Molly Coffee on The Princess Bride

Molly Coffee is a local filmmaker and film crew veteran. She's smart, funny, talented and has great taste in movies. Listen in as we talk about her movie crush, the 80s classic, The Princess Bride. 

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Hey, everybody, Welcome to Movie Crush Friday Interview edition. And
this week, everyone, you are in for a treat because
I know from lurking around Facebook with the movie Crushers
that The Princess Pride is one of the most beloved
movies and for our listener base, the Crushers love it.
I love it. Everybody loves it. I mean, let's be

(00:48):
honest here, It's just one of the great, great, um lovely,
feel good, sweet romantic fairy tale movies of all time. Uh.
And I was really happy that my guest, Molly Coffee
picked The Princess Pride. She's great. Molly is a local
production designer who I met a few years ago. Everybody,
when I naively thought that I was going to go

(01:11):
out and make a movie, and I thought I had
a little money in place, and I had a script,
and I had some actors on board, and I started
legit interviewing people and going to locations, and Molly was
her name was passed along to me by my producer
as production designer. She said, he's like, you gotta meet
with Molly. She's great. I met with Molly. She was great.

(01:32):
And although that movie did not pan out, obviously. UM,
we hit it off a Molly is just super cool
and we became Facebook friends, and I really, uh, over
the past few years have followed her career via Facebook
and UM and just think a lot of what she
has to say about the world and about women in
the film industry and in society at large. She's she's

(01:55):
just really terrific and I appreciate her point of view.
She's also friends with um Raymond and Craig and Karen
who have had on the show, and Scottie and just
has deep roots here in Atlanta in the film industry
and very talented, very cool lady, So I know you
will enjoy it. Here we go with Molly Coffee on
the Princess Bride. Where are you from? I am from

(02:20):
South Georgia, okay, uh this little town called Morvin that's
outside of Aldosta. It's basically a protest and in a
caution light, um, it's it was very intense growing up.
Really yeah. Well, I didn't have anything in common with
anybody around me, and I had parents said, I you know,
butted heads with It's funny because like my parents were

(02:42):
very difficult and I have one sister who she uh
her reaction to our parents and like how difficult they
were was to kind of like shut down. But my
answer was to just like constantly fight and be abrasive
and and yeah it was. It was a really crazy,
crazy time growing up. So I ended up leaving before

(03:03):
like I didn't finish high school, and I call it
running away to join the circus. But then I went
to uh uh, weren't rigging stages for the Van's Warp Tour?
And I was like fourteen, I wasn't even like legal
to um Carney, I was. It was. It was the
best thing that it saved my life. It was the
best thing that ever happened to me because I was

(03:24):
able to find people that I felt were like like minded.
Yea um, And so I've figured out how it was.
It's funny going home because I know a lot of
people like nostalgic for going home and seeing the people,
but I'm not the same person. So it's like it's
really it's really crazy. Yeah, so that you're you're saying

(03:45):
that that small town wasn't full of like cool artists
and wait now, weirdly and not it wasn't so vans
Warp Tour? What year? I mean I don't know much
about the Warp tour, but what year was at That
would have been two thousand, I mean no, it would
have been nineteen. Yeah, so back when punk rock was
still good. Okay, but man, speaking of punk rock, like

(04:08):
punk rock has not Like with all the political turmoil
that's going on, punk rock is like letting us down
right now. I know, because everyone thought this was going
to be just what punk rock needed. Is it not happening?
Because I'm like so old and cool, I have no
idea what's good anymore. There's like some weird Hispanic like
Los Angeles so cow stuff going on. That's really cool,

(04:28):
but that's kind of about it. Nice like Morrissey punk
cover bands. Yeah exactly. So you uh realized, like you
were in this small town and I think you saw
the writing on the wall like it's almost a literal escape. Yeah, no,
it was because you have to get out otherwise it's
all over. Yeah. I wouldn't. I don't think I would

(04:50):
have lived her it. I was getting into fights all
the time, and I was just really unhappy, and I
honestly felt like I really I felt no connection to anyone.
So it was like that feeling of isolation and being
alone like it. Yeah, it was. Yeah, I don't think
I would have lived or it if I'd stayed. I'm
always interested when like why are you like your where

(05:15):
are you you? Why are you Molly Coffee? Like if
there were no influence? Was there any influence? Not? Did
you literally strike out on your singular path? Not really?
I mean there were. There was like a little bit
of a punk rock scene in UM, like in v Asta,
and so I definitely was around some people that like
punk rock, but it was still like like the we

(05:38):
just drink ourselves into oblivion and we are just kind
of angry and misogynistic and treat women like crap, but
we don't know what we're angry about. And I was interested.
I've always been kind of interested in in what motivates people.
And so it's funny because we so our parents they
were they were incredibly conservative and religious, so we were
not allowed to watch television at all. So my dad

(06:01):
would even they would keep the television in my parents room,
like just unplugged in the corner, and then on Saturday
nights they would bring the television out and because my
dad wanted to watch Doctor Who and yeah, and so
so yeah, Like I had an entire childhood that was
basically just Doctor Who and maybe like what movie came
on after um on Saturday nights. But that was kind

(06:24):
of it. So no movies in your childhood kind of
it wasn't a part of your childhood. No, But my
parents allowed us to read anything that we wanted, like anything.
So I was, you know, and I was in the
second grade when I read Lord of the Flies, and
I was really obsessed with all the like Harold Scheckter
or serial killer crime books, and so I was really

(06:44):
I would read. I had a book of Witchcraft that
had this whole like front half of it that was
about the history of witchcraft, and my parents were fine
with me reading that despite being really religious. Well, my
mom was a elementary school teacher, but my parents were
teachers too. My dad was my principle in elementary school,
and then my mom taught elementary school at another at
another school. Yeah. Yeah, um, so music was sort of

(07:07):
your it was. Yeah. So I would work for about
four months of the year on the Vansworp tour and
then I would just jump trains with like the crust
Punks and travel around the Yeah, you're the most interesting
person I know. Well, you know it that lasted for
a time. How many how many years did you do that? Often? On?

(07:29):
Like nine years? I guess hopping around the country, huh. Yeah.
And I got really into photography, Like I got a camera,
and so I started taking pictures of of like music
and stuff, which then kind of led into taking pictures
of that was like kind of the insurgence of like
the alternative. I guess you call it porn, but it
really wasn't. But it was just like like tattooed girls

(07:51):
wearing like not a lot of clothes and posting, and
so I kind of got really interested in that because
again I was really interested in like women and empowering them.
It felt like this weird part of porn that was
like empowering women, which I think that eventually I figured
out that it's all a ruse, like, yeah, you know
it's there. Well, there's crappy people in every industry exactly,

(08:14):
so even if there were empowering, um yeah, like feelings,
initially that was co opted. Yeah. Well, like I worked
for suicide Girls and doing photography for them, and it
took us a while to figure out that like it
like they claimed to be owned by a woman, but
it was all just with them. Yeah. Well Missy Suicide

(08:34):
was supposedly the owner, but there was there was just
like a guy like behind the scene. She was like
basically a hired actor essentially. Really yeahsainting. Yeah, I mean
she was involved with the business, but she definitely it
was all just a pr stunt to to make it
seem like it And then they decided, Uh, it seemed
really good for a long time, and then they decided

(08:57):
that um uh, that people were competition, like some of
the girls were getting bigger than Suicide girls with individual brands,
and so then they like retroactively wanted everyone to sign
uh basically like non compete or whatever. Yeah, but it
was more like it was more like we just have

(09:17):
the right at any time to decide something is competition.
Um And so a bunch of the girl there was
like a whole wave of people leaving when the forty
girls and now I think that, I mean they're in
the thousands now. Yeah. So did you work for them
or were you just taking pictures? Yeah, just took photos.
I was one of their official photographers for a while. Cool. Yeah,

(09:40):
that's awesome. Yeah, when did movies kind of start coming
into your life. It was kind of happenstance. I so
I came back to I came to move to Atlanta
in two thousand and five because I had this uh
internship with a photographer. Because I was like, okay, well
I'm gonna do this for real, like I need to
quit futson around and actually have an apartment and belongings

(10:03):
and things. Um. And so I moved to Atlanta for
this internship and I was on my second day and
he started asking me to like wear outfits when I
came like and I was like, no, I'm good. Thanks.
And then I showed up the third day and he's like, no,
you have to wear an outfit. And I was like okay, bye,
thank you. And so then I just got there are man.

(10:29):
So then I, um, I just got a job in
a bar. And I was working there with these really
great friends and which bar I was raging Burrito and cater.
I worked there for seven and a half years. It
was a long time. I haven't been there forever. I
don't know why I used to go there. Yeah, well
I have a great patio. Yeah, nice weather. It's been
a while, and good Margarita's so, um, you're working there,

(10:51):
and that's when movies sort of started. Yeah, well I
I started doing these like stop motion movies. Wh I
met a friend, Chuck Chuck Thomas, who I do everything
with now. But I met him and he had gone
to school for film and we start talking about I'll
love to stop motion and I was like, well, I
can start doing stop motion stuff in my uh, in

(11:12):
my house with all of the equipment that I have.
And so we started doing all this stop motion stuff.
And I got this guy, this local guy who was
a really big fan of a movie that he had made, uh,
Mike Brunei, and I asked him to come and do
a voice on our on our stop motion stuff. And
so at the end of it, I gave me these
really cheesy coup on, so they we're like, hey, I'll

(11:32):
come and do free work on your stuff. And like
two weeks later he called me. It's like, hey, will
you come and p a on this music video I
want in this coupon? No exactly, it took him two
weeks to do it. The best thing I ever did.
I get there and I'm like, well, I don't even
make it all the way into the building, like I'm
walking up and there's this girl wearing combat boots with
long hair, and she's carrying all this really heavy stuff

(11:53):
and I just see all these guys are like standing
around her, and so I go and I start helping
her carry stuff. And and she was a production designer,
and so she absorbed me into the art department, took
me onto Ali shows, sponsored me into the coolest department.
Oh yeah, but it was crazy because I one is
it was like this weird industry where it didn't matter

(12:13):
that I didn't have a college diplomay that as long
as I worked hard and was pleasant, I could prosper.
And all these weird things that I've done throughout my
life between like working in factories, machine welding, or like
even I crossed ditched pillows on The Walking Dead. You know,
like it's like all these weird crafty things that I've

(12:33):
done throughout the years, like had prepared me for this moment, Right,
So you're essentially had a resume without even knowing it. Yeah, exactly.
That's one of the cool things about the film business. Um.
I mean I did go to college for six years
in Athens and had a great time, and then went
into the film business and didn't do much. But I
remember thinking at one point when I was in l A,
I was like, why didn't I graduate high school when

(12:55):
I was eighteen and move the funk to l A
and just start Because you certainly don't need a college degree.
You need a high school degree, Like you said, you
need to work hard, and my career would have been
a lot further along. But you know you can't retroactively
like redo your life for sure. Yeah. I love meeting
people who are really young and know that they want

(13:16):
to work in the film industry because it's crazy to me. Yeah,
do you in part advice? I mean sure, the big
thing is just let you know. The big that I
honestly still ten years now doing it have to learn
is you have to kind of let things organically happen,
because if you if you try to like plan out

(13:39):
your trajectory and what stuff and what is success to
you and compare yourself to other people, this industry doesn't
work out that way. No, the freelance gig is you
have to It's not for everyone, and you really gotta
like get your mind right with it. Yes, the feaster
famine thing and like just when you know you know
how it is. You think am I ever going to
work at and at some points, which is right now? Yeah, exactly,

(14:04):
you're not working right now. Uh No, it's it's two
eighteen was a crazy year. So I was trying to
make a feature film at the end of two thousand eighteen. Yeah,
let's chat about that, okay. So, uh it's called Kaylie
a j is this feature film about It's supposed to
be my first feature that I was directing. It's supposed
to be about an eight year old girls autism and

(14:24):
mom suddenly dies and she doesn't have any other family,
and she steals her mom's ashes and goes on an
odyssey with this colorful cast of characters to spread her
mom's ashes to turn her in New Mermaid sounds great.
So it's like I did with which with my friend
Chuck that I spoke of earlier, Thank God for him. Um,
and so it it. It's something that I've done very publicly,

(14:47):
like trying to make this film because I wanted to
break down some of the barriers because you know, we
all project success. We don't really project, you know, talk
about all of our films media not real well, but
I think in the film industry, it's even worse. Like
we we see how we see other people's successes, and
then we have our own struggles and how does this

(15:08):
person get to make stuff? It's like now that it
wasn't easy for them either. Yeah, and I remember too.
It's it's all different now, like they didn't have social
media really when or not really they didn't have it
when I was doing that work, and so there was
all that uncertainty, and you know how it is when
everyone's like you'd start to call people like are you working?
Like is anyone working? But now on social media it's
probably just drives people crazy when you're not working and

(15:30):
you see like great day on the set with you know,
well I am on this job well totally, and because
even man, you know we the union big studio shows
that come here are so cyclical, and how how busy
it is and how not busy it is to like
even like everyone you know, forgets that every single year

(15:52):
they forget that Decembers and January is really slow, and
so everyone's sitting around they're they're not working. They're like, oh,
but all this work is coming in January. It's like, yes,
nineteen shows are coming in January. But we have so
many union members that even though there was nineteen shows
coming there, we really need about sixty at one time
to employ every single union member in this town. So

(16:15):
it's you know, there are a lot of people that
are still unemployed. It's it's something that people have to
with the influx of work. They forget i think or
just have just joined the unions so they don't know.
They see it as like this pot of gold and
they don't realize how you have to save up money
for the winter and yeah, and then people move from

(16:36):
l A and you're like, this is my town. It is,
it's my work, but we should you know. That's it's
one of those funny things because it comes from just
anger and being unemployed, you know, and it being hard,
but which comes from stress. It does. But hopefully we
are also like getting better at our jobs thanks to
some of the people because there are there are a

(16:58):
lot of people that did learned their craft before they
were able to work on their first show because we
just have so much work here, um, and we there
a lot of people here need to get better in craft.
I'm with you. You can say that, what so where's
your movie now? Like what's the status? Uh it we

(17:18):
had a lot of failures. Um we uh A bunch
of our sets were underwater, so that was cool, like
leading up to the whole week had flash floods. Um.
Leading up to our first day of shooting. I also
had some problems with a producer that um, we're now
trying to legally untangle ourselves from um. And it's and

(17:40):
it sucks because I because I was trying to be
so transparent in our failures for so long and how
hard it was. And we have a podcast where we
talked about the whole thing, like making it yet what's
the name of that? Well, Atlanta film Chats the name
of the podcast. But then we did like a spin
off those called the Pitch where like for three years
I've talked about trying to make this movie. Um, but

(18:02):
now because of the legal stuff with the producer, that
stuff I can't talk about on the podcast. And that
drives me crazy because like I should I like legally
shouldn't talk about it until all the stuff gets figured out. Um.
And there's also a really good chance in then and
I'll have to sign a nondisclosure agreement about it anyway,
But it so it hurts my soul because like my
mission is about being transparent, like to not be able

(18:24):
to talk to everybody about what's going on. Is this
who's your lead actor? Well, who's your eight year old?
And now well we had we we had Brooklyn prints
with pushing that's not on the table anymore. So we
because well she's kind of she had a television show
that she was then going into and I don't think

(18:46):
we would still after the television show, be able to
get her for the price that we were originally going
to be able to get it. Um. But we have
a casting agent in l A that actually after we
lost Brooklyn like to us that she thought that we
shouldn't have used Brooklyn anyway. I was like, oh, thanks,
but you know it's it's she has all the star
powers an eight year old, which is hard to find.

(19:09):
The Flider Project was like the big thing. I can't
even with that movie. I avoided it for a year
and a half just because I knew, and then finally
I watched it. I don't know why, but I watched
it on a plane and I was like, Hi, I'm
thet year old sobbing mess and this big burly bear
weeping on the aisle seat. Such a great movie. Oh wow, boy,

(19:32):
that would have been a great get. Yeah. But she
but as our the casting director told us that we
need to find the girl that our movie is the
Florida Project for like, her narrative for so long was
how great she was, and now everybody knows that's not
gonna be the narrative again. So we need to have
someone where discover your own person. Yeah, so hopefully you know,
we're we'll see we need to have new dates of shooting,

(19:55):
which we're currently on. You know, I get a lot
of stuff figured out before where we try casting again.
We we did definitely entertain the idea of using a
little girl that had autism, but as people who we
already have a film where we have an eight year
old girl in every single scene of the film. So
we are shoot seven hours a day essentially. Um to

(20:18):
then introduce someone into that that has autism, we would
have to like bank ten days and are just like
a wash essentially, and we can't afford that. Yeah, that's tough. Yeah,
I bet you're a great director of the children. I try,
or a great director period, But I don't know. I
could see you like talking speaking that language. Well we
you know it's it's uh e t is like the

(20:41):
big one that you see like all the videos of
of Steven Spielberg talking to Elliott as an adult and
talking to him and like you know it. Yeah, I
mean I I really I think, you know, we can
start getting into like art, but like art as a whole,
especially when it comes to kids, and they're smarter and
they understand things and we should trust them with more

(21:03):
than we do. Yeah, Mr Rogers theory. I remember when
I had when I adopted my my daughter. John Hodgman
is a friend of mine, and he said, the only
parenting advice I will ever give you, he said, is
to buy the books of Fred Rogers. And he said
that's all you need. He's like he understood more than
anyone ever as far as you know, child psychology and

(21:25):
like really the mind of a child. Uh. And of
course that movie, Oh my god, yeah you talk about bawling. Yeah,
and what a what a shame upon the Oscars that
that is not nominated. My god, I don't get it,
the Oscars. It's just further proof of what a sham
that whole thing is. No women, no women directors. I know,

(21:46):
it's it's like, I don't know, it's like a half
a step forward, ten steps back. I feel like, Um,
did you see eighth Grade? By the way, No, I didn't,
and it played Atlanta Film Festival. I should have seen it.
It's really really pretty good. I didn't see Jonah hill Um.
He had a kind of a similar film was at
mid nineties. Yeah, yes, what was it called. I haven't
seen it either, but I heard that was really good.

(22:08):
Or maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's just sort
of a similar thing like kids. I just I love
movies about kids like that are real. You know, Um,
what were the first jobs that you like, walk me
through your career in the art department. What were your
first gigs? Well, I did a bunch of movies for free,

(22:28):
which you know is one of those things a lot
of people don't want to do, but it you know,
you just meet as many people as you can and
and I just worked with hard so I did. I
did a bunch of stuff with fakewood wallpaper, which local guys,
and yeah, I just did god three feature films in

(22:50):
a row for free, which is an insane amount of work.
And then uh Amy sponsored me into the Union and
I had my first onset dresser job and necessary roughness
and so on set dressing, it's the person who's like
in charge of the continuity like on set like as
opposed to a dressing the sets behind the scenes. And

(23:11):
that was the greatest thing that I could have ever done,
and I did it for for about three years. But
because you have permission to be on set, you also
as on set dresser, get to be by video village.
So it's like film school because they especial in television
where there's a different director every single episode. You get
to watch different directors work with the same crew, the

(23:33):
same actors. Like it's interesting figure out ways to live
within a world that like in production rules that exist,
but they find ways to make their mark and find
their voice in that. And it was like film school
is the best thing ever really interesting. So you've probably
seen like when I I don't really thought about that,
when a director comes in and established show like that.
You've probably seen that done really well and very poorly.

(23:55):
Ye both for sure. What's the best way to do it,
like just to not try and rewrite everything and I'm
not literally rewrite, but rewrite the process. Well, you know,
people deal with um with trying to be in charge
differently is like the big thing. A lot of people
come in like guns Blazing, especially um, a lot of

(24:15):
women because that's the environment that they've been in that
they feel like they have to like come in and
and force everyone to respect them, which just doesn't work. Um.
And you know, so you have to come in and
I don't know if there's like a way to massage
the like egos on set to get people to respect you,

(24:37):
because you also need to be willing to listen to
the people that are on the show constantly, which you know,
some people think that they just know everything. Yeah, that's
a life skill though, like to listen and not to
come in guns blazing. But it's funny because some people
would do storyboards, others wouldn't even. Um. This guy Tim,

(24:57):
who directed a bunch of episodes of Twin Peaks, had this.
It was just like a piece of of lined notebook
paper and it had like stick figures on it. And
that was like his version. I was like, okay, like
someone who's had the career that he's had and like this,
so what he does it makes you believe a little
bit more in your abilities. Uh, and you also worked

(25:18):
with UH with with Dana and Janet Farney on Standing
Against Evil that was just announced to be canceled officially.
All that I did all three seasons as a production designer. Yeah,
I mean they've both been on the show and of
course some buddies with both of them. I just saw
them in San Francisco at Sketch Beest UH And I
remember Dana when I mentioned you said, you know we're
all going to be working for her one day, which

(25:40):
I thought, I was like, you're probably right, and that's great.
He's a great guy. Yeah, and Janet's just the best.
He is a Standing is Evil so funny and and
just how special it was um because again talking about egos,
and Dana is really good at I think partly because
he's very excited about the way he's doing because he
a fan first and you know, a creator second. But

(26:03):
he is really good at using the people around him
and their strengths in a way that that isn't you know,
like letting people contribute to where we also all feel
a level of ownership over what we're doing, which means
that we care more and we'll give more. And he
gave me a lot of opportunities to contribute to story
that as a production designer, I you know, a lot

(26:25):
of times you're just a cog in the machine and
it eats your soul. But yeah, he gave us all
like this, this level of ownership over what we were doing.
That was really special, which is why we kept coming back.
He was pretty terrible. Yeah, you guy said a lot
for a small, smallest budget. Yeah, I mean there were
there were times that we like, whenever I got the

(26:46):
scripts for the third season, there was this Kaiju battle
essentially with an entire town made out of cardboard, And
I knew as soon as I got the scripts set
and the producer was going to try to cut it
like that was I knew the that was coming. So
me and um my art director Matt like made all
of these like drawings, We made all these plans of

(27:07):
exactly how we could do it for nothing. Yeah, I
wanted to do it? Are you kidding? Like and like,
so we had to come in with this proposal of
this is how we this Yeah, because we had we
had to figure out how to make it work so
that that's awesome. Yeah, and you did it. Yeah, we did.
And I'm sure Dana was super grateful. Oh yeah, I

(27:28):
mean yeah, it's it's really cool. In the second season,
there was even an episode that uh we so we
at the end of the season, it was supposed to
rain every single day and we had like five days
of outdoor shooting and there was this big demon battle
that was supposed to take place outside in the rain,
and Dana wanted to put it in this antique shop

(27:49):
just because the anti shop was there, which just was
a ton of work for us and also just didn't
do anything for the story. And I said, will you
give me like overnight to like come up with something different,
And the next day I showed up. I had all
these drawings and and all this about this blanket fort
demon baby place that was like a corn maze essentially

(28:11):
made out of blankets and baby toys and stuff, and
it um like added to the story. It was really cheap,
way less work actually than than like clearing this atik shop.
Um and he immediately came up with this idea for
all these cocoons and stuff, but like giving me the opportunity,
like the bandwidth to to come up with something that
made the story better and then also gave me credit,

(28:32):
like has talked about it a bunch about how it
was me that came up with it, which he doesn't
have to do, you know that. Yeah, that's great. Yeah,
that was a great episode. Yeah it was Yeah. Mr
Tinkle Slayland, that's so cool. Um. Well, before you move
on to Princess Bride, I do wanna talk to you
a little bit um about women in the film industry

(28:53):
because you um um Facebook prints with you and you uh,
you always have a lot to say, which is you're
laughing at me now I'm laughing at myself because of
how I am opinion. No, but it's it's great, Like,
I think you're a voice I have really grown to
respect um, even though it's just been through social media,
because you're out there, I feel like as a leader

(29:16):
in that area, in this community, and just like what
does that mean to you? And what what can you
say to young women getting into the field. Well, you know,
it's it's interesting. We're we aren't seeing a lot of
of shift in opportunity for women with everything that's changing,
We aren't seeing more. Yeah, but and even we see

(29:38):
these people that we get really excited. Oh Awa du
Varney is doing this lab where she's allowing women directors
to come to this lab but the women that get
picked for those are the ones that already were about
to be TV directors. It's it's not necessarily creating more
opportunity for women. But in all of this and why

(29:58):
the narrative is important all of this, the thing that's
come out of it is that women believe now that
they deserve more and that they should speak out and
ask for things. You know, you're not going to get
anything that you don't apply for it. Like like they
a man usually only has to be qualified for a
job to apply for it. A woman has to be

(30:19):
sent feel qualified in order to apply for it. Same
with like women are seventy percent more likely to have
imposter syndrome that they don't believe that they deserve something
if they get it. So it's the thing that I
think is important in all of this is that we
we believe that we deserve to be there, which is

(30:39):
just it's on all of us to continue to be
allies to each other and to tell each other that
they deserve it and they should try and go for opportunities.
And it it's you know, I've always tried to Women
have been really important to me in my life as mentors,

(31:01):
and I've always tried to have of my crews always
be women, which is hard. Even in our department. You
think that it's this creative field, but it's a lot
of construction and painting and carrying heavy things, and so
it's still a department that's predominantly males. So uh, women
just have to be given opportunities. And and I think

(31:21):
being an ally like where whether it is to our
trans people in our lives, or gay people in our
lives or you know, racial you know whatever, like people
are always going to listen to their peers more than
the person that's just speaking out angrily, because that's how
you know, people always argue of someone's speaking out that

(31:41):
they're just this this angry person. It's the people that
are that are like side by side with them and
friends with them saying hey man, that's not cool, that's
going to make the most difference all this. And and yeah,
we I think we just have to not be complacent
and and yeah, I think it's on to us for
other people to believe in themselves. What can dudes do?

(32:02):
Just like, just like in a situation, just be sure
at one if you're if you're hiring that you interview
at least you know some women. Uh you don't necessary
you know, women should always be the best person for
the job if you hire them. So I'm not saying
to hire more women just because they're women. Yeah, so
go ahead and shut the funk up if that was

(32:23):
your reply, right, yeah, exactly, but but you know it.
But but but give them the opportunity to interview for
the jobs, you know. And like I said, like when
someone makes a crappy comment or a racial slur or
a gay joke or something, just like be the person's like, dude,
yeah nope, not cool. Yeah, I will make a ton

(32:45):
of difference. Yeah, little changes like that. Everybody doing their
small part. I was on a set in which a
first a d continually would like shish me and talk
over me and all this, and um, we were trying
to work out a problem, and I was asking a
bunch of questions because I was trying to look out
for the homeowner who's the home that we were going into.

(33:06):
And the first AD basically like put his hand in
my face and turned to the key grip uh and
Chris bird Song God bless him the key grip and
said why don't you take care of this for her?
And he said, no, man, I think Molly has it.
And that was the like the fact that he told him,
like no, Yeah, that was when he finally gave me

(33:27):
a little bit of space. Yeah. It took someone else,
like a dude that he respected to give me the space,
which is sucked up but great that. Yeah. I'm pals
with these comedians Cameron Esposito and Ria Butcher, and they
did a show you probably know all this where they
I don't know if it was in their contract or
if they just demanded that a certain percentage of the

(33:50):
crew was female and or l g B t Q.
And that was one of the things that were like
most proud of in doing their show, which was great.
And I think if you're in a position of power
like that and you can mandate stuff like that, because
it's like you said, it's not like they were like, well,
we'll have a c rate crew that's just full of
women that we had to hire, like they were. I'm

(34:11):
sure it was great, you know, and the people that
are qualified to do those jobs are out there, and
just think of of how inspiring it is to the
people the next generation of people coming up to see
people that look like them are like them in those positions. Yeah.
I mean it's it's gonna make real change. It's just
not going to make it quickly. Right. It is like

(34:31):
Obamba used to say, it's like steering that cruise liner
and inch in one direction and in fifteen years it
will be in a much different place. Uh. Well, that's great.
You're a shere, delight. The movie crushers are. We're preaching
to the choir here. They're a fantastic collection of human beings. Um.
But you know, it never hurts to say this stuff.

(34:52):
It's not like we're changing minds out there with this,
with this listening audience. All right, Princess Bride, Yeah, let's
get into this, delight. Uh what was your Well? First
of all, I usually set it up. N everyone knows
this movie. I don't know why I'm bothering, but directed

(35:16):
and co produced by Rob reiner Um, starring carry O Wise,
Robin Wright, Mandy Patankin, Chris Randon, Whilashan and just I'm
laughing reading these names. Andre the Giant Christopher Guests, who
I can't even look at about laughing, And he's so
serious in this movie. And I still get not laugh. Uh.
From the William Goldman novel he I guess adapted his

(35:38):
own book and it's just one of the all time classics.
Now it is When did you first see it? I honestly,
I'm not totally sure. I wouldn't have seen in the theaters,
which it didn't do well in the theaters. It wasn't
until VHS. I had a VHS tape that where it
had been recorded off of television that I would actually

(35:59):
keep with me all at because again we didn't watch
television in my house, and I would go over to
my friend and I would bring my tape and we
will watch it. I mean, I have to have seen
the film like three times. It's I don't it's so
funny too, because like Buttercup is a terrible female character,
so like watching it now is really funny. Um, but

(36:21):
still like it doesn't it doesn't seem to bother me.
But it well, I mean it it's that fairytale trap,
you know, where the damsel in distress can only be
rescued by the man it was, and it was sort
of stuck to that fairytale thing. So but it is
interesting that you're so like, you know, I know, but
I still love it so much. You know, that's right.

(36:43):
It's a small conflict. And Robin Wright is is good
in this. She is she was just a kid. She
was just a baby nineteen years old, I think when
she when they shot it. But she and carry Outwise
are just so beautiful, both of them. And it's so
funny even like later listening to her talk about it,
because she talks about just how cute he was and
how like pitter Powder her heart was right. Well, I

(37:05):
mean he was not known at the time, and um,
they of course cast him because uh I bought the
movie on iTunes or whatever, which they that comes with
some behind the scenes stuff, which is cool. And rob
Ryaner was talking about the obvious Douglas Fairbanks junior Errol
Errol Flynn sort of look that he had, which was
perfect for this. But here's the thing, like I never

(37:28):
have thought Carrie L. Wise was a great actor, but
he's so good in this. Yes, but it's it's all
larger than life, like all of their parts. I mean,
but you can't like the sword fight. I mean, they
the amount, the amount like they did that sword fight.
The only stunt person that was in it was the
little flip that he does. Funny, funny bit. I laugh

(37:51):
every time I see that because they like basically stopped
to do these two like you know, high bar flips
and let each other do it. And that scene is
just like it's it's one of the best swordfights in
movie history. It is, and it's so funny. As a
production designer now, like you you study the sets and
and like the matt paintings behind them and which adds

(38:13):
to the magic of it. But as a kid, I
you know, I didn't realize that like what it was
as far as sets, but like now it's still like adds.
I realized how much that was a part of how
the like the fantasy. Like if they had gone to
a mountain and done't, it wouldn't have felt as magical. Yeah,
which is interesting. And I made a note here like,

(38:35):
uh they did go on location and uh in the UK,
and like this movie is part beautiful real expanses of
like the countryside and then these so obvious stage sets
that just add to the fairytale quality. It doesn't take
away like it looks corny, but in all the perfect ways.

(38:55):
I mean, if you look, you can even see like
the lie like when they're the bottom of the cliff insanity.
You can see the line where the water is like
hitting the set. It's so great, and it's clearly a
tank that's like just out of the edges of the frame.
You can tell they're like people standing there, you can
sense them. But I love that, especially if you've been
on movie sets and stuff. It's kind of an endearing thing,

(39:16):
I think. Uh. And they to confirm, like Rob Reiner said,
they definitely like every single part of that sword fight.
They spent just weeks and weeks training and it was
so important to those two guys to to really learn it,
you know, like you could tell Mandy Batankans to still
talk so passionately about learning to fence for this movie.

(39:39):
And it's one of the great great sword fights, really good. So, Uh,
First of all, Fred Savage is just adorable. He still is,
but like the cutest kid ever. Uh. And it hit
me last night with Peter Falk, like just what a
time to be making movies when these legends were still
like working like the some of the original uh silver

(40:02):
screen from the Golden Age Legends where you could cast
it just seems crazy to think about, like, let's get
beater Falk why not, you know, as Grandpa, And I
think they even had to age them up a little
bit from the looks of it. Um. But the ensemble
is just it's almost like a side show or something

(40:22):
when you look at everyone, and not just because Andre
the Giant. It's just such a weird collection of fringe actors. Yeah,
I mean if you, yeah, you look at specifically an Ego, Montoya, Uh,
Physic and Visiri, Like the three of them together is
absolutely ridiculous. And just they have these incredible backstories like

(40:44):
of where they came from and yeah from the book
or yeah, well yeah and that, and they did kind
of expand it a little bit, change it a little
bit for the uh, because the book was weirdly dark.
Did you read that? I did like the book is.
It's kind of crazy. It's one of the few that
I would say that the movie is actually better than

(41:05):
the book. The big difference like that stands out between
the book and the and the movie is so whenever
they go to the Pits of Despair, it was in
the in the book, it was the Zoo of Death
and it had five levels, and so he was on
the bottom level and it had all these different uh

(41:27):
animals in the on the different levels where because humpered
Ink was a hunter and so he would uh so
he would keep all of these animals like predators that
he could go and hunt, Like there was one level
that had a cloud of bats and another level that
has a bunch of snakes. And but whenever uh Anigo

(41:49):
and Physic are going down to get him, it takes them.
It might have even been weeks, but I know it
takes some days to get to him because they have
to go through basically all these like beat all these
puzzles and stuff to get down and fight, fight all
these different animals and kill them to get down. You
can't burn up that much screen time now and posts
the Pits of Despair. It's all the names in here,

(42:12):
so it's like a kid wrote it, you know, which
is kind of one of the delightful things about it.
I think, um God, Chris Randon is so good. And
again he wasn't some big movie star. Like the casting
in this film was just so genius. You know, people
like Wallace Shawan this movie, like he kind of makes
this movie in some ways, even though he had a

(42:33):
I mean not small part, but he famously leaves about
midway through, right, and it's it's even the there was
a with the makeup and the costumes. There was even
like a plastic nous, especially to Chris Randon's skin was
very weird in that movie, like how like I don't know,

(42:53):
he just doesn't look like a real person, which also
makes him a better villain because you just don't think
of him as a real person, like kee's a caricature. Yeah.
He and Christopher Guests were so great. Uh And Christopher
Guest plays it so straight, which he's apparently like in
real life. I've heard he's a very serious guy. Just
funny as a filmmaker, I know, Um, but I mean

(43:15):
he if you read interviews with him about all his movies,
he's all about playing it straight. You know, every single
thing he's done. He's he's always just like no, no, no,
Like that's the comedy in it is that these dog
show people are real and they're not We're not going
to make fun of them, even though it sort of
feels like that that's not what he's doing. Um, but yeah,

(43:37):
Chris ran in so great. I do want to talk
about the that great camera gag when you first meet uh,
Andre the Giant, Pentanken and Wallace Shawn because I love
a good like camera laugh and that first shot of them.
Every time I've seen that, I laugh out loud, like
genuinely from my gut. And it happened again last night.

(44:00):
It's such a funny shot of the three of them
because of their sizes. Uh, Andre the Giant is just
such a presence, he is. Have you seen that documentary? Yes,
so sad it is? Yeah, you really so we uh
here when Jason Reitman, Rob Jason Reiner, Jason Rob Reriner's son. Okay,

(44:23):
I don't know any way, he directed front Runner, he
was directing here in Atlanta, and so he actually did
a reading of uh of the Princess Bride screenplay and yeah,
but he did it here with his Castmin Firmer. So
it's like Hugh Jackman and Vera from there and like

(44:51):
all and uh, it was crazy the very first time
that like peas it comes out. Even on that everyone
like it got really emotion. You went, yes, oh wow,
where was it Plaza? No, it was at some place downtown.
It was a very fancy place. Weirdly enough, was this

(45:12):
Jason Reitman. Okay, so he did this at LACMA in
two thousand eleven. And um, he he does these a lot,
like the stage readings with different people. And he had
for this when he had Paul Rudd as Wesley Mindy
Kaling his Buttercup, which didn't he have like Donald Glover

(45:32):
was he did not have Donald Glover in this. When
he had Patton Oswalt ash was it Visiny Oh that
was yeah, that's uh Walashan right, yeah, Kevin Pollock his
Miracle Max. And then he had carry l Wise as Humperdink,
which I think was a nice little yeah, a nice
little turn. He actually had him there. And then he

(45:53):
had Rob Reiner do the grandfather role, and Fred Savage
actually came and reprised his role as the little kid.
But he does these readings a lot for movies. And
I've always just been like, man, how do you how
do I get into that? Well? When they when they
did it here, it was for money for Puerto Rico.
All the money went to charity. How great was it was? It?
I mean it was amazing and it was crazy because

(46:15):
we freaked out about it and we got we got
like six tickets to it. And then Hugh Jackman like
there there weren't very many tickets being sold, and then
Hugh Jackman like tweeted that he was going to be there,
and then he was Wesley. Oh okay, and who did
the Andrea Giant role? I don't remember, but that was
a sad moment. It was like, yes, just because everyone

(46:36):
was had all the fields about the like how how
do you not? Yeah? Yeah, he was. I mean, I
highly recommend that documentary to anyone who hasn't seen it.
He was Bill Accounts, a very good guy and the
gentle giant that he was known to be. And even
in that behind the scenes thing I was watching last night,
he was talking about how the world doesn't accommodate big either.

(46:58):
He's like big and small, and he was like, we're
both sort of in the same boat. Weirdly, in the
behind the scenes did Rob talk about how he had
to like because they couldn't understand what how he was
delivering the lines. Rob actually recorded all of the dialogue
onto tape and and Andrea would listen to it, and
basically so he was kind of just performing phonetically what

(47:22):
Rob had recorded, like how to deliver the line. Interesting,
he talked about what good instincts he had though just
um as a performer in wrestling, and he just said
he was so honest because he was untrained, you know,
quote unquote untrained as an actor. That he just said
all his instincts were just so pure every time. I know,

(47:44):
it's just want to cry. It's funny for such a
physical movie. How many people were injured on that because
it's back was messed up, so they had to like
kind of fake all of the stuff. Where was he
on his back? And then Wesley broke his toe during yeah,
and so like whenever he rolls down the hill and

(48:06):
they're they're having the whole like as you wish, but
at the bottom of the hill, whenever they have their
their conversation about uh, like, he like sits down on
a log and it stands back up and you can
see him like he has his leg out and he's
like lifting himself up with his arms because he was
like favoring because he had just broken his toe and

(48:28):
he tried to hide it, but he didn't break it
during the screening. He broke it. Uh Uh. Andre had
this little cart that because he couldn't even fit in
the van for everyone to go from setback, so they
had like basically like a golf cart that was just
for Andre and uh, I guess uh, Carrie was driving

(48:52):
it with him and they I don't know if they
wrecked it or something, but he broke yeah, but he
broke his toe. Um that scene since you brought it
up the roll down the hill, Like, there's so many
great dumb gags, and I say that like, I think
dumb jokes are the best thing in the world. And
that just kills me every time. When she just shoves him,

(49:13):
it's just such a like, Uh, I mean, who thinks
of something like that? I guess it's Rob Reiner. And
then she just like throws pitches herself herself. They are
very easier ways to do this. It was so great.
And then all the you know, the clearly like uh
post recorded a d R of them just going oh
and it sounds so funny. It's just so great. They

(49:34):
just needed a Wilhelm scream, right, That's all I needed.
I'm surprised they didn't do that actually, uh, and that
that physical comedy guy got me. And then the last
whatever twenty minutes of that movie with Carrie l Wise
completely limp. It's just they just milked so much comedy
out of that silly gag. But man, the best part though,

(49:57):
is my name is Anigo Montoya killed my father prepared
to die? That is I mean, yeah, it's one of
the classic lines. Uh. He said that, and this ends
up with so many quotable lines. Um. But Mandy Bittankin
was talking about how just that has followed him his
whole career, and he, uh, he didn't get at the time.
He just kept looking at the script, going, I really

(50:19):
say that a lot, but you don't know it's going
to be an iconic film or line. Well, yeah, but
some of the stuff that we even quote the most
is even just what are yours? Well, even you know
there'd be rocks ahead. If there are, we'll all be
dead stop rhyming. I mean, anybody want to peanut? And
then obviously the inconceivable. You can see that word. I

(50:39):
do not think it means. What do you think it means? Yeah,
he says that people still to this day, if he's
out in public and like drops his keys, someone will
and picks him up, someone will go inconceivable. So great. Uh, Emily,
my wife hers is always if we're if something happens
where just one of those couple of things. That's just
super embarrassing that on your partner sees she'll just go

(51:01):
a mawage that blessed a Wayne, Like, what's up with that? Again?
These weird, weird choices, I know, Yeah, totally weird choice,
Like where did that come from? I wonder surely that
wasn't in the script? No, where Peter Cook just came
up with it, right, Yeah? No, because yeah, totally wouldn't

(51:21):
have fit into the book, that's for sure. But it
just makes that scene. You know, they could have played
it straight, I guess, But why would you have Peter
Cook in your movie and not have him to a
funny accent? Oh that's another big difference between the book
and the movie was whenever they are at Miracle Max
and he's going to make that big, that obnoxiously large

(51:43):
magic pillars, they have to go on a quest to
find the ingredients in the book, so yeah, there's a
lot of time passes in the book that. Yeah. I
have a love hate relationship with Billy Crystal um because
my brother worked with him and he was like, not
the nicest guy in the world. So I've always let
that kind of color in my opinion. Um, But I

(52:05):
love when Harry met Sally a lot, and I think
that's like one of the legit great romantic comedies of
all time. And he's just so funny in this, he
and Carol Kane, it's just great. And practically all of
that was ad lib. Yeah, they just let him go Hugh. Yeah,
he never did the same line twice ever. Yeah, like
the Mutton, it was totally him m lt Uh. They

(52:30):
were the behind the scenes again. They were talking about
during those scenes that Rob Bryaner would just have to
just consistently leave the set because he couldn't keep himself
from laughing and ruining. Takes so wonderful. Uh. Some of
my favorite lines too. And there are a lot of
good band names. Always joke about on stuff you should
know about band names. Um Rodents of unusual size band name,

(52:53):
I don't believe they exist unemployed in Greenland. I think
would be a great band name. And green See that's
why I know that that he has like a weird
He was really self conscious about the fact that they
wanted Danny DeVito in that role that Yeah, and so
it's something that he took through the whole film. Yeah,

(53:13):
he took through the whole film that he was self
conscious the entire time because he knew that they didn't
want him. Huh um, but who could have Like, it's classic,
he's perfect. Yeah, yeah, I mean is that I mean
the scene, you know, the very very famous now scene
of the wine and the poison. Uh, I can't imagine.

(53:37):
I mean, I love Danny DeVito dearly, but it's that
is Wallace Shawn. No one else could have done that.
It wouldn't have been the same, that's for sure. Yeah,
that's such a great scene. I would love to I've
never liked printed out that section of dialogue and read
it out loud. I bet it's I bet it's pretty
great just to read. Uh, and to all that too. Yeah,

(54:03):
Garyo was is great and that scene too. I think
he's kind of the unsung hero of this movie in
some ways, even with a stupid mustache. Yeah, that thing was.
Emily was remarking about that last night. But I think
part of the part of the thing with the sets
that we were talking about looking kind of phony at
times that has weirdly allowed it to not age. I

(54:25):
think there's something about it looking fake and make believe
that makes it timeless in some ways. Yeah, well, whenever
he jumps headfirst into the lightning sand. Even as a
production designer, I still don't understand why this sand doesn't
fall when they opened the gate for him to fight, Like,
I still don't understand how they did that. Yeah, and

(54:47):
he wasn't originally supposed to uh, Like he was supposed
to just jump in feet first, but they said it
wasn't heroic, and so he jumped in. He wanted to
jump in head first, so they had a stunt guy
come in and try it, and then he was fine
and said, then Carrie did it, and he they the
first take and that was the one that looked great. Yeah,
but I don't understand because if if you have a

(55:10):
trap door and you have like the mattresses and foam
and stuff on the bottom, the pads on the bottom,
I don't understand why the sand didn't falter when they
opened the trap door. It drives me crazy. So they
they stumped you as a production designer, like how they
do that? Who do you know who was the production designer?
Doesn't that might be the kind of thing where you
could find out Molly get in touch. Yeah. Uh, here's

(55:34):
another one of my favorite lines that I think doesn't
get enough attention. Is Chris Randon's please consider me as
an alternative to suicide? It's just such a funny line. Uh.
And then uh, when he's being tortured on the machine.
What's the machine called? Do you remember? It's just called
the machine? Oh? Is it really? When he cranks it

(55:56):
all the way up in just the whole valley, like
here's that whale, Montoya says that it's a sound of
ultimate suffering. I also love whenever he whenever Wesley knocks
physic out, he says, dream of large women. Oh what
was that all about? Such a random line, so great,

(56:17):
And you know everyone in that behind the scenes was
just all these years later just talked about what they
knew at the time. They didn't it was going to
be a cult classic, but just what a special experience
and how much fun they had and what a gentle
collaborative hand Rob Rhiner was as the guide, which is
really cool to know. Yeah it is, and yeah, there's

(56:42):
it's magic and that's why we want to make movies.
There is a magic to it. But could you I mean,
if this movie had come out now, we would we
wouldn't have any patience for the kind of low fineness.
It wouldn't be any parts of it. Yeah, it would
be all cg out. This is one of those that
I would literally right a strongly lettered worded letter if

(57:04):
they ever talked about remaking. Oh no, they can't. They can't.
But I've said that before, you know, and I it's funny.
In the past couple of years, I've tried to come
back around to remix because I used to be such
a snob about the idea of them, and I'm like, Okay,
you know, the old movies don't negate like the new movies,

(57:25):
don't negate the fact that your movie exists, and there
are new generations and movies mean thanks to different people.
And the thing that really actually got me was the
Female Ghostbusters movie. That movie, I know, like the Ghostbusters
fans like hated it and got really upset by it.
But I mean, you can watch videos online of these

(57:47):
little girls in their little with their little proton packs
like getting you know, their signatures and and whenever you
get to the final battle with Holtzmann. I'm just like
bawling crying when I saw it in theaters, and it
just stuff like that. It's important, it's bigger than movies. Yeah,
so so I I try to have an open mind

(58:09):
about remakes and reboots, and right, I think it's great
though when they will remake something with a different racist
lead role or gender and it gets so much ship
online though it's but I mean that if you're sitting
around reading ain't it cool message boards or Reddit message

(58:32):
boards on this stuff, that like, there's so many more
valuable things to do there are, and we we should
be able to enjoy things for the sake of enjoying things. Yeah.
I like that Ghostbusters movie. I thought it was good. Yeah,
it I it has Yeah, it was really important to me.
And Paul fig actually mailed me a poster because I
have a T shirt that says female Ghostbusters are the

(58:53):
best Ghostbusters and um. Rob Cohen was a director on
on Season three Is As Evil, and I wore it
one day because we had gotten into an argument about
Ghostbusters and he took a picture on my shirt and
he sent it to Paul because they're friends, and so
then Paul mailed me a poster with like this inscription

(59:13):
is basically like thank you. I'm so glad that our
movie meant something to you. We appreciate it. I know
that's really great. It did mean something to me, though
I have I have a Holtzman uh necklace, the screw
you necklace. I wear it all the time. Yeah. Uh well,
here's my dirty secret. And this will upset a lot
of people that are listening. I don't think the original

(59:36):
Ghostbusters is some untouchable titan of comedy. I loved it.
Uh well, I'm i gonna say that I liked it
and I still like it, but I don't think it's
like the funniest movie ever made. I think some of
the Bill Murray stuff's funny, and I enjoyed it when
I was a kid, But I don't hold it up
as this like Sacra sank untouchable thing. I think it

(01:00:01):
it's just really it is because but I think it's
just really special to some people because there was again,
you know, seeing different kind of characters as the heroes
at the time. Um so, yeah, it was special to
a lot of people. We'll see what the now they've
announced that the new movies being the third film is
being made. Yes, oh, the third regular cast Yep, they

(01:00:23):
finally have they're finally making it. Supposedly. I don't but
it's it's Yeah, it's supposed to be a lot of
the original. Are they going to merge with the No,
they're going to pretend like the girls didn't happen. Uh,
what's his name? Was so good in the reboot? Oh?

(01:00:44):
Christ and so he was great. Uh let me see
what else do I have on here? Oh you're perfect ears.
I thought that was one of the funny lines that
goes a little unsung and wallowing in freakish misery. It
just it seems like such a fun script to sit
down and write, because you could do whatever, like nothing
was off base. You'd be as silly as you wanted

(01:01:06):
to be, as William Goldman weirdly, but yeah, the drama
in delivering those lines, Yeah, it was just crazy how
good it was. Yeah, and the ending is just so sweet.
Uh that that last bit, you know, with the thread
running through out the story of because you kind of
forget at times that Grandpa's reading too uh cute little

(01:01:28):
uh Fred Savage. Yeah, when he says that great line.
Since the invention of Kisses, it's just so romantic. Even
if you're like cold and dead inside, it's hard not
to kind of believe in that a little bit. Supposedly
there is like an alternate ending that was shot where
Fred Savage goes to look out the window and uh,
they're on the horses and he like waves at them,

(01:01:51):
but will never see it, because that would have been cool. Yeah,
it would have. But I kind of do like the
idea of it. It like being like that it exists
as his tale in this book that then they that
the grandson and the grandfather then tomorrow when they read
the book again, get to go on the adventure again,

(01:02:13):
so you keep it contained to the get that just so.
I mean, it was so funny and romantic and sweet,
but it was just also a they managed to honor
fairy tales while poking fun at fairy tales. It was
an interesting little magic trick they did there. Yeah, it's yeah,

(01:02:36):
nothing in it is like anything else, which is like
the weird part about it, the characters and their relationships
to each other and and how strange they all were.
There's just nothing else like it. Yeah, and it's it's
a movie too where it's it is timeless and will
never go away. Because just last night I was like,
all right, Ruby's three and a half. I was like,

(01:02:57):
when can she see this? And pretty soon Yeah, in
the next couple of years. I think maybe just you
could just skip the machine part if you really, and
maybe the rats would scare her a little bit. Um.
But other than that, it's like that she will grow
up with it and then if she has kids, will
show it to her kids and it's just one of

(01:03:17):
those movies you know is going to live forever. Kind like, yes,
Goodey's Never died, didn't even mean that play on words. Um,
I can't wait for someone to picks and I try
to get Sean Aston in here when he was in town.
Emily still has a crush on him. Yeah, well yeah,
and he's one of those people that, um, from what

(01:03:39):
I hair, is just so nice that like it's you know,
it's hard meeting like working in the film industry. Sometimes
it's hard beating people that. Yeah, it's a risk you're
a fan of I know, I don't ever meet your heroes.
When it works out though, it's pretty great it is,
but when it doesn't, it's crushing. Do you have you
been crushed? I have a couple of times. Uh, do

(01:04:02):
you want to talk about it? No? Probably not, but yeah,
no I have a couple of times, and it more
it's less obviously you always have the people that just
treat everyone really poorly, which that almost doesn't quite bother
me because, uh, I don't know. I feel like when

(01:04:24):
you grow up in in this entertainment industry where you
have these people that are constantly tending to your needs,
it just you exist in this bubble. It's not healthy.
Like you look at people like the Vampire Diaries and
stuff like that, where these people from like sixteen to
or on the TV show, like these are years that
are integral to who you are as a human being.

(01:04:47):
To then have just people waiting on you hand and foot.
And I'm not saying that they're like terrible people, I
just worry for who they become, you know, because because
of like existing in this microcosm. Yeah. Um, so, like
just kind of being crappy isn't that bad. It's when
you then find out that they're like misogynistic or homophobic,

(01:05:12):
or then they make really off color jokes and stuff
and comments, and then you're like, yeah, because we exist
in a liberal um in a liberal industry. Yeah. And
so it also just bothers me that people let them
think that that was okay to do like that and
act like that long enough to where they just are
comfortable like that. Yeah, someone pointed out to me the

(01:05:34):
other day, like people talk about the liberal Californians coming
to town, you know, when we talk about this religious
liberty bill here in Georgia and what's happening. And someone
pointed out, and I've never really thought about it, it's like,
I think that part of the reason that the film
industry is so liberal, quote unquote is because we are
based in unions, and in unions your rates are set

(01:05:58):
by like by the un and like how much we're
getting paid. So no matter if you're a guy or
a girl, or um or gay or or black or whatever,
we all get paid the same thing. So it's almost
like we have this base set up for like everyone
to be treated equally, and like that's like sets this

(01:06:19):
weird like tone for everything else of like why we're
so liberal in our points of views socialist I know, Yeah, definitely.
Well it's funny. I was just thinking though about that,
the treatment of actors and stuff. You know, I was
a p A for many, many years and worked in
art department some and then had the smallest little taste
when stuff you should know was on TV for a

(01:06:41):
year and um, on set. I always had the urge to,
like when I heard the walkie go off to like like,
so my needs to get the trash and I would
go to the trash game and it would be like
that p A like DNA was still in me. But
I even and this was among friends with Raymond and
Craig and Karen and everyone, like you get treated different

(01:07:01):
and like I didn't like it, and I saw how
it could be just abused. And this was on this
tiny little Science Channel show. And I can't imagine being
some big star where just you can get anything you
want at any time and hold up the production if
you don't want to be on set like which those
are the big ones. And there's a little bit of

(01:07:22):
a need to keep the talent separate from the crew,
just because the talent has got to perform and they've
got to be able to perform the same over and
over again and get and and get into their performance
immediately upon getting the set, and things can become disruptive
to that if you're interacting with the crew and whatnot.

(01:07:43):
So it somewhat makes sense in that regard of like
keeping them separate um And I've definitely I've worked on
a couple of like hundred million dollar films, and there
there are some funky things that started happening between like
some of the like one of the actress is found
out that actor had better like his place was better
than hers, and so then she wanted her place to

(01:08:05):
be moved. And then they she found this the guy
found out that she had like different snacks in her
I mean, it was like this just going back and
forth and back and forth. It was just crazy. But
like that wasn't about her being a girl or him
being a guy. It was the agent had negotiated differently,
Like that's the agent, not them. Yeah. And I've also
seen on set where um, when we had someone really

(01:08:28):
high profile coming in for like a one day thing,
and everyone is scared and you have all these things
like oh, they've got to have, you know, wash their
hair with evy on, and you gotta have all this,
and you gotta have all this, and then they show
up and they're fine, and it is the agents and
managers that are really overdoing it. And they show up
and there cool, and they're like, oh no, it's an

(01:08:48):
a big deal. You can just wash my hair with
regular jap water. I was told one time not to
look Terrence Howard and the eyes. And then later he
was he was we were talking and like I told
him that they had said that, and he's like, what
what is that? I always used to hear that about
Prince when he was in the room, no one could
look at him, And I bet you that wasn't true.

(01:09:08):
As a little bit of the writers, I think, well
from the rock Star point of view, was that if
they couldn't meet those those like uh, if they couldn't
meet the things that they wanted, then they didn't want
them to do the show, because I mean that they
what they want a good venue. That's like the Van
Halen eminem thing. I don't know if that translates it

(01:09:31):
all to the film industry may probably a little bit.
I mean, you do have a lot of trust, you
know when you sign on to do a show, as
you know, you walk onto the set with these strangers
as to what you're getting yourself into, and you hope
your safety isn't be taken seriously first most, and then
also you hope that it's a professionally run good film
because like you know, you talk about Midnight Rider and

(01:09:53):
you know, we have like friends that were on that
and it was a terrible, terrible situation, like across the
board and a lot of people that that were um uh,
there were very much in the wrong in that situation.
But and everyone now has an opinion about about it that, oh,

(01:10:15):
well I wouldn't have let them do that, and I
wouldn't have agreed to this and that, And it's easy
to say that, but you as a crew member, you
have a lot of trust that everyone around you has
done their job and has taken care of you. And
we don't ever know what we would have done in
a situation, yeah, because everyone has been on the jobs

(01:10:35):
where they can look back and say, man, that was
so dangerous. Yeah, I've done some stupid stuff just because
we didn't have any time. All about time And for
those of you listening that don't know what we're talking about,
Midnight Rider was the Greg Allmand biopic that shot here
in Georgia that very sadly a camera assistant was killed
by a train. And I know it made national news,

(01:10:56):
but if that's what we were talking about, so sad
and I know a lot of pods it. A change
came out of that, but like it shouldn't take a
young woman losing your life, you know, just so sad.
You got anything else on Princess Pride. I don't think so.

(01:11:16):
It's just a magical film. Yeah. I was trying to
figure out if I've definitely seen it more times in
Star Wars, which is kind of really Yeah, you can
actually count. Wow. All right, Well we finished Molly with
five questions. Um, what's the first movie you remember seeing
in the theater? I guess you were years old. Yeah,

(01:11:36):
it wouldn't have been until much, much much later. Um,
oh gosh, I would say, yeah, oh my god, it
might even be as late as like Nightmare before Christmas.
I know, that's how late it was. I just didn't
see things in the theater. It wasn't an option, right,

(01:11:59):
first are rated movie? Oh that I ever saw? This
sounds this is gonna be really bad. Um, But it
was this terrible horror film called Dr Giggles. Was the
first horror movie that I ever saw. I don't think
I've even heard of. Oh no, it's terrible. It's absolutely
terrible horror film. But because of my first horror film,
absolutely terrified me. Yeah, and which is funny because now
I live and breathe horror. Right, that just goes to

(01:12:21):
Challie's parents. I want to like keep their kids in
a protective bubble, like they're gonna like what they like.
I need to tell you so many great horror movies now,
it's such a great time. There is horror more than
anything is taking chances and telling stories. Yeah. Absolutely. I
saw the trailer the other day for the the new
uh Us Jordan Pills new movie. My god, and I

(01:12:45):
can like handle horror, but that looks fucking terrifying. Also,
how is it that we don't we know so little
about that film? You know what I mean? Like in
this day and age, so cool? What a great idea? Uh,
will you walk out of a bad movie? I have?
When I was younger, I wouldn't. Now I don't think.
I think that it is very hard to make movies,

(01:13:08):
and I think everyone deserves a participation trophy just for
completing a film like I. So I wouldn't now. I
I did when I was younger, But um, noah, no way,
you've been in the trenches now I have. It's hard
to make movies, and yeah, it's there's there's so many
circumstances that are out of our control. Like you really

(01:13:28):
have to get lucky to complete a film. Yeah, like
you're almost surprised when movies do get completed you've ever
worked on Yeah, and not even on an indie scale,
even you know how the big movies, like how many
times say, uh, they just money falls through. Things happen,
you know, we are very often we'll work on film set,

(01:13:50):
they've set up the production office, we're three weeks into production,
and then they pre production and then they've lost the
main actor, and then the film is folded, right, and
you never hear about it. Number four tailored to the guests.
So I'm gonna ask you, mm hmm, all, how about this?
What's your Do you have a favorite art direction in

(01:14:13):
the film? Yes, definitely, Uh, well let me even say that, Well,
let me say for television, because television in particular recently
with Legion, the TV show, Our Maniac the TV show,
there's there's this crazy mid century modern thing happening with

(01:14:33):
these really over the top creative You should definitely watch Legion.
Legion is insane. Yes, yes, um was so weird and yes,
but like that, there's there's so much that's happening in television. Ah.
The marvelous Mrs Maisel has some of the best art directs.
Every scene, what a beautiful show. Uh. But as far

(01:14:56):
as movies, I'm my it is not crazy, but might
actually say Gone with the Wind is my favorite art direction.
But again it says Matt paintings of the backgrounds and
and it's just I get like this larger than life
kind of thing. I've seen Gone with the Wind quite
a few times too. Yeah, I mean it's a it's
a throwback. And uh, you know Karen Freed, right, Karen

(01:15:19):
came in and talked about Rebecca, the Alfred Hitchcock film,
And it's so fun to go back and look at
these movies where all the old tricks are on display,
you know, Matt paintings and and just real cameras moving
through space. And uh, it's pretty great back when people
did stunts like unsafely right, it's crazy. And then finally

(01:15:41):
movie going one on one? What's your deal at the
movie theater? Where do you sit? Do youthing to eat
or drink? I always have, um, cherry coke and then
a small popcorn, but always have no candy really anymore
because I'm chubby. Um, it's just away alife. Uh and
um I always sit in the so they have the

(01:16:03):
front The friend is always there's always like the line
for the front section in the back section, and I'm
always right behind the second row of the back section,
so it's kind of in the middle. Um, but it's
it's I guess, right in front of the middle. We're
always set. But it's because I don't want too much
stuff happening in front of me. Um. That then it's

(01:16:26):
like a distraction from watching the film. If people are
talking to their movie, they've better to be sitting behind me, right,
because you can't shoot daggers behind you, right, you know, well,
you can kind of tune them out. It's like out
of sight of your mind. But yeah, if it's happening
in front of me, I have been known to, yeah, well,
to get in good conversations with people in the theater.

(01:16:47):
Actually had a boyfriend break up with me because I
got into an argument with a lady in a movie
theater and he said that I embarrassed them. We'll hit
the road. But right, yeah, yeah, if that's what you're
worried about, is someone who like drinks a lot whiskey
and has has you know, yeah, best you'd get out now,

(01:17:10):
all right, Thanks Molly. This is great. No, thank you
for having me all right, everyone, I hope you enjoyed that. Um,
I should mention that very sweetly. Afterwards, Molly gave me
a gift everyone. She's the first guest that actually brought

(01:17:30):
me a little thank you gift and it was a
collection of like buttons and stickers and a very lovely
card that she wrote. Uh. And it was just really
speaks to what kind of personally is. She's wonderful and
great things will just continue to happen in her career. UM.
I'm sure at some point someday you will see a
Molly Coffee production on a big screen near you. I

(01:17:52):
have no doubt that will happen. So I hope you
enjoyed our chat about the Princess Bride, a great, great movie.
It was a lot of fun talking to her about it.
And that's about it. So and until next time, maybe
you should just unsubscribe and stop listening to Movie Crush,
but that's inconceivable. Movie Crush is produced, engineered, edited, and

(01:18:22):
soundtracked by Noel Brown and Ramsey Hunt at how Stuff
Work Studios, pont City Market, Atlanta, Georgia.