Episode #127: Feeney Talks with Bill and Max Markowitz

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
All right, all right.
Feeney Talks with friends.
Episode 127.
We got an exciting podcast.
We got the LeBron James and Bronny Jamesfirst father son combo.
I'm really happy to hear you.
What's up? Bill, how are you doing? Eric?
How are you doing? Max?I'm doing very good. Thank you.
This is going to be very exciting.We're going to talk sports.
We're going to talk moviesand everything in between.

(00:22):
Again, my name is Eric Feeney, founderand president of Friends of Feeney.
Our mission is to help
children and families that need assistanceafter heartbreak or tragedy.
And I use this podcast.
Feeney talks with friends,and I talk to wonderful people
that are doing great things.
In Max, you do great things.
Thank you. What is it that you do, Max?
I am a,

(00:42):
film critic, and I have a websitethat I write reviews for.
I also coordinate film schedulesfor a hotel,
which is,
property owned by Larry Corman,who's been very good to me and my family.
And, I'm very, very passionateabout, cinema and storytelling.

(01:04):
And I am actually currentlywriting a script, and I,
hope to, go pretty far with it.
Oh, amazing. Yeah, we'll get into that.
I'm so happy that you're here.Thank you for coming.
And now we have a marketing specialistfor Ashley Furniture.
Billy. Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Billy's a great,great person on and off the court.

(01:26):
How you been, Billy? I've been good.I've been good.
Funny that you mention, LeBron and Bronny.
I don't think Max knows who Bronny is.
That's the beauty of our home.
And I think he really only knows LeBronthrough LeBron being in the movies.
Not really on the hoop court, but,that's kind of been our life.
I'm a hoop and a sports junkie from dayone, and,
Max has a twin as you have twin girls,and, Jake and Max just love the cinema,

(01:51):
and he can talk more about it,what got him into it.
But at our house, when I ask anyone, Max,do you want to watch the Super Bowl?
What do you usually say?
No thank you, no thank you.
And, he says, but on this year, on March2nd, the Oscars, that's his Super Bowl.
And we make a big deal about itat our homes.
I got enough friends to talk sports with.
I don't need to do it in the house.But you guys, man. All good.

(02:12):
Do you have an Oscar party?
Some years we have.
Mostly. We just really enjoy watchingus. Yeah.
Nice house. Yeah. Nice. Well,yeah. March 2nd.
We'll talk about some of your predictions.
I can't wait to get into that.
First we'll do steam room. Sure.
With Ernie, PJ, Eric, Joseph and Barkley.
Yeah. Keep it on.
Keep your towelson. So, did you steam today?

(02:34):
Actually, I steamed and I saw on it,and I took a swim,
and I got a basketball gamein about 2.5 hours that I just found out
I have to play the entire 40 minutes.
And a 60 years old will be usingall the timeouts tonight and.
We can't wait.
Yeah, I did swim today. Half a mile.
I'm learning to breathe on both sidesnow. Awesome.
I had swimmer shoulderand breathing on one side consistently.

(02:56):
That left shoulder.
But now if you breathe on both sides,it equals it out.
Max actually swims a lot too.
That's kind of how I got into it too,because then I big into sports,
but I wanted them to swim,be physical and active and,
Jake and Max actuallyboth on the, on the neuro spectrum
and a lot of kids on the spectrumhave always, neurologically.
But water is great for them.

(03:17):
And, he loves swimming.
Max, you'll swim 30, 45 minutes,just like, you know, my wife and myself.
We swim probably 4 or 5 times a week.
So, yeah, it's a family.
Family affairin the water lanes three, four and five.
Usually. Yeah. Nice. Nice. Yeah.So when my daughter, my daughter came.
So we do have a little family event.It's great.
Good thingthat. She likes the breaststroke.
I do the freestyle and mix it up,you know.

(03:37):
And I get out sauna.
Exactly. Sauna. Steam.
You like the steam of a sauna?
Because I always ask people in it.
I probably have
pretty loquacious inside the sauna,but seems like more people say the sauna.
And I used to do just steam,but I'm trying to.
Yeah, I think, sauna.
I like to end with the steam. Yeah.And then shave.
Because you get the noise. Going.

(03:58):
Oh, not in a cold shower.It's like you're 12 years old again.
Cold. Cold shot.
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.And it takes a while to get. Used to it.
I mean, amazing way to start the day.
I feel happy, healthy.
Yeah.Your endorphins are up. You exercised,
cold shower.
So I, I'm telling all the on the podcastwhen I make a recommendation, write
a handwritten note, take a cold shower,even regular shower at the end.

(04:21):
Turn it very cold.
I try to do it for about 30s at the end.
And so Bender.
Bender swam this morning.
Okay.
Yeah, I actually years ago
I went into the Atlantic Oceanbetween Christmas and New Year's once.
That was cold, my friend.
It was cold.The ocean was cold that day. Yeah.
And speaking of all this sauna,where does it take place?
What's it? Where do we do it?
The, Bloomfield Jewish Community Center,which is just been a great haven.

(04:43):
I've met a ton of friends, yourselfincluded.
Just it's just wonderful.
There's so many great thingsthat constantly go on there from,
you know, preschool to private events to,you know, the, the fit, the fitness area.
This private Pilateslessons is also stuff.
I love that they just recentlyhad a beautiful photography show.
It's really and it's embracesto the whole, to the whole community.

(05:05):
So yeah, it's a wonderful place.
I cosign on the great people.
I've been in the WednesdayBasketball League for 16 years. Yeah.
How long have you beenin? Since we moved here.
So about 20 years? Yeah. 20 years. Yeah.
Great network of guys. Yeah.
And now I've been
swimming, so that's also amazing.
Yeah.
The JCC, Bloomfield, Mandel, JCC.
Great people.

(05:26):
Go check out talk to Rachel.
If you want to be a member.
Rachel will sign you up.
And David Jacobs, the CEO.
Wonderful person.
Like you said, they do author signings.Yeah. Plays.
Yeah.
So there's stuff for the moversand the thinkers there.
It's a great place. Shares.
What's your favorite thingabout the JC Max?

(05:48):
I love, I just really love swimming there.
I, I can just zone out and.
Yeah, it always feels great.
And I've been going there for years, and,
Lara, who works at the frontdesk, is always very nice.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, it's a really nice.
It's a very friendly place.
There is a really nicethere has been wonderful.

(06:09):
Her birthday'scoming up February 21st, and,
not to
say it like this, but just towe always the last few years.
I'm always barter flowers on a partysapiens beard, you know, and she,
you know, unfortunate she lost her husbandthis past year and myself,
a bunch of people were,you know, at the funeral to,
you know, help herget through those tough times.
But, yeah, she's wonderful.And everyone there, whoever it is I want.

(06:31):
Everyone always has a smilewhen you walk in.
When you leave a nice, safe place.
And, Yeah, it's great.
Great part of the community. Yeah.
Do you know a guy named Ty.
Had a tie?
My man, my man. Tie. Ty is legendary.
And as you know, he just ties the best.
You know whatI always tell Ty on his birthday?
I love
him because he makes me feel like Shaq,you know, but, size wise.

(06:54):
But tie. I said tie your friends.
How do I say it?
You know, I said kids love you.
Your friends deep down admireyou and the parents respect you.
You really cross all, all levels of,you know, people.
And just besides just being friendlyand coming from a wonderful family,
he I have a friend who's similarto Ty, much older in Worcester.

(07:17):
I was actually best man at his wedding.
My buddy Bob Berman Bobspent at the Worcester JCC
started part timeand it's been the ad there for years.
He's going, I think 44, 45 yearsgot the key to the city and Worcester
ties right on prettymuch the same trajectory doing it here.
You know, obviouslymuch younger Bob 66 or 67
right now and yeah, similar career path.

(07:39):
And I remember when I wasn't sure I saidyou start and he's he started part time
and then someone leave,someone comes, you get an opportunity.
And life'sall about creating your own chances.
Everyone says people are lucky,but I believe in you.
Create your own luck. You got him.
You got to take a chance.
Take a gamble. Bet on yourself.Always bet on yourself.
And, Titus.
Great.
You go up there on a Sunday's300 kids. Mr.

(08:00):
tag Coach. Up, up, up, up.You know, a parking.
Lot is a zoo on. Some.
It's a zoo. It's a zoo. But,yeah, it ties.
What is your.
Buddy Bob, a Jewish Hall of Famer?
He I believe I believe he is, but,
yeah, that was wonderful having Ty,be represented in the community.
We were all there yourself,obviously, myself included.
And and really,everyone on our text read that.

(08:23):
Yeah.
It's just justI was in this last September, again,
just a great honorfor 20 years of true commitment to,
again, it's not just the kids,the families, the adults.
So can your buddy Bob score 70?
You know, he might be able to be ty injust, like, a free throw game, but,
you know, again, Ty's a passfirst point guard who somehow scored 70 in

(08:44):
a game, but just marble.
I'll tell you this onequick story about Ty.
So, about 4 or 5 years ago, buddy,my Rick Capela at the time
was the president of Ashley or seniorVP cricket play D1 still playing hoop.
He's a couple years older than me.
And I said, dude, you got to come.
He says, Mark,where are we going to eat tonight?
You know, after one of our appointments,I said, what do you mean?

(09:06):
I said, I have a game. He goes, whatdo you mean we're going to go to work?
I'm like the president of Ashland.
You're going to bring meto a hoop game tonight.
I said, listen, I committed to the team.We have a game tonight.
You're going to see this kidabout five 4 or 5 five Vietnamese kid.
All you going to sayis that you're going to be like,
you're going to shake your head.So sure enough, he comes to the game.
And 40 is a game that Rob Alcorn,you know, blew out his knee.

(09:28):
And but I think early onthe game was maybe like 11 or 2 Ty.
It hit three straightthrees. And I looked at Rick.
And the crowd is usuallywhat about four people in the crowd?
You know, someone's girlfriend.
You know, maybe a kid in Australiaor a lot stranger.
And that Rick was thereand he was just like, oh my God.
And I said, see it.
You got to seeit to believe it. Ty's just,
like Allen Iverson, pound for pound.

(09:49):
Toughest point guard in the NBA.And he's great.
I love playing with him in against him.
Yeah. Rob our account.
Shout out episode number three. Yeah.
Let me do speaking of shoutouts here and do some, sponsors here.
We're here at Maximum Beverage.
Thank you. Maximum beverage for hosting.
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Check out these awesome hats.
Direct Line Media.
Check them out for all your podcast needs.

(10:11):
Brooke golf law, cheatingagency insurance, the fix Ivy float
41, Parkville management, people's Bank
and West Hartford lock.
So Billy with West Hartford Lock.
What are three keysthat make you great at selling
at being a marketing specialistfor Ashley's Furniture.
Yeah.
I would say three keys to my success overmy career has just been passion.

(10:36):
I'll often have dealers say, man, Marco,like you, you actually love what you do,
you know, and I do.
And it, of course,you know. Products imperative.
You need a good product, but,
it's just, you know, just having passion.
Follow through.
And in these days,just direct communication.
There is no reason.
You know, unfortunately,I always have said
the cell phone's the greatest inventionand source invention.

(10:58):
But someone reaches out to you,
and I know guys who worked for mewho've moved on or or other reps.
When I speak to them,I say, hey, listen, don't.
So I reached out to you.
They're not calling you to say, hey,
you know, how do you think the Red Soxare going to be this year?
They're calling you because they need you.
They have a consumer right infront of the name and they need your help.
So my phone's always blown up,especially on,
you know, weekendswith all sorts of consumers.
But I always want to be available.It's a two way street.

(11:20):
I mean, yes, do I sell them furniture?
I do, but my success really translatesif they're successful at the retail level.
So I just think as I just mentioned,you know, obviously being, you know,
knowledge base,but not just presenting the product and,
you know,
being good at the actual sales aspect, butjust having a passion for representing,
you know, I'm fortunate
to have represented Ashley Furnitureand La-Z-Boy over the last 35 years,

(11:42):
just to top notch companiesin the industry. And,
you know, but I think everything,as I said earlier, starts with passion.
And how was it being the Frank Robinson ofof getting the, MVP and both,
Well, they don't call it the MVP,but I was, fortunate
to to be what they call,marketing specialists for the year.
And Ashley, at one pointand I did get similar type

(12:04):
award at La-Z-Boy back in the day, but,those those are those are good days.
But, you know, it's sales.
If I told you my numbers rightnow, you wouldn't believe that.
You know, the prior 30s.
Because business is challenging rightnow, but just got to every day is a grind.
And, you know Patriots are down 28 three.
But they won.
So I think we'll be okayby the end of the year.

(12:24):
And I want to thank, you know,that you're here for your continued
support, your generosityand your sponsorship.
You've sponsoredmultiple friends at Feeney events.
You're always so generous and thoughtful.
You donated furnitureto furniture to families in need.
You know, you you wear the gear.
We have you and Parker wearing stuff.
I'll show a. Picture. Yeah. And then,

(12:48):
But no, just a great, great friendon and off the court.
You know,we only played, what, one season together?
Yeah, yeah.
Got a title, though. Got the title.
Let's see. That's. Oh, that's you.
So WampanoagCountry Club January 30th, 2021.
There you go. Yeah, I like it. That's me.
Where was this?

(13:09):
Oh, obviously during Covid that looks at,
first and last looks like firstand last on the background.
And then who's this guy?
So, beloved doggy Parker.
Parker.
We lost Parker, a few months backafter nine and a half years and just.
Oh, no.
It's a big loss in the house, you know?

(13:29):
But, as they say, there's alwaystwo things everyone says about dogs.
Everyone thinks they have the best dog,and everyone's right.
And, you could have a dog for 20 years.
It's not enough.
He was the best. We miss him, a lot. So,
But he was great.
And he loved awareness.
Friends, a Feeney care.
But I'll tell you,I will always sponsor you.

(13:49):
I have mad respect for you.
I remember even, Max,you probably don't remember this
because you were young,but your first bicycle
that you rode, a two seater,you had gotten you about 14, 15.
You weren't riding anymore.
I asked you, do you remember? I asked you,do you mind if I give it to a friend?
At the time you didn't know,but I donated it to you.
And I believeyou gave it to the kid. And you.

(14:09):
I think he sent me a picturea couple of days later. The kid loved it.
I remember I was able to helpyou bring a kid to a Sox game.
The kid loved it.
And those are thingsthat that means everything.
You know,I've been going to Fenway since 72.
I was happy to give up my tickets outyear, you know, for that game and
all those things are great.
You know, it's all about paying it forwardand helping people in need.
You for sure.Got it. You have a good heart.

(14:30):
So thank you for being a good friendalways.
Thank you for being here.
Now we're going towe'll come back to JC hoop.
But let's first nowsegue over to my guy Max.
How's everything Max. Very good.Thank you.
Now how is it to be a movie critic? What?
Where did you find your inspiration?
Well,
I don't I don'treally know that I found it anywhere.

(14:52):
I think I've just,I've just always loved cinema.
And as, as I grew up, I continued to,
enjoy everything that was coming out
and just have so much to say about,
the films I saw,but also the quality of the filmmaking.
And, I just, I love storytelling,I love the artistry of it.

(15:13):
And I think that we, the world has always,always needed that.
We definitely need it now.
More than ever.
And, fortunately, there's there.
This year in cinema has been wonderful,and I'm, I'm sure that it's,
something tells me to see it'sgoing to be great, too.
And I,

(15:36):
I've always wanted to work,in the film industry.
I've always wanted to be a filmmaker,but growing up,
it wasn't somethingI thought I would ever do.
I just didn't,
I don't know, I just I didn't thinkit just felt like a pipe dream.
It felt like somethingthat was too far away.
But I think,

(15:56):
you know, I,I think we're all pretty angry right now
about a lot of things goingon, and I think,
I think I just was like, you know what?
Why can't I?
So, and I have a lot to say, and,
since the beginning of last year,I've been developing the scripts
I'm writing now.
And on January 1st of this year,I started writing it, and,

(16:19):
I'm, you know, if I'm not done with it
by the end of the year, I'll be very,very close.
Certainly the Oscars after this comingOscars.
I'll be done with that.
But can.
You give us an exclusive what's the storyline and give us a little plot.
So he doesn't even tell me?
Yeah.
Come on, this is an exclusive.
So, I'm thinking of.

(16:41):
So I want to do,
I'm writing,
an entire, franchise, actually, I,
I want to do a,
series, a mini series and, film.
So it's sort of like a trilogy of works.
And it's going to be a, there's
going to be a free season, drama

(17:03):
series, ten episodes.
It will be called, resistance.
And then between season oneand season two,
there will be an eight episodemini series called Revolution.
And then when the series
as a whole is over,there will be a film called reclamation.

(17:25):
And I'm hoping not all threewill be picked up by Netflix, so wow.
We'll see.
It's, it has a lot of, genres.
It's,
it's mostly espionagebecause not everyone really likes action,
but I think everyone can get behind a spythriller. Like everyone.
Kind of like those,
and a lot of them can be very characterdeveloped as well, so I like that.

(17:50):
But it's a it's espionage.
It's a political dramathriller crime thriller.
And it
is it, it more than anything,it has so many,
great charactersthat I think people that are so complex.
So and I think people are really goingto, come to love, and,

(18:13):
and who's. The main character?
Who are some character names?
Do you have names? Yeah.
I don't go off holding off on that.
But, I have all episode
modern chapter titlesI'm very excited about.
I mean, again,I've developed it for a year,
so I've been ready to write it,which I have since this year.
And, it's,

(18:37):
it is,
I mean, it's it's it's pretty dark,but it's,
but it's it's going to be really hardto watch at times, but it's going
to be very gripping, very riveting,very edge of your seat, very exciting.
And I'm very confidentthat it's something that
people really haven't seen before.

(18:58):
And I think it's and by the timeit comes out where it's just.
So we're all going to be meeting.
So nice.
I'm very excited to write it.
And take the next steps to pursue it.
Can you compare itto something that has been out before?
Is it completely different? So,
imagine.
So it's this isgoing to sound really out of this world,
but imagine,

(19:20):
imagine Peaky Blinders.
Yeah, The Handmaid's Tale and The girls,the Dragon Tattoo
all put together into one show,and not that would be racist, I love it.
I love Peaky Blinders.
I've seen that girlwith the Dragon Tattoo.
Tommy Guns, Tommy, Maxand I actually just watched
all, 36 of people back in the.

(19:40):
Day. Lots of.
Yeah, lots of,
I mean, I've as I've watchedall these things,
there were various factorsthat were inspiration
that I take that I use as inspiration,
like very small things that I'll takeand like put my own spin on it.
I mean, filmmakers do that all the time.
And, I'm, I'm excited to be creatingsomething that I find very original.

(20:03):
Can you share, like a problemor a conflict
from one of an episodeor a movie, like a small little tidbit?
Dangle a carrot, give us a teaser.
Well, I'll I'll just.
I'll confirm that the opening episode, is,

(20:24):
titled, piping hot, and it refers to
what happens when you have ragethat's been repressed for so long
and, like, you kind of just abandon itand you leave it to simmer
until it finally boils overand something happens
in the first episode that will,of course, dictate the rest of the series.
But again, it's very character drivenand a lot of that,

(20:48):
a lot of that dictates
the plot and what happens.
But, yeah, it's it's, I'm reallyI think it's going to be really.
I'm I'm very. Confused.
I can't wait. Just so you know,I live in the same house.
I helped make this guy. I love this guy.
He hasn't let me read.
Well, one sentenceI've learned more in the last ten minutes.
Said as much as you have.So that's amazing.

(21:09):
A close to the vest. Max.It sounds. Absolutely.
I just can't. Wait to watch it.
I will be definitely seeing thisand viewing it and sharing it and helping
promote it. Thank you.
Sounds like you put in a lot of effort,hard work, a lot of thought.
Man spends about 8 to 10 hours a daywriting upstairs.
You know, eight. To ten hours a day.
That's amazing.

(21:31):
No. And then
you like to focus on, oh,I wrote this down the score.
So is it going to have a nice musicsound to it?
Absolutely.
Musicis a huge part of this, of the series.
I think that music has always been,
very, it's
been very effective and influentialin times of crisis especially,

(21:53):
and, and, and wars and, you're going to.
Call John Williams.
There are certainly quite a few composers
that I would dreamof working with one day.
Piano.
Yes. Oh, yeah. Course. Piano man.
But yeah, music is definitely.
I mean, it's it's not a musical,obviously, but it's there's music in it

(22:16):
and it's, it's verythe music is very important to the story.
And, I definitely have some specific ideasabout the cinematography.
I think there are going to bea lot of there definitely going to be
some interiors with a lot of like lowlighting, almost like a neon ish yellow,
a lot of night cinematography.

(22:37):
It's going to the first season
takes place during the winter,so I'm going to make use of a lot of that.
But, no, I'm, I'malways visualizing everything
and thinking about what the end resultwas going to look like.
And I try to write as much of thatinto the script as I can.
Yeah.
After reading some of your reviews,I think you're a great writer.

(22:58):
So I'm really looking forward to this.
And every time I watch something, it, it,
it only, inspires me further.
I mean, again, there'sbeen so many great nominees this year and,
you know, every time I, I, I'msomeone that has to rewatch things,
just because it, it keeps, fueling me.

(23:18):
So, I did nominees this year.
I love, I have more to say about themevery time I watch them, I think not.
So much of them are just spectacular worksthat are very, very bold.
Well, if you need someone to record,he does music videos directly.
Media could be your guy for the movie.
So quick

(23:39):
game if you had to eliminate one of thesescore, cinematography, film editing
or performance, which one in your eyesis the least important?
Well, first of all, you would never, ever,ever eliminate a performance.
I can't bring myself to say thatany one of them is something
I'd eliminate,but you do have to be compromising

(23:59):
when you're making work,when you're making art.
So I guess if I had to
maybe get rid of one of them.
Probably the editing,
because there's various,so many ways something can be edited.
But I when I'mvisualizing the cinematography, I can also

(24:20):
kind of hear the intensity of whatI would like to score to represent.
So I can't imaginesacrificing those things.
And plus I don't know how to edit.
So I think that would be the easiest thingto do. Yeah.
Good answer.
And what how long has the film creditsticket admit? One.
How long has that been around?

(24:41):
So my very good friend, Jimmy demurs.
It was his idea.
He suggested that, like,he just kept insisting that I do it
because, you know, when we met,and he's so wonderful
and was so, passionate and,
I just kind of lose myselfand go to another place
when I really got engagedand talking about cinema.

(25:04):
And he just really felt that, thathe was in agreement with everyone else.
This is something I should do.
And I finally just decided to do it.
So, I started in mid, like,
the late, I think maybe Octoberor November of, 2018.
And it's,it kept me busy through Covid and,

(25:27):
you know, eventually,
I was able to get a job,
an actual paying job, coordinatingschedules, film schedules,
weekly film programs for LarryKaufman's Hotel Saket and, I,
you know, I've been I've been luckythat I've been able to,
pursue something in film as I'm pursuing,film industry.

(25:49):
Wow. Yeah.
And arcs like top quality hotels.
They have so. Beautiful.
They're really beautiful.
Two in Boston, two in New York,two in Philly, two in DC, two in Miami,
two in L.A.
So we give the friends a Feeney discount.
But I'm sure we can work something.
Hey. Yeah.
There's there's one in London,and it's it's really cool.

(26:10):
And Max, who was the actor actressrecently who had checked into
one of the California hotelsand saw your reviews and made a comment.
You remember Larry had sent that? Oh,
But it was like
a name actor or actress and said,oh my God, you know, I don't.
Remember exactly.
I'm he or she, I think it was a woman,but she she loved it.

(26:31):
Yeah.
I don't remember exactly,but I know that the fact,
I think in the summer of 20, 2019,
when we went to go, state,
and in Philadelphia, this was when,
my brother was trying to get into Drexel,which,
he's gratefulhe didn't go that he went somewhere else.

(26:51):
But, at the time,that's why we were there.
And we stayed at, aka and,
I, I remember very specifically that,Nicole Kidman had just left.
Oh, yeah.
She had stayed,I think on the floor we were at.
Exactly. I think actually the exact suite.
Yeah.
Yeah, maybe Nicole and,
Keith Urban and matter of fact,speaking of Philly, Max goes down.

(27:13):
How many times you been in five.Philadelphia films?
The only year I didn't gowas during Covid, but.
Five, 5 or 6 times.
And he represents Arcadia.At least five times by now.
He's a lot of premiers.
And tell, tell you, where did you go?
Where did your wonderful grandmother,my mother, who just turned 90 recently.
Where did she take you? And you?

(27:33):
It was it was, it was such a surprise.
We went to the Venice Film Festival.
Just Jake and I, my brotherand I saw the film, so.
I mean, it would have been too much ofa trip for her with the, with those boats.
But it was an amazing trip,and it was just it was so generous of her.
And, Venice, visually,as truly as beautiful as you imagine it.

(27:57):
Yeah.
I don't know that I would.
It was really hard to forgetabout how hard transportation was.
That was that was a nightmare.
But the actual festival was so much fun.
And, it'sit was such a grand event, so busy.
Everyone was so lively and excited,

(28:18):
and, the other filmswe saw were wonderful.
I know I saw the
Philly Film Festival on your review,and I saw that you went to Venice.
That was a question.
Oh, God. You guys mentioned Do it.
And then Jimmy, you met him in LA.
I met him, in Boston in,
December of 2017.

(28:38):
My dad had run into him and,
my, he and my mom are, such great friends.
They been,they went to high school together, and,
you know, they reconnectedwhen we all went to dinner together
for a year, and,we we became friends as well.
And, he's just a beautiful man.
He has a beautiful singing voice.

(28:59):
Phenomenal singer.
He knows so many people.
Very, very generous.
And, yeah,he's been very, influential in my life.
There you go, Jimmy.
We're going to tag him in this podcast.
Hopefully he watches us.And what about Larry?
So our motto, be a good friend.
Pick up trash. It's not yours.Hold the door.
Give a compliment.What makes Larry a good friend?

(29:24):
Or Jim?
He does some.
They both do so much.
But they don't.
They don't.
They're they follow through.
They're very,
They're very reliable.
They don't take something onif they can't do it, they're,
it just it feels good.

(29:46):
It feels good
to have friendswho are not flakes, basically.
They're very, they really care.
Really, They really care about you. And.
Beyond sincere.
Larry is he? I've seen him. Literally.
He's a type of guy.
You know, you've seen the expressionwhether someone's a CEO
or someone, you know, opening up the doorfor him to warm up the building.

(30:08):
I mean, it doesn't matter.
He treats everyone the same.
Utmost respect for everyone.
And it's just sincere.
He's an Eagles guy, so of coursehe's excited for next week's game.
But he be like, Eric, you know my man.
But he he genuinely means it.
And they're just you knowhe's just such a warm person.
And Jimmy's been very encouraging.

(30:28):
And you know, there was one thingI'll just tell you, Max, right before
you had seen Jim,
we left a movie at the.
What was the old placewe used to go in Hartford all the time.
Well. 217.
Yeah, we left a movie.
I forget which movie it was,but I remember I got in the car
with Jake and Max, and I said, hey, guys,what would you think about the movie?
And they both literally likes it dead.

(30:49):
Don't say anything like, okay.
And then this is kind of what they do.
So it's about five, you know, ride homemaybe 12,
15 minutes about five minutes in.
The two of them start talking.
Well it's going to get nominatedfor cinematography score supporting actor.
No, I don't think so.
I think that, you know,
they go through everything, not just BestPicture like they break down movies.

(31:09):
I remember saying, Max, you shouldyou should be a movie guy.
You a movie critic, mom used to say.
And then, you know, then when you mentiona gym, you he encourage you as well.
And it says it's been a team effort.
And we always feel
that Jake and Max is so special to usand to everyone that they meet.
And it takes a villageand we're all just trying to,
you know, raise the water leveland we're beyond proud of you.

(31:30):
I cannot waitto see your finished product. Thank you.
Yeah.
And that and then your site is WWdot movie critic dot today.
Correct the film script to film criticsticket it's called.
But that that is the link.Yes. Film. Yeah.
Where'd you think of that titlethe film critics ticket admit one.
I like that. Yes. There were,

(31:53):
Well,
Randy, Crenshaw, my,
web designerwho I've been with from the beginning.
I, found that, I think, and,
she's she's been very helpful,
managing the site,posting everything, handling
the Instagram, because I don't know howto do any of that.

(32:14):
So, it's, it's it's been very,
wonderful to, work alongside
people who know how to do so many things,and they're very passionate.
Another reasonall about Max, one of the few guys
it doesn't spend his days scrolling on allthe social media doesn't need that.
Just typing.
Yeah, this time you type. That upand then how do you know?

(32:35):
Because you're really cute.
It's like four minute read,five minute read.
And I was like, let me test.
And you really hit. Itdepends on the movie.
It depends onhow much I have to say about it.
I think in the beginning,
I reviewed
certain films thatI didn't really like that much, but I, I,
you kind of have to when no one knows you,you kind of have to, you know,

(32:58):
think about what everyone else is,
focusing on and then you canchoose your own stuff later.
So I've really come to review a lot of,
independent films. And,
I think from,
from, from the very,
beginning, I just, I love the,

(33:20):
I love the idea of,
of people justI love the originality of that
people just making something that,no one's ever seen before, and I,
I feel something very originalevery time I watch something new.
I love seeingI similar ideas, rectified in new ways.

(33:42):
Yep, yep.
And I'll tell you one, onequick thing about Max.
He or his brother, and his brother.
You cannot leave a movie until you've.
Watched the credits. The entire credits.
They think it is beyond disrespectful.
Just like it's. Differentif you've already.
If you've already done it.But the first time you're in a phase.
That people spend 2 or 3 years,four years of their life for your two hour

(34:05):
turn to tainment,you can watch who did it, you know,
and they've always done like thatand been like that.
And just as hard as your.
Work, when you go to the moviesand you ask someone,
what time does the movie get out,
they're not going to tell youwhen the credits start.
They're going to tell youwhen the credits are over.
So, well, yes, we will say.
Yeah, but they always say, I thinkinteresting mad respect for Marvel.

(34:26):
You have to stay because
you think.
That's why Marvel started doinga little clip at the end of the credits.
Or they just want you to staybecause we have the stage.
I mean, to the end of the creditsand they pop in a spoiler.
I mean, I always love that feature show.
I mean, I stay anyway,
right? Right.
Of course.
I think that,

(34:49):
I mean, I think not all genres of film
have it and, to be,
You know, technically,
and, and visually and intellectually great
and still be very, very engaging.
But, I mean, I'm not going to lie,there's a lot going on

(35:10):
within the confines of the film industrythat really needs, changing.
There's a lot that's wrong.
And I think that, you know, of course,there are so many great filmmakers and up
and coming filmmakers who are contributingto making those necessary changes.
But it can't all fall on us.

(35:30):
I mean, audiencesshare a lot of responsibility, too.
And when they've partaken in somethingfor so long
while ignoring other kinds of workthat I am confident they would,
find something good
to say about, you know, eventuallythere comes a point where it's like

(35:52):
you kind of share some responsibilityhere.
You these films aren't getting madebecause you're showing the industry
that you don't care about them,so they're not going to invest in them,
when in fact they are the exact storiesthat should be, invested in because,
they're they deserveto be out in the world and they're,

(36:13):
and they can be very intriguingand very entertaining.
I mean,any movie can have the full package.
It really all starts with the script,but you need someone to believe in it.
And I think we need more peopleto believe. And,
and the really, really great scriptsthat are out there.
You have an example of the perfect movie.

(36:36):
Oh, Oh, wait, you know what?
I was going well, actually,what I was going to say is,
because I again, I mostly review Indies,
but I do think that, thereI think there was something really,
really beautifulthat happened last, in 21st,
20, 23 with the writers strike.
And, what, Barbie Heimer did,how those movies were both so,

(37:02):
both mainstream,
but both so good, and peoplereally, really showed up for them.
And I love that they weren'tin competition with each other.
Like they embraced each otherand embraced the idea that came in.
No, that's what they did.
That's what they called that.
And they, and they, they really.
Is there a name for when reallytwo top movies come out on the same day?

(37:26):
And can you recall another timethat happened.
This year?
They did it.
They did it with Wicked and Gladiator two.
But for the most part,I think that's pretty rare.
I mean, lots of movieswill come out on the same day.
It's not usually so competitive,but because both Barbie
and Oppenheimer were both so bigand made by such, acclaimed filmmakers,

(37:52):
it it was
definitely, I mean, culturally to boththose movies really
had an influence on this country,and it got a lot of people passionate.
It got a lot of people riled up.
But, that'swhat movies are supposed to do.
So that's what stories are supposed to do.
They're supposed to provoke.And that's what they did.
And what I was going to saywhen you asked about the perfect movie.

(38:17):
So I again,
I don't reallyI think it's rare for mainstream films to
have such, you know, top quality,especially at a mainstream
movie star audiences,flocks of audiences will show up for.
I love the Dune movies.
I think that they're so well shot.
I think the writing is sois so beautiful and powerful.

(38:40):
I think that, that whole castensemble is incredible.
I love the themes, I love the music,I love, the sound effects, the editing.
Like it really has the entire packageand what audiences look for in a movie.
And I think that's really rare.
So I'm very happy
that that's one of the moviesthat are being honored by the Oscars.

(39:03):
This year. Too.
I saw it on the list.
Yep, I watchedI saw it in the theaters many times, and,
I'm sure that it's going to winquite a few.
And one thing Max likes to dois not if he likes a movie.
So you can tell the audience,
how many times have you seen the recentTimothee Chalamet movie about Bob Dylan?
Oh, I saw that,

(39:24):
Maybe for at least free by now, but,
I, I really enjoyed the theaterand it's very rewatchable.
It's,
I mean, I, you know,everyone is talking about,
Timothy's performance as they said,he was great, but I was just so sucked
in by Edward Nortonbecause he is so not that character.

(39:46):
And really.
I like. Him a lot.
He really becomes this,
he, Pete Seeger,
he he really becomes ham and,
he he I said,I sent a text to Jimmy to actually.
And I'm like, this is what he is.
So you and this movie and, he,you know, he laughs and he's like,

(40:06):
yeah, I'm totally like that.
But, yeah, we hada, I always try and have a great time
at the theater and synopsis and,I hope I'm pronouncing that right.
And West Hartford and loop back square.
Dave really,
cleaned up since Covid and made somethingso beautiful.

(40:26):
Recliner seats, the surface.
Even they're trying to get more endingsin there.
Like, it's a really good feature.
And, I hope the community continuesto go and enjoy it.
Everyone really seems to love it.
And just one last thing, Max.
Next Christmas, this comingChristmas, Timothy.
Shalom.
He's in a movie with a possibleswith someone that you know very well.

(40:49):
Yes I. Do.
Can you just tell the audience brieflywhat's going on there?
My brother Jake.
Your twin brother Jake. Yes.
He's, he's a extra in the movie one.
He lives.
He moved to New York,
last year, I think it was. And,
he was approached on the street,said he had a very specific look, and,

(41:10):
he is in a scene, in a bar
with Timothy and a bunch of other guys,non non-speaking part.
So he's not part of the s. No, but it's.
Something, but it's nice.
It's it's just nice.
And he got a paycheckand I framed it form and,
Yeah, it would be fun to see, our sonon the big screen.
Yeah. And it's an 824 film. And they.

(41:31):
I love everything they do.
So we're very excited for himfor congratulations.
They thought that Jake lookedlike someone from the 50s.
So I said, does that mean your mother
and your fatherlook like someone from the 20s? You know?
So anyway.
Oh, so based on your reviews,you have so many.
Seems like you do one oncea month or twice a month.
Usually I'll do twice a month.

(41:51):
Since I've started writing,I need to focus.
I dedicate at least one review a month.
January.
What was January's?
January 6th. Na for tudo.
Nozpheratu. Yeah.
I, it laid out was stunning, and,

(42:11):
it was so genuinely frightening.
It takes a lot to frighten me.Because it's a horror movie.
It is.
My brother and I both have
a very dark sense of humor,so it takes a lot to truly haunt us.
It was very,I think tone is very important
in a film, you know, very quiet,very icy, very chilly.
This movie was definitely not.
And it's nominated for four Oscarsas well.

(42:34):
I'm glad to know that you do, Indies,because I did not know any movies up
until we got to Oppenheimer and Barbiethe Whale King.
Richard oh my God was incredible.
I didn't see it, but I recognize it.
But there's like your most recent one.
Well, let's play a game first. Okay.
The game is called for youryour movie reviews.
Your first one, your last one,

(42:57):
your best one and your worst one.
First or last best, worst.
Your first review.
Last review was a real pain. Yeah.
Give me a hint.
My first review.
I think my first review was GreenBook in 2018.
I think that was my first. Okay.
My best.
That's a movie we had seen. Yes.
Is that the driver?And they're going around?

(43:17):
It's a. True story.
Yeah, I want to.
See that one I've been seeing.
My best review.
Oh, wow.
It's like picking your favorite kid.
It is.
Oh, he probably got his mom on that.
Well, the thing is, is that I.
I get so, riled up when, In a good way.

(43:40):
When I'm writing a review,when I write a script, I'm.
I'm very much focused and taking my time
when I'm writing a script,it's like I have to get it out there.
So sometimes if you see a couple typoslike, that's, that is a mistake.
Who's your favorite twinout of your two girls? Right.
Oh. Shot twins.

(44:01):
Father of twins. Exactly.
But but again, I'mI'm just I'm very excited for March 2nd.
I think the films this year were great.
And I'm excited to see them allcelebrate it.
All right. Speaking about, let's do it.
Let's do some predictions. Yes.
Do your nominees. We'll hold you to it.We're going to keep a count.
Yeah. Keep you accountable.
Oh Stephanie, do you have a pen?

(44:22):
A teacher doesn't have a pen.Oh, here you go.
The same pen I had last time.
Everyone gets an A in his class. Yeah.So do March 2nd.
Do I say to as I'm doing number March 2nd.
You make the rules.Whatever you want to do.
March 2nd, 7 to 10.
This is the 97th Academy Awards.
I have the nominee ballot right here.
They're in columns. Okay.

(44:42):
Best picture.
Who do you think's getting best picture?
I do think the brutal Oscar win
Best Picture as it showedit was absolutely wonderful.
It's my personal secondfavorite film of the year.
A Nora was my first.
But I do think the brutalistwill end up winning.
I like Adrien Brody.
He was in Peaky Blinders.
Yeah, he played the Godfather character.

(45:03):
In the movie.
And, it you you just you never see that
kind of,
Did that
storylinejust so ripped apart and injected with
with with realism, like, you see, movies
that deal with the Holocaust always likeit's always an idea of it, but rarely

(45:26):
do you really try to make it as realas it must have been.
And I think that this,
Brady at the
director, really touched that,How many times I've.
You've seen this one? Twice.
I saw it once with my mom last week,I think it was.
And then I saw it,when it premiered at Venice.
And it was.
And, I loved thatthe movie has an intermission.

(45:50):
Like, it's so long.It needs an intermission.
I mean. Movie, they really letyou leave the theater and come back?
Movies used to have traditions. And.
I got to. Know.
And one of the things that, that reallyneeds changing on the audience's
part is they got to stop complainingabout the runtime.
Movies.
Some movies really do.
They really do need that.

(46:10):
And you need to focus.You need to sit still.
You can't be a child about it.
And so they going, right.
And I heard that about Oppenheimera little long.
I haven't seen that one yet.I've been. Harmed.
It was three hours and by the timeit ended, I hardly noticed.
Oh, wow. Good to know. But,How long is the brutalist?
The brutalist is, a little bit longer.

(46:30):
It is.
And three hours and 35 minutes.
I think it is nice.
And that includes the intermissionnow. So.
And which I think was maybe 15,20 minutes.
All right.
We got 22 categories.
So we're going to have to do fire awayokay. No problem.
Directing directing pretty carpet.

(46:51):
Well when. Brutalist. Yeah.
Do youwant to, do you want to go down the list.
Do you want me to announce him?
He new kind of you.
No no no no no. You can.
Attract actor.
Actress. Well, in leading role,
actress in the leading role.
So we got wicked, right?

(47:12):
Amelia and Nora.
The substance.
I'm still here.
So, I think Fernando Torres will win for.
I'm still here.
I think that she's going to bethe surprise one of the night.
I think every year there's like,one surprise when.
And I think, it's really between herand Demi Moore.
But I do think that it will be, Fernando.
My personal choice would be Mikey Madison,because I thought she was phenomenal.

(47:37):
But, I'm happy for, Fernando.
I think she really,
she she was wonderful, too.
So. Yeah.
So very good. Actor.
And why are youand why you want to say Timothee.
No act, no actor will be Adrien Brodyas he should be of her performance by,
Amanda Seareven comes close to that level of majesty.

(48:00):
He was sensational.
Actress in supporting role.
I think ZoeSaldana will win for Amelia Perez.
She she was very, very, lovely. She.
It's a very physical, moving performance.
She's just a wayshe uses her body language.
So I'm here.
An aerial ground you got has a shot.

(48:20):
She might. I'm not sure.
But we'll we'll certainly see.
Actor in supporting role.
Kieran Culkin for a real pain.
He was really funny and, very touching.
You know?
Fun fact.
That's Macaulay Culkin, brother.
Did you know that? Yes.
I'm teasing,of course. Yeah. Big success and fan.
Writing original screenplay.

(48:42):
I'm going to go with a Nora.
Only because this is the one categorywhere I truly have
no idea what's going to win.
And I really want a Nora to win something.
So I'm going to go with a Nora.
Writing adapted screenplay.
Conclave.
We're going to fire awayinternational feature film.

(49:02):
We got I'm Still Here, Brazil.
The girl, the needle, Denmark.
Amelia Perez, France.
The seat of the sacred fig.
Germany. Flow.I think I'm here. As well, but.
And it was very popular.
I would go with the seat of the.
Now, is that where the story takes placeor was written from?
It was written from France.
It takes place in, Mexico.
Good enoughunder that animated feature film.

(49:26):
Flow.
Cinematography.
Dune part two.
I do, I curse.
That was my guess for you.
Well, I, I do, yeah.
The brutalist dune.
Amelia Perez, Amelia Perez a lot.
Marla. Knots for. Two.
Nosferatu.
My personal choice.

(49:47):
What I would choose is Dune part two.
I think it has a shot at winning.
I think it is going to be the brutalist.
Actually, there was a very, very uniquethe way that was shot.
I think that's going to beanother surprise when production design.
Dune part two.
I cannot believe they built that shot.It looked so real.

(50:07):
And it was the architecture was so.
Yeah, I. Music.
Music.
Brutalist. Concave.
Amelia, wicked wild robot.
The brutalist.
I only know John Williams.
The John Williams. Do any of these?
I don't think so. Music. Original song.

(50:28):
Oh, it's one of the ones for Amelia Perez.
It's not.
Elmo. That one.
Yeah. The bad sing. Sing.What's that movie?
It's about the prison.I want to see that. That was.
I saw thatwhile I was doing some research.
That one will.
That was really. Rough film editing.
I did not see sing, sing and features,because I hadn't.

(50:49):
I was out of Boston.
But what about you?
Got Elton John's up here too late.
He's already got it.
You got that won't win back.
Film, editing, film.
How to do a normal.
Press,I think. Will, when film editing or.
The cleaning up document tree.
Black box diaries.
No other land.
Porcelain war soundtrack to a group

(51:11):
coop did to sugar cane.
What was the first one?
Porcelain war.
Probably diet, I think.
All right. Costume design.
Oh, Wicked nozpheratu Gladiator two.
Can't believe the complete unknown sprite.

(51:31):
Probably wicked.
I would go with Nosferatu,but I think wicked.
Oh, what's the boss calling me?
Sorry. No sound.
Oh, wait, I skipped one. Makeup.
Makeup?
Makeup will definitely be wicked.
Makeup?
Wicked? Yeah,there's a lot of makeup in that sound.

(51:53):
Oh, it sounds great.
Sounds into substance.
Nominated for makeup?
Yes. It'll.
It's going to out a substance.
Without question. I totally forgot.
That. Demi Moore.
Yeah. What's over her face?
And Demi Moore, like, she had thethe picture, her eye, the makeup.
Yeah, that was crazy makeup.

(52:13):
It's body horror,which always requires that kind of level.
Like they had an entire makeup team.
I mean, you can't just do thiswith a few people.
Yeah,I think they'll get it. Sound, sound.
Complete. Unknown. Dune part two.
Amelia. Again. Wicked. The wild robot.
The wild robot for many a year.

(52:34):
Remind me what the first one was.
The complete unknown.
Complete unknown.
I think it's going to.
Went a sound right?
Sounds.
It's about Bob. Dylan.
I want to win at least something.
Visual effects student part two.
Live action short.
Oh, Alien.
I'm not a robot.
The the last ranger.
A man who could not remain silent.

(52:56):
Who could not remain silent.
Documentary. Short film.
Death by numbers.
I'm ready. Jeff, by numbers.
Have you seen it?
I've seen interviews about it on.
It's a it's.
They're short films,like they'll play at film festivals.
I was supposed to see it,
actually, in Philadelphia,but it cut too close for number time.
But it looks wonderful.

(53:17):
Animated, short, beautiful men.
Shadow of Cyprus.
Shadow of Cyprus.
Candles.Wander to wander. Yuk! There we go.
All right.
We will see.
We will. See.
Last year, I think Max was 22 out of 25.
I'm not mistaken.
I think he only missed 2 or 3.
23456789 ten 1112 1314

(53:37):
1516 1718 1920 2223.
All right.
We're going to check. You all right.
Following up March 2nd.
Come check it out. March 2nd.
This is Max's Super Bowl.
We're here with Max.
This is episode127 of Feeney Talks with friends.
Max runs the film critics ticket.
Omit one.

(53:58):
I'm so happy to be talking with you.
Thank you. Oh.
Oh, quickly.
Let's just do most Oscars won by a movie.
Oh, okay.
Let me see.
This is now some Oscar trivia.
So this was a tie?
It was? Yeah, it was all about Eve.
Titanic. Yep. And la la land.

(54:19):
Oh, I got Oscars.
Ben-Hur with 11, Lord of the ringswith 11, return of the King and Titanic.
All 11. Yes.
Most Oscars won by a musical.
Oh, La La land, was it?
And it. Should be.This is West Side Story.
This could be an older.
Oh, probably. This could be old. Probably.
Who was the youngest to ever win an Oscar?

(54:41):
Oh, it was in 1974.
1970. Paper moon. Tatum O'Neal. Tatum.
Very good. Yeah.
She was like 8 or 9, I think ten.
Okay, who refused his Oscar for best actorin 1973?
Oh, it could have been a number of people.
It's for the got the Godfather.
Oh, it couldn't have been De Niro.

(55:04):
Nope. Who played the Godfather?
Oh, Whoever sets up the meeting.
That's the day of my daughter's wedding.
Marlon Brando, but Marlon Brando.
Oh. Oh,
what?
What is the Oscar statuette look like?
It is a night that is gold,and it's standing on a roll of film.

(55:27):
What's he holding?
Sword. I'm very good.
Who has the most Oscars of all time?
Oh, I think John Williams.
I think this is Walt Disney 26.
Oh, I just.
Say, I think John Williams was rightunder.
That. Hey,Google, check that. Yeah, right.

(55:47):
And I know these are kind of late.
Yeah. All right,we got a couple more here.
All right? And.
All right,we're going to set a timer over and under.
You're gonna have 20s to name as manyOscar Best Picture winners as you can.
Okay.
You can go out of order. Okay. Yeah.
Can I start?

(56:09):
No, hold on a second. Hold those.Are you ready?
I'm ready.
So hold on.
Just so these are just the best moviesyou say?
Best picture winner.
Best picture winner.I can do it. Okay. Yeah.
You want 20s or 30?
Because there's. A lot. Yeah.Let's give you a third.
You're going to give them the year two.
No, no. Okay. Just go. Can you give yours?
I could, but I'll start from 1990.

(56:32):
You're going to start from 1990.
Yes. 30s we're here with Max
and we're doing Best Picture.
Hold on. How many?
How many can you name, you think in 30s?
So six.
Stephanie.
How many you think you can name in 30s?
Yeah. All right.
How many?How many do you think you can name?

(56:52):
But just give me a number.
Yeah. Okay.
Actually.
All right, we're here with Max.
Ready? Best picture. 30s ready. Go.
From 1990 forward, it is,
dances with Wolves.
The silence of the lambs.
Unforgiven settlers list.
Settlers list.
Forrest Gump, Braveheart.

(57:12):
The English Patient. Titanic.
Six in love, American Beauty,Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago
to Lord of the rings, return of the King,Million Dollar Baby,
crash the Departed,No country for Old Man,
Slumdog Millionaire,The Hurt Locker, The King's Speech.
Oh, right there, Holy cow.

(57:33):
But you a. Winner.
You were exactly in order.
Like, like extra points.
Yeah. Let's just finish it off. Okay.
Where'd we, the working speech?
The artist,
Argo.
12 years a Slave. Birdman. Spotlight.
Moonlight.

(57:54):
The Shape of Water.
Green book.
Parasite.
Nomadland.
2021.
But, when was that 20.
About hearing impaired? Yes.
Starts with a C.
Yeah. Coda. Coda.
And, 20, 22,everything everywhere, all at once.

(58:19):
Oppenheimer.
And I think this yearwill be the brutal last.
Wow. Clap it up for my guy. Max.
That was impressive.
That's awesome.I couldn't even go through the NBA.
Well, I probably could the NBA winners,but that's, unbelievable.
I highlighted the ones I watched.
I've seen silence of the Lambsis Unforgiven.
When the soldier, oh, Eastwood.

(58:41):
I thought it was.
Who was the soldierthat he, like, crashed in the
in a in a Chinese camp?
Unbroken.
Actually, that was my bad.
So I saw silence of the lambs, Schindler'sList, Forrest Gump,
Braveheart, Titanic, Gladiator,Beautiful Mind, crash, departed.
Just watched, like most recently.

(59:02):
No country for Old Men.
Great movie. Oh my goodness.
The Hurt LockerKing speech I saw in the movie theater.
That's a lot of dialog.
And we, like, went to dinner
and it's kind of long and it'sblack and white, and I was just fading.
But, like, true Max fashion,I didn't leave until the credits.
Well, you know,I think that, part of the ability to watch

(59:26):
all genrescomes from actually watching all genres.
If I, if I only watched films with lots
and lots of wonderfully written dialog,it may not affect me the same way.
If I wasn't also watching somethingthat was very riveting or something
that was really frightening.
I think for audiences,there's a balance that comes from

(59:49):
opening up your mind to watch everythingand wanting to watch everything,
and when audiences respect that balance,they are much happier.
But a lot of them don't.
So you would say, recommendget out of your comfort zone.
Try a different. Variety.
I mean, all movies,all genres can have movies that are great.
All genres of moviescan, you know, have films that are bad.

(01:00:12):
You know, it's not about,
but it's never determined by the genre,just the film itself.
So for our recommendation portion,would you recommend to our viewers
to, to to try different movies?
Yeah, absolutely.
Try all kinds.
Try somethingthat you probably wouldn't do.
Probably an international feature film.
You know,a lot of audiences, are very mainstream.

(01:00:35):
Don't do that.But there's a lot of great ones out there.
So. Yeah, I want to see parasite.
Parasite was wonderful.
That was.
But there's, Subtitles, right? Yep.
There's subtitle.But I really want to see that.
I heard great things about.
It, watching a lot of even, like, Peakyjust because of the brogue.
With subtitles.
I actually really enjoy.
Watching movies now with subtitles.
I thought for a whileI only focused on the words.

(01:00:56):
But you guys get you helped.
You comprehend a little. Bit?Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
If it's whatever makesit so that the experience,
is more memorable for you.
Whatever.
Audiences have different strategies,do what works for them,
but definitely see the films because they.
What was the greatest year for moviesand why was it 1994?

(01:01:22):
What was the best year?
Was that your.
That's my pick. Oh, okay. Okay.
Because the Knicks are in the final.
Yeah.
Well,
I, I really don't know,but I think that for me,
2012 was a very memorable year because,

(01:01:43):
for cinema, for me, because first of all,
that was the year when I really,started to see films that I hadn't
been able to see throughout, my childhood.
And, I'm like,oh my God, this is so intense.
But this is really,
resonating with me for whatever reason.

(01:02:04):
And, I saw a lot of movies and figuresthat year.
I thought, to, you know,bringing the challenge of bringing Lamesa
up to the screen when it was such abeloved stage play was nearly impossible.
They totally pulled it off, though.
That was beautiful.
Zero Dark 30 was incredible.
That was really something.

(01:02:27):
I loved, Silver Linings Playbook.
You know, thatput them both judgments. Yeah.
Killing my juju.
That was great. What about.
Oh, back to 1994.
Sorry to. Did
Shawshank Redemption
also get overlooked?
I think it.

(01:02:47):
I mean, if. It's treated.
I don't know.
I mean, if it's between ForrestGump and Shashank redemption,
I personally would have gone with,Shawshank, but,
I, I think that sentimentality is aI mean, it's vital.
It has its importance.
And I think that if oftentimesthere are lots of Oscar wins

(01:03:08):
and nominees, to beginwith, that stem from me.
You also had Pulp Fiction.
Yeah.
That was I think that that movie was boundto be so iconic that people just decided
it didn't really need anythingother than screenplay, but, quiz show.
But I totally would have given, a firmand not Oscar for sure.
Oh, who won?
She's she's due for, at least two more.

(01:03:31):
Who won? The actress.
Supporting actress that year was,
for that yearwas, Diane West for Bullets Over Broadway.
And she was very good, but I, I,I mean, oh, my God.
Tom Hanks won for Forrest, right?
He did. I think he did.
I think he did.
But she went back to backfrom Philadelphia.

(01:03:52):
Yes. Philadelphiato Forrest Gump. That's true.
And yeah, she's a Hanks is a beast.
Well, I have more questions, but,we got to test your dad now, too.
Oh, okay.
We have. Yeah.
It takes a lot to have a sip of water.
You're on fire. Thanks. You.
Amazing. That was so good. From 91.
It was actually 91.
Yeah. Yeah, because 94 was.
Because it's the yearafter. Schindler's List.

(01:04:14):
So. Oh, yes.
For 91, the, Because The Silenceof the lambs had won the big five.
It was, screenplay Anthony Hopkins
and Jodie Foster one and at One Direction.
And, how about that wild fun factAnthony Hopkins is in that movie for about
8 to 10 minutes. That's it. Yeah.Oh yeah. Yeah.
But he wins Best Actor.

(01:04:35):
He's in it for. Like he, he was so,
oh so scary.
So scary.
You know what.
You know, throughout that whole moviethat he can't really hurt her
because he's behind the glass,but he he haunts her. He.
Oh, yeah.
So if there's any cinephilesin your audience, I mean.
This has to be their favorite. This is it.

(01:04:56):
We're doing it all. We're going to.
We got a wrestling podcast coming up.
We just had a sports podcast.
We're doing them all.
This is great.I'm so happy to be here, Max.
All right.
The 1985 1986 Boston Celtics roster.
There's 13 players. Okay.
30s on the clock.
How many of the 13 can you name Billy?

(01:05:18):
We're going to go with.
You want the.
Numbers to I want to hear how many
how many can you name first out of the 13can you get okay.
He's going for 11.
Yeah.
We got 30s on the clock. Yeah.
Let's go. Ready? Go! Yeah.
Bird. McHale.
Parrish going to go with Eric Funston.
We got Scottie Wedeman.
We got Danny Aingegot, Dennis Johnson got Bill Walton.

(01:05:41):
Did it
going around the corner, Jerrysiege thing.
We got,
who's down at the I'm looking at the endof the bench, and Emil was, gone.
Cedric was gone.
Yeah. Go to the next question.
How many do you got? The guards.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Oh, you did say.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. My bad.
Yeah yeah yeah

(01:06:02):
yeah.
So how many was that. Nine, 8 or 9.
It looks like you nine.
Who did I miss.You may missed it and I may missed it.
Did you say David third kill.
No, I didn't know Sam. Vincent.
Oh, I forgot, son. Sam Williams.
Oh, I didn't know I was Rick Carlisle.
Yeah. Carlisle and Greg case is.
Yeah. GK from BYU. Sure.

(01:06:24):
Yeah. Number 50. Yeah.
I mean, I can give you this.
Yep. Okay.
Which one. Averaged 25.
Yeah it'll be it'll be three.
Which one onthis list is basketball Jesus.
Oh yeah. Shuttlesworth. Yeah.
Ray Allen right? No.
Yeah.
I mean, here's Burgess. Legendary.
Who's the chief?
Robert Parrish, who is a super nice guy.

(01:06:47):
My mother.
I actually bumped into the chiefat the Natick Mall one time
and actually spoke to him.
And, my mom being about five,four in chief was just sitting down,
and they were at eye level.
And, she talked to him for a while,so that was very nice guy.
We just had a yep.
We're going to close up, but we justhad a, movie contest at school.
I won, okay, seven of the movies,so they showed up.

(01:07:10):
Ten second clip.
I got Star Wars, scream, Trainspotting.
You ever see that?
Yes. Little creepyGuardians of the Galaxy, office space,
raising Arizona and Reservoir Dogsfor Reservoir Dogs.
You know,male teacher in elementary school?
No one. Everyone's like,what movie is that?
I never saw, I never heard of it.

(01:07:31):
Trainspotting. Same thing. So I won.
I won a packet of stickersthat said good job, happy Face stars.
So I won something. Movies.
That was just last week.But I wanted to save it.
I want to shout out my friendfor making this shirt custom made shirt.
What do you think? It'dbe a good friend. Friends of Fini.
It's bright. It's colorful.Thank you so. Much.
I actually honestly,I was just in Las Vegas recently

(01:07:54):
and I give you shout outs toso many people.
And I often mention
I forget the unfortunate familymight have been 2 or 3 years ago
at this point, but I remembersomeone had a fire in your organization.
I remember you you guys raised like 25Granderson, 24 hours.
Yeah. And I tell people the storyand I could be wrong.
You can clarify it,but I remember you said
one of your students,the dad passed away unexpectedly.

(01:08:17):
I don't know the exact details,but then, like, 3 or 4 weeks later,
another student lost. It popped.
And then you're like,I gotta do something, you know?
And I don't remember, like, your first.
And actually, I'm asking you, you good?
Like what your first action was.
But again, you're it's an amazing idea.
Like, I gotta help these people.
Yeah.
And now it's,you know, it's it's user expression.

(01:08:39):
Your organization. Sorry. Blown up.
You were recently, right?
Nonprofit of the year.
And it's great.You just got a great following.
But you had that same thing.
And Maxwell, I always try to encourageyou like you have an idea.
Go for it.
Eric had an idea, you know,and you're you're doing great.
And, Well thank you. Yeah, seriously.
It's just.
And family.
Yeah.
Unexpectedly had a heart attack. Itwhen I was.

(01:09:01):
It was 12 years ago. 13 years ago now.
Had to do something,you know, from a divorce family.
I know how it isnot to see my dad every once in a while.
I could never imaginenever seeing him again.
The following year,one of my students lost their dads
to gun violence in Hartford.
And a boxing event. So
helped.
And we started Friends of Feeney.
Since then, we've helped over 90 familiesand raise over $225,000.

(01:09:25):
Now, yeah.
We have a brand new website.
Check it out on Friends of Phoenix.
Com we have an event coming upif you're free.
February 28th Wolf Pack game.
We get like 5 or $6 per ticket.
We'll have a big group.
We have a golf tournament September 13th.Yeah.
You go often. Mass.
Yeah, yeah, Max we sponsor.
You're a movie critic website.

(01:09:45):
Yeah, we'llwe'll get you a t sign out there.
Yeah.
So, yeah, just thank you so much. And,
any closing remarks?
I'm just very grateful that you tookthe time to speak with us today.
This is a wonderful thing.
You have going,and I, I hope to be back soon, and.
Yeah, thank you so much.

(01:10:05):
We'll make it an annual Oscar reviewparty podcast.
Actually, I'd like to conclude with youbeing a teacher.
And again, I had mentioned earlierand it's something that
the kids don't identify with.
But again, for any parents listening,you know, we say, oh, you know, kids
aren't maybe mainstreamed or playingsports and all that, and who cares?
Like, you want your kids to thrive,to find their passion.

(01:10:27):
And Jake and Max turn it.
Like most kids on a spectrum,they don't have huge.
It's all about it'snothing about aptitude.
It's all about minimal interestand deep focus.
And obviously his interest is cinema.
Now, we haven't even talkedabout literature.
They read nonstop also.
I mean, Max can readliterally 4 or 5 books in a week.

(01:10:48):
Not right now,because he's writing all the time.
And that's just wonderfulto, to do, you know, so again,
all about encouragement, for,
for everyone, others within your houseor on your own team or in life.
I totally agree.
If you're if your kids passion in artlead them in that direction
building, sculpture, movies,whatever it is.
Writing, yeah.

(01:11:09):
Rivalry, whatever they do,whatever they want to do.
Yeah. So my daughter likes. Yeah.
Oh, we got to do a quick,quick couple shout outs.
Let's do a quick little game.We got get people under the bus.
We're going to play start sit bench.
You got to start someone I'm goingto give you three people.
Start sit bench.
Okay I like it now.
But in terms of justfor like the final minute for who I mean.

(01:11:33):
Oh yeah.
So let's say five minutes on the clocktie score.
You got to start sit bench.
Oh okay.
We're going to go tie Andy Scott to start
Andy.
Irwin. Scott. Matt. Scotty. Mac. Yeah.
Tom I want, I want I want Scotty on the,I want Scotty I'll do it.
But I want obviously Ty Ty to to play.

(01:11:55):
You got to start. Someone sit someone.
Oh wait.
That's what I'm. Actually.
Oh wait. Wait of. A it's cut. Oops.
It's cut.
You got to cut. Someone start bench cut.
Yeah.
Since Andy's passed on mea few times, I'm going to pass on him.
Not in person, I love him.I love his passion for Michigan State.
But I'm going to go with Ty and ScottyMack.
They got the chemistry out there. Cool.All right.

(01:12:17):
Same game near Fuchs Bender.
Oh, God.
Start bench cut.
I'll figure if it's going late,the game could be at nine.
So Bender won't even be thereso he can cut Bender.
Even though I love the guy. And,
Fuchs may
be looking after my money and, but,

(01:12:37):
but damn near is a, former Israeli
soldier, so it's tough to go againstNair down the stretch.
I want near on on the court.
And, I'll go with Nia and Ben and, sorry,big Dave Bender, but we're going to.
We're going to stick. To the Paul.
Bender. Yeah, exactly. Sacred pool.
Rabbi Seth

(01:12:57):
Brett.
And, being on the court, I like,
I like,I like Brett making the right decisions.
So that's going to be due for that, threeif he.
He can make the threes if he's in rhythm.
But if he's off rhythm,I don't like him shooting.
And, Rabbiwon't have out there in the final stages.

(01:13:18):
We got Evan, Jason, Ryan and Nir.
And should we. Already know,we already did.
Near near someskin near out of here. Yeah.
I got a cover
near in about an hour.
All right.
Evan. Jason. Rick hurts.
Hey, man,let's let's talk about some other things.

(01:13:40):
Finally.I've got a lot of other questions. You.
I bet you know, I'll just tell you.
You didn't ask me my favorite movies.
Oh. Favorite movies?
Just couple things.
We'll we'll see.
So I would say
we one thing that he didn't mentionat all, it was all, like, serious movies.
And the boys in there, you guys aren'tnot like, blockbuster, Marvel type stuff.

(01:14:00):
You know, they're into real, like,
you know, I don't wanna say real cinemabecause it's all part of cinema.
But what they like,
and not to me.
Like, we like, like frozen.
What movie was he in? The Incredibles?
I just love those growing up.
You know, we really connected with thatMufasa with The Lion King.
To me, Finding Nemo, it'sjust a great like the dad.

(01:14:22):
Yeah, it's a great.
It's like, it's,every father would love it that just like,
I would treat
you guys like father would go anywhereand do anything for the kids, and.
But to me, Godfather just wantedto, listen.
And I often will watch it,and it comes on.
It's like, what, three hours each?
And we'll just, you know, have a weekendand just, you know, just watch it.

(01:14:43):
Two, you know, 6 or 8 hours. It is.
I think The Godfatheris just absolutely spectacular.
And I know you mentioned seeing thingsin the theater, Carlito's Way.
You ever see that Carlito's Waywith Al Pacino?
Yeah.
I don't recognize Sean Penn. Oh.
The blond from
forgot her name, but amazing movie.

(01:15:05):
Saw that in a theater 3 or 4 times.
Go back and check it out.
Wonderful to re see movies.
Actually. Look, let me.
I would love to see youdo a review on Carlito's Way.
Which literally is not to get politicalbecause I'm not at all.
But just like with the terror thingwith Mexico and Canada, what are some in
the top like Canadian actor or actressesor any movies that like a from from there.

(01:15:25):
I have some great friends up in
northern,
northern country of Canada.
I mean, Canada has always been, a place
where where it's always beena huge filmmaking location.
Yeah, lots of people will sit there and,I don't you want you want to go to the to.
The tiff Toronto.I'd love to go to Toronto.
International Film Fest is.

(01:15:46):
A huge to it road trip. Fargo I think.
It's go.
Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to. Okay.
But but yeah.
We're going to have to wrap it up, but.Oh go ahead.
Yeah. I was going to say,
I, I always struggle
to pronounce this, guy's name,
enemy Egoyan I can't pronounce his name,

(01:16:07):
but he's, a really acclaimedfilmmaker, and, and Canada.
And he has a movie coming out,and the U.S., on,
March 20th, with Amanda Seyfried.
It's called Southern Belles.
They just unleashed thatand they just released the trailer.
It looks very interesting.
It's definitely the kind of movie that,I watch a lot.

(01:16:30):
And, she hasn't been in anythingin a while.
So, for, Canadians who are, interestedin finding out what's, you know, what?
But cinema from, their country is coming.
That is something I'm looking forward to.
I'm going to bring it,and I'm. That's going to be my, march.
I'm going to bring you to.The Cannes again. I want. To.

(01:16:51):
Thank my friend for the shirt.
I want to thank billion Max hair.
Go, go and check itout. The films critic ticket.
He's doing it once a month.
We're going to hold him to his nominees.We'll check it out.
I also want to shout out thatRabbi was episode 64, Evan was episode 55,
John Decker was episode 65, and Ty,

(01:17:11):
Andy, and Scotty Mac were episode22 and 50.
We're happy to have Billy.
It only took him 127 episodes.
And I'm on the road a lot. I've been busy.
He's too busy in Vegas.
And check out our podcast.
Check, please.
Like and share and subscribeto Feeney talks with friends.
Come to the.

(01:17:31):
Well, matter of fact.I'm speaking of Vegas.
One time I was at the pooland I had the friends of Feeney.
Sure was great Venetian pool.
To pull that up.Yeah, we're going to get that clip.
Add the photo right now. Boom boom.
So on three will say be a good friend.
All right.
123 be a good friend.
All righty.

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Episode #127: Feeney Talks with Bill and Max Markowitz

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