first five minutes 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:30.520 of it once and for some reason didn't watch the 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:32.840 rest of it. But I don't really remember much other 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.919 than noticing that it's in black and white, that it 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.359 and it looks good in black and white, and obviously 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:40.800 it has a great cast. Now. 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:42.960 Pumpkinhead, on the other hand, as a movie I have 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:47.640 seen multiple times, that's one of those I have very 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:51.000 mixed feelings about it. I think overall it is not 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:55.119 a great horror movie, but it has some elements, especially 0:19:55.160 --> 0:20:00.800 some visual elements that work really really well, extreme strong 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:06.040 atmosphere in certain isolated moments, and some really good creature 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:09.280 effects and designs. But overall, I think it doesn't really 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.600 work as a narrative. It doesn't really have very compelling characters. 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:15.359 It's it's one of those where you can see the 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:17.600 much much better movie that it could have been. 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:22.359 Great monster though, no matter what a monster that that 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.679 lurked and haunted so many vhs and DVD rental stores 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:30.359 back in the day, you know, I think it's like 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:33.560 just the form of that monster like cast a longer 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:35.040 shadow than the film itself. 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.800 Totally agree, And again, as I said, I think almost 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:42.200 everything that's really great about it is a visual element, 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:44.600 which kind of makes sense because it was directed by 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:45.680 a visual effects guy. 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:49.520 Yeah, so thanks for the suggestions. We'll well, we'll take 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:52.600 both of them into account. Anytime we get suggestions, we 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:54.960 kind of add them to the to the list. Either 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:57.679 the I think I have two, you know, yeah, at 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:00.280 least two like digital lists going. And then there's sort 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:04.480 of the internal mental list, and then we kind of, 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.480 you know, sometimes we look at those and consider those, 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:09.120 and sometimes we just kind of go with our gut. 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:13.680 But yeah, both of these sound really interesting. All right. 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:22.640 Here's one comes to us from Michelle. Michelle writes, Greetings, gentlemen, 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:25.919 I appreciate your wit and wisdom. I've been trying to 0:21:25.960 --> 0:21:28.680 locate a great sci fi nineteen fifties black and white 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:30.720 movie that I saw on TV a few years ago. 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:35.560 I'm reminded of it whenever I think Siri. In the movie, 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.600 a woman rejects her macho human boyfriend in favor of 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:41.560 the caring robot boyfriend. It gives one a lot to 0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:43.919 think about. Do you remember what this movie is? 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:47.719 Thanks Michelle, Well, thanks Michelle. I do not know what 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:50.400 this movie is, and I did try to figure it out. 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:53.479 This description stuck in my crawl for some reason, so 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:55.680 I was like, oh, I got to search around and 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:57.800 try to figure out what this is, and I could 0:21:57.880 --> 0:22:02.159