Robin Williams with Steven Billings: An Introduction to Jumanji, Jack, and the Dead Poet's Society!!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'm welcome back to Film Foundations, the collaborative show between
weirding Way Media and Someone's Favorite Productions. I'm your co
host from Someone's Favorite, Ryan Verrel.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
And I'm your other host from weirding Way Media and
the Culture Cast Cristasue.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
On this show, we ask and answer four questions about
a given topic that is surrounding an actor, director, franchise,
or micro genre. Tonight, one that's very near and dear
to all of our hearts. I'm sure an actor, and
as you've seen in the title, we are going to
be discussing Robin Williams. And as usual, our job is
to entice you to broaden your horizons on film, encourage

(00:44):
you to travel down film tangents and side roads that
you may never have traveled down otherwise. And again this one,
this one's gonna be interesting because most people have probably
seen at least one film from Robin Williams. But I
have a very very strong inkling that we're gonna have
some interesting discussion tonight.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
And reason why is.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Because we have a very close friend of mine's our
guest tonight, and our guest one of the two co
hosts of Chasing Labels. It is an incredible podcast that
focuses on physical media just like mine, has some interviews
that they discuss with a lot of people in the world,
and even gets incredibly huge names like the director of Renfield.
My friend, mister Stephen Billings. Thanks for doing this.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
There, Oh no, no problem, man. It's good to be here, Ryan, Chris.
Nice meeting you for the first time here. Yeah, you know,
we all love physical media, we love film, and you know,
you know, taking kind of a little bit of a
break from just physical media talk, you know, it's good
to just have a nice discussion about one particular topic,

(01:42):
you know, subject matter. So and Rob Williams is something
that's you know, near, and he's near and dear to
my heart, you know, not just you know, as an actor,
but just his presence in film. Like I just always
really appreciated what he brought. So yeah, I can't wait
to discuss them tonight.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Well as we are, you know, waiting into the beginning
parts of this. First off, why'd you tell everybody what
Chasing Labels is? I'd love to hear your elevator pitch.
I don't think you've ever heard.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
This from you.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
Oh god, well, chasing Labels, Uh, you know is a
is a podcast that we me and my friend Andrew
Cabral co host together. And uh we you know, we
we used to do a weekly show, but then things
kind of got tough doing that weekly, so we do
it bi weekly now. And so we we we run
down the last couple of weeks of as releases. We

(02:33):
usually focus on things that interest us as collectors. You know,
we we used to run through as much as possible,
but we've kind of weaned it down to more like,
you know, picking our favorites, picking the things we feel
like we would add to our collection. And we and
you know Andrew, as I call the robot, uh he he,
he will watch as much as possible and help help
help give you an inside on the films that that

(02:56):
we we are talking about and help maybe make you
decide whether you want to buy or not. And uh
but on chasing labels, we know other things. We have
a show called the Unwatched Pile where we pick a
film out of our collection that we haven't watched, talk
about it, and then pair it with something in our
collection we have watched, and then we got other things.
We got movies down Memory Lane is a new thing

(03:16):
we started. We got some other things in the works,
but yeah, you know, interviews with a lot of insiders. Yeah,
we do a lot of we we spend a lot
of time on this, Ryan.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
I know the feeling all too will And in the meantime,
you got to try to watch stuff that involves some
of our favorites, like Robin Williams. So, yes, why why
Robin Williams. When we discussed this, this seemed like a
pretty immediate jump out topic for you.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
Yeah, so you know, yeah, you told me when you
told me about this show, you know, and it's called
Film Foundation. So I started to think about what what
what was somebody you know, you know, because the different
type of categories you asked me about, you know, you said,
like a genre franchise something like that, and I said, well,
you know, as my foundations obviously started when I was young,

(04:08):
and so for I think a lot of us, you
kind of grabble into two actors, you know, actors For
me was where I you know, when I'm watching movies
when I'm a kid, I'm either I'm not thinking about
the director yet, I'm not thinking about who you know,
who's who's behind making this yet I'm thinking about who's
on the screen. And the actor that always was on

(04:30):
the screen when I was a kid that always made
me laugh, made me cry, and continued to up to
you know. Of course, unfortunately passed some years back, but
but for a long time throughout my life would always
make make me entertain me in so many different ways,
and that was Robin Williams. And I was like, he's
he's really my favorite actor. I mean, he's really my

(04:50):
favorite actor of all the time. And I feel like
that that would be a foundational person for me to
talk about.

Speaker 5 (04:55):
So that's that's why I choose him.

Speaker 4 (04:57):
He's just just always been a really important figure in
my movie watching life.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
So what about you, Chris, how do you feel about
Robin Williams.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Uh, I'm I'm right there with you, Steven. I think
that obviously, I'm just gonna assume we're close in age,
you know, and that would mean that, you know, sixty five,
I'm sixty five, yeah, seventy one. Here you were like,
I knew it. I knew it close in age, you know,

(05:27):
like you've kind of already alluded to the idea of
watching something when you're a kid and it makes an
impact on you. I mean Look, there's one thing that
Robin Williams did, I think, one specific thing that he
did when we were of a right age that is
still best I can tell, like a high water mark
for Disney as a company, along with Robin Williams as

(05:48):
an actor in terms of creating a character in Aladdin
that like, I don't know, makes an indelible mark to
the point where when people are like, and they're doing
a Laddin live action and who is playing the all right,
it would have been better if we had just not
done this right, Okay, good, everybody agreed, but we did
it anyways, Like that is part and parcel because of

(06:09):
who Robin Williams is as an actor creating that character
that I mean again, yes, Aladdin is a movie about Aladdin,
but it's really a movie about the fucking genie. Uh
and And that, for me, I think is what Robin
Williams is. Like anything he is in he stands out
in a way that is hard to ignore him as
an actor. And like you've kind of already alluded to,
if you're that kind of actor, you will become someone's

(06:31):
favorite actor too, because you are someone that they are
going out of their way to see because they're giving
you a reason to And I feel like Robin Williams
multi talented, multifaceted actor in a lot of ways. But yeah, no,
I'm right there with you. The kind of my entry
points of Robin Williams may be a little different than yours,
but I think we're kind of simpatico. I'm with you.

(06:53):
Like Robin Williams is a big part of my formative years,
especially Robin Williams stand up comedy. Yeah, this stand up
comedy is I mean, most people don't think of it
as a stand up comedian, but like that's a big
part of this for me, is his stand up comedy stuff.
So I'll say, what about you, Ryan.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
Well, I mean, the stand up comedy thing is his
most consistent thing that's he started doing that, and it's
the only thing that he literally did his entire career. Obviously,
more comedy was a big breakout for him, but he
didn't do a ton of stuff for a handful of
years after that, and then the early eighties he got
a couple like fairly big roles, but he didn't hit

(07:32):
hard as a not even like a movie star, but
as like a movie personality until the late eighties. And
throughout the entire time he is touring, he's you know,
on and off substances and getting himself right and healthy.
And then the nineties came and he just exploded as
as not just a movie character, but as a full

(07:54):
blown star that will put butts in seats and you know,
showing different flex of his ability to encapsulate roles that
people had sort of seen early on but really forgotten,
like it was a long time since Moscow on the
Hudson before he started doing you know, some of the
more serious things in the mid to late nineties, and
then you know the two thousands, dark times for him

(08:17):
and his multiple wives, dark times for him and going
to rehab and dark times.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
For some of those film choices.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
And unfortunately it's because you know, he's like the main
person that we've heard throughout years is that when you
have a comedian a lot of times there's a lot
of sadness behind those eyes. And I have loved Robin
Williams probably since I was like four or five years old.
Without knowing it. I think Aladdin was the first thing
I ever saw. But if it wasn't, it had to

(08:43):
have been hooked. Like I know, personally, that hook is
really not a great movie. Steven Spielberg just kind of
threw everything possible. The plot makes zero sense when you
take even like a half a step back and look
at the movie. However, he is everything about that movie.
He is like that naive, very innocent, very irritable person

(09:08):
in the beginning of that movie turning into somebody getting
more and more childish, which is the epitome of the
Peter Pans story. And the way that his like, the
way that he makes you smile as that movie goes
on and on. Yeah, the movie sucks, but I still
fucking love it. That movie's incredible and I watched that
so so much growing up, and to see from there

(09:30):
to go to things like discovering Moscow on the Hudson
twenty years after it was made and being like, whoa,
this is the Robin Williams that we had in nineteen
eighty two, and I fell in love with the Robin
Williams of the early nineties.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
That is so different.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
And you know a lot of other people they only
remember your misdoubt fires and your flubbers, and it's like, Jesus,
this guy is so much more than that. And he
always was. But Yeah, he's He's just a gift to cinema.
I feel like this is one.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
That I.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Think that the three of us could probably just gush
about it for the next hour and a half and
call it good. But obviously we try to get a
little more detail on that history on Robin Williams. Anything
that you want to share for you, Steven, that was
formative or any compelling stories from his history you want
to share with everybody, make sure they know.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
I mean, I mean, very much like you, I would say,
probably Aladdin. What was the the first thing that did
influence me? You know, introduced me, you know. And it's
funny because you know, yeah, I mean, they make the
genie look very much like Robin Williams, but you know,
you're not.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
You don't know the real face yet, you know.

Speaker 4 (10:37):
And as a kid, there's definitely video footage of me
with the shell case of VHS running around the living room,
you know, watching this on repeat.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
And yeah, and so.

Speaker 4 (10:50):
His voice, in his charisma and all that stuff was
definitely in my ears and in my eyes very early
on and from there, all the nineties stuff really, you know, really,
you know, just everything he did, Jumanjie, you know, you
know Jack, you know all that stuff, you know what

(11:12):
he does, like you kind of described with hook, you know,
that innocence, that ability to have a sincereness and almost
childlike way about him worked for him time and time again.
And then of course he went to dark places as well.
And that's the stuff that came later for me, you know,
the stuff that I would discover later and go back
and be like, damn, like this dude did everything like

(11:35):
this guy, you know, you know, And honestly, some of
our best actors have a comedic background, like they just
and he's just one of the best. He's honestly, he
kind of set the standard for a lot of comedic
actors I think that are doing it now, that are
trying to delve into that, you know, go from comedy
to more dramatic roles. I think he really really set

(11:55):
a new standard during that time. So but yeah, I mean, yeah,
I mean once again, it's just you could, I could.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
I know, there's questions to go along with that. I
want to stomp over the same ground.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
So but yeah, well then let's let's jump into the
ground then and make sure that we are solving everything
in the proper order. Why don't we start question number one?
Of course, what do you think Stephen is the foundational
title for somebody that, miraculously in their life has somehow
never seen a Robin Williams film. What is the best

(12:27):
one for somebody new to him to watch?

Speaker 2 (12:29):
First? Well, this is tough.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
This was really tough for me because, like, you know,
when I'm thinking about what was like, you know, the
first thing that I like, I'm either going with my
heart or going with like what I really think would
be the like, it was tough, Like, Okay, So my
first inclination was Missus Doubtfire because I feel like Missus

(12:52):
Doubtfire shows Robin Williams at the height of his powers
and doing you know, you know, it's a family film,
but it's also something that deals with a really you know,
of course serious subject matter of you know, of family
being torn apart, things like that, and he's he's able
to play multiple characters in this one movie, even do

(13:13):
some voice acting in the beginning of this movie. But
then when I really started to think about it, I said, well,
you know, for I think it's important to see closer
to what would be the beginnings of what he became
later on.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Is a little bit more important.

Speaker 4 (13:29):
And I think if I had to choose a first
film for somebody to be introduced, it would probably be
Good Morning Vietnam. I think Good Morning Vietnam, you know,
shows multiple sides of.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Robin Williams.

Speaker 4 (13:44):
You know, he's he's in you know, the war, and
you know he's there's serious things going on around him.
He has to be sensitive. There's scenes where he has
to be sensitive to to what's going on. But then
he's also looking at himself as this you know, this
light for people that are going through hell. You know
he is, he is on the radio, he is trying

(14:04):
to live in the people's spirits. He's he's in this
war zone. And this is where you get to see
that stand up you know, that that that that he's
so as you said, you know, known for, and he
did through his whole career a lot of that stand
up in that improv and that you know on the
on the fly comedy is all up in this.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
I mean it's all up in this.

Speaker 4 (14:26):
And this really just shows off his talent as a
as a as a comedian. And I think that that's
where you have to start with. Where Rob Williams is
is show the range. The range is all over this movie.
And this is where I would tell people to start
the big thing with this one too.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Is it shows that he can carry a film. Was
the first one that was like, this movie is all
Robin all the time, and funny enough. As I was
thinking which one to choose, this and one other were
competing for me, and I went with the other one.
But this, I mean, is it's so foundational for him.
Like the fact that he was nominated for the Best

(15:05):
Actor Oscar for this is still mind blowing. It was
so early in his career and not somebody that you
would typically trust with the giant role like this. I
could see any other lifetime where when this came out,
this could have easily gone to Tom Hanks with the
run that he was going on comedy wise, this would
have been an easy casting. But man, I'm so glad

(15:26):
that he made this movie. This movie is damn near perfect.
It holds up really well. It is such an interesting story,
and honestly, the fact that it came out so soon
after the Vietnam War and everybody's still feeling the effects
of that is really compelling timing. But Chris, how do
you feel about Good Morning Vietnam, And then.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
What's your pick for the foundational title.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
I've never seen good Morning whoa.

Speaker 5 (15:54):
Yeah, it's okay, man, Hey, now it's time.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
It's time now, of course it's okay. I mean at
the end of the day, and it's just a movie.
But I mean to your point, I obviously can acknowledge
the fact that it's an important movie, like you mentioned,
nominated for Best Actor. So what's funny is I you know,
this is not a movie that I had even really
seen until last year. And again, I'm only picking this because, again,

(16:23):
in the way that I look at it, I think
that you would be so doing someone a disservice if
you didn't tell them to watch Missus Doubtfire. It's a
movie I did not see until literally November of last
year December. Again, I love Robin Williams, but the things
that I love him for is not Missus Doubtfire. That's
my second answer, is the thing that's like my Robin

(16:44):
Williams thing. It's probably not going to be either of
y'all's answers, but that's the thing with someone like Robin Williams.
It was actually harder for me to pick the next
question than it was this one because, like you've already
alluded to, Steven, like the idea of what is needed
from Robin Williams is a exactly what he gives in
that movie, which is a performance that again, having never

(17:05):
seen it, I didn't realize how sad the movie was
gonna be. And it's like also how and again like
there's something about him, Robin Williams, like he plays a
sad sack so perfectly that it's hard not to cry.
Like I cried more watching Missus Doutfire than I have
in most movies because for me, music is what resonates

(17:26):
with me emotionally more than film does. Even though I
love film, I don't get teary eyed at movies and
I get you put on a certain song and like
that I'll start crying. But Missus Doutfire got me pretty good,
because again, like I think there's something about Robin Williams
where he's like you've mentioned, he's funny, but he can
also be very kind of open about his feelings. But

(17:46):
he's also like a man child, but he's also conflicted
about being a man child. And then he literally plays
another character as well, So for me, it's Missus Doubtfire.
Is it kind of a cop out?

Speaker 5 (17:56):
Eh?

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Maybe? Is it maybe the obvious choice? Maybe? But I
think it's the right choice. And also I'd like to
point out I am probably, if not secretly, I will
say it openly because I'm not ashamed of it. A
huge fan of Chris Columbus as a filmmaker. Oh yeah, yeah,
he's a good filmmaker. Yeah. We did. When we did
our Harry Potter episode of Film Foundations. I think I
waxed poetically a little bit about Chris Columbus and his

(18:19):
ability to actually get good performances out of child actors,
which is, don't work with animals and don't work with kids,
and Chris Columbus has proved at least half of that wrong.
I feel like because and missus Doubtfire, I think is
a good example of that as well, because it's also
a great The kid actors in that movie are great.
I mean, you have one of the Lawrence brothers, you

(18:39):
have her name escape Soon, but the little girl that
plays Madeline yea, yeah, she plays Mara Wilson and then
and also has Pierce Brosident in kind of a fun
role in Sally Field. But you're there for Robin Williams
and so yeah, he he runs away with that movie
from scene one. I enjoyed that movie a lot, and

(18:59):
like I said, for me, it was not a movie
I was expecting to cry during, but I definitely cried
during it.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
That and for about a year after that movie, all
you could hear from people resonating across the country is.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah, it's like the borat of its time.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, missus doubt fire is uh.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
I mean it was tough.

Speaker 4 (19:22):
That was like my pick, B my b pick of
what like I was, it was tough because I agree
with you.

Speaker 5 (19:28):
It's just it's just it's got everything.

Speaker 4 (19:31):
I mean, he and he and it's like really in
the middle of his career when he's at like his
a top a level of stardom and and it's and.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
It's so quotable.

Speaker 4 (19:41):
It's so just little things, just little scenes like the
scene where he's he's uh, he's in the studio by
himself and he's thinking about how to make that Dinah
short Sore show better and he's like comes up there
and he's just improvent Donald Darnall a rap to doing
what I can. You know, he's like doing all his
things and I'm just like, this is just these little things.

(20:03):
There are things that I remember about the movie more
than any of the big, big moments people remember, Like,
that's the stuff that I would mimic as a kid,
you know, by my you know, by myself and a
mirror because I'm weird, you know, doing stuff like that.
You know, you know that and other actors that I
was enjoying at the time, you know. Just yeah, it's
such a such an amazing movie, little little quips here

(20:25):
and there that I remember, you know, it's I love it.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
I love Missus Doutfire. Can you imagine we live in
a universe where it was almost Tim Allan and he
turned the role down, that movie would have been awful,
just a nightmare. Because look, I don't mind Tim Allan
his politics aside apparently, but I've never really seen Tim
Allen have an emotional side to him. And that's even

(20:50):
in the Santa Claus, which is like effectively his Missus Doubtfire. Right, Like,
I look at Santa Claus and I'm like, that's the
movie that Tim Allan made instead of making Missus Doubtire,
because it's got that same weird energy to it.

Speaker 4 (21:02):
Yeah, they both they both can can play the everyman
in a way.

Speaker 2 (21:07):
Divorced Dad.

Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yeah, yeah, they can both play the every man in
a way. But the thing that Robin Williams can do
vastly better than him is, like you said, show emotion,
show transparency, show you know, show just show range. He's
I mean, Tim Allen's really kind of got a stick.
He's kind of got you know, this like kind of
man's man, relatable kind of way about him that I

(21:30):
think a lot of people like. I like Tim Allan.
I like I like the films of that time, like
the Santa Claus growing up, alove that. Yeah, But but
he just doesn't have that versatility that Robin Williams can
can bring to a role where he's he feels relatable,
he feels sincere, he feels like you're staring into his

(21:52):
soul through his eyes, Like he's got this way of
his eyes. You know a lot of times when I
when I talk, when I I said this and I
know this is a little bit of a But like
zac Efron, when zac Efron tried to come from being
a high school musical to a film actor, I always
had a problem with him because he never really I
didn't think he was good because his eye I couldn't
see it in his eyes like an actor can project.

(22:14):
I think when he's good, you can tell in his
eyes that he means what he's doing, like you can
he's coming across. And he always seemed dead eyed to me.
But now I feel like he's growing as an actor,
like when he I just watched Iron Call for the
first time and I was like, dude, he took it
to a new level, like he he finally roke out,
Oh he's amazing in that movie. And I was like,
he broke out. He finally did it to me, like

(22:34):
he finally convinced me that he's in this role when
he's not, you know something, He's not zac Efron anymore,
you know, so but yeah, that's what Rob Williams does
every time, almost like he just he convinces me that
he's he's totally invested so well. And it's that sadness
I think too, because I mean Robin Williams talks about it,
you know. Matthew Lawrence I think shares the story about

(22:57):
like going into Robin Williams trailer and seeing him just
like head and hands, like dejected, and like I think
Robin Williams's natural setting was probably a very depressed person.
I was gonna say, his real who he is really,
you know behind the cameras, you know, I think it
was a very sad person.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
So that's why he plays sad so well. It made
it and he could go to that place, you know, Yeah,
he knew it all too well, which is I mean again,
like he's clearly struggled with mental health, which is something
that I think a lot of us struggle with. So yeah,
it's hard, I mean and again, like that's the hard
thing because, like you mentioned, Robin Williams passed away, but
Robin Williams took his own life because he was struggling

(23:36):
his He lost his struggle with mental health unfortunately. And
like and Missus Doutfire, like we've talked about it, you
can see that he's genuinely sad in those scenes in
a way that most actors, like you've already alluded to,
really can't go there. Even like even a Tom Hanks
has a hard time getting there. For me, Like I've
seen Forrest Gup a bunch of times, and I've never
thought at any point was it a sad movie. Missus

(23:58):
Doutfire is a lot sadder of a movie because Robin
Williams's ability to be genuine is just almost unparalleled.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
Frankly, I agree, Uh so mine for this one.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
I again, I was struggling between Good Morning Vietnam and
this one, and I kind of said, I owe it
to myself to pick one that's a little more on
the family side, because I got to hit something because
he hit so many of those, and uh, the one
that was always so important for me was nineteen ninety
five's Jumoji.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
Hell yeah, that's a good one.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
This movie, man, I mean, first of all, incredible cast,
like Robin Williams obviously steals every scene that he's in,
but young Kirsten Dunts, David Allen Greer is hilarious in
this body Hunt is great even like Babe Newarth Jonathan.

Speaker 3 (24:42):
Hyde are great and then is amazing.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
Yeah, and then Patricia Clarkson like a super small role.
But the way this movie unravels and you just stare
at the way they keep one upping it and it
doesn't feel it feels so ahead of its time. Something
about it. It doesn't feel nineteen ninety five. It feels
like something that should have been about a decade later.
And I mean the story itself is great, the effects

(25:06):
are done pretty damn well, but the chemistry between this
entire cast is always what sold it for me. Like
the scenes cutting from when they're playing the board game
to wing their kids again and they're hugging still. Something
about that is just like I want to be sitting
right next to them and console them like they just
had their life flashed before their eyes.

Speaker 3 (25:27):
So much.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
But yeah, this movie is incredible. It gets his comedy
on every single scene that he's in, it gets his
emotion for what it needs to be. It's very similar
to Missus Doubtfire, and that for me it gets it
feels like he brings out better in all of these
cast members, and not that they're not good actors, but
without him in this role, I think absolutely none of

(25:50):
them would have given the performance that they did and
it would not have felt as earnest as it did.
So Yeah, Jumanji, I think is a brilliant entry point
for somebody that's never seen any of these because you
get a little bit of everything and it's gonna make
you go off into nine different angles after that and go, well, God,
now I have to seek everything out.

Speaker 4 (26:09):
Yeah, and also directed by I think a little bit
of an underrated director.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
Joe Johnston.

Speaker 4 (26:14):
Oh yep, done some really cool stuff, you know, whether
it's The Rocketeer or October Sky, you know, and of
course he did he did like the first Captain America film.
You know, like he's he's a little bit of a journeyman,
but he like when he does something, it's usually kind
of a fun genre movie. So I really think he's
a cool underrated director.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
Well, considering how much you've waxed poetic on everything else,
dying to hear this one. So our second question, how
about you share a lesser known film in his filmography,
one that would be maybe a little bit of a
turn off if somebody were to watch that one first.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
Well this was tough too, because I mean, like, as
you know, as I've gotten older, I have tried to
fill in them gaps, you know, the stuff I didn't
watch early on, in the stuff that maybe is a
little lesser known, especially a lot I mean, like a
lot of his most recent before he passed a lot
of that that later Rob Williams is kind of you
know placed that I don't think a lot of people.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Have watched a lot of that stuff.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
But but I went back into the nineties because this
was a This was a movie I actually did watch
kind of early in my life. I watched it, but
at the time didn't really kind of connect it all.
Like I just knew that it was kind of an
interesting film and and was kind of a sad movie,
and just it did it didn't. I didn't know what

(27:32):
to make of it then. But then as as I've
watched it over the years again and again, it just
becomes more it becomes more tough to watch because it
is it is so sad, but it's also beautiful. I mean,
it's it's just a I think, a kind of an
underrated movie in his filmography. And that's what dreams May Come.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
It's gonna say, there's a component of this that we're
missing out on where we could be like we could
guess what you're gonna say, because I was between three
things there and that was one of them. Okay for sure, way,
thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (28:06):
You know.

Speaker 4 (28:06):
This was Yeah, it was one that I watched a
lot of very early on, and I think, you know,
and rewatching it recently, I I you know, I'm astounded
at how visually amazing this movie is, Like for the nineties.
It did win Best Visual Effects at the Oscars the
year it came out, so and it still holds up amazingly.
You know a lot of visuals of like, you know,

(28:29):
everything looking.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
Like a painting. He's like in this, in this painting,
and he's.

Speaker 4 (28:33):
Which is his after life? And essentially the movie is
about you know, these these soulmates you know that meet
each other and fall in love and have a beautiful family,
and then tragedy hits them and eventually, you know, Robin
Williams dies, goes into the afterlife and and from there
he's you know, discovering. You know, he's getting to see

(28:56):
what's still going on out out in his life, you know,
connected to his wife, and it's I don't want to
tell the whole story of the movie, but it's it's
a very sad movie, very melancholic movie, but it's also
got this hopefulness to it that that once again Robin
william brings, you know, he brings this sense of hope
to this role that I think it is is the
beating heart. Like if if he wasn't in the movie,

(29:19):
this movie could have been a lot sadder than it
already was. Like I think if he wasn't, if he
didn't have that bride eyed noss, Like, if they had
had Keanu Reeves played in this movie instead.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
Of him, this movie would have fucking been so depressing, because.

Speaker 4 (29:34):
I mean, at the time, Rob Keanu Reeves could have easily,
you know, big star at the time, fell into this
role and it would have been just so sad. But
he finds a way to make this sad story into
a into kind of a kind of a hopefulness by
the end of it. And uh and uh I I
just always kind of go back to this movie every
once in a while, just just if I'm feeling a

(29:55):
dark movie, you know, like that he did that. I
just I'm like, damn, it's damn, this is a this
is a this is this is a movie.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
But anybody was everybody else think that's another movie that
makes me cry every time I watch it, which is
why I've only seen it once. Literally, my wife was like.

Speaker 5 (30:12):
I like, I like going back to movies that make
you cry.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
Oh yeah, yeah, it's not. There's no apprehension there, it's
just I have never gone back to it because, like,
it's an amazing movie though, Like the visuals alone are fantastic.
What about you, veryl what do you think?

Speaker 1 (30:30):
I love this movie, But again it's been a very
long time since I've seen it, like maybe the early
two thousands.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
This is one of those one that's for some.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Reason, the magnet doesn't draw me back immediately. So honestly,
this is a perfect pick for number two here. I
think it's obviously a really well made movie and one
that he he is this movie, and that's true about
so many of these, and it's fantastical in so many
interesting ways and just a rough one to approach. Yeah,

(31:01):
this is this is honestly a perfect pick for number.

Speaker 5 (31:04):
Two, and it's and the thing is as sad as
it is.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
It is a love story.

Speaker 4 (31:08):
Like that's the thing that's interesting about it is is
it's it's a romantic movie for Rob Williams. He's playing
a romantic lead in a way. I mean essentially at
the heart of this movie, it's about how soulmates lived
through life and death. I mean it's it's it's like
it's like Interstellar, love goes through time and space, you know,
and and done a lot better sending that message a

(31:30):
lot better than that movie.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
I like Interstellar, fine, but but.

Speaker 4 (31:34):
It's uh, yeah, it's it's such a just beautiful, sensitive,
artistically well made movie.

Speaker 2 (31:42):
Yeah, love it.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Well, Chris, Do you want to share your your pick
for number two? Here?

Speaker 3 (31:48):
I do. So.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
What's funny is when you started talking about the nineties,
was like, oh shit, is he gonna say my pick?
And look like you've kind of already alluded to Robin Williams.
It might astound people to learn that Robin william actually
has a lot of roles, a lot of roles on
his CV. Like you mentioned some of the stuff, some
of the stuff he does with bobcat Goldwath, you know,
stuff like that that comes out in the you know,

(32:10):
tens in the mid two thousand's, like great stuff, but
not stuff that's going to move the needle. And I'll
go as far as to say that this movie I
don't think moved the needle for anybody. You've already eluded
and spoken about the other time that Robin Williams in
this director worked together. But my pick is a film
that nobody talks about for understandable reasons. Nineteen ninety two's

(32:34):
Passion Project for the director Barry Levinson's toys. Absolutely adore
that movie. I get it. It is not a good
movie in a lot of ways, but at the same
time it's kind of perfect because Robin Williams what they
like it was. It was one of those, again early
times where they were trying to do the comedy and

(32:55):
the serious at the same time. And I think it
kind of is a little lopsided. I don't think it
needs to be as serious as it is, and a
lot of stuff just happens in the movie without any explanation,
but it is a movie that's kind of beyond explanation. Frankly,
if I were to say it's a movie about I
would say it's a movie that's more or less a

(33:16):
character study of the Willy Wonka of a toy company effectively,
and if that's not something you're into, I totally get it.
Like you've already mentioned with your pick, this movie has
a great supporting cast Michael Gambond, Joan Cusack, Robin Wright,
ll cool J. I'm pretty sure this is Jamie Fox's
first movie as well. I normally don't like Robin Wright

(33:36):
in a lot of things. She's amazing in this movie,
and Joan Cusack is also amazing, and Michael Gambond plays
Robin Williams's uncle who has a adopted son played by
ll cool J, which is a bizarre sentence that has
to be uttered. But again, this is an interesting movie,
but it is definitely similar to your pick a thing
that is so its own thing. I could not, in

(33:59):
good conscience advise someone go and watch it as their
first Robin Williams thing, because they would probably be like,
why did you make me watch that movie again? Like,
I don't know. It's a movie that I've done a
podcast episode on on the Culture Cast, and even then
I kind of struggled to talk about it because it's
such a strange movie in a way that passion projects

(34:21):
tend to be, like the upcoming what is it called Cosmopolis,
the Copola movie. It's like it's a massive patchion project.
I'm like, it's gonna be so fucking weird, nobody's gonna
like it. And that's kind of how I felt about toys,
Like I saw it like in the mid nineties and
it made an impression on me, but nobody's talking about it.
It doesn't even have a It then became a cult

(34:41):
classic thing on Wikipedia, which a lot of movies do
have that. But that's my answer for toys. Now, I'm
very curious either one of y'all have opinions about Toys.

Speaker 4 (34:51):
I don't really have an opinion, to be honest, I
think I've seen it once and I don't even really
remember it that well to speak on it. So so
I'll let you know when i've seen it again, because
I honestly, you talking about it makes me like maybe
I should just watch it again.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
It's been a while, so it's not a movie to
see when you're a kid, because when you see it
when you're a kid, like it's fucking PG thirteen, like
it's called Toys, but it is an adult movie. So yeah,
I don't know how or why I saw it, but
it made an impression on me, and I can understand,
like if you saw it and it didn't, would not
be something you'd come back to.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Toys is great, and it needs a lot more recognition.
It definitely is a great It's one that I in
anyone else's filmography, this would be a standout performance. But
because it's fucking Robin Williams, it's like number eighteen on
a list of just masterpieces essentially, But when you take
it and set it in like this, weird pedestal that

(35:48):
it deserves. Amongst the rest of his titles, you can
recognize the genius here. There is so much on this
that is just wild and honestly maybe one of the
most iconic pieces of art from the poster from any
of his movies. That poster is like that was in
every video store for a couple of years at least.
Loved this movie, been a long time, solid.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
Solid pick.

Speaker 1 (36:12):
What's yours, Bryan, You both delived in the nineties. So
I'm gonna go with the with the depressing pick, and
I think that everybody hearing that probably already knows what
it's gonna be if you've seen it. I'm gonna have
to go with the two thousand and nine film called
World's Greatest Dad, just like Chris just alluded to. Directed
by Bobcat Goldthwaite, this is a movie about Juny Cortez

(36:32):
from The Spy Kids killing himself and becoming a bit
of a cult phenomenon at his high school, and the
way that Robin Williams deals with it being his dad,
and obviously with the fact that he took himself out
a few years after this. This movie sort of became
like a we don't want to talk about this movie,

(36:53):
but it is. It is a very like perfect black
satirical movie that has done just magnificently. Also, it's I know,
it's Robin Williams, and he's known for being crude and.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
Stand up and all that.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
He didn't do that all that often in his films,
especially in the later part of his career, and it's
a very taboo filled movie and with everything that Bobcat
Goldwaite is willing to discuss under the Sun, which is
literally anything, Robin Williams has this wide open palate to
just like paint as creatively as he wants to with

(37:30):
this really heartfelt and depressing and like life affirming script.
And it's incredible he because of the broken mess that
he found himself being, especially around this time, because he
was like going through yo yo periods with his wife

(37:50):
and you know, going back to rehab like two years
before this and being clean at the time but still
struggling with mental health. All of that hurt shine to
this movie in a role that you would think like,
maybe you should have passed that up because this hits
really close to home. But watching it, this movie is

(38:12):
so easy to just find your semblance of humanity within
it and and somehow wear it like a warm blanket
because it works because of what you've seen Robin Williams
in before that. And that's why I chose it for this,
because everything that he did before that makes this movie

(38:32):
actually work. If he didn't have the endearing twenty five
year career that he did right before this, it would
just be some weird old dude playing the dad of
a masturbating teenager. But instead it's this heartfelt, depressive state
of somebody that you felt like you've known for the
last thirty years.

Speaker 3 (38:53):
And I love this movie.

Speaker 4 (38:57):
Yeah, I think there's sometimes there's actors that, you know,
as they get older, they as they get into their careers,
they start to become more and more self aware of
their legacy, and so sometimes I think they're they pick
roles that sometimes reflect, you know, some of what they've
already done and in a way trying to move on
from it in a way like I think, you know,

(39:18):
maybe you know, Robin Williams was looking at what he
had done and he's trying to figure out a way
to keep it interesting. So he does something you know,
and Bob Bob Cadiff like you said he's going to
always do He's gonna he's gonna go for very hard
subject matters, and I'm sure for Robin Williams that's enticing,
especially at this point in his career.

Speaker 2 (39:37):
So you know, Willing.

Speaker 4 (39:40):
You know, as comedians, they they want to they want
to talk about the things that people are uncomfortable they
want to talk about. So definitely, I think a perfect
movie for like you said, for for later in his
career and kind of looking back and reflecting. Yeah, and
it wouldn't have, like you said, wouldn't have worked with
anybody else.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
So I think Bob Kat Goldway should make appearance on
an episode of this show at some point. I mean
there's not a million movies, but there's enough, including the
movie that it's eluded that women are being taken into
the forest by Bigfoot to become forest brides, which is
something only Bobcat would do, like you, like you alluded to, Steve,
like Bobcat is just he is very much his own

(40:20):
person and I love him for that. There are very
few people like that in the industry that are given
as much sway and swing as Bobcat. But yeah, and
then he gets to work with people like Robin Williams.
So this is the movie I've never seen. It's been
on my list forever. But I will say I'm a
little disappointed that you didn't mention Two thousand and nine's
also filmed that Robin Williams was in All Dogs, a

(40:42):
great film.

Speaker 4 (40:44):
Well, the other one that was kind of my other
kind of under radar kind of like it was One
Hour Photo was kind of the other one, oh, kind
of that was the other one I thought about talking about.
But What Dreams May Come just connected with me more.
But One Our Photo is one of the roles he
did that just fucking spine tingling, just whole other person

(41:06):
in that movie.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
The movie that I struggled with putting as my second
or first, first, second choice also came out in two
thousand and two, which I'm a huge fan of Death
to Smoochie, which is another week like like One Hour Photo,
that is a weird role for Robin Williams to have,
but that one's gotten the cult status it sure has,
right me, mentioning and going to bad for Death to

(41:28):
Smoochie is not going to surprise anybody because it's a
it's a cult movie, just like One Hour Photo is
in a lot of ways, Like you know, nobody mentioned
by Centennial Man. There's some weird things that Robin Williams
did that Like I'm disappointed we didn't mention because there's
a whole group of people that are a little older
than like, I don't know, like in they're like ten

(41:51):
to fifteen year olds that only know him from Night
at the Museum, which is like again like Sean Leevy
kind of a Chris Columbus adjacent style guy, and the
kinds of stuff that he does doing a thing with
Robin Williams. That's like again, I can only assume there's
got to be a large group of people that love
Robin Williams because of Night at the Museum, Right, Yeah,

(42:16):
you know, it's you know, I guess for somebody you know,
like where you know, I mean, like any actor, they're
always trying to find a way to stay relevant at
different points of their career. And he, you know, I
mean Teddy Roosevelt, you know he you know, it works right,
and he looks like him, he really low key does
with a mustache with the right style mustache. He really

(42:36):
looks like him.

Speaker 4 (42:37):
And then what's kind of weird is too is like
it wasn't the third one, like one of his last.

Speaker 1 (42:43):
Roles, like as sure was it came out after he died.

Speaker 4 (42:46):
Yeah, yeah, so like it was kind of weird seeing
him that being kind of like one of the final
things he did was like that kind of like five
minutes of screen time and you know that Third Night
of the Museum movie that everybody wanted, you know, it's yeah,
there's a lot of great I mean, like one of
the ones that did we didn't mention at all. Birdcage

(43:06):
is another way that I think is just such a
you know, a movie that needs to be is just
still remembered and still loved by many that I do.
I bring that thing out like once every year.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
So I think we should. I think we should go
to the next question because I think we can just
start naming stuff for the next question at this okay,
which is something we have not really done. But there's
so like, there's so many on this list that's the problem.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
So let's let's get into it then, Steven, what do
you think is Robin Williams's biggest impact on pop as
a whole? And again, it doesn't need to be like
a certain title, Uh, it can be I mean with him,
there's there's a lot of stuff that we can allude to.
I mean, we've already talked about Vietnam, We've talked about
World's Greatest, to add so many, so many other things
that he did, like personally affected people. So, in your opinion,

(43:54):
greatest impact on pop culture from Robin willis.

Speaker 4 (43:58):
To be honest, I think there's a couple of things.
One's more on the positive side. One you can you
could almost say is for him. I'm sure even he
would even consider this kind of more on the negative side.
But positively, I think his his style as an actor
in comedies greatly influenced some of the big you know,

(44:20):
filmmakers that made comedies in the two thousands up through now,
Like I would say specifically Judd Apatow. The loose kind
of almost off the cuff way he does his comedy
in his movies, where it's a lot of like ad libbing,
I think is something that's very much influenced by what
Robin Williams did and other actors like Jim Carrey of
the time would do. I think he he very greatly

(44:43):
influenced that style. I don't think that that style always
works sometimes I get a little sick of the rambling,
you know, and that and that you know, that works
better as as a stand up you know, it doesn't
necessarily always work in a in a narrative film. But
but I think he definitely had an impact on comedy,
you know, in that way. But the other thing I
was alluding to, and I think is I think been

(45:04):
something of conversation in recent times, is.

Speaker 5 (45:09):
His impact on voice acting.

Speaker 4 (45:12):
Being being of course, the breakout with the Genie in
Aladdin kind of changed the industry, and I think it
kind of changed it kind of for a negative.

Speaker 5 (45:22):
You know.

Speaker 4 (45:22):
It calls this this snowball effect of casting big actors
to play to play animated voice characters, you know, and
and taking jobs away from voice actors you know, nor
you know, people that do this for a living, that
do all the hard work and do amazing voice acting
now gets taken away from by Bradley Cooper, you know,

(45:43):
or you know, Emma Stone or whoever.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
The big actor is Chris Pratt, I think is the
name you're looking for.

Speaker 4 (45:48):
Chris Pratt, who's playing every character animated character ever, he's
now got to be Garfield. So it's it's I think
that you could say that one of the biggest impact
his you know character as the Genie had was that
it made studios really realize the impact of having a
big name behind the voice of your characters and how

(46:10):
it can draw more people in more adults into the
theater as well to see the kid films. And yeah,
I mean it's unfortunately it's not the most positive thing
he did to impact the film, but still an impact
I think still something we're dealing with today.

Speaker 3 (46:28):
So preparing for.

Speaker 1 (46:30):
This, I went back and watched some of his old interviews,
which are some of the things I've always loved from him.
His appearances on Late Night were amazing, and there was
one I think it was literally just from like the
premiere of Robots, And I don't know if anybody remembers this,
but somebody asked him, like, what is the voice that
you went to to play your character Robots? And he

(46:51):
literally just said, it's just me. I'm just an old
guy who's falling apart. And hearing that and the fact
that he leaned on his own vulnerability to just be
his normal voice for Robots was like so telling on
the fact that he actually cares about what he's doing
for voice work. But also it's so depressing for his life.

(47:13):
But yeah, I totally agree with you. Chris Pratt should
not be doing any more voice.

Speaker 2 (47:18):
He loves stopping goombas well. I mean, look, I was
one of those people. It's like, you know, it's weird
now that they've made a animated Mario movie and they
have an actor who's been playing Mario for thirty fucking years,
Like you get out of here, Charles Martinette, we don't
need you. We got Chris Pratt.

Speaker 4 (47:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
Cool. Yeah, I think that's interesting. That's not the direction
that I would have gone, but I think that's an
interesting thing to bring up, because you know, we already
brought up Tim Allen. I mean, what is Tim Allen
known for for a lot of people, if not one thing?
Buzz the same time too, Yeah, yeah, within a couple
of years. So it's interest. It's an interesting I did

(48:01):
not go there myself either, but I think that that
is well, it's an interesting byproduct of Robin Williams.

Speaker 4 (48:07):
Well for somebody that loves him so much, is is
me to bring that up is kind of is weird,
a weird, kind of you know, depressing route to take it.
But when I thought about it. I was like, yeah,
of course he's He's there is no other Robin Williams.
He's like, it's hard to compare him to anybody. But unfortunately,
one of the biggest impacts he had was with his voice,

(48:27):
right and his voice as as an animated character, and
it just really had At that time, Disney was was
rebounding and was, you know, getting bigger. And the next thing,
you know, Lyon King came comes out and you have
one of the kids from from a Home Improvement on there,
you know, Jonathan Taylor Thomas. You know, like the names
would keep coming, you would keep getting mel Gibson's input,

(48:48):
you know, you know in uh Poconnas, you know, you
got it just keeps going, you know. And and and
today it's as bad as ever. You know, it's and
it's a set a president that that I don't think
Robin Williams intended and it happened.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
So, I mean, George Miller was did essentially that with
Happy Feet and cast Robin Williams. But everybody in that
movie is known. I mean the movie has Hugh Jackman
and Nicole Kidman and Robin Williams. So yeah, it's it's
a weird it's a weird thing, but it is totally
a thing that he really kind of he really had
a hand in that unintentionally. I've got to feel like.

Speaker 3 (49:25):
It's true.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
One more that I wanted to point out because it
came out the same year I love the word we
keep referring to Aladdin, but don't forget that first year
he also did Fern Goalie.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
Right, I forget about that. Yeah, yeah, which he never
came back for. But he did come back for the
direct to video version of Aladdin, which I always found
to be very weird. But it was such a commitment
from him to do it, Like he ended up getting
associated with that character so much that it's like, I'm
I have to be the one to do it, Like
at that point, it would be too obvious if someone

(49:57):
else was doing it, like Emo Phillips trying to do
like a Robin Williams thing, or you know, it's like
because again like Fern Gully recasts that character immediately, I'm actually,
I mean, people are gonna skewer us for not mentioning
Goodwill Hunting. Uh oh, we're not there yet, but yeah,
I guess so, I guess we're not there yet. Fair
you and I you and I are still going, Yeah,
that's fair, that's fair. That Yeah, that's fair. I mean again, hey,

(50:22):
it's it's not your fault. It's not your fault. That's fair.
I think for me, it's a weird thing when I
think about Robin Williams because, like you mentioned, the voice acting,
he didn't do it a whole whole lot, but every
time he did it, it was like a big deal.

Speaker 1 (50:37):
Yeah, the the Aladdin of it all. I really, if
I remember right, I think he came back to play
Genie in literally everything. Yeah, if I remember right, I
don't think he allowed them to even reuse lines from
his original takes. If I remember right, I think he
came back like willingly because it was such an important

(51:00):
character for him to record everything that he possibly could,
so like video games, stuff that they did for Disney
rides and where they alluded to the lines and all that. Yeah,
I believe he recorded all of that.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
Take pride in your work, and I.

Speaker 1 (51:17):
Mean it's an iconic one. It's the one that made
him truly famous. Yeah, when you really get down to it,
Like obviously he had been in some very important films
and all that stuff. But it's it's Disney in the
early nineties, like it, it is his fame without Aladdin,
A lot of this doesn't exist. Yeah, period, Chris, do

(51:38):
you want to answer for number three?

Speaker 2 (51:41):
Yeah, So my answer, we've kind of already alluded to
it a little bit. But I think that I think
this kind of ties into an episode we did a
while ago on Jim Carrey. I think that Robin Williams
is that original trendsetter in terms of showing that you,
as inn a comedic actor, can lead a film and
be the lead of a vehicle as a comedic actor,

(52:01):
because vehicle films, for the most part, are for big
name actors, action stars, dramatic actors, and comedic actors kind
of tend to get forgotten because again, comedy is looked
down on because it's a genre. Even though to write
comedy is harder than making someone cry. I mean, to
get a genuine laugh or a chuckle out of someone

(52:22):
is very hard. And so when you have someone like
Robin Williams showing that you cannot only be a comedian
and lead a film, but you can lead it and
it be successful for the most part. I mean, look,
toys didn't make a lot of money. But it's not
like toys came out. Nobody went and saw it, right.
People that went saw it went saw because Robin Williams
was in it. So just like Missus Doubtfire, just like

(52:45):
so many things, it's like he's in it, so it's
worth watching. I don't even remember that Dead Poets Society
comes out in there, like the late eighties. I always
think that that's like a late nineties movie for whatever reason.
But that right there, I mean again, he just has
the range and I think he showed and you've already
alluded to it. Also, Stephen, like a lot of our
best actors have a comedic background. Robin Williams, I think

(53:08):
there will never be another actor comparable to Robin Williams period,
and the only one who comes close is kind of
Jim Carrey in a lot of ways, and in a
lot of ways, Jim Carrey more or less took the
mantle from Robin Williams for a while and they.

Speaker 5 (53:24):
Had his own chased it. He chased it, he chased it,
but unfortunately.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
Not I mean, Ji Carrey had a pretty good nineties
even compared to like he had like a stretch where
it was like this man is cranking out hits. But
Robin Williams was the same thing. So there, I mean,
to your point, maybe it's not passing as much as
just competition, but Robin Williams did it first, which is
why it's important because again, comedic actors being given a

(53:49):
big role as the lead in a movie not necessarily
something the studios were backing up the brink struck full
of money to do.

Speaker 4 (53:56):
Yeah, well, I think at the same time during the nineties,
the boom of the kind of the nineties SNL scene
also played played in line with that, you know, with
Adam Sandler of course kind of coming into play. You know,
you know all the guys from that from that are
you know, the Dan McCarthy, you know Mike Myers, you
know people like that that were busting on the scene,

(54:19):
and you know, Rob Williams paid the way for them
guys to become you know, film actors break off of
SNL and lead films, and as you can see, hasn't
stopped Adam Sandler since or Will Ferrell, Yeah, Will Ferrell, Yeah,
I mean it's continued, it's continued to be. You know,
he paid the way for a lot of guys to

(54:40):
to bring comedies back, you know, and have them be
you know, very successful. Now, of course, I think we've
kind of gotten into a lull for a little while
now with comedy.

Speaker 5 (54:49):
I don't think comedy's.

Speaker 4 (54:52):
Quite had I don't think comedy has quite had deleting
person right now. I think we're avoided that a little bit.
I think we're we're looking for that next person and
all all of it. I think a lot of has
to do with what type of comedy is being asked
for from the audience. I think for a while there
in the in the in the two thousands into twenty ten's,

(55:13):
we had of course, like the jud Appatel, that was
the that was the man Child, you know, you know,
vulgar comedies.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
That were leading the way.

Speaker 4 (55:23):
And I think we've we've kind of veered off of
that and now I don't know what comedy where comedy
is now, I don't know, And there is no person
that's leading it. So yeah, it's we're looking who's out there.
I don't know who's out there.

Speaker 5 (55:37):
Who's out there?

Speaker 2 (55:37):
Man, John mulaney, Is he going to be the next
the guy to lead that?

Speaker 1 (55:42):
I don't know?

Speaker 2 (55:43):
Well, And what's weird is like, ye, I was going
to say, like, I think the answer to your question
is the people that are in comedies now are people
that are not comedic actors. Cause I mean, I was
talking before we recorded this about a recent movie that
came out that has John Seena and not known for
being a comedic actor, but the guy's funny as hell, frankly,
and like I think now it's it's it's a little

(56:04):
bit of column and a little bit of colum be
Like having people that aren't perceived as funny is funny.
And maybe tropic thunder as Tom cruising like well is
my best role and it's funny. Like it's I think
it's maybe people getting into comedy now as opposed to
people leaving the comedy sphere. Comedy is scene is more
of a viable thing in a lot of ways, because,
like you said, it's everything.

Speaker 4 (56:24):
Yeah, Arnold Swarzenegger did that, did that in the nineties
as well, you know, he he broke out of action
and and and enjoined the comedy realm and was successful
a few times with it, you know, And and that's yeah,
maybe we're in that phase right now where we're waiting
on the next person to pop up and and now
it's just the the guy that the ironic comedic act
actors are the ones taking over right now with like

(56:45):
you're John Seene is the rock. You know, people that
you know are funny because Dan der Craig, Daniel Quig,
you know, playing playing a detective or you know what
was the one logan logan lucky yeah, logan lucky yeah.
You know, just just playing weird, awkward characters and uh yeah,
you know the style that Robin Williams and people like

(57:07):
Jim Carrey played are these kind of very character cartoonish
types that I think people kind of grew, you know,
maybe tired of for a while, you know, and maybe
that's looking for a comeback. We're waiting for the right
actor to pop back in and take that place. Because
everything's cyclical, you know, People's taste seems to come back
around and they want something that they think is new

(57:29):
but has already kind of already had place in history.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
So I don't know, Ryan, I mean, what do you think.

Speaker 1 (57:38):
Well, I mean, after talking about comedy, I feel like
an idiot talking about this. But I think probably the
biggest impact, like personally that he's had on so many
people is the ability to be vulnerable. There are so
many people in his shoes that never would have allowed
themselves to talk about it publicly, that never would have
allowed you know, even in I mentioned I watch some

(58:00):
of those interviews. There are so many of those like
red carpet moments where he is he like actively talks
about how he was hooked on cocaine, Like could you
imagine anybody doing that? At the premiere of Doom two
this year.

Speaker 4 (58:15):
Like no, Tim Shallow comes up, He's like, dude, and
I'd be like, I was just I had a you know,
I like dildo's. I've just had dildos of mass Yeah,
and that's what.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
Yeah, So I thought it was you were gonna say
the popcorn bucket. I just spent fucking this popcorn book
all day.

Speaker 1 (58:33):
Something something about his life from like two thousand and
three until his life ended, it was all about this
open advocacy for everybody's mental health, including his own, like
sharing that he is a human and struggling himself and
being open about struggling with substances, struggling with the way

(58:55):
that he feels about himself, and sharing that their's sadness
behind those eyes. I can't even begin to fathom the
number of lives that again, like I mentioned, grew up
with him and felt something about it because there are
so many of us that I mean, I was born
and Steven you were born around the same time where
like his first movies were taking off, but it wasn't

(59:18):
you know, we weren't impacted until like the early nineties,
so we missed a couple of those first dramatic entries.
And when you come in at the comedies and you're like, oh,
i' m a kid, Aladdin's great, and you grow up
with this guy just being in every movie that you love,
and suddenly we get hit with like all of these
I hate to say it, like historical events starting with
nine to eleven and all of these terrible things happening,

(59:41):
and this person that we've idolized for last fifteen years
is struggling, and now you see him discussing or portraying
in some of your favorite movies somebody with a lot
of pain, that is vulnerable and allowing themselves to be
a human Like when would Brad Pitt have ever done that?
When would even some of these other actors that were

(01:00:01):
potentially on very like similar paths like we brought up
Adam Sandler. When when's the last time we heard about
Adam Sandler's like human side. There's not much that we
hear about him outside of the limelight, and Robin was
always like, Yeah, let's discuss the true reality of the
fact that I'm facing a lot of demons and then

(01:00:24):
he takes his own life, and that I hate to
say it, but like the fact that it is such
a tragic end to such a positive force for so
many of us. It makes it inspiring to face the
day every day and say, you know what, I'm not
taking that way out because if I'm doing it, I'm
fighting for him. And it brings me so much joy

(01:00:47):
that we can all go back and watch all these
and still feel all this positivity, and even twenty twenty four,
what is the biggest legacy we can talk about this year?
His daughter is making an incredible comedic movie and I
loved the movie that she directed this year. It's incredible,
and I I'm just I'm stoked that what he left
behind is a story that so many people around our

(01:01:08):
age can go Fuck. Yeah, this is hard, and I
sometimes I don't want to do with this anymore, But
unfortunately I'm gonna I'm gonna win. I'm gonna face tomorrow
and come out.

Speaker 3 (01:01:20):
Of it alive.

Speaker 2 (01:01:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:01:22):
I mean that that the transparency of people in that
business is tough to come by, and and the fact
that he was willing to share his troubles with with
the public just it made what he did on screen seem.

Speaker 2 (01:01:39):
Even more real it.

Speaker 4 (01:01:40):
You know, whatever he conveyed was felt real, you know.
And that and that's something you you know, when you're
when you're growing up watching film and you'r and you're
you know, you're a kid, and it becomes the center
of your world. And I know, all three of us
we love film, so it's it's been with us our
whole lives essentially. And and when when you feel like
your connection to it is actually genuine and and that

(01:02:02):
that there is you're not just watching something that people
are making money off of, but that that it is
something connectedive you know that you're connecting to it and
it's real, it's not artificial in any way. There's something
there that really speaks to you and and that it's
not a lie. And uh, that's what he he I agree,
that's that's a really good, more positive thing, impactful thing

(01:02:24):
than what I had to say, but that his his
uh his, his his sincerity and his his transparency was
very impactful.

Speaker 2 (01:02:33):
And uh yeah, love that, Love that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
Any thoughts on that, Chris.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
I mean, what's funny is you mentioned Robin Williams and
then I think of someone similar who was very open
about their battles. That's Anthony Bourdain. I mean he struggled similarly,
did something very similar to Robert Williams and taking his
own life. And I always think to myself, like, if
that motherfucker who had all of that was struggling, I'm
sitting here struggling, like holy shit, Like you said, it's

(01:03:02):
kind of for me, it's motivation to get up every
day and not lose that fight to that person that
just wants to stay in bed all day and do nothing.
And look, Robin Williams had Louis body syndrome, which is
like it can be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's, and I mean
we've heard the stories about what's going on with Bruce Willison.

(01:03:23):
That's what Robin Williams had to look forward to like,
which is not that's not a I mean for me,
that's not a life worth living like. And I understand
why he made the decision he did, because if that's
your outlook on life is that you are going to
lose your mind, because that is what this disease makes
you do. I don't think i'd want to stick around either,
Like I could stick around through being you know, physically

(01:03:46):
disabled in terms of like being in a wheelchair or
if my spine was broken, but man, the idea of
like just losing your mind one day, Yeah, it's it's
hard to see that with Robin Williams because, like you
mentioned Ryan, he never really talked about that because he
didn't that that was going to be a thing he
had to talk about. He talked about the stuff that
made that worse, which was the cocaine use, which made

(01:04:07):
him very paranoid and impotent his words, not mine, but
also I mean again like his struggles with substance abuse
made everything that would end up later in his life
so much worse because he did those things. But it's
nice to see someone being open about it, because, yeah,
it's it's hard to think that there are people out

(01:04:28):
in the world suffering from similar things. But when someone
like Robin Williams is suffering from it and is open
about it, it's a pretty big deal.

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
Well said before before we get to the last question,
and we're obviously at the point of probably stepping away
from Robin for a minute. Any any last titles Nobody
has mentioned yet that you really want to give some
love too. That was also on your favorites lists.

Speaker 4 (01:04:53):
Hmm, well, you did bring up briefly Dead Put Society,
of course. Oh, captain, my captain. It's you know something
that I say every once in a while, you know,
like when you when you're really just advocating for somebody
and you're like, ah, you know, like that that that
that moment of course in the film is just is amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:05:12):
I see.

Speaker 5 (01:05:13):
Uh, oh man, this is tough.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
I don't want to say them all either, but a
couple I would say to not check out that are
bad examples of the good things that he can do.

Speaker 4 (01:05:26):
There's a film he did, this one I watched a lot,
and it's not I wouldn't say it's necessarily a great film,
but it is. When I watched a lot growing up,
Father's Day with him and Billy Crystal. One scene in
that I always used to I still kind of bring
it up today. It's the scene where they're taking the
film is about these two these two men who are

(01:05:46):
trying to there's this woman they were both with and
they don't know who's the father of the kid. So
they're like competing to figure out which you know, they're
trying to figure out whose kid it is. And they
start looking at his hair and really, Crystal's like, he's.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
Got my hair.

Speaker 4 (01:05:59):
He's like, no, you got curls. I have whirls. See
that's a whirl you know, And I still do that today.
Like that for some reason, depth stands out in the movie.
But like it's it's a fun you know, you have
these two icons of comedy in the same movie together,
Billy Crystal, Rob Williams. It's pretty fun. So that's one
that definitely was one I watched a lot. Yeah, go ahead, guys,

(01:06:22):
you Insomnia. His role in Insomnia is another great small role.

Speaker 2 (01:06:27):
Love that.

Speaker 3 (01:06:28):
Two thousand and two is a big year for him.

Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
One hour photo debts of Smoochin Insomnia back to back
to back. That's wild.

Speaker 3 (01:06:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:06:36):
Yeah, Dark Year, It's Dark Year.

Speaker 1 (01:06:40):
I'll be the first one to mention the name Terry
Gilliam obviously doing the Fisher King is a big deal.
The Adventures of Baron Munchaus and Gotta go all the
way back to Popeye in nineteen eighty. Obviously that's a
big one. Robert Altman, but Welle that a lot of
people kind of hate, so I get not loving it.
But the according to Garpath for that is pretty damn good.

(01:07:03):
The other ones, again, we didn't give enough love. The Hook,
I know I mentioned a lot at the beginning, but
one of my favorites, and then we did mention Death
to Smoochie. The other one that has kind of come
back and like cult classic, really people are finally loving it,
The Bird Cage. The Bird Cage is such a damn
good movie and obviously important for lots and lots of reasons.

(01:07:25):
This is one that during that time actors really didn't
act in the kind of role that he's acting, and
it wasn't something that you're like, I'm gonna jump into
this and be in an openly gay movie and be
like pro homosexuality. But he, I mean, he was always
just a positive, supportive person and so many of his
movies are great. I will say the last one that

(01:07:49):
I think sort of meant a lot to me, other
than of course I mentioned World's Greatest Dad. I for
some reason at the time that it came out. Loved
the movie licensed Away, even though it's really bad. Mandy
Moore and John Krasinski and uh the the poster with
Robin Williams laying on the bed between them was really awkward.

(01:08:09):
But at the same time, I was embroiled in religion
right then and I was twenty years old, so it
was like the you have to get married now type
of time of my life. And guess what happened soon
after that. Anyways, Yeah, it was. It's a not great movie,
but yeah, certainly meant a lot to me at the time.

Speaker 4 (01:08:27):
Well too, that I'll I'll bring I meant to say
these I've forgot But like Jack I did kind of
mention before that's a Francis for Koppola film, and that's
just odd about you know.

Speaker 2 (01:08:36):
Yeah, yeah, it is odd. That's the word I would use. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:08:40):
The other one is right around the same time, Patch
Adams was a big one.

Speaker 2 (01:08:44):
You just taking it, you're taking it all away before
I'm no, it's you beat me too it because it's
also weird, Like those are weird Robin Williams roles that
make very little sense. Why he's cast in those Roles.
It's strange to me, but it's.

Speaker 5 (01:08:57):
There that you know, there's something about it. Once again,
he can the movie cannot work, but with.

Speaker 4 (01:09:02):
Him in it, it makes it watchable. And so I
watched them movies a lot growing up.

Speaker 2 (01:09:06):
So I'll leave it there.

Speaker 5 (01:09:07):
I'll leave you some I'll leave you some crumbs.

Speaker 2 (01:09:10):
I don't think there's anything left because I already mentioned
Old Dogs, which I uniroonically enjoy because it's just a
stupid movie. But John Travolton Robin Williams together is again
like shockingly charming in their like old age versions of themselves.
We've kind of already alluded to Flubber being a thing
that is, you know, it's fun. It's got Christopher McDonald
hamming it up as just another villain in a long

(01:09:32):
line of villains that he plays, rich asshole villain. I'm
not surprised anybody didn't bring up by Centennial Man, which
is kind of like for me, Jack by Centennial Man
and Patch Adams are like weird things, just weird bizarre
things that Robin Williams has done. Then I'm just like, okay,

(01:09:53):
sure like makes sense. I guess, uh, yeah, I don't.
I don't think we've we really have anything else at
least for me to cover. Maybe Man of the Year,
but that's i'van Rightman movie with with Robin Williams, and
it's weird again.

Speaker 3 (01:10:06):
I want to for the next six minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:10:08):
Geez, Louise.

Speaker 4 (01:10:10):
Well, the only other one that that I was I
was looking through his filmography. The only other one I
could bring up his Awakenings as a Penny Marshall film,
very another. He plays a doctor again, you know in that,
and and a lot more straightforward drama role for him
in that. But but uh, he's really good at it.
I mean, it's not my favorite film. I like Penny Marshall,
but I know people like that movie, but it's a

(01:10:32):
little bit on the on the dry side for me.
Robert Denot is also in good performances. But but yeah,
that's another kind of standout for some people.

Speaker 1 (01:10:40):
I think that one was written by the guy that
directed Searching for Bobby Fisher, Steven Zillion.

Speaker 3 (01:10:45):
Yep, good, good, good guys.

Speaker 2 (01:10:48):
And uh you mentioned Monty Python a little bit already
with Terry Gilliam. But absolutely Anything's kind of a fun movie.
I mean, I'm a Simon Peg guy myself, so Robin
Williams playing isn't he the one? He plays a dog?
Right table is like a dog in that movie. I
think it's very, very weird. And that's I think his
last role or comes out after he passed away, similar

(01:11:08):
to Night at the Museum three, a movie I forgot
actually existed. Yep, never even said I've seen the first two,
but I've never seen the third one.

Speaker 1 (01:11:17):
Well, uh, that leads us to what I think is
gonna be the most difficult question tonight. H Question number
four is going to be what is a cinematic bridge
to Robin Williams, Something that if somebody's already a fan
of whatever subject you answer, they might be a cluede
in that they would like Robin Williams.

Speaker 4 (01:11:36):
Yeah, this is tough, and I think I really, like
I said earlier, it's Robin Williams is is, He's, he
is the There is nobody else like him, There's no
not been to anybody else like him.

Speaker 2 (01:11:47):
I mean, he's he's a one of a kind.

Speaker 4 (01:11:52):
We've already kind of said his name, Jim Carrey about
of the same around the same time. Is to me,
if you're if you like Robin Williams, Jim Carrey gives
you a variation of what he can do. You know,
he's somebody that has some range as is a dramatic actor,
just doesn't quite have the the relatability factor for me.
I don't I don't look at you. Jim Carrey doesn't

(01:12:12):
have that everyman quality that that I think Rob Williams
could bring.

Speaker 2 (01:12:17):
So it's tough man.

Speaker 4 (01:12:18):
I mean, I mean, like, he's not quite as talented,
especially comedically. Paul Rudd can can sometimes, you know, he can,
he can do comedy, but he's got that everyman quality,
but he just doesn't that he ain't that funny.

Speaker 5 (01:12:34):
He doesn't have that much range. But it's tough man.

Speaker 4 (01:12:37):
That's Please please open my mind, because I had a
really hard time with this, like I could not really
find anything that could be like, hey, he's just like
Rob wake No, there's that. Please enlighten me.

Speaker 1 (01:12:51):
Well, I'll throw my answer out there first because I
struggle with this for the longest time, because I wanted
to just say, uh, if you like stand up comedy
that are open about having depression, which is most of them,
you'd like Robin Williams. However, the question is what is
a cinematic bridge. So it completely ruined that. And so
my answer is in the last I don't know, eight

(01:13:12):
to ten years, and it's obviously this isn't a novel concept,
but it's getting leaned on a lot.

Speaker 3 (01:13:18):
In the last decade.

Speaker 1 (01:13:19):
There is this glut of films that have come out
with stand up comedians or people that have only ever
done comedy suddenly turning heel and doing some random, super
dark role. And if you are always somebody that seeks
those out because you're like, what Paton Oswald is playing
a killer, let's watch that, or you know, you watch

(01:13:43):
some random like when Jim Gaffigan played a serial killer
recently a couple of years ago, Like if those are
the type of things that you're like, these are interesting
because I know that they struggle with mental health and
somebody that comes in as a normally funny person turning
a complete one eighty and doing it really gives you
that that feeling of his career, and those are that's

(01:14:05):
the only thing I could really think to type of this.

Speaker 2 (01:14:07):
Yeah, yeah, there you go.

Speaker 4 (01:14:09):
There's a thematic through line there that worked. I mean
I was trying to think of direct like just people
that were unrelated to to maybe an aspect of other
than I was trying to look for somebody that had
the same maybe similar comedic chops or similar our profile,
and I just it's tough.

Speaker 5 (01:14:25):
He's he's so singular. Yeah, Chris, please, what do you got?

Speaker 2 (01:14:31):
I got Will Ferrell?

Speaker 1 (01:14:33):
Uh huh?

Speaker 2 (01:14:34):
And Adam Sandler, And like Adam Sandler more now than
he used to be, is probably a better comparison. He's
just I mean, look, Adam Sandler is a different kind
of stand up comedian and that translates into his film
performances because I don't know, Adam Sandler always plays such
big characters. There's very little relatability, and like Will Ferrell

(01:14:57):
hits on it from time to time. But I'll make
the joke here that I've made plenty of times after Anchorman,
Will Ferrell just kind of always played the same character,
which is like elevated Ron Burgundy. If not that just
being Will Ferrell's like elevated version, like think of like
semi pro and oh, what's the other one.

Speaker 5 (01:15:14):
There's like a glut of these movies like Blades Blades
of GLORI yeah, okay, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:15:19):
Like yeah, like that kind of stuff is just like again,
like that's what Robin Williams tried to avoid for the
most part, was doing samey stuff. And last night when
we were recording, you mentioned Stranger than Fiction, Ryan, Like,
that's a good example of will Ferrell being kind of
in a serious role for the most part. It's a
great movie. And you know, that's the kind of movie
that Robin Williams totally could have been in too, because

(01:15:41):
again like dramatic and comedy. But yeah, I think that
the actors that I mentioned are funny, less funny than
Robin Williams. Again, I don't really resonate with Adam Sandler's
stand up, like it's very happy dooopy daddy, Like I don't.

Speaker 5 (01:15:55):
Yeah, that's not my thing.

Speaker 2 (01:15:58):
Yeah, it's like okay, like that never resonated with me.
So Robin Williams like the fast way that he talks
and kind of the observational humor that for me is
what resonated with me. So yeah, I would, yeah, I
would think that there isn't really anybody like they're close.

(01:16:18):
But like you said, he's such a singular talent, it's
kind of hard to be like, well it's that one guy.
There's like no, not really. It's like with Michael Jordan,
like it took a while for someone who was as
good as Michael Jordan to really come into the basketball sphere.
Same with us, someone like a Tom Brady even like
it took twenty years almost to have someone who's as
good as this person to show up. And with Robin Williams,

(01:16:39):
I'm not saying we're waiting for that person because the
way we consume media now is so different than the
heyday of someone like Robin Williams. But there is not
anybody who I will go out of my way to
say they are a Robin Williams comparison.

Speaker 1 (01:16:55):
It's tough, true.

Speaker 2 (01:16:57):
I Mean that's the issue we've never run into with
this show on these episodes, which is how do you
compare someone like this to anyone else? And that's very hard. Yeah, Yeah,
that's cool.

Speaker 4 (01:17:08):
I think that's why he stands out so much in
our in all of our lives, is he's just there
was nobody else, Like he didn't get lost in the
in the shuffle of all them other comedians that were
in that time, Uh you're Adam Sandler's and he just
stood out. He was just always pushing himself, he was
always you know, creating characters in films where the characters

(01:17:29):
were not necessarily the highlights, you know, like he made
them real. You know, he made uh you know, he
brought some He's so physical.

Speaker 1 (01:17:40):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:17:41):
That's what's something we don't we don't say a lot either.
Is like he's funny, he's he says a lot of things.
He's really off the cuff. But he's also very physical.
He moves a lot, he moves his hands, he's jumping
up and down. He's doing a lot of things that
that make you makes his characters unforgettable, you know. And
so yeah, I mean, maybe maybe maybe somebody that's a
very physical comedic actor, you know, it's somebody that could

(01:18:03):
be a good comparison. But once again, it's like nobody
that he has so many facets it's hard to hard
to find the right fit.

Speaker 1 (01:18:10):
So he definitely filled the space in all of those roles.
He something about the way that he moved. It was
not that like somebody else in the film with him
was not giving enough, but it was if you're gonna
give me space, I'm gonna take it.

Speaker 3 (01:18:25):
I'm gonna be somebody that will.

Speaker 1 (01:18:26):
Embrace it and make sure that the room feels full
with just the two of us on this scene, and
he ran with that so well.

Speaker 2 (01:18:34):
And I think that that, you know, like you were
talking about hook.

Speaker 4 (01:18:36):
I think that's why him and Spielberg together was like,
even though the movie doesn't work for me that much,
him in the movie drives that movie, like you said,
like it's Spielberg loves He's a sentimental filmmaker and Rob
Williams is a sentimental actor, like he's a sensitive actor,
and so I think that they're pairing. I wish they
had done more, you know, together, But who would see

(01:19:00):
in Minority Report, you know, like Rob Williams and Minority
it wouldn't have it would have been or him in Munich.

Speaker 2 (01:19:05):
Wouldn't have worked.

Speaker 5 (01:19:11):
Well, Actually, this is ever they're thinking about it.

Speaker 1 (01:19:13):
He's like, which cast.

Speaker 2 (01:19:15):
I'm trying to think, like, actually, what's funny? I think
to name a role that Robin Williams would have probably
elevated the source material a lot. And we've already mentioned
a movie that it's related to in terms of I
guess the story original story being written by Chris Van Allsberg.
Imagine if in Polar Express it was Robin Williams, that

(01:19:35):
movie would work a lot better. Than Tom Hanks. And
I think that maybe Tom Hanks is the best comparison
in Robin Williams, because I think a lot of people
forget how funny Tom Hanks is. He's a very I mean,
one of my favorite comedies of all time is Dragnet,
which he's in, and he's very funny. And and I
think maybe Robin Williams and Tom Hanks are the best

(01:19:57):
comparatives because Tom Hanks leans further in one direction than
Robin Williams did, but I think they're both on the
same dial, just leaning in slightly different directions. Because you know,
Robin Williams would have been a really great dramatic actor
if he really wanted to be. He could have been like, calm,
I'm done with comedy. I want to do the dramatic thing.
But I think he I mean that the draw of

(01:20:19):
comedy was always too much for him. It was I mean,
it was like anything else, he wanted to make people laugh,
which I get that.

Speaker 1 (01:20:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:20:28):
I think I think we got that with this gout
got us to the right actor. I think I think
Tom Hanks is is probably the closest we're going to
get in a in a in almost a contrast way,
but it almost is perfect, it almost works.

Speaker 2 (01:20:42):
And how if we did an episode of Tom Hanks,
would we compare anybody to Tom Hanks? Like that's the
problem that we would run into there, which is what
we're running into here, Like it's it's a he's a
seminal actor. Robin Williams is and there will never be
anyone else really like him. Yeah, it's and it's a
shame because again, and like the world would be a
much more interesting place if Robin Williams is seventy three

(01:21:05):
kicking it. But you know, things happen, people get sick. Unfortunately,
I would say the same thing about Michael J. Fox, Like,
what would the nineties in two thousands have been, Like
Michael J. Fox was able to make movies, or if
Chris Reeves had been able to make movies like Jesus Christ.

Speaker 4 (01:21:21):
For fuck's sake, I would have loved more death Trap movies.

Speaker 1 (01:21:26):
You know, well, I think one. You know, if you're
listening to these episodes for ideas and inspiration to what
you watch, or if you listen to this and you're like, damn,
Robin Williams, so many great titles, go watch one or
two that don't get talked about enough.

Speaker 3 (01:21:43):
Go watch some of his stand up.

Speaker 1 (01:21:44):
Go watch uh, go watch something that inspired people from
the late eighties that.

Speaker 3 (01:21:49):
We don't talk about enough anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:21:51):
This is one of those topics that you could dive
into for the next month and change your life. This
is the type of filmography that can inspire you to
your own damn film and I hope that the show
can provide a foundation for something like that for anybody
out there. But on that note, to inspire somebody to
go watch your show, I'm gonna put you on a
spot a little bit, Steven. What are you know? What

(01:22:14):
are your two interviews that you've done that you're most
proud of that If somebody's going to go to listen
to of your back catalog right now, what are the
two that you steer them to.

Speaker 2 (01:22:25):
Damn man, you are putting em on the spot.

Speaker 4 (01:22:28):
Oh man, geez, let me give me just a second
so I can not make the wrong decision in my mind.

Speaker 2 (01:22:36):
Get my list out here.

Speaker 1 (01:22:39):
While Steven is looking at that, I'll highlight one thing
that I didn't say earlier is that I owe a
lot to Steven because Steven and I work together for
the twenty twenty two's Shelf Shock Rewind Awards. He and
I are the one that sort of birthed the idea together.
We were both pursuing the idea of an award show
at the same time, and Steven was awesome enough to

(01:23:02):
reach out to me and say, hey, I know that
you have eyes on a lot of these things. What
would you think of this? And we both were like, yeah,
we should do this together. And it has morphed into
something giant and so publicly and privately all mixed in one.
I want to say thank you so much again, because man,
the last two years has been insane, and obviously seeing
it grow from one show to the next was a

(01:23:23):
huge leap. And I'm just glad that you're sold part
of it.

Speaker 4 (01:23:25):
No, of course, man, I I'm glad. It was our
way to connecting. And you know, we know we knew
each other's shows and things, but when we did that,
when we developed that together, that's when we really became friends.
And so, you know, I wasn't as involved this year.
I was still doing stuff behind the scenes, but I
you know, I'm still going to always as much as

(01:23:46):
involved as I can be, and that and other things,
you know, we'll do some other things. We did this
and we got some I'm sure you keep adding more
things to your list of things to do. So whenever
you're gonna, you know, develop your Netflix series, just let
me know. I'll be a writer on it or something.

Speaker 3 (01:24:03):
Chris and I are already stoking the fires on other ideas.

Speaker 2 (01:24:06):
I know. I'm sure you are.

Speaker 4 (01:24:07):
You get more, you get more people. I know you're
getting more people involved, and uh, it's just gonna keep growing.
And I love seeing it, man, I love seeing it.
I'm just glad to be a very small part of
it in some way. But if I had to pick
a couple, I would say one of the big highlights
was definitely getting ed Eddie Muller on from TMC. That's

(01:24:28):
he's just an icon and where both me and Andrew
are just both big film no our nuts. And getting
the guy that hosts the show Hope how film noir
and knows the most about put books out about film
no I mean, it's it was. That was just a
proud moment to be able to just get that guy
on me. It was just amazing seeing him without a suit.
I mean, unfortunately, at the time we were not doing

(01:24:51):
video and and and the thing is he would have
dressed up if we were doing video, so you wouldn't
have been able to see what I saw, which was
Eddie Muller in just normal clothes. So I've seen something
you guys haven't seen. But probably other than that, hmm.
You know, we've had so many really fun interviews and

(01:25:12):
really interesting, interesting people from all different walks of life,
not just people that are in the industry, and that's
the easy place to go, like, oh, you know, we
talked to Sean Baker, we talked to you know, but
you know, damn man, why did you do this to me?
You know? One of my favorite other interviews is Tony Stella,
artist extraordinary who who seemed to get more popular all

(01:25:35):
the time, and he wouldn't allow us to have him
on video and per se he's very private person. But
we did get video and I put like an image
in front of his face. But we did see him
when we when we when we conversed, and uh, he's
just such a fascinating dude, and the dude's life is
so fascinating and he was he's such a big film
buff and just you know, has such a investment in

(01:25:58):
what he does. And how he his process is such
a I love that interview. He's just so smart and
so and just such a just you know, artist, He's
such an artist at heart, so in his I'm jealous
of his upbringing, I'm jealous of his story, you know so, Yeah,
Eddie Muller Tony Stella two of my favorite interviews.

Speaker 1 (01:26:21):
The Tony Stella one was on my short list. Well again,
thank you for doing this. I hope that you enjoyed it,
and clearly we're gonna have to have more of these
in the future because I know that you got some
other ideas that are cooking for some other topics. But
to everybody out there listening, we hope you check out
the next episode and that you continue to push your

(01:26:43):
boundaries of interest in film and in the meantime, give
us a rating on iTunes wherever you're listening to this,
Go check out Weirdingwaymedia dot com for all of the
incredible podcasts that Chris is related to. Go check out
the Disconnected dot com for everybody on the someone's favorite
production podcast network. But most of all, subscribe to Chasing
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