Sam Raimi - The Gift

This week, Jeff and Garret dive into Sam Raimi’s 2000 Southern gothic thriller The Gift. They comment on the deplorable depths of Keanu Reeve's abusive character, the film’s eerie atmosphere, Cate Blanchett’s gripping performance as a small-town psychic, and how Raimi blends supernatural tension with real-world drama. From its chilling mystery to its star-studded cast, this episode uncovers why The Gift still leaves us feeling haunted.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Hello, and welcome back. I'm Jeff Johnson.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
And I'm Gary Gibson, and this is.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
A film by podcast where we're going to talk about
a film by Sam raimie his underrated supernatural thriller from
the year two thousand, The Gift, and Garrett, I'm coming
right out swinging. I love this movie. It's one of
my favorite Sam Raimi films. I don't know how you

(00:52):
feel about it, but I'm excited to talk about this one.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
I'm terribly excited to talk about it as well. Got
a lot of powerhouse performance in this one. Is one
of my actually favorite Gary Cole films because of his
courtroom scenes.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
I'm glad you mentioned Gary Cole aka Lumberg because I
mean this movie it's celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary this year,
and I'm telling you right now, I mean, I think,
would they spend ten million on this on this budget,
No chance, no chance, you make this movie with this

(01:30):
specific cast today for anything less than fifty seventy million,
maybe maybe more one hundred million, would.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Say so, I mean, just with Kate Blanchet, Geofani, Risbee
Rabisi and everyone, I mean, you cannot make this film
for under I would say probably forty five million dollars.
There's no way.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
I mean, there's probably four. There's probably about five people
that I definitely want to talk about, but we'd beat
This would be like a two parter if we if
we actually talked about the entire I will shout him
out when we get to that. But I mean, this
is a just a stellar cast of talent, and it
blows my mind. Like when you're watching this and it's

(02:11):
been a couple couple of years, or it's been ten years,
or maybe it's been twenty five years. If you saw it, yeah,
back in two thousand, you're you're kind of surprised at
how many big names are in this film. But we'll
get to that. Before we do, we got to talk
about the man, Sam Raimi. So a little bit trivia
about the man and a very fun quote that I

(02:34):
found Garrett sam Raimi usually wears a jacket and tie
on the set of his films, and this is a
tribute to one of his favorite directors, Alfred Hitchcock. Okay,
now I will share this with you. I met him
a few years ago and he happened to be wearing

(02:57):
a very DApp pursuit one of the kindest, most well
mannered people you'll ever meet.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
You know, I walk up to him, he just put
out his hand. He's like, Hi, I'm Sam. As if
I didn't know, you know, I said Hi, I'm Jeff.
We know. He shook hands. He kind of floored me
because he asked us. He asked me about the about
our show. Uh, and then he was pleasantly surprised to
discover that we had done an episode on his film
A Simple Plan. So it's just just an amazing guy.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Though.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
If you ever get a chance to talk with him,
to meet him, HiT's you're better for it.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
He is definitely an amazing person. Actually met him a
couple of years back. Him and his brother Ted are
both just absolutely delightful. I've got Ted.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Ted is a good time had by all he is. Yeah.
If Sam is the quiet, mild mannered one, Ted is
the rock star, I think he's he's the crazy one,
and he's a lot of fun too. Uh. Sam Raimi
shares a birthday with one weird Al Yankovic.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Okay, okay, a little bit a strange, little bit weird
going on there. I'm okay with that.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
You know what. It's Sam Rami. When you think about
the kind of movies he's done it, I kind of
dig the fact that it'd be weird how that shares
his birthday. Speaking of sharing, back in the mid nineteen eighties,
Sam Raimi shared an apartment with several friends whose names
would be Joel and Ethan Cohen, Bruce Campbell, Scott Spiegel,

(04:40):
Holly Hunter, Francis McDorman, and Kathy Bates.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
So this guy literally shared apartments with absolute legends in
the industry, Like, how do you live with Joel and
Ethan Cohen and you both gone to wild success? How
do you share a living space with Kathy Bates, the
Queen of Misery and everything else? It's just that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
I want to hear, Like, is Kathy Baits yelling at
you because you didn't do the was your turn to
do the dishes and you didn't do the dishes? You know?

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yea? Is she going four on misery? Or are we
getting a water Boys mom treatment right now? I don't
care which one.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
Holly Hunter without accent, just telling them it's it's you know,
you know, I'm a little short this week on the
Electric Bill. You know, Garrett, this is the season of
MTVS the real world that we missed out on.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
See, now that is something I would have paid to
see because simply just how many great ideas are coming
out of those living rooh my god, Like just the
pitches that you would get the hey, I'm thinking about
going out for this, or hey, I'm thinking about writing this,
and just years before the absolute genius word to take off,

(05:59):
that would be simple amazing.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
What a time, what a time saving. Private Ryan, the
nineteen twenty two version of Nosferatu and The Treasure of
the Sierra Madre are among Sam Raimi's all time favorite films.
I like that's it's like an eclectic mixer too.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
See, I think you do have to have that because
me myself, I mean, I'm a huge fan of the
original Bores kar Lov Frankenstein absolutely amazing. And then of
course we flash forward to the seventies, nineteen seventy eight
to be exec with a little bit John Carpenter's Halloween
because it's something that brings a little bit of practical

(06:44):
effects and something that can actually happen, so it's really terrifying.
And then we just come into this new age of
horror where you get your final destinations or whatever it
may be. And I've got to say it's a good
blend to have that mixed in with where it started,
where it was, and where it ended up. And I
think that's the best way to run them.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
Absolutely. Now another one of his favorites that he I'm
I'm gonna try and will this into reality for you,
because back in two thousand and six, it was reported
that Ramie and Batman producer Michael Uslin would be co
producing a new film version of The Shadow, and then

(07:30):
a year later, Ramy stated quote, I don't have any
news on The Shadow at this time, except that the
company that I have with Josh Donan, my producing partner,
we've got the rights to the Shadow. I love the
character very much and we're trying to work on a
story that'll do justice to the character. And I'll tell
you this, there was a time when Rami was trying

(07:53):
to buy the film rights to Batman in the early eighties.
He couldn't get them. Then he tried to buy the
film rights to The Shadow, couldn't get them, which is
a good thing at the time because that led him
to create his own superhero, dark superhero, which was dark Man.
So but man everything I saw it shows that he

(08:15):
still owns the rights of the Shadow, and I would
love to see him do the Shadow that be so
great now, Raimi. In college, he ran a film society,
but instead of renting films to exhibit, he and his
buddies created feature length movies on Super eight and then
showed them to the students on campus. And this is

(08:38):
kind of where he learned how to be a filmmaker.
And of that experience, he said, quote, it was great
making movies in college because if you made the right movie,
you'd get this cigar box full of five dollars and
one dollar bills. You'd have like five hundred bucks after
a weekend, and it was like, oh my god, we're rich.

(08:58):
We've got to make another pick. Sure, but if it bombed,
you spend a lot of money on the movie, on
the ads at the State News, renting the theater, lugging
these heavy speakers, the projector bulbs, and it was a
wash out. You realize this movie is not making money.
I'm broke. I've got to make the movie that they
want to see. So it was a great learning experience.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
You really do get that from him, whether it's the
start of his career where he's out making evil dead
with a bunch of friends and family out there in
the wood, very low budget, and then you take it
all the way to of course, the Spider Man trilogy.
I mean it very much shows to where a film

(09:42):
that made very little money but became a cult classic
waiting into absolute blockbusters that everybody loved. So that is
the will and desire that got up to where he
is today. So I can see that on him.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Well, this one's not a blockbuster, but it is definitely
one that you and I love. Garrett, I gotta say,
I'm sure there's a couple of people that maybe haven't
seen The Gift. And again, listeners, we're talking about a
film from the year two thousand, because Garrett, as you
already know, there's a twenty fifteen film that's a kind
of a thriller with Joe Edgerton called also called The Gift,

(10:20):
which also awesome. It is we're talking about. We're talking
about Sam raimis The Gift. Garrett, you got a synopsis
for us?

Speaker 2 (10:28):
I sure do. So. We're in the tiny town of Brixton, Georgia,
where nothing is private. A woman with supernatural clairvoyants, a young,
beautiful socialite, who was mysterious, who has mysteriously disappeared, and
an assortment of colorful character's all collide a haunting, psychological thriller.
The Gift is ultimately a profound celebration of the human spirit.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
Well, said my friend. I can remember the Christmas that
I seen this because I had seen Unbreakable in the
theater in late November and had immediately hailed it as
the best superhero origin story of all time to anyone
that would listen to me. And then in December, I mean,

(11:15):
don't get wrong, there were some amazing movies. I just
hadn't seen them. I wouldn't I wouldn't play they weren't
on my radar at the time. I had seen Vertical
Limit and Castaway this December both slid. Yeah, we we
covered Vertical Limit a couple of seasons ago, go back
and check that one out. Castaway obviously awesome. But then

(11:36):
The Gift came out in a limited release and it
was at a theater I didn't usually go to, and
Kim Wood I was like, you know what, I love
Sam Raimi, he does no wrong. I'm gonna go check
this movie out. And boy was I glad that I did.
When the film came out, it was December twenty second,
two thousand. I gave it rave reviews, and I wasn't

(11:58):
the only one. Roger Ebert gave it three out of
four stars, calling the film quote ingenious in its plotting,
colorful and its characters, taught in its direction, and fortunate
in possessing Kate Blanchette. And she's just a vision. I
know we're going to get to her here in a minute,
but I mean, what a vision in this film.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
She truly is. For it being the year two thousand before,
we see so much of Kate Blanchett, she really came
into her own in this And Yeah, I think you're right.
She's an absolute vision.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
It's a rare It's a rare moment in her career
where I mean, she had done what she had done
Elizabeth at this point, but she had not reached megastardom
with the Lord of the Rings or working with us
Corsece and the Aviator. Yeah, and she's just adorable.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
I mean, she is the accent, everything just amazing.

Speaker 1 (12:59):
She is amazing. I'll tell you what else is amazing.
Rami gets hired to direct Spider Man while he's still
working on this movie.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Okay, out that I did not know.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
Yeah, now here's the problem. Post production on The Gift,
which is a Paramount film, is scheduled for pre production
of Spider Man, which is a Sony film. Thankfully, Paramount
and Sony compromise their schedules and Raymi is working on
both films simultaneously. I can't imagine the stress that he

(13:31):
was under for those handful.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
Of could you imagine directing something like The Gift and
it's it's one of those like almost kind of cult
classic films. And they then again the Summer blockbuster, Dude,
like what the heck? Like that was the first original
superhero movie that just absolutely exploded at the box office.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
That you're in your head, You're like, I have got
to get this film wrapped up. This is a I
just made a movie with with Keanu Reeves and Hillary
Swank and Kate Blanchette, and it's a big move. It's
a big budget film. Yeah, and Paramount's counting on me.
And meanwhile, I've got you know, he's he's one of

(14:15):
the biggest Spider Man fans on the planet. You know,
he's got an oh yeah, massive Spider Man collection. You know,
Comma Book Collection. It's a dream job. And somebody's like, hey,
we've just given you the director's chair to our biggest
blockbuster of all time. Yep, and we've never seen the
Wall Crawler on the big screen. There's a lot riding

(14:37):
on this.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
And the fact that, if I'm not mistaken, Toby maguire
got paid ten million dollars for the First Spider Man.
If I'm not mistaken, So the fact that the entire
budget for the film that he's wrapping up is one
actor's paycheck in this one. Yeah, that's a little bit
of pressure on you.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
It's gotta be a little bit of pressure. I'll tell
you what. We're gonna take a quick break when we
get back. We have got to talk about this incredible cast.
Welcome back. We are discussing Sam Raimie's supernatural thriller The
Gift Garrett. Before the break, we were talking a little
bit about Kate Blanchette. She plays the psychic the clairvoyant.

(15:20):
If you will, Annie Wilson does a little uh does
a little homework. She visits several fortune tellers to learn
their mannerisms, their presentation. A sidely. You know, I know
you can't help but fall in love with her. You
mentioned the accident, you mentioned just her her sweet disposition.
What'd you think of her performance though? Overall?

Speaker 2 (15:43):
Her overall performance gives one of those strong female roles
just a voice, because it's not necessarily that she's the badass,
that she's going out and fighting people or anything like that,
but it's the fact that she's a single mother struggling
to survive, doing what she can to help her community,

(16:03):
and ultimately it comes down to something as solving a
helping solve a murder, and really just standing up for herself.
So in a time of desperation, she prevails. So I
think it speaks to her character in this film that
she is an absolute badass.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
She is, but it's an incredible performance because and I
don't mean this in a negative way, but she's a
really pitiful character. I mean, he is loses her husband
to an accident, plants accident. She's trying to raise these boys. Legally,

(16:45):
she can't charge for her services, so she accepts donations
and she's getting a little bit of so security money
from her husband's accident and his death and just the
look of their house, you know. I mean, she's shot,
but at the Pigly wiggly, which I love that little detail, right,
you know, and it just it just seems so downtrodden

(17:06):
and so so miserable in a way, but she's trying
to she just make it the best of it, right.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
Just the people she's surrounded with is an abusive husband,
a battered wife, a guy that's looking to cheat on
his wife, a wife that's looking to cheat on her
or sorry, fiance, a wife that's looking to cheat on
her fiance, a town that don't believe in her, A
gentleman that is psychiatrically flawed. Yeah, there is so much.

(17:37):
And then just like the courtroom scene, whether when the
defense attorney's tearner a part is just it rips your
heart out. And you're right, it's not in a bad way.
But it's one of those things where you take pity
on this character because it's like, oh, my goodness, just
give her a break. Please.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah, but she's and you know, she's at times she
is the victim and and but but other times, like
you mentioned like calling her a badass, I love that
she stands up, you know. And typically it's when her
children are in danger, is when she she she goes
full Mama Bear and she she stands her ground and
she gets tough, and I love that she can play

(18:15):
both strong and weak at the same time and throughout
this film.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
And she's really in the character development, I mean, brilliant
story writing.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
I will say, Yeah, I'll tell you a cool, a
cool little thing. I love. She doesn't use terrort cards,
but rather the card. The cards she's using are the
ones they use the test for esp you know they
got like the squiggly lines square. Yeah, she's using those.
And I dig the fact that these cards don't quote

(18:48):
unquote show her anything, but they help her focus. Yeah.
That's a pretty cool twist, you know, because I don't
I don't know if you've ever been to a medium
or a psychic, you know, they all have the terror
cards yep, and they you know, oh this card means this,
and it's like, you don't know what the hell is
going on.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
But oh hell no.

Speaker 1 (19:05):
The fact that when she's doing what she calls reading people,
you know, the fact that she always uses the cards,
she doesn't stop and go, well this means this. She's
just using them to focus her energy so that she
can see what she needs to see. I really dig
that about her. Her character anyway, you talked about a individual.
When you're discussing Annie's, you know who she's surrounded with.

(19:29):
Giovanni Ribisi playing the emotionally damaged Buddy Cole.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
From his introduction the truck scene where two seconds prior,
of course he's working on the Delta eighty eight. Just
a classic not as always, but the breakdown that he
has in the truck after he's such a seemingly nice,
innocent young man. It gives you an insight of oh okay,

(20:00):
he's he's emotionally damaged. She's helping him, and throughout the
story just his character development is absolutely bizarre at times.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Oh yeah, I wanna let's let's I want to you
mention the scene. Uh, let's just jump into that scene
real quick. I know we don't typically do this, but
you know, not not to step on noteworthy scenes. But
Buddy driving her home, he's she's got some some works
that needs done in a car. He's like, I'll drive
you home, and you can immediately tell it. Maybe he's

(20:32):
got some opportunities. He's a little off right, and then
that scene where he just locks up the breaks and
just I mean everything he's so tense and he just
he has this break, this emotional breakdown. It's our first
chance to hear mention of the blue diamond. Yes, what's
it mean? If I see the blue diamond in my trouble?

(20:52):
If I see the am I gonna die? Am I
gonna want to die? This bad thing's gonna happen? And
you're like, what the hell is going? Like? What is
this kid talking about? And it's it breaks your heart
when you and I. We'll get to that scene when
we do talk these scenes, but it breaks your heart
when you find out what the blue diamond actually means.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
It does it just.

Speaker 1 (21:14):
It kills you. It kills you. But you know the
thing about Giovanni, So I don't know if you knew this.
He takes this role after Billy Bob Thornton had declined
to read this is and I think, and you know,
and we'll we'll get to this a little bit later.
But uh, Billy Bob had kind of made a big
splash with sling Blade in ninety six, and I think

(21:37):
they're thinking they want a little bit of a carl,
a little bit of a sling blade.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah, yeah, this guy.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
And it happens to be a mechanic, and you know,
I appreciate that Billy Bob declines it for the right
reasons because you know, this is this is one of
Giovanni Rubisi's greatest performances as far as I'm concerned.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
You're absolutely right, especially so early on in his career. Yeah,
it's something that again the truck scene where he walks
up the breaks and he's trying to just something as
simple as trying to blow his nose and wipe his
tears with a dirty oily rag and she's like, oh,
use that, yeah, and he's like, no, I don't want
to do that. That's his her.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
Little her little boys, like handkerchief or whatever.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, and then she's like, are you.

Speaker 1 (22:23):
Sure you're okay? And he and he does that, I'm okay,
I'm okay, and he kind of wipes his tears away
kind of chuckles. There's a term in Hollywood for really
good actors that are working all the time in smaller roles.
They're known as as that guy, right, yes, well, okay,

(22:44):
so he's too well known for that distinction now, but
with over a with over one hundred acting credits, he
for for a lot for a long time. He was
he wasn't that guy until I think until Saving Private Ryde.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Yeah, because I mean you've got all those films like
Gone in sixty Seconds and everything that he's like in
for like hey, a little bit here, a little bit there,
and then of course over the years of course like
Ted one and two and all that stuff, he's literally yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Frank Buffet brother on roll right, Yeah, yeah, he.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
I just he's got all these little roles. But you're
absolutely right. Once he hit Saving Private Ryan, I think
that was the turn to where he's no longer that guy,
right exactly.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah, I just it just it breaks my heart because
I think he's one of the finest actors working today
and it's absolutely criminal that he's not had the opportunity
to do a bigger role or at least get a
role that can land him an Oscar nod. Yes, I'm
just that's how I feel about him, and and I
don't know if it's just his choices, because I love

(23:57):
him and everything he does, you know, yeah, absolutely, but
it's like I don't know if he's not going after
certain roles or if Hollywood's not giving him that opportunity.
But when you watch him in this movie, how you're
not casting him in something critically acclaimed and dramatic.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
I just don't get it, man, I really don't. He's
incredible in this film.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
He's one of those people that are literally a character actor.
It doesn't matter who you give him, He's going to
play that part like it was written for him.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah. I almost. I And not that I want to
dwell on Giovanni here, but I almost. When you think
about if you collect most of his characters that he's played,
the one common thread is that they're all maybe not
the smartest guy in the room, You're right, Yeah, And
I wondered if Hollywood just sees him as that that guy, you.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Know, because no matter what role it is, he's either
the like goofy creepy guy or the goofy like friend
guy that's gonna help you out, or it doesn't matter
across the border, or he's like the little brother the
that's kind of a mess up and they're trying to
take care of him. And it's like, oh, okay, hey,
Hollywood typecast. You might be right, maybe.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
He's typecast, but hey, Hollywood, just remember saving Private Ryan.
He he did play a medic Wade, you know who,
was well spoken and just incredible formance in that too,
And you figure that's Raymy that's one of Ramy's top
three movies. Yeah, I'm sure he's I'm sure he's watching
Private Ryan. He's like, that guy's in my next movie. Yep, Garrett,

(25:29):
I'm gonna believe that. In real life he's probably the
nicest guy ever. But is there a film role where
you watch Greg Canar and you're like, I like this guy.
There plenty of kind of an asshole and everything.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
I don't know. Yeah, there's a few that I'm thinking of,
like Stuck on You and stuff like that with Matt
Dag and you know they're like goofy stuff. But no,
you're right, he does typically play an asshole.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
The one time he didn't play an asshole where I
liked him as good as it gets with Helen Hunt
and Jah Nicholson, where he you know, he played the
neighbor who was victimized and went on the road trip.
And I'm not saying he's an asshole, like not like
a bad guy. He's not a villain. But now even
in like You've Got Mail, where he played Meg Ryan's

(26:18):
sort of boyfriend, Yep, he's just kind of an asshole.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
Like the vibe that he gives off is the like
late eighties, you know, tennis sweater tied around his neck
and I'm better than you, Like I don't know what
it is, but he it just gives him a punchable face.
I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
Look and listeners, I'll tell you this. If you haven't
seen this movie, Garrett and I aren't going to hold back.
You know, the Saint. This ain't spoiler free. It's a
it's a it's a murder mystery. So if you haven't
seen it, hit hit the pause button, go check it out.
But if you you know, if you're if you're if
if we can't, Garrett, we I gotta say, like, even
if you take away the deplorable, heinous crime that he

(27:02):
does in this film, he's kind of a kind of
a common asshole throughout the whole thing, Like like just
like that, I really like this guy.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
Really is the whole scheming against his fiance and everything,
wading into that and just kind of being slimy and this.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
Country club and I got the hot counsel and.

Speaker 2 (27:21):
And he kind of like wants her to see it
to be like, hey, I kind of did that for
you like, well, what the fuck?

Speaker 1 (27:29):
Yeah, that's I don't know. I want to move on
from Greg Kennere because he's played with Wayne Collins. Yeah. Uh,
I'll tell you what though, the time that we we
we don't spend on on Wayne Collins, uh, played by
Greg ken Ere. We can we can spend that time

(27:52):
talking about Jessica King, who is played by the very
lovely Katie Holmes. Now it's the year two thousand and
we're talking at the height of her popularity. She's two
years into her role as quintessential girl next door Joey
Potter on Dawson's Creek. Garrett, were you a Dawson's Creek guy?

(28:14):
Did you watch Dawson's Creek.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
I've seen it before. I was not a Dawson's Creek guy.
I know I was.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
There for it. And I'll tell you every teenage to
early twenties guy at this time is in love with her. Absolutely.
You had to be.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
You just had to be from about two thousand to
two thousand and five. No, I probably thought about marrying
her a few dozen times.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
But yeah, no, yeah, whatever, Well, you know, and let's
I mean during Dawson's Creek during you know, I think
that's like ninety eight to two thousand and three. You know,
she kind of flirts with final girl status. She does
disturbing behavior in ninety eight. Yep, and she's a little
more edgy and a little more sexy, and you know,
because she wasn't that on Dawson's Creek. And now you're like,

(28:59):
wait a mint minute. And then she does teaching missus
Tingle in ninety nine. And then she shows up here
in the Gift. Dare I say, offering guys everywhere a gift? Yes,
she was most likely wore out the pause buttons on
every remote control circa two thousand and one, two thousand

(29:19):
and two. You know, she's white hot in this film.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
She truly is. Yep, all the way. Like I said,
from early two thousand here is I probably saw this film,
and I would say around two thousand and one, two
thousand and two, I finally watched it because I was
on Big Sam Raimi kick and I was like, oh
my gosh, she's freaking amazing. And then a few short
years later, bam, Batman begins and so on so forth.

(29:46):
But yeah, now she was right.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
Before, right before Rachel Dawes and Batman begins yep. But
it was just a shock because she was a wholesome
like I said on Dawson's Creek, she's the wholesome girl
next door that you just you want bring him to mom.
And then in this movie she is she's like the town.
She's kind of like the town.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
Horror.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
Yeah, hardly, Okay, let's be let's be a little more
polite for the sponsors.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
A hard lady.

Speaker 1 (30:13):
She's the Jezebel. This is this is Georgia, right. The
word Jezebel works.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
Jezebel, one of those yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
Yeah. She admitted that taking on the role was both
awkward and scary for her, knowing that she would appear nude,
and after she figured out how to explain the decision
to her parents, that's when she started defending the choice,
citing that was important to the development of the character.
And I'll be honest, I don't feel that what she
does in this movie is gratuitous. It does need to

(30:46):
happen for the sake of the story. But in twenty fourteen,
she was talking with E News Daily, she said she
has no problem going topless, saying, quote, I have done
it before when I was young in The Gift, which
was the right time to do it, and if the
part called for it, I'd do it again. I think

(31:06):
people need to embrace themselves, their creativity and their bodies.
Now she's right now. I was a little upset. I
had little rant about Giovanni Ribisi not getting the Oscar
fair that he so well as entitled to. Yes, I'm
been a rant again here, Garrett. It's been twenty five

(31:27):
years since the Gift, Yes, and it's been eleven years
since Katie Holmes gave that interview to en News Daily.

Speaker 2 (31:34):
Are you are.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
You telling me that this whole time we haven't found
one one movie, one story. There's not one movie we justified.
I kid, but I but I don't. Uh, all right,
we better move on. This is this getting out of hand.
Hillary Swank playing the abused and battered wife Valerie Barksdale.

(32:02):
It's amazing that she's just a few years away from
her aunt Caplin ship by the way, just a few
years away from their first Oscars yep, and she nails
it in this movie. Though.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
This is such a strange character that you don't typically
see her in this role. So no, no, it was
something that when I first watched it caught me off guard,
and over time I've actually grown to like it and
even rewatching it now, I'm like, she plays this part
so well. And then even the kind of like scheming

(32:34):
to like get her husband off like later in the
court case and all that, and you're like, this character's
got like a little bit of crazy in her two
Oh gosh, yeah, here we go.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
It's it's difficult for me to like her. Yeah, And
it's for two reasons. One, she's a little conniving, yes,
you know when she talks about like, you know, that
girl got what she deserved.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
I'm glad.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
I'm glad she did, you know. But also it's one
of those things where it's the type of character that
pisses you off because she just won't better her situation.
Now every one of the movies telling her, you know,
you got to get away from your husband. He's gonna
kill you. He's no good for you, and you know,

(33:22):
she's like, I can't leave him. I just can't, you know.
It turns out her and Keanu Reeves visited local spousal
abuse counselors for this role. For this role, they both
went to speak with counselors to gain insight into first
off to why men are abusive to their wives, be

(33:45):
it mentally or physically, and then more importantly for her,
it was to to kind of get some insight on
why women tend to stay in abusive relationships. Okay, I
love the I love the homework that people are doing
in this movie.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
Yeah, especially for being you know, two thousand, I mean yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
It's it's it's the same Raimi film for ten ten,
ten million dollars. It's not like there, we're paying for
you to go, hey, go spend some week in counseling. Yeah,
this is just something her and Kiana decided to do. Uh.
She is fantastic. I mean, lover or loather, you got it.
You gotta give her credit. She she plays us this

(34:30):
part very well, just has that. She has that and
I'll be you know, not not that I want to
be offensive here, but she's got that white trash look
like perfectly. Oh she definitely right.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
Yeah, the hair and just the herp.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
Both white trash. It's like, oh my gosh, we got
to talk Keanu.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Uh, he's playing he's playing the abusive husband Donnie Barkstille,
who's on trial for the murder right. So in the nineties,
he reinvents himself as an action star. You know, he's
got point break Speed, the Matrix, He's he's got leading
man status with films like Dracula, Much Ado about Nothing,
the Devil's Advocate.

Speaker 2 (35:14):
And they're not leaving. Not the replacements right now. Well,
I'm saying in the nineties, Okay, in the nineties, because.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
Because he opens up the two thousands in the year
two thousand, he's he's got the gift, he's got the replacements,
and he's got this movie, The Watcher.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
I don't think I've seen The Watcher.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
Oh you got to see it. Uh, I bring it
up because this is the Gift. Is Keano's second time
playing a villain, the first time being this year in
The Watcher, where he played a serial killer. And it's
I mean, he's got he's got like and I want
to spoil it for you and you'll but you get
this from the trailer. He's he's clearly like a a
Ted Bundy like serial.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
Killer, very likable.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
Yeah, James Spain is the detective that can't catch him.
And then oh and this is this is like this
is Spader like right after uh shit, you know Pyramids,
you know, Okay, I gotcha. This This is peak Spader,

(36:23):
right right after Stargate.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
So he's young and hip Spader.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
You know. He moves on from the case and then
Count of Reeves comes back and starts taunting him, you know,
because he's back, he's back on the path. I don't know.
I don't want to. I don't want to ruin the
movie for you, But the Watcher, I gotta ask you
if if you're Keanu Reeves in the nineties and you've
built up this action hero slash leading man persona a
little a little bit of a gamble to open up

(36:51):
the next decade playing not one but two despicable people, right.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
It really is. I mean when I watch this, I'd
never seen anything like this with Keanu Reeves because he's
always that likable, charming. Yeah, it's like, you know what,
this is a I always think back Bill and Ted.
I'm like, I freaking love this guy. But then you
run into the point where he is an alcoholic wife

(37:18):
beating like maniac.

Speaker 1 (37:20):
And this is a piece of shit in this movie, dude.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
Like the scene where he's dragging her out of the
house through the wet paint and everything by her hair
and it's like, oh my gosh, dude.

Speaker 1 (37:29):
No, the fact that he pauses just long enough to
throw a threatening finger in Kate blen Chat's dire actually
going I'll deal with you in a minute, you Satan
worshiping bitch or whatever he calls her.

Speaker 2 (37:44):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
It's how hard is it to watch this movie with
knowing that you love Keanu Reeves and seeing him act
like this and saying the things that he says and
doing the things that he does.

Speaker 2 (37:56):
It's rough because of just scenes like that, and then
when the cops come out and they're like, a, he
probably wasn't the one that was in your yeah, good
old boy, Yeah exactly. And then calls and he's like,
well talked about I think his skinning a rabbit. He's like,
I'll put a knife in you and your kids stomachs
as well. And it's like, oh, what the Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
Well, you know, I'll say, we're gonna we're gonna talk
more about him. I'll save it for you know, we'll
get the noteworthy scenes I got. Well, I'm gonna I'm
gonna I'm gonna keep that. I'm gonna kick that down
the road. Uh, we got We'll move on one one
more person I want to talk about, but before I do,

(38:36):
let's just point out we talked about this incredible cast,
this stellar cast, right yep. So Garrett, I know we
don't have time to talk about everyone, but I just
want to point out this movie also features Chelsea Ross,
who we love and everything he does, whether it's Hoosiers or.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Major League yep.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
Kim Dickens playing her her hot and wild friend that's
trying to get her out. And Michael Jeter, who you
typically love in movies but he's such a piece of
slime attorney when he's cutting Like you mentioned the attorney
cutting her down on the sand. Yeah, oh, don't you
want to? I just I'm like, hey, you're Michael Jeter,

(39:16):
and you're you're lovable, but I just want to punch
in the face right now. You mentioned Gary Cole, who
plays the district attorney amazing in this This is one
year before Rosemary Harris is going to be Aunt May
where she's got this ghostly moment in the in the
backyard with with Kate Blanchet's character.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
Makes you wonder with Rosemary Harris and JK. Simmons and
Sam Ramie all teaming up on this like Okay, I
wonder how they all got to Spider Man here.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
I think Ramy's looking her going, well, let's see, I
found my jay Jonah, I found my aunt May. I'll
set with me right now. Uh. And then, in a
weird twist, composer Danny Elfman has like a blinking you
miss a moment where he's like in a vision playing
a creepy fiddle playing guy in the swamp.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
What's crazy is because if you go back and watches,
he dressed and looks exactly like Joe Exotic. So that
kills me.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
Yeah, I know, I know that. Like Chris, I think
it's Christopher Young who does the score, and I'm not
sure why Elfman isn't doing the score for this one.
But I also know that it was around Spider Man
two is where they had a falling out because Christopher
Young had kind of come in and fixed some of
his work, and then Raymy and Elfman didn't work for
a long time, but couldn't really figure out what. You know,

(40:37):
I don't know if Elfman was busy doing something else.
He probably was, but you know his buddy, he's like, yeah,
I'll be in the movie still, you gotta creep.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
For that, I'll check it out. Yeah, Garrett, not.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
A lot for us to talk about as far as
the background the production of this, Uh, suffice to say
it's written by one Billy Bob Thornton and his his
Tom Epperson, his writing partner. And this is before they
write this, before sling Blade is even released in nineteen
eighty six, So that's how long this is kind of

(41:08):
kicking hh okay, and then I don't know if you
know this, the story for the Gift is based on
Billy Bob Thornton's mother, Virginia, who was a self proclaimed psychic.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
No, well, okay, yeah, it's actually pretty interesting because.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
Tapping into a little bit of home life. You know.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
Yeah, I thought that it was a little crazy saying
Billy Bob pop up as a screenplayed ride on this
and I was like, ah, this is a little odd.
I don't see him write too many things. But the
fact that he's got his own personal life intertwined with
this a little bit. I enjoy that from him.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
So yeah, I'm telling you right now it doesn't exist.
But if we could get a audio commentary with Billy
Bob Thornton and Sam Raimi talking about this movie, yeah,
I don't care. I don't care what it costs. I'd
pay it, but yeah, not a lot on the production.
I don't you know, which is which I find strange

(42:10):
a little. I find that a little strange. But uh, Garrett,
there's a couple of scenes we we got to talk
a little bit more in depth about. I know we've
mentioned a couple of them, but let's get back, uh
to Keanu talking about Donnie's first appearance in the movie,
where he goes to visit Annie.

Speaker 2 (42:26):
After dark, where he is just lightly knocking on the door,
very non troublesome.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
It seems, yeah, excuse me, miss, Yeah, I'm I'm I'm
her husband, and you know, and you gotta give it
to Annie, Kate Blenchett. She's like, everything, okay, she's not
opened the door.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Nope.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
Everything okay, nope, No, ma'am, she's not okay, man, I
come in and talk.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
You know.

Speaker 1 (42:50):
He's You're like, and I'm watching. It's been it's probably
been five years since I've since I sat down and
watched this, and I was like, all right, Keano, I forgot.
I know he's the bad guy, but I forgot how
despicable he is.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
And then he ate every second he's on the screen.

Speaker 1 (43:07):
Well, he gets in, he right when he walks in
the door though, like she opens, she unlocks the door,
lets him in, and then says some ship that. You're
just like, oh, you can't say that, Keano, what what
do you you know? And I'm not gonna repeat it
by by any means. But and then just gets threatening
and he's menacing, and he's immediately you're like, this guy

(43:27):
is a white trash piece of shit, and you want
bad things to happen to him because he's threatening in
front of her children.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
Yeah, in front of three small children, and you're.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
And and the fact is this is his opening moment.
This is our introduction to his character, and it's it's
about the nicest we're gonna see him in the movie.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
That and then the court scene where he finally admits
being a wife abusing piece of shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
that is the two nice times.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, And even then he's a slide ball, you know, like,
why why would Jessica King socialized well to be with you?
He's like, well, she claimed no one could f like me.
It's like, you're Gary Cole, You're disgusting, sir, you know,
like really we're gonna object to Gary Cole saying.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
That, come on, exactly, great moment.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
Great introduction to to Kanu's character, just to show you
just how awful he is. I know we already mentioned
Buddy driving Annie home that breakdown. He has another buddy
scene I want to talk about, though. I feel like
I feel like we're maybe talking about a couple buddy
scenes here, but Buddy stepping in to save any son that. Yeah.

(44:48):
I'm not gonna say it's the pivotal moment because it's
not the most important thing that happens in this movie
or it's nothing that it's not the scene that that
that connects the movie or does anything like that. But
it is one of my favorite scenes because, you know,
when you're sizing these two guys up, Giovanni Ribisi is
giving away probably a good thirty pounds of Kanu Reeves
white trash bully. Yeah, Kanda Reeves is with his buddy

(45:13):
and the other shitty pickup truck. So for jet for
for for Buddy to be like, you know, Ji.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
Is like mind your business, buddy, and he's like, oh
I will as he's truck. Yeah, I tend to.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
Yeah, it just gets out and puts a hurting on
that pickup truck, and you're thinking, you know, when Kanna
pulls the gun on him, and you're like, oh, like
now you're panicked.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
Yeah, he's about to shoot Buddy here yep, Jianna.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
Yeah, but Giovanni takes it to a whole nother level.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Of extreme scary and extreme does.

Speaker 1 (45:49):
And it's you know, I don't think I took a
breath the whole time I'm watching that scene.

Speaker 2 (45:55):
No, No, I felt like the sun when they show
I believe his name's Miller. I felt Miller when they
show him like two seconds after the truck drives off,
just speechless, eyes wide.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
Yeah. Yeah, he's like you okay, Yeah, the way that
that that buddy can just switch that fast to the
gentle pine person or the the just the raging monster.
And I don't mean monster in a bad way. He
just uncontrolled rage that he's got.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
Yeah, which a little bit more of that later.

Speaker 1 (46:30):
Yeah, oh yeah, well, well let's talk about that scene.
Let's let's talk about when Buddy attacks his dad and
we get the revelation of the Blue Diamond. Yes, because
for a second, you're like, you know, and he gets
called you know, the buddy's mom calls her his dad's
tied up, he's gonna kill him, and he's unglued. He is,
he's just unhinged, and he's got that belt. He's whipping

(46:52):
in his dad, who's tied up and gagged, and he's
even striking out at Annie, and he's like, why didn't
you help me? Yeah, you're kind of like, yeah, yeah,
he's he's he's now he's snapped, and you're like, for
a split second, you don't like him because he's he's
he's kind of raging an Annie, and we don't want that.

(47:13):
But then you start to feel sad for him when
he's like, I was your little boy, daddy. Why'd you
you know? And you're like, what did this guy? What
did he what could he have possibly done? Was he
beating him? Or and then you see the tattoo, You
see the blue diamond tattoo, and they don't even have
to tell you, they don't speak it, they don't tell you,
but you know what his dad was doing to him,

(47:35):
and it just destroys you.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
Just when he is over his mom and he's like,
you knew the whole dude.

Speaker 1 (47:41):
Yeah it doesn't, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Yeah, it doesn't just tear your heart right now.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
It kills me. It just kills me. Yeah, I think
I think maybe that's the pivotal moment of this movie
because we're we're like, what the hell is what is
this kid? What is he freaking out of her a
blue diamond for? And then you find out the catalysts
for for Buddies, all his troubles, all his emotional.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
And everything throughout the everything.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
Yeah, yeah, his his suicidal tendencies, everything he's got going on,
all boils down to this one moment and it just
kills you. Because we're watching this supernatural thriller and we're
trying to figure out who killed Jessica King, and you know,
was it Keanu or who was it? And for a
split second like was it? You know, there's like there's

(48:30):
a flash of Buddy and your buddy, Buddy didn't like
So for this this little side story to just rear
its ugly head mid movie and then quietly get tucked away, Yeah,
it kind of messes.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
With you, it does, And honestly, it just again it
shows you the human spirit because this guy is struggling
his best to just his name's literally Buddy. He's like
walking around trying to be happy, trying to smile, and
he's got the worst life of out out of anyone
in this entire film, and he is trying not to break.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
There's one more scene I want to talk about. Before
we get to that, I'll just ask you your opinion.
Up to this point, the only supernatural aspect of the
movie is that Kate Bunchett is is like, she can see,
she has visions, right, she can see, she can see
Katie Holmes murdered. She can see all this you know stuff.
She helps the police find find the body. How'd you

(49:31):
feel about Buddy's arc and how he he helps help? Yeah,
you know, but that and that's truly the supernatural moment
of the whole movie. It is so does it work
for you?

Speaker 2 (49:47):
It does to a certain extent, Like I said, just
because based off of like the human spirit, he always
wanted to do good and he always you know, needed
her help, and for him to be able to show
up and actually help her, Yeah, I think it goes
pretty well.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
It's cool. I like it because, like you have, for
like a split second, I'm like, how the hell did
he break out of the hospital and just happen to
be there? But then when you find the red, when
you when it all comes to fruition, you're like, oh shit,
he wasn't there now where for me? It works, I
dig it, it does, and it kind of gives it,
lets him in, It lets his story end as a hero.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
I feel like, right instead of the darkness that they
gave you moments later of course.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
Yeah. Uh. One last scene I want to talk about,
and it's returning to the crime scene. So you got
you got well to do. Wayne, who shows up at
Andie's place at night, insists on taking her back out
to the crime scene in the middle of the night
and makes her drive them there. And the and the

(50:51):
question is why, why why she got a drive?

Speaker 2 (50:54):
Yeah, I'll tell you why.

Speaker 1 (50:58):
And I I I knew you were gonna say, you
were gonna mention it before I could get to it.
But if there's one reason for any to be the
one that drives, it's so that we can get another
look at what I feel is the one co star
we haven't discussed, and that's the classic Sam Ramis nineteen

(51:19):
seventy three Delta eighty eight Olds Mobile, which has appeared
in practically every Sam Raimi film to date.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
It truly has, and just the reason behind it is amazing,
just because nineteen seventy three is dad bought the car.
Growing up, him and all his brothers and Bruce and
all the kids would pile in go watch movies at
the drive in theater in it, and just that little

(51:48):
bit of nostalgia that he keeps with him and he
brings that to the film every time he's in it.
I just love it.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
Garrett. As a Ramie fan, how excited you get when
I'm new movies coming out and You're like, I gotta
find it? Where's it at? You're waiting for it? Right?

Speaker 2 (52:04):
That's what I did on I think it's twenty thirteen.
They released that Evil Dead movie right before Ash first
Evil Dead, and I was like, oh, he doesn't drive it,
and then it's the old beat up car in the background.
I'm like, there it is.

Speaker 1 (52:16):
Yeah, listeners, this is a fun game. If you're a
Ramie fan and you're you're just catching into this, you
gotta go back and start watching this filmography again. This
car is prominently featured in the Evil Dead trilogy. It's
in one of his earlier films, Crime Wave, It's in
Dark Man, It's in a simple Plan. It was Uncle

(52:38):
Ben's car in the Spider Man trilogy. It's seen in
Drag Me to Hell. Most recently, I think it was
in I think the most recent film it's in is
Doctor Strange. In the Multiverse of Madness.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
It is.

Speaker 1 (52:51):
And it's not just Sam Raimi movies, his buddies, the
Coen Brothers. They have used it in Blood Simple Raising, Arizona, Fargo,
and The Big Lebowski. The fun fact. And this is
one of those things like it can't be proven, but
rumor has it. It is in his Western The Quick
and the Dead, and it was just it was it

(53:12):
was tarped and in one of the barns in the
background so that it can be in the movie without
being a car in the Old West. And then parts
of the of the classic were used in Oz the
Great and Powerful for the Wizards. Oh okay caption.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:28):
I dig the fact that the Delta, the Delta is
like in everything that he does. I love it and.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
Like the fact that it's from like eighty two till
now that he's running with this, it's like, yes, okay, okay.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
I keep hoping and Garrett, I know, I know, you
don't run with the con men. But you and I
have crossed paths to a couple of cons recently, and
you you're big on the cons. It's it's not uncommon
to go to these conventions and see like the Ecto
one or the DeLorean from Back to the.

Speaker 2 (53:59):
Future far from supernatural natural.

Speaker 1 (54:03):
Yeah, last year we got to see, uh, the Barracuda
from Fantastic Don Coscarelli had at Scarefest. Movie cars are
It's always fun to see these. You can't go to
a com without seeing a Jurassic part Jeep, I'm telling
you that right now. But I'm telling you the fact
that we've been to cons, we've met Sam Raimi. I

(54:24):
keep hoping that at some point the classic will show
up at a con.

Speaker 2 (54:28):
You look over and see this nineteen seventy three banana
putting cord, rusty.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
Beat up, piece of shit looking car. Dude, if they
had a photo op for that, I'd pay three hundred
bucks to sit in that thing. And yeah, yes, yeah,
oh man, I'll tell you what, Garrett. Let's uh, let's
take one last break and when we get back, we'll
talk a little bit more about Sam Rami and give
some recommendations. All right, Garrett, I always love doing this,

(54:56):
but I was this was not an easy one to do. Question.
If someone had just seen The Gift and were completely
unfamiliar with Sam Raimi, which three films would you suggest
they watch next?

Speaker 2 (55:18):
I'll go and order how they came out, not necessarily
what I like the most, but okay, the three films
that I saw from him and I absolutely just fell
in love with, which made me want to see more
of his work, which, of course the originally Evil Dead amazing.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
Okay, so I've got mine in year of release as well.
So I'm going to tag in with you here and
there nineteen eighty one, The Evil Dead. Let's that's my
first choice too. Let's talk to me about talk Evil Dead.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
With me now. Evil Dead. The amount of practical and
special effects that they use in this film are truly
groundbreaking at the point in time in nineteen eighty one.
I think it's truly extraordinary. A few friends at cheap
cabin and your mom and dad's car. I mean, the
fact that this is what you're bringing to the table
and you send out one of the like most known

(56:09):
cult classic films of all time, that's truly amazing.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
It is I've I think I've bought this probably like
at least eleven times on VHS, on DVD, on Collector's
Edition DVD, on blue box sets, like I've bought this
so many times, like the last one I've got, Oh,
go ahead, the last one I got, and it's it's

(56:34):
breaking my heart because it's starting to fall apart. But
you remember when they released the Economic Condition and it
was the Book of the Dead. It looked like the book. Yep,
it's it's slowly starting to fall apart. It's it's killing me.
It's it's killing me inside because I want to preserve
it somehow, but there's no way to preserve it.

Speaker 2 (56:52):
It was just such a cheap white pleather cover, which
is terrible because it's amazing looking.

Speaker 1 (56:57):
It looks so good.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
I got that as well.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
This is yeah, I have to ask you, you've probably
bought this countless times too.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
Write I've got four different steel book versions of it.
I've got one of the original VHS tapes that I
think belonged to my dad originally, He's I've got quite
a few copies of this one.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
I remember seeing this. I was too young, you know,
Me and my cousin Laura, we used to you know,
there used to be weekends at the grandparents house and
we would we would grab VHS copies of horror films,
you know, like Friday Thirteenth and the Texas Chancelmasker. And
I remember when when we got our hands on The
Evil Dead and man, was it good. But I've seen

(57:41):
this so many times. I've seen it in the theater.
I saw it. I want to say it was last
year Bruce Campbell came to town. Shout out to our
buddy Nate, who is a huge Bruce Campbell fan. But
Bruce Campbell was in town and kind of hosted a
viewing of The Evil Dead and it was great for

(58:03):
me because our very own David Burns, who loves Sam
Mamy loves Evil Dead. He was there with me, and
then our other good buddy Wayne Whited, who is not
known for being a horror fan, had never seen Evil
Dead too, or no, yeah, I was Evil Dead too.
That we watched and was like, I'm excited to see

(58:24):
this and Wayne loved it, and that just that thrilled
me to no end. So to see it with someone
that's never seen it and to see it on a
theater screen and Bruce Campbell's air like welcoming you that
it was a great moment.

Speaker 2 (58:37):
But there's no other way to see that film for
the first time if it's this lay in your life.

Speaker 1 (58:41):
Absolutely his directorial feature debut. He gets financial backing by
creating the short film Within the Woods YEP, which helped
raise ninety thousand dollars to make The Evil Dead. I
love it. I love it, absolutely love it. What's okay,
what's your second pick?

Speaker 2 (58:58):
It's a movie that I watch first one I as
a child. It introduced me to this actor, Liam Neeson.
So we've We've got dark Man. You know, I'm a
little nostalgic about that.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
I would have bet any amount of money that dark
Man was going to be on your on your list.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
It had to be all yeah, it had to be.
I want to tell you right now, that is one
of those movies that's a cross between some kind of
superhero film, a horror film, a love story, and so
many other things. I think Sam Raimi just nailed this
one all the way across the board, and it doesn't
get as much love as I think it deserves. But

(59:37):
I think that's the way a lot of Sam Raimi's
work is it is.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
You know, I don't like that. But I also love
the fact that it gives us the opportunity to talk
same Rami movies, you know, because we're not going to
talk about big blockbusters all the time on this on
this show, but it gives us a chance to kind
of shout out some of his work and what you
should be watching. And dark Man. I love what you

(01:00:02):
I love what. I love how you described it because
it is it's it's a superhero horror film with a
love story. And the fact that Liam Neeson is dark Man.
And this is way before Liam Neeson, you know, this
is what he had done Crawl. Yeah, he had done
Crawl in a couple other movies, Like he's not Liam Neeson,
you know, next to Ken maybe with.

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
Yeah, yeah, I think that was the one big thing
right before this, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
Yeah, And now he's Liam Neeson. But uh, if you listeners,
if you have not seen dark Man, you are you
are missing out. Classic Sam Raimi, classic Liam Neeson. Let
me give you one nineteen ninety eight. I mentioned it
earlier a simple Plan, we covered it. It's probably my

(01:00:49):
favorite Sam Raimi film. And I say that knowing that
the Evil Dead is out there and Spider Man's out there,
and everything he's done is out there. But there's just
something about the performances Billy, Bob Thornton's performance, Brent Brisco,
Bill Paxton, just you know, Bridget Fonda, just incredible performances.

(01:01:14):
And I love the fact, you know, this is nineteen
ninety eight. Raymie has not yet hit that blockbuster segment
of his career, so he's still learning things. And Garrett,
I know you've seen a simple plan. Majority of it
takes place in an area that's got heavy snowfall, also

(01:01:35):
has your buddy Gary Cole and it playing a bad guy.
But he learned several techniques on how to shoot in
heavy snow from his buddies, the Coen Brothers, who had
just done Fargo two years.

Speaker 2 (01:01:49):
Earlier, which was also a masterpiece.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
M Yeah, funny story. There's a quick blankety moment, blinkeny
miss moment. Bill Paxton's he's at He's at the general
store whatever, wherever he's working. This guy, this older guy,
comes in is arguing with him about how how there
could be five weeks in a month, and Bill Paxton's
you know, trying to explain common sense to him. Yeah,

(01:02:14):
that's Bill Paxton's real father.

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
No, way is it real?

Speaker 1 (01:02:18):
Yeah? And Bill Paxton showed up on set that day
not knowing that his dad had been cast in the
movie in this small part. And his dad know that
Bill Paxton, he's in a Bill Paxton movie. So these
they show up, they have they're like, Dad, what are
you doing? What are you doing here? So I dig
little things like that simple plan is what I would

(01:02:39):
recommend Garrett. What do you got next? Third and final recommendation, I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:02:45):
Gonna say just because it helped launch the Marvel universe.
The first Spider Man movie. That's amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:02:53):
Yeah, oh gosh, it's one of those situations where you're
thinking you're never going to see a Spider Man movie.
In the nineties, there was the rumor that the Jim
Cameron Leo DiCaprio Spider Man movie didn't didn't come to pass, thankfully,
if you ever heard the stories that they're looking.

Speaker 2 (01:03:12):
At Yeah, yes, sounds pretty rough, honestly.

Speaker 1 (01:03:18):
But but man, what we got in Spider Man two
thousand and two, it just, you know, I feel like
every couple of years a superhero movie comes out that
kind of reinvents the franchise. It it makes you believe
that we can make superhero films again, and this is
no uh, this is no exception. It's it's it's an

(01:03:41):
amazing moment in superhero cinema history. I love the fact
that they've tied that film back into the MCU with
No Way Home. It's just awesome. Man.

Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
And the fact that they're trying to get Toby maguire
for another stand up lone Spider Man movie since then
is awesome. I would pay to anything to watch and
see that because I love his original trilogy and Sam
Ramy he's a genius with those films.

Speaker 1 (01:04:11):
Yeah, I'm not gonna say I love Part three.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
It has its anties, but.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
It's still fun to watch. It's still you know, hey,
nothing's on TV and FX is playing Spider Man three.
I'm in. I'm watching it right. I got one more
for you, my third and final recommendation nineteen ninety nine,
for Love of the Game.

Speaker 2 (01:04:33):
I've never actually seen that film.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
Brother, You are missing out on the third film in
the Kevin Costner Baseball trilogy because you got Bull Durham.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
You got Field of Dreams.

Speaker 1 (01:04:49):
Yeah, you got Field of Dreams. You gotta see for
Love of the Game, a Sam Raimi Baseball movie. It's
a romantic drama. It's Costner doing baseball and doing it
damn good. If you don't know what it's about, it's basically, Uh,
he's playing Tiger's pitcher, Billy Chappel, and he's kind of

(01:05:10):
at the end of his career. He's ready, you know,
should he retire, and he's It's the whole movie is
like the club's getting sold and they plan to trade him,
and he's been a Tiger his entire life.

Speaker 2 (01:05:24):
And probably doesn't want to be traded now.

Speaker 1 (01:05:25):
Doesn't want to be traded, doesn't want to start over
somewhere else. And in a throwaway game that the New
York Yankees are hosting the Tigers are in town, he
just happens to be throwing a perfect game. And the
whole movie him going back in his mind and thinking
about how he started and you know, where he's been

(01:05:48):
and like this love story with the the very beautiful
Kelly Preston and how it went wrong. And meanwhile, you
got JK. Simmons playing the playing the Tiger's manager, you
got Joys as the catcher. It, dude, I'm telling you
you are missing an incredibly good Oh it's amazing cast

(01:06:10):
and it's just so damn good fun story. So, like
I said, they're the Yankees are hosting the Tigers in
the movie, and you know, he's throwing a perfect game
he has to win, which means that the Tigers have
to beat the Yankees in Yankee Stadium.

Speaker 2 (01:06:29):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
So Yankees under George Steinbrenner, not happy with the story,
doesn't want to doesn't want to sign off on this.
So Kevin Costner goes and visits George Steinbrenner and explains
that it's not about the Tigers beating the Yankees. It's
about his character, Billy Chappell, and Billy Chappell's story is

(01:06:50):
the focus of the movie, and it's not about them
winning the game because the loss means nothing for the
Yankees because in this movie's universe, the Yankees of clinch
the Al East Division.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
So yeah, this is a simple last game of the season,
you know, die on this hill.

Speaker 1 (01:07:06):
Yeah, Steinbrener gets it. They make the movie. Steinbrener loves it.
As a thank you to Kevin Costner for explaining it
to him, he gives him a Yankees nineteen ninety nine
World Series ring as a as a gift.

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Holy shit, dude, that is probablysive. Yeah, okay, okay, you've
got me in for the love of the game.

Speaker 1 (01:07:27):
Is it for love of the game?

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
For love of the game?

Speaker 1 (01:07:30):
Okay, listen, we you know, I know we got a
while playoffs are, we're getting close to playoffs now. But
if there's one baseball movie you haven't watched yet at ever,
it's it's this one.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:07:42):
You've got to see this before the season's over.

Speaker 2 (01:07:44):
I'm telling your sounds like I'm doing my homework this
vin week.

Speaker 1 (01:07:47):
Get such such a great film, man, Love it, absolutely
love it. Garrett, We've not been You don't need to
be a psychic like Annie to know that. We recommend
the gift. Where'd you see this one?

Speaker 2 (01:08:02):
So? I actually picked it up on Prime. I do
not own this one. It's been a few years since
I've seen it. I probably should get a hard copy
of this because I do enjoy this one so much.

Speaker 1 (01:08:14):
I'll tell you what. So listeners, it's streaming on Fubo,
MGM Plus and Canopy and Hoopla. I don't know what
those two are, but it's out there. If Hoopla and
Canopy people, it's out there for you. You can rent
it as Garrett said on Amazon or Apple Plus, but

(01:08:36):
I definitely suggest owning this one. There happens to be
a stunning four K Blu Ray Collectors Edition with multiple
audio commentaries, interviews, music videos, and more. And Garrett, because
I own that, and I still own the original DVD
Collector's Edition. Next time we hit the box office, I'll
have to here you go, buddy, Yeah, here's a copy

(01:08:59):
for you.

Speaker 2 (01:09:00):
You know, I've still got that Leslie Nielsen post for yeah.
H William, Yeah, I've got you, buddy.

Speaker 1 (01:09:07):
There we go. That's a fair trade. Uh, Listeners, what
do you think of Sam Remi's the gift? Have you
seen this one? Is it? Is it tough for you
to watch Keano play a villain like it is for us?
You can let us know on social media. You'll find
us on Facebook, Instagram, and x. You can check out
our website a film by podcast dot com, where you'll

(01:09:28):
get all the episodes streaming free. Uh, there's TV articles.
Our entire library links to the Patreon, which is gosh,
it's got like seventy episodes available now. It's that thing
has blown up, lots lots of fun. Uh, you know,
quick quick plug for the Patreon even if you're not

(01:09:49):
ready to uh to sign up and get all the
exclusive content, you can sign up for a free membership
with just an email, dress and h we got love
for you because we've we've got several free episodes as well.
We we we throw a free episode out there every
now and then, so check it out. In the meantime,
you can email us at a film By podcast at

(01:10:12):
gmail dot com with your questions, comments and concerns. We
may just read your response on the show and send
you some of a Film By swag. And hey, new stickers,
there's some new T shirts we got, we got, we've
got some fun stuff that we're gonna be giving away
at some of the conventions. But Garrett, I am. I'm
happy that you decided to talk Sam Raimi with me

(01:10:34):
a New Yeork fans. I know we've got several movies
to talk about next month. Oh yeah, we'll get to that.
And in the meantime, to all of you listening to
the show, following us on social media, subscribing to the Patreon,
we thank you.