Hello and welcome to Shoot a Hostage with me, Dan, and my partner, Sarah. We're a movie podcast who talks about a different film each week based on a theme. We do swear and we do spoil the featured movie. So, only ever listen if you've seen the film or you don't care too much about spoilers. If you're a regular listener, you can just skip forward until you hear the intro music cuz you've heard all of this before. But if you are new to the show and you do enjoy what you hear, there are a couple of things you can do to help support the show. Firstly, make sure that you're subscribed on your podcast. player so you get notified when new shows drop on Mondays. Uh you could rate us five stars on Spotify, which couldn't be easier. You just hit the star icon below the show's artwork. Or if you have a spare few minutes, we'd love it if you could submit a review wherever you listen. Uh make sure you come follow us at swth_pod on social media. We are active on Instagram, threads, and Tik Tok. And lastly, the biggest thing you can do to help is tell a friend about the show. So that's about it. That's enough preamble from me. Uh Over to me and Sarah for this week's episode. Snake eyes. We're here to talk about some snake eyes. Is that a song?
We are going to talk about the Nicholas Cage movie Snake Eyes, not the G.I. Joe spin-off, Snake Eyes, because I'll have to remember to put the year in the title of this episode cuz some people might think we're going to be talking about the G.I. Joe spin-off, Snake Eyes, despite Nicholas Cage not appearing in that one, to my knowledge. Anyway, have you seen it? No. So, I can't say with any certainty that he's not in it. You don't know? I don't know.
It's just like the flat earth. Isn't it? They go, "We have never seen a world round in space, so we can't be certain. We've never seen the moon landings with our own eyeballs." But even even the flat earthers who have gone far enough up and seen a curve, they've gone, "Yeah, but so that's not the best excuse." Yeah. There's always a reason. There'll be somebody who watched Snake Eyes, saw that Nicholas Cage was in it, and still denies that Nicholas Cage is in it.
Yeah. The 99 He won. That's part of the G.I. Joe franchise as well. Yeah. Nicholas Cage Deniers. That was the first live action G.I. Joe movie before the Channon Tatum one. Yeah. With Joseph Gordon Levit as the bad guy. Yes. Oh, that's a spoiler, I think, for that movie. Sorry. It was also a terrible film. So, don't worry. It's garbage. Don't bother. We've saved you. We've saved you some work. Like, you should be thanking us really.
So, we're continuing my Nicholas Cage season. If you haven't guessed already, this is episode four of eight, I think. Snake Eyes. We're in 1998 now cuz we're going chronologically. We did 96, 97, 98. We're going to have a bigger jump for the next episode, but we'll get to that later. He had a good run, didn't he, in the late '9s.
Yeah, he had a really great run, obviously. Go back and listen to our last three episodes. Um, but yeah, absolutely brilliant run. He had another film out in 1998. Do you know what it was? Oh god. Do you want a clue? Um, it wasn't. 8 Mm was later, was Isn't it? Yes. I want to say maybe that was 99. Yeah. Bringing out the dead. When was that? Was that 2001? Oh, that was around about 99 again. I think 99 maybe 2000 then. I don't know. Meg Ryan in it. Oh god. Not City of Angels.
City of Angels. City. I thought that that movie was about mass cuz I thought it said angles. Um my mother I would not have admit for that. My mom loves City of Angels. Um, she thinks it's she she loves it. She she really enjoys that movie, but it is garbage. I feel like there's a a Gooo Dolls song on the soundtrack and clips from the movie featured in the music video and I saw that a lot back in the day. Have you seen the film City of Angels?
I have. I saw it once when it came out and I've never revisited it, which should tell you my thoughts on that movie. I saw it more than once, but it wasn't my ch my choosing. I hated it when I first saw it and then continued to hate it whenever it got put on and then I realized I can just remove myself from a situation. I was going to say unless your mom had you like strapped to a chair Clockwork Orange style. You didn't have to watch it more than once.
Yeah. Well, she told me not to talk about that. So, um yeah, maybe we should move on. Okay. So, we're in 1998. We're um we're we're at another Brian De Palmer movie, aren't we? Is that is that how we're gonna say it? Brian De Palmer movie. Isn't it the Palmer? No, it's the Palmer, sweetheart. It's It's Yes. Are you gaslighting me? I don't even know what gaslighting me. Oh, there we go. Yes. So, you are gaslighting me. I see. It's such a mind f*** living with you.
I know. Imagine being in my brain. Oh, no. Thank you. Uh, it's our second Brian De Palmer movie. Our first being Carrie, which was in your season. Yes. Of coming of age. Outstanding film. Last uh last season. Yeah. Yeah. So, we've done two two on the bounce. The Palmer movies on the bounce. Yeah. Um I I think I saw Snake Eyes at the cinema. What about you? I didn't see it at the cinema. I definitely would have rented it probably on VHS. Yeah. Or maybe DVD 98.
It would have been just DVD. Maybe just I feel like we were still renting VHS's in 1998 though. Yeah. My mom had Give me that sweet big box. Yeah. My mom had of Angel was on on VHS in one of those smaller V, you know, the ones that were just slightly smaller than the average V VHS and it had the really tiny lip and it was black. I hated them. I didn't mind them, but it's annoying that they don't match up with the others.
Yeah. Um, you hate the fact that I have DVDs and Blu-rays next to one another. I can't I I cannot sanction that.
Yeah. So, it's I think I saw this once at the cinema. I don't think I liked it very much from memory. So, it' be interesting to it was interesting to revisit it the other night and it'll be interesting to talk about it especially that we've um we've recently covered a Brian Palmer movie and it's he's definitely a filmmaker I think we discussed in Carrie that I've uh sort of come around to recent years more than I did back then. I certainly didn't appreciate him very much. I don't think I really knew who he was up until,
you know, the mid200s or something. Um but it'd be interesting to sort of go through some of the things techniques that he uses in this film and sort of compare it to other things. I think he's he's one of the rare directors. I don't know, would you call him an alter? Like he he's definitely got a very distinct look and like set of techniques that he revisits in almost every one of his films.
And I think maybe the first time I ever watched Snake Eyes, I probably was I mean obviously I've always been obsessed with movies, but I would have been more of a casual viewer back Whereas now I can sort of watch films and appreciate them for the craft. Yeah. And not just the storytelling. So my experience watching it this time was very different to the first time. Yeah. I think the same for me. Okay. I I definitely had that kind of eye where I was like, "Oh, okay. This is Brian De Pal one."
Yeah. Um what you know what camera angles are we going to see? Are we going to do some split screen? Spoilers. We do, of course. Um obviously. So yeah, I certainly and we'll get into it I'm sure, but I certainly did appreciate it way more this time and quite liked it. I'll be honest with you. It's not perfect. It's not It's certainly not perfect. It has its problems,
but um I thought it was all right, actually. And I I don't know if I was really was really expecting that. I I chose it because I thought it'd be interesting to revisit um something from Brian De Palmer's filmography. Um but I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of watching it again, but I thought that we possibly have an interesting discussion about it but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it the other night to be honest. Good. Good. I think me too probably. Yeah,
I think that was similar to my experience. I couldn't remember a great deal about it beyond that sort of opening um 20 minutes, which honestly straight out of the gate I'm going to say is the best part of the film without question. That I mean that that opening I don't think that's a controversial viewpoint. No, I think that's probably a fairly common uh viewpoint. I think It absolutely is the best part in a movie. It's I love it. I I just
everything about it is just so interesting to look at. Um, of course, it was it wasn't actually one one uh shot. It was I think three. Yeah. I think I think there's about a 12minute sequence, right? That's one shot. Oh, really? I think so. That's I mean that's still impressive. Oh, yeah. And and especially in this movie where it's all it's kind of a single location movie as well, isn't it? Cuz it's all set in the Ina in Atlantic City kind of stuck in a place.
Kind of a stuck in a place. Yeah. But um but to have that sequence with all of those extras with I mean Cage just going absolutely full cage is cages. He's he's full cages cage in this and certainly at the start where he's you I'm Ricky. Yeah. I'm the king of the sewer and all that stuff. I I think from now on I'm just going to start justifying and qualifying everything with well it's fight. night. Oh, you Sarah, you're drinking at 3 p.m. It's fight night.
Yeah, that's going to become a thing now. But yeah, I think um I think you're right. It is It's fascinating because it's so frenetic and it's almost not to sound wanky, it's almost like a dance sequence. Like the choreography must have had to be so tight for them to pull that off even with the hidden edits. I don't know how many edits there are. I guess you say sort of maybe two, three, if it's
well together I did read that it was stitched together from three shots from three sequences. Um I wasn't thinking about that when I was watching it. I was just kind of enjoying it and I often would like to watch films once, twice, maybe three times recovering from the for the podcast, but unfortunately didn't have time. I would love to have sat and watch that that opening sequence again and tried to figure out where those cuts were. Yeah.
But it wasn't obvious to me while I was watching it. Sometimes you'll get like a where camera goes past a person and it gets slightly darker and you're like, "Okay, well, there's probably one there." And I'm sure that if we watched it again, we could probably figure it out maybe. But, but on viewing it the other night, I was just absolutely just gripped by the opening and I and and it's kind of
it's it's both good and bad because I I was enjoying it so much and it's definitely the strongest part of the movie and and and after that it kind of sort of it's just never as good and it's a bit disappointing. I think it becomes a bit more what's the word but just a bit more standard.
Yeah, it does. But it still has those magic de Palma sequences, those those shots like the framing and and where he puts the camera. Like it's still there's still some absolute magic in there after that that opening piece. But I I think a lot of the the back part of the film actually works so well because of that that opening sequence, you know.
Yeah. Because you're being introduced to all of these characters in real time. like everybody who's somebody in the film you're kind of introduced to in that sequence. Yeah. With the exception of um Carla I never know how to pronounce her surname. Carla Gagino. Gagino. No, she is in the opening sequence. Is she? Yeah. I couldn't remember. Yeah, cuz she she appro Well, is it before there's a um I can't I can't where there's an obvious sort of just at the tail end, isn't it?
It's certainly at the end of it if it is part of the because the shooting is kind of that's the off point, isn't it, for the I think so. The opening. I think so. But obviously, she's been introduced by that point. So, she she must have been in the very final part, but it's just I I just love how it's, you know, you're opening on Cage, you know what you're getting with with his performance immediately. And he's definitely an actor that I've
become more fond of the the the more of his movies that I see and the older I get. I always enjoyed his action movies, but maybe back in the day thought, "Oh, he's he's a bit of an overactor." Yeah. Well, that was kind of his reputation for a while, wasn't it? So, I think that's perfectly reasonable to think that.
It's absolutely fair. Yeah, it is. But I don't dislike it. And I can understand people hating it. I can understand people going, "Oh, this is too much. It really takes me out of the movie." Specifically, his performance in this one, you think in this in this one and other movies? Yes. Okay.
But I don't find that maybe it's because when I sit down to watch a Nicholas Cage movie, I'm like, "Well, I'm primed. I know I'm doing this because I want to see full cage depends on the the project, you know, something a bit more funky like Dream Scenario, which we spoke about some time ago, where he's not doing the full thing. Um, but yeah, I'm sort of when I'm sitting down to watch it, I'm like, yeah, I I want to see him do this. I want to see him go nuts. That's part of the fun.
So, you think his performance being so large puts has put people off? Yeah, for sure.
Cuz I I'm sort of on the opposite end of that where I think I mean, you could say that's about most Nicholas Cage films to be honest and I think I said this in the last show uh when we covered Face Off. I can't ever imagine his performances being done by anybody else. I can't I can never picture anybody else in his roles because he's such a a specific performer. He brings this absolute niche Nicholas Cageness to everything. Yeah.
And I feel like this film particularly sort of doesn't work without him. And I think really Okay. Well, yeah, because I can understand why some people would find the the performance too big, but I think the character of Rick Santoro is such a piece of s*** from the outset, but because it's Nicholas Cage, because he's charismatic, because he he's sort of laying on the charm, he's larger than life, he's f you can see why people warm to him a little bit, even though he's kind of a scumbag.
That's I like that obser observation, you know, because you're right. He the character is he's a crooked cop. He's obviously taking bribes and he's stealing them from drug dealers and it's his town and you you just get this whole kind of backstory. Well, hint of a backstory on the how the way that he runs his city as he says his sewer. He's got awful taste in shirts and jackets for that matter. I quite like your shirt. No, awful.
I've got one on order. You're going to be you're going to be so disappointed. I just realized you're not wearing your Nicholas in the Cages t-shirt. I forgot. That didn't last long. Right. Pause the podcast. Um, no. I I that's that's that's good observation that because if there's somebody else playing this role, they could go too too villainous,
too villainous, too mean, too scummy. You need you do need someone who is obviously not a great guy, but you you are sort of warmed to him because he's like just a like a fun person, I guess. Yeah. He's our anti-hero, so he has to be engaging. Yep. I Engaging. Engaging. Yes. Very clever. You're welcome.
But I think I think you he has to be entertaining. He has to be compelling to watch for us to sit with him cuz I that was something that crossed my mind when I was watching it. I was just like this character's awful, but I'm all right with it. Like I'm okay like spending time with this guy. Yeah. And I think that's 100% down to to Cage's performance.
Yeah. Absolutely. Well, just going back to that opening sequence that we do get introduced to everything that's going on in the stadium the the prefight things that fight whatever that's called. Yeah. You get a loose idea of the geography of the the location.
Yeah. The actual arena itself which you sort of come back to now and again. And it is one of its strengths actually is is the the like you say the geography of it. You do know where you are most of the time and you revisit certain locations whether that's via sort of flashbacks when things are being revealed um in in the in the in the final parts of the movie or like just different angles that we didn't get the first time.
Yeah. And um and a lot of that is down to the the the first, as we say, 15 minutes where you're following Cage, the camera sort of whipping around, you're not really seeing the fight, which is very interesting. It's a very interesting way of doing that
cuz obviously when the camera's on Cage, I'm like, I love watching this. What's going on with the fight though? Oh, actually, I don't care. Let's watch Cage. It's very interesting. And then obviously towards the the latter part of that sequence, we get introduced to Lieutenant Dan and Now he's got legs. Kevin Dunn. Commander Kevin Dunn. Kevin Dunn. There's someone in a cast that Kevin Dunn. Yeah.
Yeah. So, there's a story actually that there was a hotel room, really swanky hotel room booked for Kevin Dunn. Um, and the actor Kevin Dunn sort of went up and got settled into it and then got yeetated out when it was revealed it was actually for the character of Kevin Dunn. Right. It was for second build Gary Sice. So, Gary Senise kicked him out, did he? Um, I don't know if he personally did it, but yeah. No, there was there was some confusion over those names.
Well, what happened is he went to the UPM and went get that f***** out my rope. Um, Gary Senise. When's the last time you watched a new Gary Senise movie? I don't know. I do you know what? I was thinking about that as we were watching it and the only thing I could think of him having been in I I'm going to say recently and I'm going to really embarrass myself of my men. No, but I do f****** love that. I watched that a bunch when I was in high school. We actually read the Steinbeck book.
Same. I think I think it was uh obligation at school in our generation. I think you had to. Oh, we didn't have to. I wouldn't have rented it on VHS from the library like a big f****** nerd. Well, mine was mandated. So, you know, but Good movie. Good movie. It is. It is good. It was one of those days where like, "Oh, we got to watch this." Oh, it was all right, actually. Yes. Um, but yeah, he was in one of the CSIs. I want to say like CSI New York. There's a New York, is there?
Oh, there's a CSI. I everywhere. It's like a CSI Graves End. I don't know. I don't think there is. CSI Clactton, CSI Jay Wick. That's on every day of the year. CSI Wigan, CSI Hull. I mean, they could. There's There's a lot of room there. Um, but yeah, when I say recent, I'm sure that's like probably going back close to 20 years now. So, I don't No. Is he still acting? I I guess. Did he retire?
Maybe he's just Maybe he's doing theater. Maybe he's retired or semi-retired or does bits and pieces. But he's definitely I feel like in the '9s he was everything. Every time he popped up in the movie I remember me and my mom would go, "Lieutenant dad." Um, so that was I mean that was fun. But the last thing I remember watching of his is and I'm sure he was in a bunch of stuff after that. It's probably Mission to Mars which is Early 2000s, right? Which is also to Palmer, is it?
Yes. I did not know that. It is. Oh, really? Yeah. I'd forgotten until I was doing my research for today. I had no idea. I've um actually been wanting to rewatch that. Okay. So, um there we go. Another reason. Yeah.
It's funny like I um I actually sat there and did a bunch of research. I watched um there's a video on YouTube by somebody called Roman Roman Deben. It's a French name. I've probably butchered it. I'm I apologize. Um, if I remember, I'll write it out in the uh notes for this episode, so you can have a look.
Okay. But he he's got a YouTube channel where he sort of does fantastic edits of specific director's work, and he did one for Brian De Palmer, and oh man, it's just made me want to really dive into his work more. What a visionary.
I um when we watched Carrie uh for the show I around about the same time I went back and rewatched Untouchables which I spoke about in that show. Um but that was yeah again that was a bit of a revelation to me like I'd seen that film back in the '9s at some point and been like yeah I quite like that that's quite good
but this time watching it was just absolutely flawed by some of the some of the camera movements where camera was positioned the the shot composition and just the fluidity of it all and it was it's just a magnificent movie. Yeah. Um mostly because of De Palmer's fingerprints being all over it. Mhm. Yeah. He has such a specific style. Yeah. I love it. Um but yeah, do do you know do you happen to know if he'd done like the one take thing before or was that new to him? I've got no idea.
Yeah. No idea. I do wonder why I'm I'm stoked that he chose to to open the film this way, but I do wonder what informed that decision cuz the the rest of it sort of plays out like a more standard thriller. Yeah.
Like it's a little bit pulpy almost. a little bit Hitchcock in places, a little bit noiri, but yeah, that that beginning does sort of stand out. I don't know, perhaps it was just an experiment for him, but it paid off. Whatever the whatever the case, I don't know if I'm speculating. I want to say Brian Palmer, he made Mission Impossible, which came out in 1996, which absolutely slayed at the box office. So, like super his biggest ever success. Yeah. Commercially speaking.
So, I imagine he probably I don't know what the budget was for this. It kind have been a terribly huge amount, but I imagine he wanted to was given a bit more room maybe to be a bit more flexible or experimental. I know that he uh came up with this story idea with is it David? David Kemp. David Ke. I'm never sure if it's David Copp or I think it's Ke. Yeah, we'll go with that.
Um but yeah, who also worked on um who also wrote Mission Impossible and they they sat down together to come up with a story for this. So I wonder if they were just like, "Right, what do we want to do? We can do whatever we want. Let's Let's get a one. I've always wanted to do a one and let's get this in there. Yeah. So, I don't know because he does seem like a very experimental director. He takes a lot of chances. Yeah.
And you can sort of see like the things that work stick around. Um obviously certain trademarks, most of which are present here, like the whole kind of top down angle, which I loved in this and I want to talk about later on. Yes. I me too. Yeah. But the split screen that you've already mentioned, um the POV shot which are really interesting and are very sort of gialo.
That's what it puts me in mind of whenever I see it. But I think I think Brian De Palmer sort of I don't know if he was influenced by or influenced the Gallo movement. When did De Palmer start making films? Was it the ' 70s or was it earlier than that? I I think I want to say late 60s. Late60. Late 60s possibly. Could be wrong, but he certainly was around at that time. And obviously he's making things like Carrie and what's the What's that Michael Kane one? Oh. Um. Oh s***.
Whatever that's called. Yeah, I know. I know what you mean. Is that kind of jello-esque? I've seen I've seen frames from it and it feels like it could be. I don't know. But he's I feel like he's he's definitely was uh influenced by that. I'm sure that he was going to sort of uh the cinema and seeing those films and they sort of infiltrated his psyche to some degree. But there is something a little bit European about his style. I think
you're absolutely right. Yeah. There is. Yeah, there is like but specifics are hard to put my finger on. No, he does feel like a very European filmmaker, doesn't it? It's very astute observation. I like it. Oh, thank you. Don't often get compliments like that on the show. So, we've talked a lot about Cage. Obviously, that's what we're here to do. But what about the rest of the cast? Who else was it? Lewis Guzman. Yeah, Louis Luis Guzman.
I uh I saw he was in the cast before we watched movie. I'm disappointed that he wasn't in it more to be honest with you. He's a good character actor. He is. Um, obviously we mentioned Carlo Gagino who's in it and that's all I know. Who Who else was in it? Uh, John Herd. Uh, okay. Was playing was he the owner of the casino? I know his character was supposed to be based on Donald Trump. Okay. Um, Stan Shaw. Oh, he was the boxer guy.
Yes. Who's played I feel like he sort of seemed to get a little bit t cast cuz he played boxers in um Harlem Nights and Rocky 2 as well. Oh, right. So, I don't know what it is about him that screams that guy is a boxer. Maybe he is actually a boxer. Maybe he has a boxing background. That would explain things. But yeah, they're the they're the notable ones, aren't they? It's not exactly like a star studied cast.
Well, they're not really people that I'm overly familiar with of their work. They're kind of although there's a lot of those. Yeah, I was going to say like, oh, it's that guy. Yeah. Uh even the name John Herd. I'm like, John Hurt? Was he in it? John Herd. Wasn't John Herd the I only say this because we watched them recently. Is he not the dad in Home Alone? Yeah, he might be. I mean,
the people screaming at their their their podcast player at the moment. Of course, he's Yeah, I think you'd be forgiven for forgetting since he's not in the movies that much on account of continuously leaving his child alone. Worst parent in the world and not seeming to be that bothered about it. Yeah. Doesn't give a s***. We'll get back when we get back. Yeah. Oh, one viewer. Boohoo. Oh, we did it again. Yeah, we watched that two weeks ago and I've almost immediately forgotten his face.
Yeah. Yeah, it's him, isn't it? I think so. I'm 98% certain that it is now. You've talked me into it. I'm sorry if I'm wrong. No, it's him. It's him. Um, have we covered anything with Carla Gagino in it? I don't think we um I'm probably thinking of something we watched relatively recently. The one Oh god. Uh, she's objectified in that movie as well. She's always objectified. Yeah. And there's no sort of there's there's no way to follow that up without objectifying her. Like, well,
of course, of course she's objectified. Look at her. There's no way around it. Um, but yet she's also she's also a good actor. She's really good. Obviously more um lightly sort of affiliated with uh Mike Flanigan. Mickey Mickey Flanagan. Mickey Not that's a that's a comedian, isn't it? Yes. Completely different guy. That's a comedian that talks about fingering, does he? Yeah. You never seen a Flanagan show? No, I have not. I have.
Clearly. Um, but yeah, she's she's in I think most if not all of the Mike Flanigan shows. She's not in Midnight Mass, is she? Oh, no. No, you're right. But she's definitely in all of the others. Yeah. The House of Usher, um, Blime Manor, Hill House. Yes, Hill House is that's the one that was on the tip of my tongue. Yeah, she's great in that. She really is. Yeah. And a bunch of like more recent somewhat underrated stuff. Like I quite enjoyed Gumad Milkshake. I'm in the minority. Was she in that?
She was. Okay. I'm in the minority there. I realize that. But femaleled action movie, I'm in I'm there, you know. I barely remember it. Was Karen Gillan in that? Yes. I remember her wearing a cool jacket. She did have cool jacket. Yes, it was a little bit um drive inspired if I if I remember correctly. Um but yeah, she's she's somebody that pops up a lot. Consistently been working for for decades, but doesn't seem to have gotten the the recognition that she maybe deserves.
I would agree with that up until recently where obviously Flanigan's been like, "Look, you've got to be in all my stuff cuz you're f****** great." Yeah. And um But but certainly around this time in the 90s, she's she's kind of underused in this and I don't love her characterization either. It could have been way more interesting her role in a film and I think that's one of my main criticisms of this.
I think she is perhaps the most relatable um fem fatal in a thriller though because I also can't see s*** when my glasses are off. Yeah. So I like her for that. I thought she is kind of underused cuz she sort of pops up in the first act. She's and then she's just stumbling around the casino for an hour. Mhm. And and you sort of you're not quite sure what's going on with her character. And I get it that it's part of the mystery of the of the film because
uh well for a for a mystery movie I think that they gave away something pretty major very early which I'm I guess they meant to. I don't really know. Which which thing are you referring to? Well, when you see the the shooting happen Mhm. you see a gun pointing out Yeah. Like behind a pillar. Mhm. And you know Gary SE is wearing that super military coat thing like the gold bands. Yeah.
Well, that's what the person pointing the gun at has got little gold bands around them. Oh, that's Gary. It's a lieutenant that ain't you know that. I mean, I knew that anyway cuz I remembered for from the movie I I knew he was the bad guy. Yeah. But yeah, they they kind of spoiled that. So to to make Carla's charact I can't remember her character name. Let's just call her Carla. Okay.
To to make her character a bit more myster serious I thought was may they maybe should have done that the other way round because like we say she was just sort of just walking around for an hour and and not really doing much and then she's sort of wasted a bit. She sort of becomes this um what's that phrase when when a woman is in peril the the damsel in distress she sort of becomes a bit of a damsel in distress.
She's kind of a she's a damsel in distress and she's also kind of a mcguffin as well. Um and you're right her character is drastically underused and I think I I would like to say it's more to do with what's on the page than what she brought to the performance. Oh, it absolutely is. Yeah. Um cuz I think she's capable of much more. But that the character was a little bit bland.
Yeah. Oh, I thought she was I thought she was fine in in the role, but definitely an underwritten character, not a used character. Yeah. Uh for sure. But we do get to see her in her bra a couple of times. Well, she's bending over, isn't she? Yeah. Speaking of objective, look, it's a Brian Palmo, you know. He does he does seem to like um how can I phrase this diplomatically? Don't don't worry about it.
He he he doesn't necessarily make sexy movies, but he does film people in a sexy way. He sort of films bodies in a kind of a sexy way. Oh, he's a f****** perve. Yeah, he was an absolute perve. It's me trying to be diplomatic. No, f*** all that. Very diplomatic. Oh, he's a proper lech. He is. I'm sure he'd be the first to admit it as well. It's like him and Tarantino in a screen together. Oh god. Gross. Yeah. Oh no. Be a lot more feet involved. Yeah. I don't I don't want to.
No. The less said about that the better. Um Yeah. So you mentioned already this is only two years after Mission Impossible. I always forget that's him, you know. Was it Mission Impossible? Yeah. Was it um Mission Impossible 2 that John Woo did? Mission Impossible 2. John Woo. There's my short hand. I get it. Okay. Mission Impossible 3. JJ Abrams. I'm never going to remember that. Mission Impossible 4 was uh The Incredibles guy. Brad Bird. Wow. Bird. Mission Impossible 5. Oh, here we go.
Christopher McQuary. who we've also covered a film of. We did. What is it? Way of the gun. The Way of the Gun. Yeah. With Mr. Chris Regan from Just the Thing. Yeah, that was a fun chat. It was a really interesting chat. Um, more so than the film, if I'm being honest. No, I like the film. I know you do.
I like the film. It's It's more interesting to talk about than it is to watch. I will admit. Um, there's some really interesting stuff going on there. And it's quite also quite experimental. But, uh, anyway, go and f****** listen to that show. Yeah. We're gonna talk about it now. So, going back to Snake Eyes, I the GI Joe one or 1998.
I'm not even gonna dignify that with the response. Um, I'm gonna echo a minor criticism that you had already and say that I think obviously this is kind of a mystery thriller. The threads are unraveled gradually, but I think some of the major reveals happened too soon. Well, I agree.
Obviously, um, I'm going to hold my hands up and say I didn't necessarily notice the what what even what do you call it on his sleeve. I didn't clock that. But I still think when it's revealed I think it's it's not until um Rick's in the surveillance room and you just see a pair of shoes behind him on the stairs which is actually a really creepy a really effective shot I find. Um and then obviously Gary Sice comes down and reveals his dastardly plan but I think That happened too soon.
Yeah. I would have preferred Oh, no. We We already knew cuz we saw him kill his co-conspirators, didn't we? Right. Yeah. So, we already knew at that point, but Rick didn't. Yeah. Oh, the um Yeah. The the Yeah. The the the guy at the at the boxing match who stood up and said, um, bring the pain, which was the signal to the boxer to throw the fight. And also the woman that's not Charlie's Thronon. Doesn't look anything like Charlie Thron. Did it not? No. I thought it did.
She was female and had her face. Yeah. So, she didn't like Charlie St. Um, but that was the only scene that we saw her in, wasn't it? I was like, who's who's she? And why do we care that she's being shot in the face? Well, she was the she was the woman in the red dress. Was she? Yes. But she was ginger. It was a wig. Oh god. I'm very easily fooled, aren't I?
Really? Oh, that explains everything. This is why Is Is this why men call makeup catfishing? Did you recognize me when I came home from the hairdressers yesterday with different colored hair? No, I thought you restrained. Who's this woman on my sofa? That's why I phoned old Bill. That's why you got incarcerated overnight. That's why I've got a record now. Great. Lock her up. I said, "Throw away the key." I said, "But you're back." Yeah. Thank God. Yeah. Just in times of podcast. Yeah.
Oh, well, I had no idea. I was like, who who the f***** that and why do I care? But yeah, it turns out and I was actually going to say, well, we never see the woman in a red dress. again like what happened to her? So yeah, two of my questions answered. So to those of those of us amongst the viewership that don't have face blindness, um yes, that's I think it you're making me doubt myself now. I mean it makes total sense cuz otherwise who is she and where did the woman?
Well, that's that was my thinking. Yeah. Um but yeah, so that's the only thing that didn't make sense to me. I didn't love the whole misdirect of when Gary Sice follows her. Obviously, that was his visible alibi as to why he wasn't there during the shooting. Um, but then we sort of see that conversation between them when nobody else is around. I mean, I guess that was just so that he was caught on CCTV or whatever. Yeah, I guess. I guess so.
Um, but that I didn't love that in terms of the misdirect. I don't think we needed to to to be privy to their conversation cuz they still played it out like they didn't know each other. It's It's in in films it's a real problem of mine when something is done uh seemingly just audience the audience when it doesn't necessarily make narrative sense I I have a real problem with that like it has to make sense within the story as well and maybe there is an explanation but yeah I hate that
well something else that I'm going to mention a little bit later on is it seems like there are a lot of studio notes for this movie so I wonder whether or not it got chopped up a bit too much in the edit. Um, I couldn't find any kind of concrete information regarding that except the ending, which we will talk about when we get to it. But yeah, I do I do feel like we if if we' just seen that conversation from further away and hadn't heard what they were saying, that would have made far more sense for me narratively.
Yeah. So, it's at that obviously God, I waffled. I went off on quite a tangent. But yeah, when um when Rick finds out that Gary Cise is obviously the bad guy, I do really enjoy that conversation between them though. where um Lieutenant Dan is offering him the bribe. Yeah. I I I thought to myself, right, he went, "Right, how about 250 grand?" Cage said nothing. And he went, "All right." Yeah. He kept escalating very fast.
Like I reckon like he could have got to half a mill and Cage would have been considering it. Obviously doesn't take the money in the end. That's part of his his arc, but he like went up way too like terrible negotiator. Yeah. Kevin Dawn terrible at bartering. Yeah. Um really good at short shooting himself in a heart though, which is probably quite difficult, I would imagine. So, I don't know. Ask Nicholas Cage in The Rock. Stab myself in the heart.
Yeah. Um, but I do I do love the nuance of of both characters and of that conversation in particular, just you can kind of see I think that's probably Nicholas Cage's strongest scene in the movie acting wise cuz you can really see the betrayal and the the conflict on his face I think at that point.
Yeah. And it's because Lieutenant Dan knows that that Cage is a bit of a scumbag. He likes to take a pay a payday behind closed doors. That's the terrible phrase. Um he accepts bribes and things like that. So he knows like he can invite him, he can be an alibi, he can use him as a scapegoat. Like there's multiple ways that he can play him and he knows that. And Cage is pissed off because it's his mate. Well, yeah. They they talk about being childhood friends, don't they?
Yeah. And and it feels like the the backstory to those two is where is Lieutenant Dan always kind of persuading him to to not do the bad thing? Like he maybe got him out of trouble quite a lot and he was maybe the good guy. So, it was definitely a real turnaround for that character and you did see a lot of that in Cage's performance and definitely the conflict like he was really seriously considering taking that money. Yeah, I think so.
But obviously, we had the the very subtle metaphor of the the money with the blood on it. I don't know if you noticed that. Oh, no, I didn't. It was so subtle. Yeah, it was. And it's not like they showed it to you seven times. And even comments on it the first time like, "Oh, it's sticky." Yeah. There was a still for 10 minutes. It just looked at it and there big words appeared on the screen said metaphor. This Yeah. This little asterisk in the corner. This will be relevant later.
Yeah. Yeah. Czechov's literal dirty money. Yes. Yeah. Blood money. I reckon that's what it was saying, you know. Oh, yeah. Could be. That's my That's my hot take on this movie. That's smart. Yeah. I like it. Yeah. But yeah, I I do really enjoy Cage's performance in this. I think he's actually quite good. I enjoy all the large stuff. I And then as it gets towards the end of the movie, he does tone it down a bit as he finds out he's been
betrayed by his friend and there's this conspiracy going going on and there's this whole story about the the faking the missile performance and stuff like that. He's sort of confused and um just discombobulated and doesn't really know what's going on, but also like he's pieced it all together as well, but he he just can't understand why his friend has betrayed him to such a degree, I guess, cuz from his point of view, it's such a such a spin for that character.
Um and I wonder just how long he's kind of been a bit of a shitbag and just not really been honest with with cage. I don't know. Yeah. Do you do you get the impression that Gary Senise is evil or that he thinks he's doing the right thing for the right reasons? That's a good question. I um I actually think that he thinks he's doing the right thing. Ring ring finger. The right thing. The right thing. I believe he's um doing what he thinks is for the best. For the greater good. The greater good.
Yeah. Because he has that speech, doesn't he? about the submarine. Was it a submarine where he had to I believe so. His men were drowning. Yeah. And he was sort of saying, you know, you know, these these weapons, they're not perfect, but that they will help us not lose so many soldiers, so we're going to falsify this information to get this project off the ground. And I believe um possibly from because of Gary S's performance that he actually believes that he's doing the right thing. Yeah.
And I I definitely believe that Gary Sise while he was acting that thought that too cuz you hear that from actors, don't you? Like they have to kind of like the characters or Yeah. at least understand where they're coming from, empathize with them to some degree to to sort of get under their skin. And I got that. I I felt like he was probably he thought that he was doing bad s*** for the right reasons. What do What do you think?
I I'm with you. I'm with you. And I think that's one reason I really enjoy that conversation, just that that one scene so much because you can see the nuance on both sides. I love it when it's just not black. and white, good versus evil. Same. I really enjoy that. Yeah. It could have quite easily just been uh they could have just under throw super cop. Yeah. Like saves everybody friend turns out to be dastardly monster. Yeah. Because because money.
Yeah. That would have been so boring but easy to do and we've seen it a thousand times. I definitely I I remembered a lot of this movie but I did forget the kind of the the more finer details and mechanics of Gary Sneez's plan. So yeah, I don't think I would have appreciated that back when I saw it for the first time either. No, no, I was an idiot teenager. I wouldn't have um I wouldn't have grasped all of it. I don't think I was an idiot. Yeah. Was Let's move on. I think let's move on. Okay.
But yeah, just to revisit the point I was making, I think maybe some of those reveals were I think they did happen a little bit too soon, which is curious. Because this film's pretty short. I think it's only just over an hour and a half. Yeah. Which is lovely. Like these days like Oh, yeah. Yeah. It It breezes by.
It really does. Yeah. But I do think some of those threads were unraveled a little bit too soon because I found that the first half had such uh tightness and such like escalating tension. And then when we get that reveal when Rick finds out that really sort of deflated a lot of the tension for me and the the back end didn't really resonate in the same way that the the front end did.
I I suppose the the tension in the the latter part of the movie is supposed to be, you know, your um your hop in that Carla Kino Gino, her character name, whose name we've forgotten. Yeah, whose name we've forgotten. Um yeah, I suppose the tension really should be lying in whether or not she's going to make it and what way Nicholas Cage is going to go because you're never sure really until the very end of the movie,
I guess. Yeah. I mean, I I mean, I sort of remembered how it went down, but not not all of the details, but I do remember that he kind of made the right decision at the end. So, the tension was not really there for me for that part. So, we're sort of getting towards the end of the film now, and I want to take some real time to talk about something that I touched on, which is that I suspect there are a lot of studio notes for this movie. Yeah.
And changes that happened. Um, a lot of which have to do with the ending. Well, first of all, something that I read was that the studio wanted it to be a PG13. Oh, piss awful. Agreed. Agreed. Um, I I couldn't find any information about what happened, who fought it, but they did they did push it out with its original R rating and and it's better for it. I think
you this some movies you can probably get away with it, but like this absolutely not because cages are scumbag. you feel like he's on cocaine the entire time. That's kind of a subtext of the movie. Yeah. Um he's obvious there's literal blood money as we've discussed. There's drug dealers in it. There's conspiracy. There's murders. Like if you remove all of the stuff that makes this an R R 15 Rated, whatever. Then it's not a movie. It's what's left. It's I hate that.
Yeah. It'd be a 30 minute short. So do you think that there was some compromise there? Maybe. Do you think that maybe there was a harder version than the version we actually got and they sort of compromised for it to be an art potentially. Um, with it being Depalmer, I wouldn't put it past him, but I'm really glad it went out with his sort of harder v vision. Yeah. I mean, he's not a soft filmmaker, is he? Like you see Scarface and you watch someone getting chainsawed to death.
Like there is brut some brutal stuff in that and there's blood flying all over the place and Carrie and Yeah. stuff like that. So, but but even Carrie that's sort of got softer undertones and like is about just female coming of age and you know the telekinesis that comes with that apparently. Um I've yet to get mine. Keep trying. But um but yeah, like that kind of is almost a teen horror. Yeah.
In a lot of ways. And that's still a hard 18 certificate in the UK and it's all the better for it. So he doesn't seem like a director that has to compromise very much. But as you said, sort of coming off the back of a huge success like Mission Impossible. He probably did get a bunch of studio money to make a film that he wanted to do, but was maybe reigned in a little bit.
Yeah, maybe when they saw it, they were like, "Oh, we didn't realize it was going to be a kind of a a mystery thriller. Mystery thrillers are not playing in 1998. We need a Tom Cruz jumping off a train or whatever." Yeah. We thought it was going to be more of a four quadrant bombs on seats kind of a deal. Yeah. And and especially after the the the the Nicholas Cage Holy Triple Those three movies. Beige Volvo.
The Beige Volvo. Yeah. Especially after that, you know, they might have been thinking like, "Oh, this is just a he's a big name. He's going to get tickets sold." Yeah. Yeah. And then they saw it and they're like, "Oh, this is not an action movie. This is this is uh like a complex, gritty thriller." Yeah. This is a neon noir. We want it to be more of an action movie. Yeah.
So, I wonder I wonder um I wonder if there's somewhere there's a longer cut of this. If if there's any way you can watch deleted scenes like I it pisses me off that we live in an age coming from somebody that quite likes the Zack Snder Justice League, right? I quite like it. f****** hate that 2017 Jos Weeden b*******. Horrible movie. So when that that Zack Snider one came out, yes, it's it's three days long. It's it's a better film though.
I really f****** liked it. It's probably my favorite. I do like Man of Steel. Anyway, let's not get into But now's not the time. No. Um, my gripe is that I feel like every movie Zack Snder makes now, he does a 2-hour version and a 4-hour version. Well, they're talking about doing that for Rebel Moon, aren't they? They've done it. Oh, right. Well, there you go then. I think there's four there's now four Rebel Moon movies and we are seeing none of them. That's four more than anybody asked for.
Never watching them. But um but it pisses me off that we're now getting that where actually what I would like to see is the original version of this. Yeah. Like what was originally planned. I bet I bet there's way more interesting stuff. Maybe it's maybe it's worse. Like there's no way to tell, but it would be interesting for sure or less. Um, so on that thread, I um I did manage to find the alternate ending or the deleted ending on YouTube.
Apparently, it did get a decent Blu-ray release in America a couple years ago that did sort of feature some deleted scenes, including this ending. Now, the bulk of the ending remains the same, but one huge thing was removed in the version that we saw, and I think the film drastically suffers for it. So, basically, um, the ending kind of doesn't make sense in in its theatrical form. I did have questions about the ending. So, I'll be interested to hear what was the original intention for it.
So, obviously the OG ending, um, we we get all of the same buildup like Nicholas Cage turns down the bribe, gets A pretty gnarly beating. Yeah. From uh Gary Cine's guys, his heavies. Yeah. And um his old school mate Lincoln something Abraham. Yes. Abraham Lincoln the boxer. Um and then he's sort of shuffling along to try and save Carlagino. Yeah. And Garrison is following him and he sees the shadow. Um Anak Baldwin. Not that shadow. Okay. cuz that would be terrifying.
It would. Yeah. Like Baldwin with a gun behind you. Too soon. It's too soon. Um Oh, we shouldn't joke about that. No. Um but yeah, all of that remains the same except the thing that keeps being referred to throughout the film actually comes to fruition, right?
And a huge CGI uh I believe it was ILM did a a huge tidal wave that sort of took out the back end of the casino and and rolls that little millennium globe thing into the building that's just been like rolling around outside the casino for a while. That's why there was a random shot of that globe then that's like for no reason in Right. Yeah. Um that and it was just before 2000 where everything was called the Millennium something or other. Right.
My college literally opened a new building and called it the Millennium Building. Yeah. Yeah. Robbie Williams had that soul. Yeah. Will Smith had that soul. No, that was Willium, wasn't it? That was very different. It's funny you should mention it. Will Smith um the the Gary Cine's role was written for Will Smith. Oh, really? Apparently, it was written with him in mind. I I I enjoy Will Smith, especially in this this time period, but f*** off with that.
I know, but the studio apparently just went, "You want 12 million? Get out." Yeah, Gary Ciss it is. Yeah, it was the correct decision. Agreed. Um but yeah, so a huge title wave kind of washes Gary Senise away. I that sounds horri horrible to me. What did you watch that actual ending? The title and how did it look? It looked fine. Did it look good from a like a VFX perspective? So, it's hard to say because the the version that I watched it sort of was unfinished. Yeah, sure.
Like it the footage was a little bit ropey. Yeah. So, it's hard to say, but I think it looked pretty good. So, him shooting himself in the heart then that's a re-shoot, I guess. I imagine. So yeah. Um but I'm not sure why they did that because to me like the the tidal wave and him kind of being washed away is sort of poetic justice um following his speech about watching the men drown. Yeah, I guess so.
That kind of makes more sense. It makes a lot more sense because I mean the first thing we see in this movie is uh the TV news reporter, the the news anchor out front talking about the weather and like we revisit her at the end because they they want to do a segment on how bad the storm is getting.
Um, and then obviously the water rushes in and covers Nicholas Cage and Carl Gagino as well, which is why at the very end he says, "I keep um I can't remember the line." It's like, "I keep seeing myself back there in the tunnel underwater." So, in the version we watched, it's like, "Huh? Excuse me? What the f*** are you talking about?"
Right. At the end of the movie, he's talking to Gagino. Right. I I I missed that, I must admit. Maybe I thought it was a metaphor again. Maybe, but no, it was literal. We just didn't get to see that in the theatrical cut.
Okay. It's funny because when I was watching it, I did I noticed that that shot of the globe as I mentioned and I thought, well, that's random. I wonder if that's going to be relevant and it it's not at all. So, I'm I'm curious as to why they didn't just whip that out all together. I remember at the end of the movie, seeing the storm, I'd forgotten completely that there was a storm at the start of the movie. So, I was like, "Oh, it's bit windy today, is it?"
Okay, fine. Um, why is that relevant? And And also like the now you mentioned it and we've sort of come to the conclusion that the some of those final scenes between Seneise and Cage were probably re-shoots. It does kind of feel like a small set when you think about it. Like it's a very it's quite closeup. It's a very it's quite generic. It's just like a sort of a steel door with some some some metal paneling and stuff. It's quite a generic
uh set for a kind of a final showdown if you like. So yeah, that does make complete sense. I why would they have why would they have stopped that do you think? I honestly don't know. I couldn't find any information about about why that was removed. I suspect it was again studio interference because there was there was a 2015 documentary about Brian De Palmer. Yes. Which I watched the Noah Boundback one. He talks about it in that um
Oh, right. I So I should have known all of this. So, I did find a little clip and somebody um he he basically talks about how in his mind what he wanted to happen was that the corruption that we see in the film was run ran so deep was so um was so severe that the only thing that could wash it all away was like an act of God. Right. So that's why he envisioned that happening. That was that was definitely his brainchild.
Yeah. And I mean there's I I wasn't convinced when you talk about the tidal wave, but the more you talk about it Yeah. It does kind of make more sense. It just feels more like a climax as well. Like that's one of my criticisms of the version that we watched is it does it felt anticlimactic. It just sort of peters out a little bit, doesn't it? Yeah. It's it's like Lieutenant Dan is a bit confused like, "Oh, there's uh there's the ambulance here now.
f*** it. I'm going to shoot myself in the heart." Yeah. Not the head. No. Like cuz you see the gun you're like and he looks at the gun, you're like, "Ah, he's going to do himself in the Nah. Why would you do that? Well, because you can shoot yourself in the head and survive. You can shoot yourself in the heart and survive. You got to be I feel like you got to be I feel like that has to be rarer though, right? I
I think it's harder to to find your heart than it is to find your head because your head is on the outside of the body. You understand? And you can just go plop like that. That's true. Yeah. Like you can't see what I'm doing here, but just go plop. Yeah. Yeah. You make a solid point there. Um and and also the ending features my least favorite part of the movie, which is the really really bizarre tacked on romance. Oh, by the way, we're in love. What the f***? Yeah, agree.
Because like even the dialogue was really bad because it was like Carla Gagino was sort of trying to vet him as a potential partner, but like you know those like speed dating things. I've never done one, but I've seen them on TV. It felt like a speed de Oh, you know how old are you? 35. You married? Not anymore. Do you have a girlfriend? Oh. She ran off. Oh, it could be worse. They could have run off together. Like little joke, little misogynistic joke. Um, but it's like she's doing speed dating and she's like, "He's single and he's 35. I will now kiss him."
Yeah. It was so weird and out of nowhere and it had to be a studio note. It had to be. I think you're right. Because not only was there zero chemistry between them throughout the movie, there was never any inkling that either one found the other attractive, But further to that, he was kind of awful to her. Yeah. Like, yes, he protected her, but he was also a bastard.
Well, he very nearly let her die, but he was it was quite it was 50/50 where like what he was going to do. He was definitely considering taking that million quid, he was thinking about it. Had um they not rammed it home so hard that that that money had blood on it, I think he might have just let her die. Yeah. And and when even when he was saving her, it was kind of awful to her for a lot of that. So, like where's the appeal?
Yeah. There's there's no um development in that relationship at all to justify that ending. No. And that's something that that really pissed me off as well. Like it got to the ending and and they like you say, they they have that that exchange which is weird and then she just gives him a little kiss, little hi. Yeah, you're really attracted to me at this stage and I fancy the s*** out of you.
Even despite your terrible shirt. Even though you nearly let me die, um, very nearly let me die. You locked me in that room. No, like you say, no chemistry throughout the movie. You were a bit rude to me actually when we first met because you said that you would uh you would only take him a minute and I wondered what you was talking about there. Ladies, the bar is in hell.
Yeah. Yeah. I didn't I didn't love that ending. It was I had a I I I had a problem with that because it sort of felt like it came out of nowhere. And now you mention it, it does absolutely feel like a studio know like, well, it's got to end up with a girl. Yeah, we need we need to get women involved. What are they going to what what reason have we given for women to watch this film? Stick in a romance angle. Get more bombs on seats. It's got to be the money people Yeah, asking for that.
It does feel like it. Um, but it I also like wonder how all of his corruption was exposed. Like how was what was the deal there? Like because obviously is uh mentioned that he's going to go away to jail for about 18 months. That's something I do love about the ending. I really look, I'm a I'm a sucker for a good anti-hero anyway, but I really love the fact that he's Yes. hailed as a hero, but still has to face his crimes. Yeah.
Still has to answer for them. Um I really I really do like that because a lot of other films would have just been like, "Oh, but you did a this heroic act, so we're just going to brush everything bad that you did under the carpet and never mention it. all is forgiven. Yeah.
Yeah. It's not the fact that he had to serve time and and um and essentially go to jail for for his crimes. It's more that again it kind of felt like it came out of nowhere like for someone um such as him who's been running that town for I don't know a decade or whatever taking bribes from everybody, stealing from criminals and stuff. Is obviously a very uh intelligent man. Knows how to cover his tracks. He actually says that in the movie and then all of a sudden all of this stuff is uncovered and I get that there probably was some investigation of it into Gary Senise and that character, but I wonder how it kind of got from him to Nicholas Cage. Would they really have investigated Nicholas Cage character to to that sort of degree knowing that he's sort of saved the day? I don't really know.
I don't I don't mind that he went to jail. I quite like that as well. I just wish that it kind of fit a little better in the story, I guess. or maybe just an extra sort of 15 minutes, you know, would have benefited this movie. And I don't say that very often. And this movie does sort of breeze by and there's so much to like about it with the the camera and stuff. We didn't even talk about the overhead stuff in in the hotel when I was going to Josh Gad um
tries to get Carlo Kagino in the in the hotel room. I honestly thought I was I was like, "Is that Josh Gad?" I was like, "No, he'd been four years old." Did he not like Josh Gad? Yeah, a little bit. Now you've said it. I know I've got the face thing. I know I thought the the the the red head was was also Charlie's Thron, but that's definitely a Josh Gad. I'm sorry. Um yeah, I loved I loved that shot so much when it went above the hotel rooms and it went over like four four rooms.
So, I was going to ask you actually if you had any favorite shots because that's hands down one of mine. I I do love a lot of what um um what De Palmer does just in general. I think I think he's got fantastic flare behind the camera. Um I love the Dutch angles. The I think the first one we see is when Nicholas Cage is roughing up Luis Guzman in that beginning segment and the camera just tilts and I'm like, "Oh yeah, give me that sweet Dutch angle."
Um also I'm I'm a huge fan of split diopter shots, which is a massive one of his trademarks. Um underused underused. massively. But that top down shot, it's fantastic. Yeah, I love it. I just you just think about the the kind of the production that goes into it. The setting up of that, get physically getting a camera above them.
All of the actors working in unison like you say earlier on with the kind of the one shot at the beginning of the movie feels a bit like a dance. It's very similar there as well. Everyone's on their marks and they're queued at a certain point. Camera's coming f****** we better start spraying each other with silly string.
Um And it it was just uh it's just really nice. You don't get that much of that sort of stuff anymore. And and maybe that's that's part of the reason why going back and looking at this stuff now, I do appreciate it a bit more because very rare. You'll get you'll get the odd long sequence in movies now, but you don't get outside of a few kind of filmmakers which who are still doing it. Um you don't get that stuff so much anymore. I definitely feel like it's a kind of a bit of a relic.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think and I wish they would sort of be a bit more exper experimental than than a lot of filmmakers are these days. Yeah. And I think when when it is used, it tends to be a gimmick or a selling point. Like there's a couple films we've watched recently, both of which I loved. One of which was Victoria, the film that's set in real time in Berlin. Obviously, it's real time, of course, because it's one take. That's That was literally one sequence, wasn't it?
One take. Two and a half hours. It was phenomenally done. Yes. Yeah. I can't wait to watch that again. I absolutely loved that. Another was a French zombie film called Mads, which again was really well choreographed. Um all one all one take, but did have some sort of uh VFX added after the fact. But yeah, so it's it's usually used as like a selling point. Yeah. Like that's specifically how they sell the film. It's not just a thing that a filmmaker decides to try out.
Yeah. It's it's of it's not really anymore you're just going to watch a movie plus there's this cool s*** in it. It's like this we can we're going to do this thing and this is why we're how we're going to advertise it to you. Like 1917 is a good example. Yeah. Yeah. Like obviously not really a oneshot movie but it was definitely but designed Yeah. Yeah. Designed to look like one and 100% marketed like this is why you need to see this movie. And I love that film. I do.
But it's it would be nice to get How many mystery thrillers can you name that are shot like this? I I can't I can't think of another one that aren't also directed by Brian Obama. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I sort of miss it now. I sort of miss it. Yeah. Yeah. Which I think is probably one of the reasons I enjoyed this as much as I did. Yeah. I like I said at the start of the show, I I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was in there because I wanted to talk about the Palmer again.
I wanted to uh I sort of was trying to mix up the genres a little bit as Well, so there was a little bit of that, but I was surprised by how much I kind of enjoyed. Like we said, not perfect. We've mentioned some of the things we didn't like. Uh, which are pretty much exclusively in the second half of the movie, I would say. Yeah. Um, not even Josh Cat Gad could say the second half of this movie, but I Yeah. liked it more than I thought I would, and I'm really happy with that.
Yeah. Me, too. Me, too. I I was really really surprised by how much I enjoyed re-watching this actually and I kind of regret not coming back to it sooner. I think um I think in the hands of a lesser director it could have just been another by the numbers thriller but I think because of the the visual style um and the chances that Brian De Palmer took it it really elevated it into something kind of special and I and I love that that Cage and De Palmer got to make a movie together.
I'm so glad that combination happened. Obviously I would say my favorite um movie of his is is probably Scarface. Yeah. And and the the kind of the the the team up of him and Pacino is just incredible. Probably his most iconic role, Pacino, I would say. Oh, yeah. Definitely.
Um and it's it's it's funny really really because when I think about Nicholas Cage, I think who who's most like Nicholas Cage? What other And I always think Alpuccino and Nicholas Cage are the kind of the two actors that are most similar. There's no one quite like Nicholas Cage or Alpuccino for that matter, but I find them kind of similar because they do. They're not always, but like they're both larger than life like and they're a bit absurd in some of their performances. I think I think I prefer Cage on the whole.
I think he's done better work on the whole. Not a fan of Godfather. I'm sorry. I prefer their choices that Nicholas Cage has made. Yeah. Yeah. But I do find them kind of similar because they're not afraid to be larger than life and take some chances. I feel like Cage has maybe got more range. I don't know. But Potentially. Potentially. Larger than life. And you've not even seen House of Gucci. I will never. Oh, you will. No, you will. I will.
You will. I'm definitely going to do a true crime season one day. And why is So, why is that going to be on it? Because it's going to be so much fun to tear it apart. I'll do a Jared Letter. Oh, we're going to have to eventually, aren't we? He's in really good stuff, frustratingly. I mean, Suicide Squad aside, for some reason. And they're still putting him in movies. Yeah, good ones. Uh like MorbiiUs, for example. I haven't seen MorbiiUs. I'm told it's excellent, though.
Yeah, that's what I've heard. Uh I Yeah. No, but I'm really glad anyway that we that I decided to to cover Snake Eyes. It's been a really interesting chat and a really interesting watch, rewatch rather, and maybe might be one that you said there's a fancy a fancy blue I believe so. Um, we didn't get one, but there was one in the States, I think. Yeah, but we have a region free Blu-ray. Yes, we do. Just procure it and watch it.
But before we get too excited about potentially watching Snake Eyes again, the the Brian De Palmer one, not the Not the GI Joe one. Yeah. What are you going to make me watch next week? What filth do I have to pour into my eyes next week, Dan? Well, I'm so glad you asked. Oh, I don't know how to put this. Just say it. Just rip the band-aid off. Right. Okay. Well, we're going to be we're going to be covering The Wicker Man. Of course we are.
I've never seen this this remake of The Wicker Man. I I've heard all about it. We've we've done some good movies and we like to, like I said, like to balance things out and do a variety of things. We've done enough good movies. Now, let's do one that's f****** terrible. Yeah. Or maybe it'll be fun. Is it a comedy? I don't know. Anything's a comedy if you're high enough.
Yeah. Yeah. Um Yeah. I We We've seen the original Wickerman in fairly recent memory, so it'll be really interesting to compare and contrast as well. I wonder I wonder which one's going to be better. I have an inkling. Well, we going Yeah, we're going forward eight years. I think. Yeah. Big jump this time
from uh from Snake Eyes to to the Wicker Man. It's our biggest jump yet. Almost a decade. So, we're we're definitely entering a new era of Cage, aren't we? We're entering that that questionable era, aren't we? Yeah. Don't worry, there's no left behinds in this in this season. Um but yeah, uh Matt will be delighted to know our new friend Matt, friend of the podcast. I'm very sorry.
You messaged me the other day and said, "I hope you're not doing uh the wicker man." We are. Oh, we're going to have to issue apologies all round. Nah, well, no, our listeners don't have to watch it. No, you guys are fine. But listen to the show, though. Listen to the show. Uh, yeah. Watch it. Don't watch it. If you've seen it before, probably don't bother watching it again. I don't know. Or do like, do people like this movie now? Is it one of those that people kind of enjoy, ironically?
No. Have you seen it? Yeah. Okay. Well, it's going to be a first time watch for me, so first in line. I don't know. Maybe I'm going to love it.