Cole Stratton on Still Crazy

Friend of the show, Cole Stratton is back to introduce Chuck to the feel-good power of Still Crazy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Movie Crush, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey, everybody,

(00:29):
Welcome to Movie Crush. Having a laugh already with the
Great Cold Stratton because our synchronized clapping for the editors
was slightly funny. It was the opposite of synchronized how
are you doing? I'm doing good man, how are you
doing good? I appreciate you kind of saving my bacon.
I has been so election obsessed. I looked up yesterday

(00:52):
and I was like, oh, wait a minute, I don't
have a movie crush for this Friday. And I started
going through my mental rolodex and I said, I bet
you Cole could squeeze one of the sason you bet.
I mean, I've only seen six movies, so we're running out.
But six in your life, that's it. Yeah, you're not
known as a movie guy, right, You're not. You're not

(01:13):
a big fan, not at all. So yeah, you said
you sent me a list, and um, I think our
first stab was for the John Cusack classic The Short Thing,
which somehow I haven't seen. But that movie ain't streaming.
It's so weird. I don't understand why there's like an
anniversary Blu ray that came out like one or two

(01:34):
a couple of years ago. Like it's readily available in
the home video market. It's just for some reason not
streaming anywhere period. So strange. I was going to put
it on my hundred movie list initially, but it was
one of those like twenty titles that wasn't streamable, and
I was hoping maybe that had changed since that list
came up, but nope. Yeah, I wonder what the deal
is when that kind of strange stuff happens, Like a

(01:55):
major movie by major actors and directors is just sort
of the dustbin of video stores. Only it's weird because
it's you know, I think it's like MGM or somebody
that has it like it's it was a studio picture,
and it's it's loved like people like it a lot,
and there's nobody that hates it. There's not like any
controversy around it. It's like bury it, right. It's not

(02:17):
like Better Off Dead for Cusack, who like kind of
disowned it, like he likes the shut things. So I
don't understand why I love Better Off Dead. I talked
Better Off Dead all day, but that's just kind of
a weird thing for Cusack. So uh, well, we pivoted though,
and you had you had a great list. We were
kind of picking and choosing. But this is a movie
called Still Crazy from that not only did I not

(02:42):
see I had never heard of this movie before somehow weird. Yeah,
it's um, it's knock up on me. Initially because the
Golden Globe nominations came out that year and it was
nominated for like Best Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Song,
and I was like, what is this move? Because it
hadn't opened here at all because it's British and like,

(03:04):
it wasn't gonna come out anytime soon. So it was
just weird to see it on the best Picture list
and being like, how have I never heard of this
or seeing this? It is not out? Well what is this?
So that's kind of how it runt it to my
attention initially, it's just through a nomination. Yeah, and I
read about that. It was directed by Brian Gibson who
uh passed away very sadly, um about fifteen years ago

(03:27):
of cancer and this was his last film and uh
he had previously directed the Tina Turner movie What's Love?
We Got to do with It? I think? Yeah, And
so he had a little bit of a background and
in movie films. And I believe one of the co
writers or maybe both of them, both of them the
great movie. The commitments didn't that right, So they all
have musical stuff going on from back there too, so um,

(03:50):
across the universe. Also the guys co wrote, so I
think they've had Yeah it's fun so yeah, like yeah,
I believe the pedigree when you look back at it,
I guess to handle a movie like this totally. So
to catch people up on what this is, Um, if
you haven't seen it, highly recommend it very fun just
you know, I think it trivializes it to call it
a feel good movie. But it is a bit of

(04:12):
a feel good movie. It's got all all the warm fuzzies. Um,
it's funny. It's got some as it turns out, some
pretty good music in it too. Um. And it is
about a band from and I guess this was in
so In fact, I didn't know it was from that
far back when I was watching it because I was
trying to reckon actors ages in my head that one

(04:34):
part where Bill nih he was going, I'm not fifty yet,
and I'm like Christ, I'm almost fifty, Like what is
going on here? But it's from and it is about
a band in the late nineties that was very well,
marginally popular in the seventies called Strange Fruit, and through
a little active divine providence is offered a chance to

(04:56):
kind of hitting the nostalgia trail and resurrect a big,
a big concert where they had previously. I guess it's
sort of like the um not Cachella. But what's the
one in uh, the big one, the big festival outside Edinburgh. Yeah, yeah,
And I went, I don't know exactly what you're talking about,

(05:17):
um not Fringe, but I can't remember Glastonbury Glastonbury Thank you,
So a big festival appearance again twenty years later, get
the band back together. Two members of the band have
passed on, and their previous career had ended at that
same festival twenty years earlier, when a lightning strike took

(05:38):
out the sound system. But it seems like they weren't
like they were marginally popular. It's a little confusing at first.
It seems that they were like fairly popular in the seventies,
and then, like a lot of good bands do when
they start to really hit their stride, breakup. So it
just seems like it was one of those things where
all the bad blood had boiled over and then that

(05:59):
final gag, the lightning strike on stage, was like it
um and then they were done. So you can't really tell,
but like there's in the movie, there's a lot of
like what they call like signs that happened, and one yeah,
and one is like they end up their bus tour
bus is broken down someplace and these like two hitchhiking
girls come up and this is like a Holland or something,

(06:19):
and one of them is wearing a strange fruit shirt
and doesn't know what it is. She's just like it's
her dad's favorite band and he passed away, so she's
probably just wearing it as an homage to him. But
you know, lo and behold there they are. So I
think there was one of those things where it's lost
on the youth, but you know he knows them. You know.
It's sort of like when you're a kid going up
and your dad's spinning Steely Dan and you're like this,

(06:40):
And I mean, I love Steely Dan because I was
raised on it, but if you weren't, like you might
be like, what what is this? Yeah, maybe an acquired
taste later in life, like so many people. Um. The
other thing too that this movie does, which I thought
was pretty smart, was instead of just making it very straightforward,
it's all the original band members trying to get back
together and they're all in different places in life. That

(07:02):
sort of happens, but the story was strange. Fruit is
is that Bill Nighe, who is great in this movie. Yeah,
plays the Ray, the lead singer. At the time of
their demise in the seventies, he had actually replaced the
original lead like very much beloved lead singer who had
passed away. Um, And I think that just added a

(07:23):
little sort of additional layer of complexity to his role
in the band and sort of the relationships with each other. Yea.
You look at it as like this has happening a
lot of bands. A member leaves, another member wants to
do that part. The other band says, now they bringing
somebody new. So there's just resentment immediately, which is you know,
the whole subplot between Jimmy Nail's character lest the bassist,

(07:44):
and Bill Nihe because he wanted to take over vocal
duties and didn't get to do it. So you know,
there's lots of complexity in terms of the relationships early
on that you're not initially hip to you just you
kind of get introduced to everybody in a funny way,
you see, like menial jobs that they're doing now like
Stephen raised character you know, sells condoms. Um he stocks
the vending machines and b stocks condom machines in Spain.

(08:07):
I think, right, yeah, yeah, so it's you know, pretty funny.
But everybody's doing then be no, who's Timothy Spall is great?
He's the drummer and uh, it's actually a free like
Billy Connolly narrates the whole thing. He's the ROADI he's
just an international treasure, wonderful treasure. But he's got some
good singers when he's narrating, and one of them for

(08:30):
in terms of when Binos introduces and it's true that
men are from Mars and women are from Venus, the
drummers are from Pluto. Yeah, like, yeah, they very much.
That's one of the things I liked about the movie
was they everyone seemed to sort of fit to their
role in the band. And when you're making a movie
about a fake band, uh, it's a lot of times
really hard to pull off. Obviously, spinal Tap probably did

(08:54):
it best um of any movie ever, and this movie
has a little bit of spinal tap DNA in it,
I think, but it's sort of like a I mean,
it's obviously it's not a documentary and it's a bit
of a kindler, gentler spinal tap I think. But everyone
seems like like Timothy Small Is such the drummer, uh,
Jimmy nail Is less Is is very much embodies the

(09:16):
bass player who always wanted to sing lead um and
he's a real sing in real life, Like that's him
really singing, and yeah, him and Bill Knight both sang
Oh I didn't know that was Bill Knight. Yeah. That's
That's what's amazing to me about it, is like the
music feels real and that totally like it feels like
they're really picking up their instruments and playing and singing.
And the actual band that backs them they're just called
Strange Fruit on the soundtrack and stuff. But it's full

(09:38):
of like amazing session players like Steve Naive and people
like that who have played with like all the grades.
So the actual you know, musicianship is pretty phenomenal. It is.
I mean, the songs are pretty dang good. Um. And
and you know, especially being a music guy myself, it's
it's really easy to be tough on music movies and

(09:59):
what they get wrong long uh and things not you know,
things look like really funny lip syncing or whatever. But
this all looks pretty good. Like I think they pulled
it off. They pulled out the concert stuff well. I
think the casting, even though they don't do a ton
of flashback, there's some pretty key flashbacks and the casting
of the younger version of themselves work really well, and

(10:19):
it just all feels very believable, like where these guys
find themselves later in life. It all feels real. Yeah.
And those they did a really good job casting the
younger versions because you can just look at them be like, Okay,
that's been NII, that's Timothy is Like, you know, they
did a good job with that, instead of doing what
they do nowadays where they just you know, morph their
young faces onto somebody that technology not a fan. Uh.

(10:43):
Stephen Ray is sort of the driving force. Um. I
guess I would call him the protagonists in some ways
because he's the one that hatches the idea after a
chance meeting refilling condom machines and a Bitha. He meets
the son of the original promoter of that general festival
and who's a big fan and says, you know, why

(11:03):
don't we do this again? And he's the one sort
of test to go out and find all of these
guys again. Uh. And like you said, they're in different
places in life. Timothy Spall, who was He's one of
my all time favorites too. I mean this is like
a murderers row of like the best classic actors from
the UK, like of a certain age at the time. Totally.

(11:23):
I just love like it's said a lot. I think
it was perfect. His introduction which they go to see
his mom to figure out where he is and he's
like not moved away, well where over there? And he's
just in a trailer in their yard and I was like, yeah,
that that tracks. Yeah, And he's working at like a
garden center, living the quiet life, paranoid that the uh

(11:44):
you know that the text assessors are coming, and that
sets up kind of a sort of obvious but fun
kind of one of the sillier running jokes in the
movie that this lady in black with a briefcase is
sort of after him through the whole movie, and it
becomes pretty clear early on that she not the text lady,
but I wasn't exactly sure what she wanted. I thought

(12:04):
she might have been like I had your love child
or something like that, but it turns out she just
wanted sex from him, and yeah, that's and that's all
he's looking for on the second go round, just to
have a shag on tour and he can't do it.
You can't find it no matter what he does. Yeah,
there's uh, there's a lot of different relationships in this
movie too. That's what I liked about it a lot,

(12:24):
because you have totally Steven Ray and then Julie Aubrey's character.
She's great Karen, who like is really good because she's
got a complex relationship with all that because it's clear
that she cares for Stephen Ray and he loves her,
but she was in love with Brian and the band
who was the one who tragically passed away, and like you,
I can't quite get over that. And so there's a

(12:44):
lot of levels of that going out and them sort
of courting each other, but sort of not because she's
chasing ghosts, as he says at one point. Yeah, I
mean it's tough to I think it's tough to juggle
so many character arcs and the sort of subplot to
many relationships, and this movie manages to pull it off.
I think in in like minutes somehow, everyone seems to
have a nice uh character arc and transition. Uh. The

(13:08):
only thing, like I felt like Tony and Karen, I
felt like it wasn't quite wrapped up. And there may
be like a director's cut that never happened that might
have uh flesh that out in a more satisfying way. Yeah.
I feel like there's a third act twist that we
won't give away, I guess, but um, that kind of
just derailed the figuring out what's next with them, I think.

(13:32):
But we have to give it up at some point. Yeah,
that's true, But I don't think it really spoils anything
that much. No, I mean we should go ahead and
say the Uh, if you want to see the movie,
you don't want this part spoiled, just stop this episode.
But the guitarist that had passed away Brian, not the
lead singer he passed away, but his brother. Um, he's

(13:52):
actually not dead. And I didn't see that coming. I
thought it was a pretty good surprise Yeah, I thought
it was nice, and it really kind of shows you
what rock and roll does to people, you know that
like when it's all you can do, it's all you
want to do, how it consumes your life. And you
can tell that all these characters kind of hate where
they are, like, you know, he's selling condoms, Jimmy Nail's
a roofer now, um, and that kind of stuff. It's

(14:14):
like all they all basically they gave their dream a shot,
it didn't work out, and now they're all kind of
just stuck in these kind of menial job things, just
getting older. Um, none of them are really that happy.
And Bill Ninety's character is the only one that kind
of kept doing it. But it's almost that sad cliche
of the aging rocker that just won't give it up.
And there's an early scene where you first meet him

(14:35):
where he's just like doing a speech at some dinner
thing or as a funeral or whatever, and uh, he's
just like hello, Embley, and it just shows us this
tiny crowd of people and it's but he's still you know,
all access and over the top and you And what
I thought was phenomenal about Ninety in this movie is
this is a precursor to Love Actually. He did this
before Love Actually, and his character is is almost a

(14:58):
more complex version of his character in Love Actually. So
if you love him in Love Actually, you'll like him
even more here because I think there's a lot more
nuanced in depth to this performance where you really see
how insecure he is. He's just really insecure. He's a
bundle of nurse. He puts everything out there to access.
He goes over the top all the time because he's
just trying so hard to get people to love him

(15:19):
and notice him. And he's always felt like they didn't
quite love him due to the fact that he came
in late as a replacement singer, So he always felt like,
you know, kind of the black sheep, the odd man
out in the band anyways, even though he's the front man.
And then there's a lot of you know, people not
liking that either because in interviews they always talk to him,
because that's what they do most of the time with bands,
they always talked to the frontman. So, um, there's a

(15:40):
lot going on there, and he's dealing with aging and
trying to you know, he's never given up the dream,
whereas the other ones have and they're just rekindling it. Um,
but he's still leary about trying to go back because
there's so much bad blood between them all. Yeah, he
was really great. I mean, there are a lot of
great performances, but he really stands out. I had ever
seen him in this kind of role before. Um. For me,

(16:04):
it was really playing against type. I haven't seen love actually,
so I don't know if I believe it or not.
That's I know, that's like a classic movie, but that
is also very divisive, very divisive. Yeah, like people love
it or hate it. It It seems like one or the other.
But do you love it or hate it? You know,
I'm one of the rare people that are in between.
Like there's a lot in it that I like, there's

(16:26):
a lot of it that I don't like, but it's
it's sort of a hodgepodge of stories anyways, so like
some of them resonate better than other ones. But yeah,
and a lot of people either absolutely dort and watching
a million times of the holidays, or they just can't
stay watch it all. I think I'm never going to
watch it. Maybe that's where I'll lie. Bill Nighthee is

(16:52):
really good. I've never seen him in this kind of
role he really embodies. I mean he looked great, he
looked the part um. He really embodies this, you know,
like like you said, uh insecure aging rock Star. All
the scenes where he was um backstage in front of
the mirror trying to pump himself up are really good

(17:13):
and funny without being um, without being like spinal tappy ludicrous.
I think, like it's still sort of believable even though
it's sad and funny about it. Yeah, just the fact
that he's trying to pump him up and hurts himself,
like that's just a you're older dude, well and he
you know, they have a series. What they do is
they go on tour, uh tour of Holland and like Belgium,

(17:35):
I think as some kind of warm up shows to
get a little buzz going and get their chops back
and uh, you know, nothing is going well. None of
the crowds are very receptive. He is portrayed as sort
of being the failure. Uh. But I never really quite
got that, Like I didn't think he was that bad. No,
I didn't think he was either. I think he just

(17:56):
was overdoing it. I think he was just trying so hard.
Is that what it was, if anything. Yeah, I mean
like that first gig in the boat they play they
play a tiny boat um which they spell strange through
it the Swedish way or whatever. It's very tiny stage
and he's kind of flailing all over the place and
like they can barely all fit on the stage, and yeah,

(18:17):
that's that's true. I think that was a moment of
like him being like, okay, dude, like realize you're not
at Wembley right now. And yeah, that's the thing they
kind of figured as they go is like they try to.
He's so insecure and he's so upset about how he's
being portrayed and how he's doing in these gigs that
Stephen Ray is kind of the peacekeeper and Karen, who
kind of ends up being the manager in a sense,
are basically like, no, you just need the stage. You

(18:38):
need you need Wembley, you need like the giant arena.
Like you're just not meant for these tiny little clubs.
And as they start to go on the tour and
get better and the clubs get slightly bigger, he starts
to kind of shine. Yeah, and then you know, well
he shines until the he tries to take it to
eleven and just ask Billy Connley. He ends up playing
the bus driver and the roadie. They acquire a bus

(19:01):
from an old tour from the Psychedelic First or thought
was pretty for the nice little detail, but yeah, he
wants the maximum volume, and that that one was frustrating
because the gig was actually going pretty well, I think,
until he did that, and then you know he's just
like everyone's ears are bleeding at that point, and he
like he's one of those characters that just can't get

(19:21):
out of his own way, and like there's smoke machine
that's just out of control. Like that's the most spinal
tap sequence of the entire film. The music is like
rattling all the drink things and um. But then you see,
like you see him in the outfit where he's like
wearing like a vampire cape and he's got all this
makeup on and his blow dryer pops out in the

(19:44):
middle of him trying to do his hair, so one
side of his hair is on the other side isn't.
But then you see a picture of very quick flashback
of him in that same outfit when he's younger, and
it doesn't look ridiculous there It just looks ridiculous now.
And it just shows the difference between somebody when they're
young and you know, trying to put on a rock
and roll front, and somebody who's older refusing to accept

(20:06):
that they're older now still trying to kind of do
the things they did when they're one. Yeah, and I
think that um, like Less the bass player, he's one
of these guys, kind of all of them really. I mean, um,
be No is a little bit of a you know,
just a comic foil for everything and a little bit
over the top. But Less and Tony both are I

(20:30):
think aged into it well and I think are are
behaving appropriately for a twenty three Union tour, which is
to say, still playing good, still looking good, but not
you know, they're not wearing leather pants and like you know,
silk blouses and stuff like that, which is what rais
going for totally. I mean, they're the keyboard and the
bass player. They're you know, they're more they're the backbone

(20:50):
of the band in a lot of sense. So they're
just kind of they've embraced the fact that they're musicians.
They're not showmen so to speak. Yeah. Yeah, Um, you
know who else is really funny was Helena Bergstrom as
astrid As Ray's wife. She's so great, She's really wonderful.
I don't think I've really ever seen her before, had
you I hadn't. No. She kind of came out of nowhere.

(21:10):
And it's such a funny, Like it's, you know, the
stereotype of the older rock or being with a younger woman.
But they fully, they really do love each other. You
see that in the scenes as it goes. But at
first you just think she's just kind of shrill, controlling
younger woman who's just kind of in charge of his
estate and everything. But he realized it's just that she's
trying to protect him when it comes down to it. Um.

(21:32):
And there's like a funny exchange when he's about to
go on the road where he's like, um, she's like,
if you need anything, use your credit card, and he's like,
I don't know my credit card number, and it's on
your credit card car. Right. He has another good line
early on when they first meet. You know, he lives
in this palatial sort of country estate and um, we

(21:53):
learned later that that he's in hock and it's for sale.
But he's the one that did the best out of
all of them, obviously, but he has that one great
line when they first meet, why don't we talk in
the crypt right? And also later when they asked like
they find a proparsonal space and he's like this isn't
big enough. You need to be somebody's bigger. And they're like,
we could have done in your place, and he's like, well, yeah,
I can't. They're draining the lake. Such a good excuse.

(22:20):
I think they do a good job with those flashbacks too.
It's um I could see another version of this movie
where the flashbacks are way more abundant and you get way, way,
way more backstory. Uh, but I don't think it really
needs it. I think they sort of went back just
at the right times and just enough to sort of
flesh it out totally. You understand who they were just

(22:42):
from those flashbacks, and it's not about who they were,
it's about who they are now. But you can understand
the ghosts that they're chasing. I mean, I think this
movie is a lot about chasing ghosts. I think that's
a prevalent theme in it of like trying to recapture
who you used to be when you were younger, which
is something I think we all do at certain points
in our lives. And I think that's it's more prominent

(23:04):
for like Bill Niaeten people like that, but you know,
more so for for Karen and you know, trying to
you know, the whole Brian relationship but you know, died
back in the seventies or whatever. So um, there's a
lot of that. Yeah. I think we really wanted to
see Karen and Tony get together. Uh and obviously Brian
coming back complicated that. But I did like the way

(23:24):
they played that out with her and Brian. I thought
it was very sweet and that was kind of one
of the more poignant moments when they meet up at
the end and and sort of had that had that
deep talk. And that's Bruce Robinson, who's amazing. It's he
hasn't done he he directed and started with Nail and
I uh wrote it is that who that is? Yeah,

(23:45):
he also did directed How to Get a Head in Advertising.
Oh my gosh, I did not even recognize him. Yeah,
he's still alive and stuff, and but he just doesn't
do much anymore. He's like I think he directed The
Rum Diary in two thousand and eleven, and then you
know his written things here and there, But wow, that
is crazy man with nil and I we did this
on the show with Justin McElroy and uh, it's one

(24:09):
of my favorite movies. I totally did not place him. Yeah,
he's the director of it. I don't know if he's
actually and I don't it spent so long as I've
seen it, but I know he directed it and I
believe wrote it. Yeah, that's amazing. Uh, and he does.
It's a very understated role here, but um, it sort
of has to be as as sort of the guy
who I mean, it's sort of an amalgam of like
a Sid Barrett type who has disappeared and is perhaps

(24:33):
had some mental health issues. Uh. And so like so
many English musicians, it's like I feel like half of
these dudes, Um, half of them end up going to
do stuff like this and reform their band, and half
of them just go to the countryside and start gardening,
which is like the complete opposite of like the life

(24:53):
they lead. I feel like George Harrison and Jimmy Page
and like all these guys now are just like wandering
around their flower gardens. Well, George Harrison's obviously not, but
before he died he was very much into his flowers.
I mean I just watched, like the other night, I
watched the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee stuff,
which is weird this year because obviously they can't do

(25:13):
it like they usually do it with the big thing
and a concert or whatever, so it's all kind of
done zoom style, but each one getting like a little
fifteen minute documentary about them and going through the ups
and downs of the bands and stuff. And it's just
like there's so many things and just those things that
are just like in this movie or any rock talk
that you watch, like you know, the ones We brothers
with that kind of stuff too. You see these bands
that are great when they come together and it's about

(25:35):
the music, but so much more personally just ruins everything constantly.
That's why there's so much turmoil. You know, these people
make amazing art together, but they also are kind of
bad for each other in a lot of ways. Yeah,
I mean, it did feel real, and it's it's a
tough thing to pull off. I kind of touched on
it earlier when you're doing a movie about these uh

(25:58):
this band that were You know, when you're in a band,
you're as close to someone as you can be. It's
these relationships are so intimate and so tight, and it's
hard to make that up and deliver that on cameras believable,
and they really did seem like old mates and old friends,
and whether it was just sort of uh ribbing each

(26:18):
other and giving each other ship or in the case
of Um of Less and Ray like these deep seated
jealousies and arguments that were never even dealt with um
that they eventually rectify. You know that that that's one
of the great things about this movie is, aside from

(26:38):
Tony and Karen, I think all the relationships really come
full circle fully. And and also in Rayce case, like
he's recovering alcoholic, it goes to meetings and um, you know,
there's a lot of pressure for him and he's on
the road and so he decides in Holland to go
to a meeting, but it's in Dutch and uh doesn't
realize it's not for alcoholics but for overreaders. Um. It

(27:01):
was pretty funny that actually that whole night, like the
little the Drug Dealer kid that's Mackenzie Crook and his
big screen debut from Yeah, I didn't realize that till
afterward mckensey Crook from the office and um, I guess
he was in those Pirates of the Caribbean movies, right, Yeah. Yeah,
he has a very very small part as a as
a young drug dealer in the alley in Amsterdam. And uh,

(27:21):
I don't think we mentioned that, you know, Bill Night.
He's character is recovering alcoholic and addict, and he's he
does a good job. They don't really hammer at home
too much because I think they didn't want it to
get too too heavy. But um, he does fall off
the wagon and take pills, I guess at one point. Yeah,
and that kind of the dark Knight of his soul

(27:43):
night in the middle of the tour because some terrible
things happened that night to him and he's lucky to
be alive at the end of it. Um. But I
think he turns a page there, um in a lot
of ways. And that's also when Acid shows up there
and stuff and kind of joins the tour with them.
And it's also right before they have their best gig
on the road. Yeah, that was pretty fun, fun sequence.

(28:03):
You can really see like them clicking on all cylinders
and and that song all over the World tonight, all
Over the World. I think that's the superior song to
the one that got nominated, The Flame Still Burns. Uh,
is that the one? The Flames Still I love that song.
I think it's a really catchy, good song, The Flames
Still Burns. I get it's emotional. It's a climax of
the film where it really plays a role. So I

(28:24):
understand how in terms of the meaning and the film,
I could see it being more meaningful. But it's a
it's a decent ballad. But all Over the World is
like a really catchy, great song, and you can see
how that would have been a big hit in the
seventies or whatever. And totally they all click on all
cylinders with it. A funny story that I don't know
the story, but the they lost the Golden Globe for

(28:46):
the song to h My Prayer from The Quest for
Camelot by Selene Dion God, that beloved song that we
all heard of, that song or that movie. Well it's animated,
so yeah, and then they lost the comedy musical to
Shakespeare in Love, but that's to be expected. But uh, yeah,

(29:07):
I don't know, Like that song is fine, but like
all Over the World tonight. I think it's really fantastic.
It is. It's a good song, and like you said,
it comes along in their best gig, that sort of
triumphant gig that they finally come together, and I think
they pulled that move right at the right time. Like,
I think the audience could not have suffered through one
more bad performance or accident that happens at a performance.

(29:31):
You're just sort of you're rooting for these guys at
this point. Is it does have that feel of the commitments. Um,
and finally when they do nail it, Uh, it's just
it's a good feeling. It's great for the audience. UM.
I think the thing that there's the one you talked
about the little signs from God. There was the one
with the bus, and I think the one that happens
before this was or maybe it was the first one,

(29:52):
was when yeah, it was the first one when they
hear the music playing, they're meeting at Ray's house and
they're hearing the song and they're like, what is that's
Brian's music and they kind of go walking around. Then
over the hill these sheep just come pouring over and
this little kid sheep herder was listening to strange fruit
on a boom box. It's like, I kind of think
he's using it to move the sheep around because they
can't stand it. Uh. Yeah, there's something a little cute,

(30:17):
little moments like that in the movie. Yeah, it was funny.
They they end up obviously, they don't have Brian at
the beginning of the movie and sort of one of
the early um mysteries is who was going to replace him?
And I kept thinking it was gonna be another old
school guy that that was just going to come into
their life, or that Billy Connolly was gonna be like,
you know, I played the guitar or something like that,

(30:39):
and uh, they didn't do either one of those. They
ended up auditioning and getting a sort of young gun,
which at first I was a little annoyed by that,
but he ended up kind of he ended up kind
of being a cool character. They He wasn't just one note.
They gave him a little a miniature sort of love
angle with Karen's daughter who was on tour with them,

(30:59):
and he also is a great scene where he sticks
up for the guys. Yeah. I mean it also thinks
speaks to so many tours I've seen where they bring
in young session players, you know, when they don't have
their original members. And I was like, oh, kay, I
understand why they're doing that to honor that UM because
I remember seeing like Willie Nelson and family at UM
the Hollywood Bowl and like them a bunch of his

(31:20):
son like looks like Luke Skywalker and like the mop
here and he's tearing it up on the guitar, and
I was like, oh, yeah, It's like, it's just interesting
to always see like these young guys like who are
amazing coming and like help out these bands that are
down two to three members. So yeah, his his son
is awesome. By the way, I've been he and uh
and his dad Willie and his his son, like the

(31:43):
three generations have been doing a lot of stuff on
YouTube during Quarantine together and uh, I mean he sounds
just like Willie. It's it's amazing. That's cool. There's a
there's another line in this movie too that really resonated
with me, and it's from Karen who says that I

(32:04):
just want to stand in the dark and seeing audience
feel like I do, when like really speaks to the
power of music and community and how music really brings
people together. Um, you see those giant crowds, Like, you know,
that's one thing that all those people have in common
is love for this band and this music and singing
and singing together and stuff. And you know, music really

(32:26):
is the great unifier in a lot of ways. And uh,
it was one thing that it always takes. If you
hear songs one of your favorite songs, you always kind
of stop what you're doing and like sing along to
it or hump to it or whatever, or it'll just
take you back to a time when you were really happy,
or it reminds you so many in your family or whatever.
Like music has so much more outside of just you know,

(32:48):
verse chorus, verse and chord changes. It's so much and uh,
it almost you know, like the final concert sequence, which
you know, you know it's building up to. It's no secret.
It just hits all the feels in a way that
feels earned. It doesn't feel like they're manipulative or whatever.
But it also just kind of reminds you, like how
much you miss being able to go to concerts right now.

(33:11):
It's so tough. Like it's one thing seeing people you
know play a song on a zoom box in their
apartment or whatever, which is fine, but just being able
to be out there in a field with a bunch
of people, are in a small club or whatever and
connect in that way. It's like, it's one of the
hardest parts of all this in a sense, is just
taking away that community angle. Yeah, that that really hit

(33:31):
me too, because I'm a big concert goer and uh, like,
the very last thing I did before UM, when COVID
was breaking out was going a three city tour following
Bonnie Prince, Billy and Jonathan Richmond up the East Coast,
and um, you know, looking back, we were lucky because
it was COVID was definitely there, we just didn't know

(33:51):
it and we were in all the dirtiest places in
New York and d C in Philly, and um, they
canceled the tour right afterward, and we were like, what
the hell is going on? And I had no idea
that was gonna be my last show for a while.
And and also like you not being able to perform live, um,
sketch Fest being canceled. It's just it's a tough time.
So seeing a movie like this it really hits home. Um,

(34:13):
the value of the community around music and what it
feels like to be at a concert um or in
a movie theater, but definitely for this movie in a concert.
I know we both missed going to movies too though.
Oh yeah, I mean yeah, it's heartbreaking in a sense.
I mean I've watched over a hundred movies since I've
been in Quarantine. Though. It's just one of those things
of like I have the time, so it's like plowing through.

(34:35):
I'm feeling so many holes, even like holes that don't
need to be filled or being filled. Right, well, that's right, yeah, exactly,
this is the time to do it if I'm ever
going to catch up on these things. Like I literally
watched She's All That followed by not Another Team back
to back because I hadn't seen either. Yeah, no, I
mean She's All That is. Actually you can understand the

(34:56):
appeal of it. It's fairly entertaining. There's a lot of
good people in it. And then Another Team movie isn't great,
but there's moments in it and like there's literally word
for word dialogue from She's All That, which I just watched,
So it's interesting to see it that close. Really, yeah,
as a tribute or by accident, it's a tribute like
making fun of It is one of the main probably
the main movie they make fun of in that it's

(35:18):
an overall plot of it. But yeah. Another one of
my favorite lines from Still Crazy is when uh the
Swedish Wife, when Astrid is arguing he's having a big
fight with Karen kind of everybody, and as she's leaving,
she insults Karen by calling her a slut. She says,
you're also a slut. I remember Isle of White, right,

(35:38):
just this vague statement. You know, Isle of White is
where they had all those legendary concerts and festivals. So
I kind of like lobbying it out there because Karen
it is just such a sort of pure character. It
leaves you wondering, like, oh, what happened to the right.
It's like it's it's you see that those two just
in that sentence, you know those two have history. Yeah,
that's that they made. They didn't have to do anything else,

(35:59):
just that one sentences, like, Okay, you get why they
she dislikes her kind of or whatever and doesn't trust
her and all that stuff. Billy Billy Conley is another
great line early when he's narrating when the band breaks up,
he says, I think God gets six sick of seventies excess.
That's why he invented the sex pistols. That is one
of the better lines. He's great too, is the is

(36:22):
the roady slash bus driver. He's I mean, you can
put Billy Conley in every movie as far as I'm concerned.
Oh yeah, he's great. He's really good, and he's the
perfect narrator. It's funny because I watched it. I have
the DVD, but it's you know, pretty old, so like
you know, the menus in four three, there's no frills,
and so I was worried when I clicked play on
the wide screen that it was gonna be wide screen
within the four three, which a lot of those old

(36:44):
DVDs are. But thankfully it filled the screen and I
thank god. But the audio wasn't great, Like it was
really kind of distorting and like you know, love top
level pitches and stuff, and I was like, can I
watch it this way? But it ended up being okay,
But I wondering. I'm hoping it's better on streaming and
things like that too, because the signs it's good to

(37:06):
know this thing. Fix that up a little bit because
it's not great on the DVD. Yeah, well, yeah, I
guess it's mid to late nineties. DVDs don't stand up
these days. Um, and you know, I think the uh,
that big last gig, it's like Brian shows up, there's
no rehearsal. It's sort of like the end of Rocky
and the end of Karate Kid, in the end of

(37:27):
every movie, at the end of Almost Famous, where you
have you know that this you're gonna get this great
final thing, and it it really just dances up to
the line I think of of trophy without being trophy,
like you want you want all these like you said,
it's earned. You really want all these things to happen.

(37:48):
You want Brian to come out on stage, you want
them to have a triumphant gig, you want all these
you know, you want Less to have his moment, and
they all get it in a way that's really really
satisfying totally. It makes sense the way it plays out
versus feeling forced or manipulated. Yeah, I really think it's
great and it just kind of ends there. I mean,
it's there's a lot of those movies would often just

(38:09):
give them like epilogues. Yeah, what they're doing that, but
you don't need it, like it's just they're together for
this gig. Who knows what happens afterwards, if anything, it
doesn't matter. Yeah, I think I bet you anything there
are some deleted scenes. I bet there are some more
flashbacks that they didn't end up wanting or using. And
I could see there being some sort of an epilogue

(38:31):
of you know them all sitting around and raise garden
of his like smaller still lovely English English cottage, but
not that like mansion that he was living in. But yeah,
I think it just sort of sort of ends in
a very respectful way without checking on a something hokey. Yeah,
I think that this movie it really rides a good

(38:53):
line of being funny, like it's often very funny um,
but also emotional um and just satisfying in so many ways.
And it kind of the way it starts out, you
might just be like, I don't know, it takes a
little while to really kick into gear. But once it does,
once they kind of are all together and they start
down the road, it really just kind of gets to

(39:14):
a place where you're like, oh, I'm gonna love this movie.
So if anybody's watching the beginning and they're unsure, just
stick with it, it gets really really good. It's not
bad at the beginning, ministers with imagination, but yeah, I agree,
it gets rolling about twenty minutes in. Uh what what
happens is you get invested in these characters because I
think they do such a good job of painting them
as real people and people realistic versions of who these

(39:37):
rock stars might have turned out to be. Right. And
also it's like the softest are that you'll ever see, Like,
is it it's our It's because there's the effort is
said like a dozen times, and there's one one mob
for one second. But yeah, I think it's just because
they toss off the sort effort periodically like you would do.

(39:58):
But there's not really much to it. It's like the
gentlest R rated movies. So if that's a detriment, don't
let it be. It's to anybody can really handle this movie. Yeah,
I mean I think. I mean I would go so
far as to say this is kind of a family movie. Um,
except for maybe a little bit of language, Like I
could I could see someone watching this with their like

(40:19):
ten or eleven year old who knows that an F
bomb isn't the biggest deal in the world. Yeah, because
there's not that. There's nothing really in there that's so
adult that you couldn't see it. I mean, it's it's
pretty tame. My medeon's feel good. So I understand that, right.
I mean I get why they have to do it,
because you can only have one F bomb or something
to get like that. Something makes no sense to me.

(40:42):
You've heard it once, so like, how is it you
know you hear twelve more times and like, oh no,
you gotta be over seventeen now, because I think there's
science behind that. Cole. If you hear an F bomb
so many times, you automatically just start saying it, and
you know what, kids have heard way worse at that
point in the playground. So yeah, or in my health. Um,

(41:08):
I was going to mention to the different Uh. I
think another kind of wise decision was all the characters
sort of have different stakes going into this, uh, and
I think that helps the story. Um sort of all
of him as a baseline, I'll need money a little bit,
but they're all different variations of steaks, and it's not

(41:29):
just everyone's broke and needs the money and is doing
it just for the money. Yeah, I mean there's there's
a very brief scene of less in his family where
he's about to go back on the road and she's like,
you know, be careful wherever, and he's just like, if
this works out, I'm never going up on that roof again. Yeah,
and then she's just kind of like, well, we've built
this so hard, as you know, and he just kind

(41:49):
of leaves. But like, if you see it, it's just
like he says, he hates it. He hates it. He
hates it. He gave up his dream. Um, and you know,
I think he also has insecurity of being able to sing.
I think he's a good singer, but because of the
fact that the band rejected that as an idea, I
think he just never pursued anything solo afterwards because he
was so hurt by everything, and so he just kind
of accepted his lot in life. He went and raised

(42:10):
a family, which obviously they have a lot of love
for each other and stuff. But um, you know, he's
stuck in a roofing job, but he just really doesn't
like and now he's got a chance to go back
on the road. And even though he's you know, he's
complicated relationship with Ray and everybody else, but um, he's
just hoping. So it's pretty phenomenal for him. Yeah. When
I saw Less, when I saw Jimmy nail Is Less
as the bass player, uh, in that shaggy hair and

(42:33):
a little bit of a beard, my first thought was
in his nose. I was like, man, why didn't they
make the Who movie when they had a shot because
he Yeah, I think he looked a lot like I
really could have pulled off Pete Towns pretty well. And
he's a good too. Yeah. He played mcgaldy in the
Avena movie, so he's like a big musical theater guy.
So um, he's got a great voice. I think he'd

(42:55):
be great and that rock doc he would look perfect
for it. I did not know it was Bill Night.
He's singing I'm burying rest. Yeah he's I mean, obviously
he lip sinks it in the movie, but um, you
know they pull it off. It works. That's what I
think is pretty great about it is obviously they're playing
to tempt tracks or whatever, because you just have to um,
unless you're doing lame is and doing live singing. But

(43:16):
exactly in general, it's you know, temp track, but it
doesn't look like it. It really looks like everybody's playing
their instruments. It really you know, they'll go internet when
they're rehearsing. They you know, will start and wind down
on a track or whatever when things go wrong, and
that seems real, Like it's I think they just do
a really good job of portraying a band and actually
playing versus like, look at these actors. You know, like

(43:39):
if you see a movie and like an actor's playing
piano and you never see you see them and you
can't see their hands, so you see them with the
thing just kind of making that face like that they're
playing really great, and then it cuts to just hands
that are not there, and it comes back to that
and they're just like all right, I mean I get it.
I can't play piano either. I would have no recourse,
but pretty obvious to me. Yeah, they do a good

(44:02):
job in this. And for me, the one for for
fake bands and TV shows and movies, I'm always looking
at the drummer because that's that's usually the one that
looks the worst because if you're not a drummer and
you're fake drumming, it can be pretty bad. But I
think Timothy Spall did a good enough job, and I
think they were smart enough to to frame it just
the right way and cut to him at just the

(44:24):
right time to where it ended up being pretty believable. Yeah,
it looks like he's doing the films that are happening
and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, Like there's not a single person
there that I'm just doubt while they're doing it. Um,
and I just yeah that the less is like the
perfect basis, and that he's tall. He's just stands super upright.
He totally looks like a bass player, rise and high,

(44:44):
that whole thing that he's you know, he's a serious musician,
but in a bass is super important to songs, but
it's kind of not looked at the same way as
like a lead guitarist or vocals. No, but it's like
Paul McCartney's a bass player. Come on, there are cool
bass players. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, he's great. Uh well, dude,
I really enjoyed this movie. Um, I'm glad you turned

(45:06):
me onto it. I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of it,
And I would recommend it to anyone that's you know,
if you're sitting around at home and you're um sad
from being locked in your house and not being so social.
This is a really good, feel good fun movie, especially
if you like music, especially if you like rock and
roll from the seventies. Uh fully fully recommended. Yeah, it's

(45:28):
really it's a lean nine nine minutes. It doesn't take long,
it doesn't get wallow and things like you know, like
a lot of the music doc or movie dramatizations of
like you know, like Rocket Band or things like that
too are like, you know, two hours plus. And they
also spend so much time on the rock bottom segments, um,
which always get kind of old to me. I'm like,
I get it, it's just okay, please, But they just

(45:53):
kind of do a tiny bit of that in this,
but then they know they show you so you know
what's up. But then they don't linger in it and
they move forward with the plot. So yeah, very easy, breezy,
easy fun watch alright, cool, get one in your hip pocket.
We'll have you on again, uh in you know, the
next four or five weeks. I love it and appreciate

(46:14):
you jumping in here this week of course. Anytime, man,
I've got any party words. Where can people follow you?
And where can people find that great list? Uh? Yeah,
you can follow me on social stuff at at Stratton
Cole on Instagram and at cold Stratton on Twitter um,
and then uh, my website is just coold Stratton dot
com which has my list if you just go to

(46:35):
the blog section there. I think I've also posted it
on my socials at some points. If you scan down
you can find it. And I think most of those
movies are still available to and people seem to really
be liking the list and enjoying the films they've been
seeing and a lot of them. Yeah, it's it's cool.
The Crushers have been active with that, and I know
you've been interacting with them on the movie Crush page
and it's been it's been very cool to see. Yeah,
it's cool. They're really good group of of podcast listeners.

(46:57):
It's pretty amazing to read all their posinesses. They're really fun, pastic,
So good on your good on you all right, man,
thanks a lot, and we will see everyone else next week,
all right, Thanks Chuck. This movie Crash is produced and
written by Charles Bryant and Meel Brown, edited and engineered
by Seth Nicholas Johnson, and scored by Noel Brown. Here
in our home studio at Pontsty Market, Atlanta, Georgia for

(47:19):
I heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.