WEBVTT - Top 5 Gene Hackman Scenes, Madness ‘25 (Sweet 16) 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:06.080 What kind of a show you guys putting. 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:06.360 On here today? 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.879 You're not interested in armed Now we look, we're going 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:10.559 to do this thing. We're going to have a conversation 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.560 from Chicago. This is Film Spotting celebrating our twentieth year. 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.840 I'm Josh Larson and I'm Adam Kempinar. Listen. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:22.360 If there's one surefire rule that I have learned in 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.880 this business is that I don't know anything about human nature. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:26.200 I don't know anything about curiosity. 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:28.120 That's not part of what I do. 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:29.960 What I this is my business. 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:32.839 And when I'm sorry to cut you off there, mister Hackman, 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:34.920 but I think you actually might know a thing or 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.000 two about curiosity in human nature. 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:40.479 That is the late great Gene Hackman in nineteen seventy 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:45.320 fours the Conversation. This week our top five Hackman scenes. 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:47.760 Plus the film Spotting Madness, Best of the twenty first 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.520 century so far, Sweet sixteen and more. It's all ahead. 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:52.720 Can we just call him Pappy? 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:54.280 On Film Spotting? 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.160 Mama tell the roll out of it that she ran 0:00:57.240 --> 0:00:58.640 to the body station. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.480 When if Paba found out he began a shout, he 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:07.319 started the investigation. It agives them. 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:10.200 This episode is brought to you by Peloton break through 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:12.680 the busiest time of year With the brand new Peloton 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:16.400 Cross Training tread Plus powered by Peloton Iq. With real 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.560 time guidance and endless ways to move, you can personalize 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:22.760 your workouts and train with confidence, helping you reach your 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.919 goals in less time. Let yourself run, lift, sculpt, push 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:30.600 and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Treadplus at 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.240 Oneploton dot Com. 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.319 Welcome to film Spotting. Later in the show, film Spotting 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.080 Madness Best of the twenty first century so far, Josh, 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:42.080 we started with sixty four. We are now down to sixteen. 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.959 We will have Round two results and those sweet sixteen matchups. 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:49.040 Voting is live right now as we speak at film 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.040 spotting dot Net slash Madness. We're faced with matchups like 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:57.040 Mad Max Fury Road versus Zodiac, So this round should 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:01.360 be really easy. Again that's film Spotting dot Net slash Madness. 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:03.760 Also later in the show, Josh, you have thoughts on 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:07.160 a few new releases, including Michael Shannon's directing debut and 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.720 Nicole Kidman in Holland not the country but the city 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:14.440 in Michigan, which is a little town you know quite well. 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.120 I mean, I thought I did, but apparently there's all 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.760 sorts of nefarious stuff going on at them. I'm a 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:20.720 bit concerned now. 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.679 But first, Gene Hackman, the two time Oscar winner, died 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.280 last month at ninety five. We knew immediately we owed 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:30.799 Hackman a top five. It's been a few weeks. We've 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:33.480 been doing some prep, some homework that paid off, I'd 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:34.520 say for both of us. 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.040 Josh, yeah, we knew immediately. And then how quickly were 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.359 you daunted by the proact? Just knowing We did put 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.239 this off for a little bit to do that homework. 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:45.800 But still, you look at the filmography, you'd have to 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.720 take a year to properly assess his entire career. But 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.639 I feel good about the work we did. To your point, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:56.480 we saw some films for the first time, including one 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.400 we'll get to that you and I both loved, watched 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.200 a few things, and so I think we did our 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:08.040 due diligence, and I think we will do Hackman's legacy 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:08.919 justice with this. 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:13.639 Let's hope. Let's go ahead and make that attempt. Now, 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.160 how did you approach your Gene Hackman top five? And 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.200 go ahead and tell us, when ready what your number five? 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:21.760 Gene Hackman scene is. 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:26.160 So started, you know, just doing the basic bio research. 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.959 In one place I usually turn is Ephraim Katz's film 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:34.400 Encyclopedia when a legend passes, and I love what he 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:39.720 had there, just the first line character star of Hollywood films, 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:45.440 not character actor, character star, and I thought, okay, that's perfect, right, 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.120 Just that's Hackman right there. And so I had that 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.400 in my mind and then thought, you know more, Okay, 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.640 what does make him that distinction not just a character 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:59.880 actor we love, not just your traditional star, but what 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:05.920 combines those two qualities. And I really did come to 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:10.839 what I feel is the quintessential Hackman character after doing 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.520 a lot of this work, Adam, and to me, it 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:17.720 is the self deluded cock of the walk. So in 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:22.320 many of his movies, Hackman's roosters they can back it up, right. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:24.280 I think this is one thing we love about him 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:28.840 is he barks and he bites. That's entertaining. But I 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:33.400 think in his best performances, Hackman wears a shit eating 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:36.360 grin and he has to actually eat the shit. That 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.960 is what is fascinating about him and how he can 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:42.840 play that line. And obviously he has ranged beyond this. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.520 There's definitely a heroic side to him as well. I 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.760 do want to note over on my Facebook page heard 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.360 from a former newspaper colleague, Niki Roller, and she shared 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.440 this Gene has been a cinematic rock for me in 0:04:56.480 --> 0:05:00.760 his movies that probably lacked critical acclaim. I can and 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:04.159 do appreciate his less mainstream efforts, but for me, I 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:08.120 will remember him as an actor who taught leadership and sacrifice. 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:10.880 I miss him already, and so I wanted to note 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.120 that because I think that's true and a very good 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:15.159 point about a lot of the roles he took. It's 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:19.560 not where my list leaned, however, and I could have 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:21.200 sprinkled some of that in. I could have gone for 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:24.200 the Pope Prix represent his range route and one of 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:27.159 my picks does that to a degree. But for me, 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:31.240 most of them are variations on this Hackman rooster who 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.240 gets called out for his crowing. That's kind of where 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.159 I landed after reassessing things. So I'm going to start 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.320 in a place like that with my number five pick, 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:45.280 and it comes from that decade we associate most with Hackman. 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:49.480 It's the seventies. This is Night Moves nineteen seventy five. 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:53.880 Adam I was assigned this film in the only film 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:56.560 appreciation class that my college offered, so of course I 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.240 took the class, and that's where I first encountered it. 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.960 Maybe something of a curious choice, especially if this is 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.200 the only offering you have for all of cinema. But 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.000 Night Moves is one we considered. I didn't remember all 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.039 that much about it, some of the images, but I 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.440 thought I got to give this one another look, you know, 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.520 just the fact that my professor chose it to be 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:19.440 so representative, and wow, is it a key text in 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.560 this Hackman rooster theory. He plays Harry Moseby here, a 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:28.599 former football star turned la private eye, and at the 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:30.839 beginning of the movie he's hired by this aging movie 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:35.160 actress to track down her promiscuous teen daughter played by 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:39.120 Melanie Griffith, who, you know, talking seventies is kind of 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:43.080 uncomfortably was uncomfortably on the edge of legality when this 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:46.359 movie was made, So so take that aspect of it 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.600 with a grain of salt. Now, Night Moves also, when 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.760 you look at its time and its context, came out 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:55.600 a year after Chinatown, and it's definitely in a similar 0:06:55.680 --> 0:07:00.360 noir mold. You have Harry here the Hackman character as 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.400 a Jake Gettis type. I think this cocky detective who 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.000 has a bit of a haughty side to him that 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.440 ends up blinding him to what's really going on. And 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:13.560 like Chinatown, Night Moves is partly about Harry coming to 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.840 that self realization. So we get a hint of this. 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.520 My favorite hint of this is in my pick my 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.280 actual scene. This is a very quiet mid movie moment 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:28.640 between Harry and Griffith's deli. This is after he's caught 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.280 up with her in Florida. He's kind of assessed the 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:35.000 situation of what's going on with her there, and he 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:38.400 has convinced her to come home. He's rebuffed her advances. 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.600 So they're having this quiet conversation and she offers him 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:42.320 this compliment. 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:48.360 I think people, you okay. 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:57.840 Em an ace? Yeah, yeah, I'm an ace. I mean 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:01.440 the line delivery alone tells you he doesn't fully believe it, 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:04.800 but he's trying to sell it. His face though, if 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.120 you can watch this scene, Hackman's face betrays that he 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:10.520 doesn't really think of himself as okay, let alone anything 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.520 like the good guy, you know, the heroic detective in 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:18.240 this scenario. So I do think that that tension is 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.800 where happens. Best characters lived between what they're selling to 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:25.920 others into themselves what they actually are, and then how 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.960 aware they are of the gap between the two. So 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:32.280 I'm an ace from Night Moves is my number five. 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:35.560 Night Moves was a film I didn't see for the 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:37.600 first time, and I have only seen it once. I 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:41.080 saw finally in twenty twenty that first month of COVID. 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:43.960 You may recall, Josh that I was just trying to 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.560 use some of that newfound free time to catch up 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:51.240 with some blind spots, some films that I didn't really 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:53.280 have a good explanation for why I had never seen. 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:56.199 And it started with Dirty Harry, a film I'd seen 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.280 many moments from multiple times but never actually watch the 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.959 whole film from start to finish. And then I watch Lenny, 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.720 the Bob Fosse movie. I realized I was watching films 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.440 that had all been shot by Bruce Surtiz, and that 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.679 then took me to Night Moves, which had always been 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:15.120 on my radar as an Arthur Penn film and a 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.160 Hackman film that I needed to see. But it was 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:21.320 that accidental Sirtees marathon that finally forced me to watch it. 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:23.080 This is what I wrote on letterboxed about it, and 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:27.440 I just noticed this now as you were referencing your pick, Josh. 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.400 The more I think about how utterly incapable of connection 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:32.920 everyone in the movie is and how it disappoints as 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.120 a noir, the more I recognize how such disillusionment and 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:42.160 dissatisfaction is precisely the point also, Colin Gene Hackman, incapable 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:47.720 of connection, disillusionment, dissatisfaction. These ideas may come up again 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:51.160 throughout my list. Looking it over. The challenge for me, 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:55.520 besides just having to consider, as you said, so many 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:59.720 good scenes, so many good performances, characters, movies, the challenge 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:05.080 was between the best scenes featuring Gene Hackman and the 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.320 best Gene Hackman scenes right, because there are so many 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:14.640 iconic examples to consider, And I started piecing together how 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:19.680 the same characteristics that make Hackman such a commanding presence 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.960 to watch as a good guy very often, they're the 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.240 same traits that make him such a good villain or 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:29.240 a good anti hero. There is a practicality to his 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.720 characters often and a persistence to them. It can be 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:37.240 admirable at times, but in other cases his characters are 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.559 driven by an end justifies the means kind of philosophy 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:42.800 that gets him into a little bit of trouble or 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.440 maybe gets him into trouble with us as viewers. And 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.080 to your point about his confidence, there is often that 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:54.160 quiet confidence that can occasionally cross over into full blown 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.080 arrogance where we are happy to see him get a 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.320 bit of come uppance. And it's not just the the 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:04.520 Hackman chuckle that can be merry or menacing, Josh, it's 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.560 even just the twinkle in his eyes. So many scenes 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:13.120 I realized I was considering, we're completely nonverbal, yeah, Hackman. 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.680 That's a tough thing about this list and thinking about 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:18.240 doing this show right is we're gonna share scenes, and 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:21.080 I'm realizing for so many of these we're missing fifty 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:22.040 percent of the magic. 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.880 That's it. The magic is in his watching, his listening, 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:32.160 his withholding, in his subtle reacting. Sometimes he's just perhaps 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.960 playing an instrument I don't know, like a saxophone. The 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.440 end of the conversation is a perfect example of this 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:44.319 dilemma right all time great end scene extremely memorable. Is 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:46.040 it a great Gene Hackman scene or is it a 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.880 great scene featuring Gene Hackman. What about the car chase 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:55.679 in The French Connection, maybe the greatest car chase in cinema, 0:11:56.280 --> 0:12:01.199 and Hackman's purely physical performance is part of why it's great. 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:03.320 I'll say that, but is it the number one reason? 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:05.800 Is it even the number two reason why it's great? 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:10.199 Maybe I'd entertain the argument, but it is a discussion 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.760 that we'd have to have. I did try to strike 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:17.920 a balance where I was representing his most iconic characters 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:22.839 and moments, but also reflecting his dramatic range and that 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:29.080 judicious balance of calmness and quiet with those occasional explosions 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:32.200 of anger or violence that we get with Gene Hackman. 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:37.160 My number five is from The French Connection, and it's 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.640 the end scene, and it's this line reading, in particular, 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:45.080 Josh I saw him. I'm going to get him. I 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.320 may not have the car chase here, but it felt 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.680 wrong to have a top five Hackman list without Popeye 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:51.360 Doyle on it. 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.040 Popeyes here, if your hand on your heads. 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:56.679 Get off the barn, get on the wall, Come on, 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:57.440 move move. 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.880 I rewatched this just a few days ago, and look, 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:05.280 it's William Friedkin's film The Big Swings, like the car 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:09.240 Chase the pure propulsive energy of it. It is by 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:12.559 no means an actor's showcase. Fernando Ray is kind of 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.800 fun as the bad guy I dig Roy Scheider, but 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:20.680 there's nothing really memorable about his performance or his character Cloudy. 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.720 If you took all of Hackman's lines in The French 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.920 Connection and combine them, it probably wouldn't fill more than 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:32.160 three to four pages of the screenplay. And yet try 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.360 to imagine that movie working half as well as it 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:40.840 does without the depth of Hackman's characterization. How Hackman renders 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:46.880 and Friedkin captures behavior. Popeye Doyle doesn't say much, and 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:50.640 he never says anything really about himself. He doesn't express 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:55.160 his inner longings and emotions, but we know exactly who 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.920 Popeye Doyle is and that propulsive energy that's driven by 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.680 Popeye's obsession. Do we want to see the bad guys 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:03.960 get busted because it's a crime thriller and we want 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:08.360 that kind of resolution, Probably, but we really want that 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:14.840 resolution because of Popeye's relentless and occasionally reckless pursuit, his 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:19.280 absolute tunnel vision, which all culminates in that end scene, 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:22.160 and freedkin staging of it is so great that final 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:25.520 shootout in the old building, the emptiness of it, the 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:29.120 eeriness of Don Ellis's score. It somehow feels like a 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.720 manifestation of Popeye's deranged psyche and i'll use your word, 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:37.480 delusional psyche. But the wonder of that scene is that 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:42.320 final line, and Hackman's line reading he has just mistakenly 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.920 shot an FBI agent trying to chase down the same 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:49.400 drug dealer that he is, and when confronted with this fact, 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:59.560 he's unfazed. He's undeterred, aldered, you shot muldered. 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:03.240 Some of it is here. I saw it. 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:05.320 I'm gonna get him. 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.880 What I think is so incredible about that line, Josh, 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.080 and what Hackman does with it is despite what I 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.480 said before being true, he's completely deranged in this moment. 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.960 He is manic, but he doesn't yell, he doesn't even 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:23.240 really raise his voice. He somehow brings just a hint 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:27.480 of humanity and even vulnerability to pop Eye to such 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:30.520 an extent that you almost feel sorry for him in 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:35.080 that moment rather than feeling potentially repulsed by it. 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:38.680 Yeah. Yeah, it's because there's a crack of self awareness, 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:42.240 perhaps for the first time in the movie. And yeah, 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:44.680 I rewatched this as well for this list, just because 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.320 it is one of those Hackman titles that comes up 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:50.840 first and I wanted to find that scene. Spoiler, it's 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.680 an honorable mention for me. Didn't make the top five, 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.200 but I would have gone exactly where you went. Really, 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.640 this is the moment. I thought about the busting up 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:02.880 the bar scene earlier, but that's like the pure Hackman blood. 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:06.400 That's like what we love to see, right, because you 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:10.000 can't believe he's walking in and just immediately owning that 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.640 place that he really shouldn't even be in. So I 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.080 thought about that one, but you nailed why. This is 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:19.440 the scene from the French Connection, and it is his 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:24.520 glassy eyed non response to shooting the other agent that 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.720 is terrifying. But I think you're right. Also allows us 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.640 a peek into Popeye realizing for just a split second 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:34.720 who he really is. And then again to your point, 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:37.360 like he plows ahead anyway, he's not going to like 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:43.080 pause and reassess and really consider the depths of his humanity. 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:48.280 But there's that little glimmer that Hackman, even in this wild, 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:50.960 you know, action driven movie, is able to carve out 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:51.600 some space for. 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.840 Yeah, I just think a lesser actor would have delivered 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:58.120 that line as if it was being driven more by adrenaline, 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:00.760 the adrenaline of the character in that scene and having 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:02.520 to reckon with what he's just done. I think that 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.639 reckoning is there. I think we are seeing the crack 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.560 starting to come through, but he plays it so subtly, 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.720 he plays it as if he really is processing it 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.280 in that moment, and then yes, he does proceed. 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.480 On all right. Number four. This is my Unforgiven pick, 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.480 and I wasn't quite sure if this was going to 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.200 make my list, you know, because I read we did 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.280 a Sacred Cow review. I think Adam of Unforgiven a 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:30.480 handful of years ago, so it was fairly fresh for me. 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:33.720 I read what I originally wrote about the film, and 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.080 you know, Hackman didn't come up a lot. So I 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:39.280 was thinking to myself, Okay, why didn't I make a point? 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:41.680 And maybe he did in our conversation. I didn't re 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.240 listen to that, But why didn't he Why doesn't he 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.080 stick in in my mind more than just the villain? 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:51.200 So I did go through and watch basically every scene 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.920 of his in the movie because they're all available online. 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:58.440 Because this is one of those Hackman roles and Yeah, 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:02.560 there is obviously so many layers there beyond the big 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:07.719 bad guy of Unforgiven. That is, he lingers in our 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:09.640 memory that way, because this is a movie full of tough, 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:13.800 violent men, and Hackman's merciless sheriff little Bill here is 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:16.640 maybe the scariest one, right, and there are so many 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:19.080 intimidating scenes that attest to that. So that's what we 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:23.000 have in our memory. But Steve Emily, writing on my 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.000 Facebook page, he called out the slightly different scene that 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.679 I'm going to go with, and this is little Bill's 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.800 final moments after he's been shot by Clint Eastwood's William Money, 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:39.040 and basically he's staring down the barrel of Money's gun here, I'll. 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:39.439 Have to serve this. 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:50.560 To die like this, I was filling the huff deserves, 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:51.840 got nothing to do with it. 0:18:55.359 --> 0:19:00.120 I'll see you in hell, Money. 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:03.760 Steve Emily again nailed exactly what makes this moment so 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.720 key for me. He wrote, a man finally realizing that 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:10.719 he's not the hero, and I love that because there 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.920 is a version of Unforgiven where little Bill is the hero. 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:16.160 Of course, and he certainly sees himself that way. 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:19.240 That's it, that is it. He's trying to preserve the 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.720 peace in this small town. Right, He's only implying employing 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:25.080 violence because that's the world he lives in. This is 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:29.080 the world of the movie. Certainly that's the version playing 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:32.000 in little Bill's head. Because how about the phrase we 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:35.679 get here, I was building a house. I mean to 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:39.280 insert that there, great screenwriting, but also to be able 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.280 to move from that to who little Bill really is. 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:48.080 You know, we've seen his vindictiveness, his cruelty, his arbitrary 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:52.000 application of the law, so we know differently. But this 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:55.840 is a glimpse into his head, that one line, and 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.280 then to switch this is the hackman's subtlety to switch 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.240 from that openness. It's the same openness you were just 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.239 talking about at the end of the French connection, that 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:07.520 little crack, that little glimmer. Then he switches to I'll 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:10.679 see you in Hell, and his face changing to match. 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:13.920 That's when little Bill faces that truth when he makes 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.520 that shift. So so yeah, so many good choices from Unforgiven, 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:20.280 but I'll see You in Hell is going to be 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:21.480 number four on my list. 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:24.560 I'm realizing with that line, and that is the line 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:27.840 of that scene, I was building a house. We could 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.040 just do top five Gene Hackman line readings. That's what 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:34.359 it really could be, this list instead of scenes, because 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.000 there are so many good ones to choose from, and 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:42.040 it says so much just by being so concise, this 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:45.719 idea of building a house, as if he's trying to 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:48.080 suggest to the world that I really am a good person. 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:51.199 But also I'm not really this person like William Money is. 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:55.040 I'm someone who is settled down. I've eschewed the outlaw 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:57.880 kind of life. I'm listening to the citizen, the right 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:01.520 kind of life. That's it and it doesn't matter. And 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:04.479 as William Money says, deserve has nothing to do with it. 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:08.840 It's so good. My number four is one where I'm 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:12.040 going to pick up the vulnerability theme again. Long time 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:15.920 since I've seen the movie The Conversation. I'll thank Joshua 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:18.359 t ruth Over on the film spotting facebook page for 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:23.000 reminding me of this scene where Hackman's Harry Call is 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:24.919 talking to a woman he has met at a party. 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:30.080 It's Meredith, played by Elizabeth McCrae. They're sharing what seems 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:35.320 to be a very intimate moment together. They're alone in 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:39.320 this big space, the space where he works effectively his office, 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:42.280 but they're alone, They're up against a pillar, there is 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:47.600 no space between them. She's certainly expressing romantic interest in him, 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:51.800 and probably thinks that he's expressing romantic interest in her. 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:55.359 Though what we realize is that he's completely hung up 0:21:55.400 --> 0:22:01.800 on Terry Gar's and Harry trusts no one. He confides 0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:06.240 in no one. He's unwilling to betray anything about who 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:10.480 he really is. And yet in this moment, he he 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:13.919 does feel at least safe enough to open up a 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:16.560 little bits. 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:25.520 You never really know when he was going to come 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:25.920 to see. 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:29.760 He just lived in a room alone and you knew 0:22:29.800 --> 0:22:33.200 nothing about him. And if you loved him, you're a 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:38.920 patient with him. And even though he didn't dare ever 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:44.879 tell you anything about himself personally, even though he may 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:54.960 have want you, would you qut you would you go 0:22:55.080 --> 0:22:55.440 back to. 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:03.199 How I know? 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:16.480 How do you think it out? In't have no wife, 0:23:16.560 --> 0:23:17.040 not anyone. 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.840 Here's one of those moments, joshuare. What you can't see 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:25.320 just listening to the audio of that clip is the 0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:31.080 way Harry almost mutters before he says anything. It's like 0:23:31.119 --> 0:23:34.359 he's so uncomfortable and he's so reticent to speak that 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:37.679 he has to almost test his lips out before he 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:41.720 makes an actual sound, and that bravado certainly the bravado 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:45.000