Ep. 51 The Last Picture Show

Come join me and writer/comedian/actress Ingrid Palomo on this nostalgic cinematic ride!

For all the cinephiles and movie enthusiasts out there, picture this - you are about to be taken on a journey back in time, to the era of the classic 1971 film, 'The Last Picture Show.' Yes, that's right! We're going to explore the magic of this iconic film and its director, Peter Bogdanovich, in great detail. And here's the cherry on top - we have a special guest who shares a unique personal experience with Bogdanovich, giving us an insider’s view of the movie industry. We'll also look at the awards the film garnered and the interesting fact that Bogdanovich edited the entire film but didn't take credit for it.

This swift journey doesn't stop there. We also get to chat about the significance of physical movie theaters, and specifically, we spotlight the Vista Theater in Los Angeles. We'll navigate the effects of TV on movie theaters, the attempts to create unique experiences with 70mm and 3D, and also touch on the potential of virtual reality for movies. How does the satisfaction of owning a movie on physical media compare to streaming it? We will discuss that too. Preserving movies and appreciating the beauty of a physical piece of art is a rare and delightful treat that we'll unwrap together.

Lastly, we step into the comparison zone where we pit 'The Last Picture Show' against movies such as 'Roma' and 'Mank' on Netflix. How does the preservation of digital media stack up against film? Is there a difference in the experience when shooting on film versus digital? We'll answer these questions and more. This episode is a treasure trove for anyone who loves the magic of classic cinema and is curious about the artistry behind creating unforgettable films. 

Transcript

Scene: 0:11

美aly, yooooo strox. Oh my God. Tony Bennett's cold, cold heart was on everybody's hip parade, elizabeth Taylor was getting married, Boys were ducktails, the police action in the Far East was Korea and Anoreen, texas, like other small towns, is approaching the end of an era.

Scene: 1:03

I heard about the ball game last night 121 to 14. Must be putting their record. What'd you think he'd do if he found us? Shoot us probably.

Ingrid: 1:15

But, mama, it's a sin, isn't it? Unless you're married. You know I wouldn't do that.

Scene: 1:19

Don't be so mean and mouthed. Cover it out. Cover it out. You've got to be men like the rest of them. Ain't none of you pretty enough to be women? You boys can get on out of here. I don't want to have no more to do with you. I've been around that trashy behavior all my life. I'm getting tired of putting up with it.

Ingrid: 1:46

Oh quit prism, I don't think you did right anyway.

Scene: 1:52

Honey.

Vito: 1:53

What.

Scene: 2:00

That's a lie. I'll stay with her all night. One of these nights too, she done promised I won't either. Yes, I will, I shouldn't I. I'm not sorry for you. You'd have left Billy too, just like you left me. I bet you left him plenty of nights whenever JC whistled it's long buddy, it's long buddy, be careful, I'll take care of the mercury for you.

Ingrid: 2:32

I'll be back in a year or two if I don't get shot.

Scene: 2:40

You wouldn't believe how this country's changed. I reckon the reason why I always drag you out here is probably I'm just as sentimental as the next fella when it comes to old times, old times.

Scene: 2:57

Annarine, Texas, 1951. Nothing much has changed.

Ingrid: 3:10

Thanks for having me on. Thank you.

Vito: 3:12

I've wanted this for a while, yeah.

Ingrid: 3:14

You know what it's exciting. I love your podcast, I have to tell you, and I'm so excited about the movie you want to talk about today because you know I kind of sort of have a personal connection with it and besides that, it's just one of those classic movies that you know are always like the talk.

Vito: 3:30

It was definitely an easy one to want to do Definitely so you said last, we said last picture show. And let's talk about that, that connection you have for it, Because we talked about Bogdanovich and Ellen Bernstein and. But yeah, go ahead and say, say your experience.

Ingrid: 3:43

Yeah, well, you know well, I was very excited about it because I'm a big fan of Peter Bogdanovich and Ellen Bernstein and I was once up for a second AD position with him and I interviewed with the, his assistant. Actually, this was like maybe about oh my God, this is like 10 years ago.

Vito: 4:02

Okay.

Ingrid: 4:02

And it was really quite an honor just to be at the house, and I had never been.

Vito: 4:08

Oh, you were up at this house.

Ingrid: 4:10

I was inside. Yeah, I was in his house in Beverly Hills. And I didn't get to meet him because he was actually at the time. You know, you know he just passed away. What? A year ago? Yeah, yeah, but at that time he was already pretty ill, yet his own nurse and all that. So what we were doing was just interviewing with the, with his assistant, and. But it was movie, was it for? Do you remember?

Vito: 4:32

No, it was actually just it was going to be some TV stuff he was working on.

Ingrid: 4:36

There was no direct project. Yeah, gotcha. Okay, yeah, he was just out there, just kind of like putting his feelers and hiring people for things Got it, and you know, we got a tour of the the, the, the the the, the.

Ingrid: 4:48

we got a tour of the house I mean not everything you know, but just like kind of like more of the public areas, and I actually got to see the room where they were. Bogdanovich hosted up his Oscar party when he, you know, when the movie you know won a bunch of you know won awards Cool.

Ingrid: 5:05

And it was so cool because it was actually I think I was telling you this the floor was, it was, it was a, it was a disco theme, the whole it was. It was a room with like, imagine, like, like the John Travolta on Saturday night and Saturday night fever, with the floor, you know that colorful floor and the disco ball.

Vito: 5:28

There was so much coke in there, probably.

Ingrid: 5:31

Probably you know, and and so it was just so cool to be in that room and just imagine, oh my God, imagine the Oscars in 1971. When you know they I mean there was, there were, you know what two supporting actors right. Two supporting actor awards for that movie.

Vito: 5:48

Movie screenplay director, every yeah.

Ingrid: 5:51

Yeah, and you know what? I didn't know that he actually edited that movie too. Yes, I read that, peter Bogdanovich. Actually he did that, but he I guess I don't know what the rules were that he couldn't like also be an editor. I don't know what it was, but he didn't. He didn't want the credit.

Vito: 6:08

Yeah, when I when I understand that was was the guild was. He was going to put no editing in there, because he edited the whole movie but he didn't want to have anyone get the credit. But the editing union rules where you have to have somebody credited. So they gave it to somebody who just basically helped for a day or two on a couple of things and then and then. Bogdanovich, just like, just give him the credit.

Ingrid: 6:29

And you know, I actually I wasn't very, extremely knowledgeable about editing before like on actual film, but he did. He did it on a movie, yola, which yeah, that's the old school. Yeah, oh, my God, I love it.

Vito: 6:43

That's kind of his his thing, though right he's at. He's that kind of, like, you know, carried on the old Orson Welles, howard Hawks, torch, you know. So it seems like that would be what he would edit on some of the Yola.

Ingrid: 6:54

Yes, and how I mean how amazing you know it's. It's really really quite interesting. And you know, now that you mentioned Orson Welles, you know, and I guess you know he was, I guess he was like his protege right, like okay, and I guess I mean the whole thing with the movie, the last picture show being black and white, which is kind of unusual right For 1971 in a way, you get a green light from a studio like that.

Ingrid: 7:17

Yeah, Right, and and I understand that Orson Welles actually told them I don't know if this is true, but that he should this probably like half. It was a kind of maybe a facetious remark, but he said you know, you should do it in black and white because people look better in black and white, or you know probably somewhat true.

Vito: 7:37

I heard Bogdanovich in interviews say in the end it was really because of the depth of field you can't do. Orson Welles told him this, actually, that he learned that you can only do deep depth of field and black and white. You couldn't pull off those long depth of field shots, you know where everything's in focus. You can't do that really in color film back then. And so Bogdanovich didn't know how to really pitch that to Bert Bert Schneider, the producer. So when he said he wanted to do movie, the movie on black and white, they were like why? And then so his pitch. He didn't want to say Orson Welles told me to. So he ended up saying well, the acting will be better, it's real life, it's. You know all this, you know. So it just adds to the myth. Wow yeah, did you watch the movie? Since we talked about doing this? Oh yeah, oh, I did too.

Ingrid: 8:26

Okay, yeah, and you know, and the other thing, the other thing that was such a joy to watch in the movie was Alan Burstein. I, you know, I actually got to work with her. I was very fortunate that I was in a TV movie. It was a lifetime movie. I mean, I had a very small part but it was really interesting. I got to work with Heather Graham and I got to work with Alan Burstein in a scene.

Ingrid: 8:50

And it was for the it was. It was in the you know the flowers and the attic book series.

Vito: 8:56

Yes, yes.

Ingrid: 8:57

And so it was. It was actually with Alan Burstein and Heather Graham, and I got to be Alan Burstein's nurse in one of the scenes.

Scene: 9:05

Oh, I love that.

Ingrid: 9:06

Yeah, and you know, what's so interesting about that is that I got to really spend a lot of time with her and in spending a lot of time with her, it was such an interesting experience with her she's so, you know, I don't think most people know that Alan Burstein is actually very knowledgeable about directing.

Ingrid: 9:22

And you know, I didn't really realize that she was just. She was actually on the set telling people you know what to do and knowing her stuff. I mean, she really knew her stuff and I told her, you know. I said you know, miss Burstein, you know you should really direct, you should direct the movie or something. And then I come to find out that a couple of years ago no, maybe like a few years after that, she actually directed a film I don't know if it was mentioned for the Berlin Film Festival.

Vito: 9:51

Oh really.

Ingrid: 9:52

Yeah, and I don't know that she I think she got an honorable mention or she got some kind of an award. There was something she got and I was just like you know what.

Vito: 10:02

I hope she did that, because I told her she should I know I was about to say what if you're You'd?

Ingrid: 10:06

like to take credit for that right.

Vito: 10:08

I'm gonna take a little credit for that.

Ingrid: 10:10

It's a little bit, you know, because I was.

Vito: 10:12

I was just amazed, you know Well she's worked with literally all the best you know and she's yeah, I can see her being a great director. I loved watching the movie again. I've never read the book it's. I guess the book's really dirty or whatever, but it's like for the time though I guess people don't realize from 1971. I mean, a lot of people were just considering it like a nudy flick because it was pretty extreme for the time. I don't even remember how much nudity was in it?

Ingrid: 10:39

Me too. You know what? Yeah, I was actually pretty surprised with the nudity.

Ingrid: 10:46

You know, I don't even know that nowadays you would see so much nudity as you would, as you would then. But you know, when you think about it, beto, I mean the, the nudity in the movie and like the like, so much like kind of like gratuitous I guess, sex in a way. I mean they didn't show everything, obviously, but, right, you know, I think it's not a porno, you know, but there's kind of a point to it, right? Sure, and to me, to me, the point is that these people never seem, for the most part, never seem to have a real connection like the romantic relationships, right, they're kind of like. They're not very like Emotional, they're not. You don't sense that there's an emotion, a real, like lasting connection with people, right?

Ingrid: 11:28

Right and and the sex is just kind of like a, like a poor substitute, and and just it's just like it's just full of transgression, right, it's just, it's just the gratuitous sex sometimes it's not a boredom, you know it's yeah, and to give everyone a quick rundown, it's basically it's this old rundown Texas town in 1951.

Vito: 11:50

It's just the movie covers a year span, from one football season to the next, and you follow a Few adults and a few kids, but the story really is the the three kids, which is played by Jeff Bridges, timothy Bottoms and simple shepherd, and Ben Johnson is also in it and he's kind of the old, you know, the old wise man who wins an Oscar and for his performance as well. And the last picture show is called that because there's a little theater in the town, mm-hmm, and it's gonna play this final movie and it kind of, you know, symbolizes, but it's, it's the whole movie. Like he said, it is all symbolic. You know it's a, it's an interesting movie and Bogdanovich Was really young when he directed it.

Ingrid: 12:30

I didn't realize how young he was. I mean, I was really like surprised, you know, and you know he started off as an actor, right, yeah, and it's interesting that that you know, thank God he became a director, because you know we wouldn't probably have the, the worker, that that he's done. And you know his wife, paulie Platt, right, she, yes, also, she was, she was, like believe she did production design on the movie, and this is when they broke up too.

Ingrid: 12:57

Because a civil shepherd Getting with civil shepherd yeah, love triangle for that. Not in that movie. But she also ended up working with him later, which is interesting, like not not long after that, which is really right, Right, she stayed working, you know yeah, yeah, you know she's pretty, she was pretty amazing talent in her own right too.

Vito: 13:20

They said she had a hard time though after they divorced, like a lot of people weren't talking to her and stuff, like she had to kind of work herself back in. I'm like that's kind of fucked up, though, when these holes, they break up and everyone sighs with one person, and then yeah, that that's not true.

Ingrid: 13:35

But you know what I was gonna tell you was. I think one of my favorite characters and in the in the show was Ben Johnson, and it's probably because he of all the characters, like like nobody seems to redeem themselves in the movie so much, but but he is the person that is kind of like the, the glue, that then the conscience of the Film in a way. You know, I mean I don't want to give the movie away too much, anybody.

Vito: 14:01

Yeah.

Ingrid: 14:05

But you know, like that scene where there's a scene where the Billy right, the boy who has, he has some kind of a Learning disability or something.

Vito: 14:15

And Billy, that's Sam Bottoms, whose Timothy Bottoms younger brother.

Ingrid: 14:19

Yeah, right, right, in real life yeah.

Vito: 14:21

Yes, yes.

Ingrid: 14:23

And where they kind of like you know, have them like to have some sex with a. Was it the town? Crazy scene and there and there, you know, there's a toy taking advantage of the fact that he can't really speak up for himself and all that and he's getting, so he's getting naked too and he's underage.

Vito: 14:42

It's like this. This movie is pretty extreme, you know.

Ingrid: 14:47

But the fact that that the character right Sam the lion is.

Vito: 14:51

Sam the lion Yep.

Ingrid: 14:53

He is like the, the, the more the conscience of the of the film and definitely and to me he's like the only character that is so decent. It's like, of course he's gonna easy, he's gonna die, you know.

Vito: 15:06

Of course right you know, continue.

Ingrid: 15:08

I mean, I mean when you think about the main characters. Uh, sonny right, he he made.

Vito: 15:13

Timothy Bottoms, You're right right, he the.

Ingrid: 15:16

The real connection that he made was really with two people. Right, it was Ben Johnson and it was with Billy. Yeah and and the and the two people that he makes a connection with, a real, genuine connection with People, that that he loses in the film right.

Vito: 15:32

Because he's also having the affair with the coach's wife, chloris Leachman, and, you're right, it's like he's literally sleeping with her. But there's no connection with those two. He's connected with the others, you're right.

Ingrid: 15:42

Mm-hmm right now.

Ingrid: 15:44

And the other interesting thing is it's it's of course there's that, there's the other other levels to the movie, you know where it's a movie about a time that no longer exists, right?

Ingrid: 15:54

I mean, like when you think about one of the movies that is shown in the, in the picture show in the, the movie theater In the town is Red River, right, and that's a John Wayne movie. Yeah, that's one of the movies that they end up seeing and the interesting thing it's about in that movie is a Western, obviously, and it's it's like about when they used to do cattle drives Back in the day, when from Texas to Kansas, and you know, and that's a, it's a fictional account of one of those cattle drives. So it's, it's a and it's a movie where they're they're watching a movie about a time gone by, and yet we are watching a movie about a time gone by in 1971, but also it's also, you know, based in 1951, right, the movies actually based, you know, in the 50s, and so it's about like a time gone by, right and we think about what's going on with movie theaters right now and, of course, we have the obviously the bigger issue right now, which is, of course, the strikes and everything changing right.

Ingrid: 16:59

Yeah, we're doing streaming, we're doing digital. You know, we're not in the film world so much anymore. Unfortunately so yeah, and it's such a timely movie to watch right now because we agree yeah. And you know, and I was just, I was reading how they're trying to kind of save some movie theaters and for example in LA and I don't know about other cities so much, but I know that there's a few movie theaters in LA, like, for example, the Vista Theater- yeah.

Ingrid: 17:28

The Vista Theater that Quentin Tarantino bought, which they're trying to save, and he actually just wants to show film, movies on film, there. Now, I don't know if he's going to be able to do that, but that's where I actually Because the new Beverly Strictly film, but they play our old movies.

Vito: 17:41

The Vista, I believe it's supposed to show new movies as well, but they want to do nothing but film still. So I don't know how that's going to work out, you know.

Ingrid: 17:51

Right. But you know, man, you know, thank God that that he's trying to save that movie theater. You know, I don't know if you've ever been there- oh, I love the Vista.

Vito: 17:59

Actually it's like my favorite theater. There's so much leg space there. I love that place.

Ingrid: 18:03

It's got like that Egyptian design right. Yeah, yeah, no, it's great, it's great it really is, and I'm like man, thank God for that, because I think there is a place for movie theaters still in the world, you know.

Vito: 18:15

Yeah.

Ingrid: 18:15

And I don't want that to ever go away. I never want that to go away.

Vito: 18:20

I agree I was a little encouraged by the whole Oppenheimer Barbie chaos.

Vito: 18:25

I was like no these are non-marvel movies and people are going nuts for them, even though Barbies, like an IP or whatever, it's still kind of an original movie and I was like that's kind of happy that people were flocking to the theaters again and it's impossible and stuff.

Vito: 18:39

So, yeah, I mean there's, there's a glimmer of hope, you know, but we are lazy and it's just going to kill it and it almost to me it's like I just it feels like it's to me it's really going to come down to like movies versus like shows, you know, and it's like the binge shows and that's what kind of kills me, like everyone kind of leans more towards that these days and it feels like narrative, like just feature films. They're either indie, super indie, like film festival films, or Marvel level. So it is nice that you have movies. You know, past couple of years, even if you didn't like them, it was cool, like from, like Nope and Elvis and and these movies that we just talked about. I mean it's encouraging. So, you know, I hope, I hope it works out in the long run.

Ingrid: 19:25

Yeah, I mean, that's what. I loved it when you suggested talking about this movie, the Last Picture Show, because, oh my God, I can't think of something more more timely to talk about.

Vito: 19:36

I can't believe you worked with Ellen Bernstein. I think that's just awesome. Yeah, I'm a big fan of her from the exercise.

Ingrid: 19:41

Oh, I love her.

Vito: 19:43

I'm Marvin Gardens. She's always awesome.

Ingrid: 19:45

Yeah, yeah, she really is. But you know she's very talented. She was just one award short of the EGOT, I mean, I think she. But she has just got the Emmy and the Oscar, tony, and she has a few other film awards to go to. You know, the only thing is just not the Grammy, but you know there's. I mean it's really fat. I mean you read her bio and all the, all the awards she has gotten. I mean she's an incredibly bright. Bright lady, you know.

Vito: 20:13

Yeah, no, she is yeah she really is. And this is Sibyl Shepard's first movie, and I guess supposedly Donovitch was in the store and he saw a glamour magazine with her face on it and since he was in you know the Hollywood system, he just literally, literally said, like find me this girl. And that's how they got her, you know. And then the affair started. That's right, but that was her only nude scene was from that movie that she ever did. They said she said in Donovitch. They all just said she hated doing it.

Ingrid: 20:43

It was super uncomfortable and I'm sure, yeah, because she was pretty. She was actually 21, I believe, but that's.

Vito: 20:49

Oh, ok, I was going to ask. I didn't know how she was.

Ingrid: 20:50

She. But you know, you know how a lot of times actors will still play much younger roles, right? So even if they're 21, but they look, maybe she could look, you know, younger. But I believe was she like in. I think she was in beauty contests too, right, wasn't she like an?

Vito: 21:04

I probably Agents. Yeah, probably I know she's from.

Ingrid: 21:07

She originally from Mississippi, Arkansas.

Vito: 21:09

I don't know. I was going to ask you if she has to be really southern, you know.

Ingrid: 21:13

Yeah, I think so. But you know, the interesting thing is the character JC, right? You know what, honestly, I found the character. I mean, at first she was OK to me, but then I kind of don't like how she played men, you know. Like she just seemed to really be like an asshole to men, I mean to the younger men.

Vito: 21:34

But then the whole thing is that the the clue Villager character who's dating her mom when they probably have sex. It's like it's not what she wanted and supposedly Peter Bogdanovich says that those two did not like each other. And so when they would speak their lines. The other one wouldn't be off camera, but so it was. I don't even know how they filmed that scene, if they were even together.

Ingrid: 22:02

Wow OK.

Vito: 22:03

I know they didn't say why they didn't like each other, but they didn't get along on set, so OK, well, see, I think what it was is.

Ingrid: 22:10

She was a mis-teenage. Memphis is what is where she was. Oh.

Vito: 22:14

Memphis OK.

Ingrid: 22:15

Yeah, yeah.

Vito: 22:18

Yeah, I think she dated Elvis too actually.

Ingrid: 22:20

That's right, she must. I think I heard something about that. Ok, yeah, but the character of JC I mean there's also the like she just doesn't seem to everybody. Just all the women just want to get married in that film, right, they just they're just, it's everything's about just getting married, and right. And the family, and you know, man, that must have been so awkward though, because because Polly Platt being the wife working on the set.

Ingrid: 22:45

And then Peter Bogdanovich, you know, falling in love for falling in love with Sybil Shepard and having all that, and I guess I guess they did get married and they I mean I know they later got divorced, like eight years later or something.

Vito: 22:59

Did they? I'm not sure. I know she, he and Dorothy Stratton the next, or whatever.

Ingrid: 23:02

So yeah, it all happened.

Scene: 23:05

Right, right.

Vito: 23:06

Yeah, but she said she even had to do Sybil Shepard's hair and like. So it's funny. It's a movie about all these different, you know, cheating going on and all that stuff, and she's happening behind the scenes. It's just the cast is I mean for being a young director, though? The cast is gigantic, you know, and I love Eileen Brennan, it's, I love seeing her and stuff like that. I think she is like a gem from the 70s.

Ingrid: 23:29

I'm kind of remember what. Who was she?

Vito: 23:31

She was the waitress Remember Genevieve, genevieve, yeah, yeah, I always like what she looks to.

Ingrid: 23:37

You know, she had, like you know, even with black and white her hair, so like black with the contrast.

Vito: 23:42

She always underplays her looks too. She always tries to look as ugly as she can.

Scene: 23:47

That's why I love her though.

Vito: 23:49

She's great, I'm a big fan of her too. I love when she shows up.

Ingrid: 23:52

Yeah, and you know, I didn't know that Ben Johnson. I guess he was like a horseman and rodeo performer.

Vito: 23:59

So he was a real big John Ford. That's where he's from John Ford, john Ford Company. So but yeah, he was one of the greatest horsemen of all time. Like he there's. If you go back and watch like I believe, like she wore yellow ribbon or a couple of those old ones you can see him like running behind the horse and you sleep in behind it and jumping on Right. He did some amazing stuff. And no, he was always known as just one of the great, you know horse riders and horror movie fans.

Vito: 24:25

He was in a movie called Territrain with Jamie Lee Curtis and that's the first time I ever saw him in my life and I'm a little kid. I remember my dad was like, oh, what's Ben Johnson doing in this? And I didn't know who he was and that's the first time I saw him. But as I got older I you know. Yeah, he was this big Western actor. In fact, he did not want to do this movie. The backup was going to be Tex Ritter. Tex Ritter and John Ritter read for this and John Ritter went up for the Jeff Bridges part and Peter Bogdanovich said they were so close to getting it. But he ended up calling John Ford and John Ford told Ben Johnson to do the movie. So Ben Johnson agreed to do it, and that's kind of what happened.

Ingrid: 25:05

OK, yeah, that's right, because he didn't. He actually Ben Johnson did not like the. He thought the movie was vulgar because of the.

Vito: 25:12

Yeah, he didn't want to say the clap, clap it yeah.

Ingrid: 25:15

That's right, yes, right, he says that, yeah, but his acting was really pretty good too, you know, and it's just the character, just like he is good yeah. You really respect him, you know he's a, he's a father figure to these high school kids, because for some reason you just never see the connection with the kids. You know with the parents too much, right, I mean?

Vito: 25:36

or right Of fact. Yeah, there's really no background with the parents, except for JC's mom. There really isn't a connection with the with the parents.

Ingrid: 25:46

Right, right.

Vito: 25:48

And you want to know something I can't believe. I did not notice it until this last watch, literally like two days ago. I didn't realize this. I'm just so solicit. I didn't realize the basketball coach, the husband, cloris Leachman, was gay. I had no idea In that, like right, did you know that, or are you?

Vito: 26:09

No, no, I didn't so they actually had to cut a while the script because of time and money, but so I was. I was watching it and Frank Marshall, the producer, played a small role in it. He's one of the athletes and this is a guy who, cloris Leachman, is sleeping with a student and he seems not to even care what she's doing, but he smacks when the player is on the butt and the guy and they give each other a weird look and they kind of it kind of ended there and I was like. I was like oh, is that supposed to be something? And then nothing else came from it. And then I started looking up the movie and they said, yeah, they care, in the book and everything he was gay and I was like, oh my God, I never noticed that before, but that's why like she was.

Vito: 26:51

She wanted to Cloris, leachman wanted somebody. So bad is because those two weren't even together.

Ingrid: 26:56

That's you know what. Now that totally makes sense, you know, because I mean, the whole town knew Sonny being the football player, right, and that he's having an affair with his coach's, you know, wife, and the whole town knows about it, like you know. You would think that the coach would go after him or he won't hurt, right?

Vito: 27:14

And it's also about one of those towns that don't talk. You know it's the 50s. It's a little southern town, nobody speaks and the coach can't say anything about who he is back then, you know, so everyone's just quiet, you know, and it's like I guess that town in real life got mad when the movie came out because it kind of exposed them and then it won all those awards and then they were cool with it.

Ingrid: 27:35

It's like, oh okay, well, thank God for that. But and then the course Leishman character. She was very depressed, right? I mean she was still a doctor. I mean, like he's Sonny's basically taking her to see a doctor every week, right, driving her Because the coach asks him to, and that's how the affair starts. But she basically is depressed, right.

Vito: 27:59

Yeah, she's the saddest person in the movie. No doubt about it.

Ingrid: 28:02

Yeah right, and it's like all these people, like she's, seeking this connection. I mean, everybody seems to want to seek a connection, but something goes awry, you know, and it's, and it speaks of so much lack of connection. You know with each other to some extent and then, like I said, the two people that die are the people that Sonny had that connection with, and then he loses.

Vito: 28:28

Yes, and you don't see anybody die on camera. You just hear about Ben Johnson later when they get back from their Mexico trip. And then he goes outside to see a Sonny hit by the car. He's already laying on the brooms on the ground and then he goes running after him and and what's with the terrible football right?

Ingrid: 28:47

They never seem to win.

Vito: 28:49

What is?

Ingrid: 28:50

it like, like, like the one, like the score is like the one, that 121 to 16 or I don't know.

Vito: 28:55

Yeah, I don't know what the deal was with that. Yeah, I don't.

Ingrid: 28:59

And maybe think of your NFL games podcast. Actually, when you were talking about the podcast with that podcast, oh yeah, yeah, that's yeah.

Vito: 29:09

I love that one. Actually, that's one of my more favorite ones.

Scene: 29:11

Not.

Vito: 29:11

Sonny, Billy. I'm sorry I keep forgetting. Why was I bugging me after I said Sonny for a second? But Billy, the Billy character that I Sonny's Timothy bottoms. I get those two mixed up their names because they're brothers and I get Sonny in.

Ingrid: 29:23

Yeah, and the interesting thing is it's an oil town, right, and I mean it's such a so Texan. I mean, I would think that Texans would like that movie even more, because it's like you know, football it's the, the, the oil, it's an oil town.

Vito: 29:37

Yeah.

Ingrid: 29:37

Even you know, and I find, I find it, I find it very, very, very interesting and it makes me kind of interested in reading the book, because the guy that most named McNulty- McMarty yeah. Mcmarty, yeah, he, he wrote, also helped write the screenplay right.

Vito: 29:52

He and kind of it wrote the screenplay for this.

Ingrid: 29:55

But you know it would make sense to read the novel, obviously because you know like you get more of a sense of, for example, the coach being gay. Okay, that would totally make sense.

Vito: 30:05

Yeah, right, but there was a few things that they changed to that. Just it's just made for the novel. Peter Borgonovic was saying, for example, when Sam, the Ben Johnson character, gives that speech, that basically he wins the Oscar for in the book they're standing there, they're all three standing there pissing, and that's what he's telling the story, but he's like I can't shoot that you know. So they had to do the thing where you just sit there staring at the lake.

Ingrid: 30:27

Yeah, yeah, Right, Right, I don't know this. You know you really get a sense of a loss of innocence, which is why the in a sense, you know, the nudity and the gratuitous sex kind of makes sense in the movie when you think about there's a loss of innocence of America. You know, I mean we're talking about the 1950s, you know, you've already been. There's always. You know we United States has experienced two World Wars, the Korean War, because Duane in the movie, right, Sonny's best friend, that was actually with JC.

Ingrid: 30:56

Yeah, he goes off to the Korean War. I mean this real loss of innocence, you know like, and the fact that you just start seeing this, the small towns just kind of like you know disappearing or you know, the small town, just there's, everybody moving to the city, it's really like, you know, made me think of some guys name was things about small towns, you know I'm talking about it, made me think about the good things about small towns, you know and how this movie shows how things are moving in a different direction because of this loss of innocence.

Ingrid: 31:31

You know right.

Vito: 31:32

Have you seen they did make a sequel to it, like 20 years later, called Texasville. And so it's it's. I've never seen it. I've seen like a little making of documentary and like interviews about it or whatever. But yes, called Texasville came out in the 90s and I don't know much about it, but I know Jeff Bridges and Sybil Shepard or like the poster.

Vito: 31:55

Yeah, it's the whole cast. Actually, timothy Bottoms is in it, randy Quaid, I believe, is in it. But Bogdanovich is one of those directors you know he hits a home run with. You know that's literally his second feature and you know he's done a few. You know I like a few of his movies, like Daisy Miller is good I like. You know Paper Moon's all right, I'm a.

Vito: 32:17

I'm actually a giant, a real big fan of my brother and I. There's a movie he did in 2000 called the Katz Meow with Kirsten Dunst, and to me that's the last great Bogdanovich movie and it's about the murder of Thomas Ince by William Randolph Hearst on the boat. Kirsten Dunst is Mary and Davies, eddie Isards, charlie Chaplin.

Ingrid: 32:37

It's awesome actually yeah, wow, that's a good movie, that's so interesting, yeah, and you know, and he's kind of, he's kind of credited as being a film director for the new Hollywood movement, which I don't know if that's some kind of like the new realism or what. Yeah, you know they give us.

Vito: 32:53

The seventies is America's new wave. New wave, you know, each country has like their air, like the sixties was like the French, and then 50s, Italians and America. Really that was our new wave. That was the moment that the directors took over the studios and there was sort of like this artist roles for the whole decade. Really, and that's kind of like my whole goof on the show is when Chimino did Heaven's Gate. That was the joke. And that's the movie that ended new Hollywood and the studios took back over the system and everything.

Vito: 33:22

And you know, the Reagan era came and it was just back to being corporate and but we had the seventies and that's when we had these movies that will never be topped. But yeah, bogdanovich has considered one of them. I don't know, you know he's not really in that Scorsese Coppola, the Palma Loop, but you know he's. Yeah, he's definitely he's from you know, the Roger Coromans School and and you know he got a start and did targets with you know Roger Coromans.

Ingrid: 33:47

So yeah, he's definitely one of the first feature targets Right, and he co-wrote it with Pauli Pla right.

Vito: 33:53

I believe so yeah.

Ingrid: 33:57

Yeah. And you know, I mean that whole and I think when did the studio system really start collapsing? As far as you could, blame it on a 40s, 50s, 60s, maybe the 60s is probably started collapsing.

Vito: 34:08

Well, like you know this, the actual, you know, hollywood, the new way, the new wave, actually started, they say, in 67, whenever a bonding Clyde came out. That's kind of you know, they say easy rider sometimes, but it's really bonding Clyde in 67. And they always blame Heaven's Gate for being what ended it.

Vito: 34:28

But in reality, like you know, Hollywood was looking to take back over this for a long time and there just had to be a fall guy or whatever, but that was. Yeah, that was the 13 years where you know we made some good movies.

Ingrid: 34:41

Yeah Right, the Academy Awards is this film actually won? It won for Best Picture, right? Apologies, it's actually, it was nominated for Best Picture, nominated for Best Director.

Vito: 34:53

I know Ben Johnson won.

Ingrid: 34:55

Yes, Jeff Bridges was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor. He played Duane. He played Sony's friend, right.

Vito: 35:01

And Cloris Leachman as well.

Ingrid: 35:02

Yeah, that's you. And yeah, cloris Leachman won for Best Supporting Actress and Jeff Bridges sorry, ben Johnson, of course was Best Supporting Actor. And then, yeah, ellen Birsting was also nominated for Best Supporting.

Vito: 35:14

Actor oh, okay.

Ingrid: 35:15

Yeah.

Vito: 35:16

Damn, I had all the awards Best Screenplay.

Ingrid: 35:19

Did you know an?

Vito: 35:20

actor oh, did it win oh.

Ingrid: 35:21

I'm sorry for the BAFTA, for the British Academy Film Awards, yeah they won for Best Screenplay. Okay, got it.

Vito: 35:28

Wow, yeah, I mean, the cast is so huge too, so to hear all of those nominations really isn't like a surprise, you know. But when you watch that movie and you talk about like standout actors, like it's like such an ensemble, but you know what to really stand out to me in it, which is kind of goofy, is Randy Quaid Lester. Yes, he's like so goofy, you know. Yes. And also, you know who I love in it is the girl, Charlene, who is dating Timothy Bodd, Sunny Amber, her believable character right, I know I'm like that's exactly like what.

Vito: 36:03

like you know, it would have been like taking a girl to your car or whatever. That's so uncomfortable.

Ingrid: 36:10

Yeah, like that's exactly what you would imagine a sometimes a high school relationship that you know going steady, you know would be going steady for a year now and you know you forgot, you know the kind of thing that that would be right and you know this whole. You know that's interesting because she's that very short relationship. You could say it's an interesting juxtaposition because she was very concerned about not losing her virginity too, as at one point JC was as well at some point. Right, I mean, I guess her little bit.

Vito: 36:43

She was trying to hold on and then she was doing anything to get rid of it.

Ingrid: 36:46

Right, right, yeah, but yeah, she's a very believable character, very believable, very interesting time frame and the whole. You know what I was thinking too the setting, you know, it's just so very believable. Yeah, what was it filmed?

Vito: 37:01

Well, they actually filmed it in the town that they wrote about. So supposedly Bogdanovich was driving around and all throughout Texas looking at towns and they finally got to this one town and I can't think of the name Art City.

Ingrid: 37:17

Archer City. Archer City.

Vito: 37:18

Yeah, Archer City. When they showed up there, Bogdanovich was like, oh, this is perfect. And then Larry McMurdy was like, yeah, well, this better be perfect. This is the town I wrote about. So it was just that they ended up there and then that's what happened. Oh, and I also was going to say a quick side note about Charlene. Her name is Sharon Ulrich, who plays her, but I was watching an interview about her. They said that she was married at the time. She went to be in that movie, so she went and she was in the movie.

Vito: 37:47

Her husband saw it and saw that scene and she got a divorce because of it.

Ingrid: 37:51

Oh no, are you serious?

Vito: 37:53

That's so sad it's like oh my God, it's just acting.

Ingrid: 37:57

You know, but wow, but you know. I also understand that the name of the town I guess not the town's name is Annarine, right, but he named it for a ghost town. Now I don't know if it's Anoreen that he that's the name, but you know which is also significant, right yeah, the symbolism of of it being a goat, like a ghost town, like you know these people aren't you get the sense of the misconnection, the missed connections, or just people, just there's a certain decadence right To me, you know there's a certain feels like it was.

Vito: 38:39

It was a town of like it's time, which was like more of like the old West, and now that like technology is kind of creeping in and it's the 50s you know we're about to get an atomic age and microwaves and shit are coming it's like this is like a town that's going to get swallowed up very soon. I'm always interested to see the other movie, texasville, to see like really what happened of that town and see what happens you know, where the story goes.

Vito: 39:05

I just the movie doesn't have good reviews, so I never really thought about watching it.

Ingrid: 39:09

But now, as we're talking, I kind of yeah, okay, okay, I mean the one thing that that's kind of cool about the town that the pictures show, right, the movie theater, the fact that it that it closes, right, I mean, obviously Sam the lion dies, so he can't, he's not running what he owned, what the coffee shop, right, yeah, theater, movie theater and the pool hall. So you know, when he dies, I mean everything just falls apart, right, like the one thing that held everything together.

Vito: 39:40

And he was definitely the glue left, the only.

Ingrid: 39:43

Yeah, it's interesting because it was the one thing that kind of gave people a sense of gathering, right. I mean, other than the Christmas party. There was a Christmas party, right, yeah, and then the, the, the, the, the swimming pool party where they're, where the kids are naked.

Vito: 40:00

Right.

Ingrid: 40:01

But the movie theater was the thing that kind of it still is. You know, and I think we were we're talking about this movie too, because you know right now the the state of the industry, the movie theaters, that you know we don't want them to go away. You know, I remember my my mom used to ask me you know, why are movie theaters just like the food is so expensive? You know the snacks and this and that. And I told them, because they're paying so much to show the movie right to the distribution company and you know they have to make their money somehow to keep everything open. So that's why you're paying so much for the popcorn and hot dog and what have you right.

Ingrid: 40:38

Because they're having to pay so much to, you know, to show a movie.

Vito: 40:42

And I think, as far as that goes, you know, we're lucky that we're out here and I do think at least in our lifetime we're always going to have movie theaters, at least here. There'll always be those houses that are like the new Beverly or Vista, that are going to show stuff but like, really like the rest of the country, you know, like non major cities, I mean, in 25 years is there going to be an AMC, like in Kansas or Nebraska and stuff like that? I mean, who knows, I didn't think this was going to move as fast as it did. Actually. I mean, even DVDs and Blu-ray has got swallowed up in a minute, you know.

Ingrid: 41:15

You know, yeah, it's like it happens, just so quickly. I think I felt, like you know, growing up, you know, with VCRs, you know, and as a kid that you know that took a little while before the technology went from that to you know, yeah, VCR is hung in there for a bit.

Ingrid: 41:32

Yeah to DVDs and Blu-rays and all that. You know. What's interesting is that you know it's interesting because in some ways at one time, like when you look at like, for example, in the ancient Greek tradition okay, like theater was part of, usually was part of religious festivals, so it was kind of like it was a thing that brought people together. It was a thing that where there was some kind of an education, there's some kind of a lesson to be learned when you went to watch a play, for example, and a lot of what. The ancient Greeks and this is related to this movie and I'll tell you why but the interesting thing was back then that there was this idea of catharsis and the ancient Greeks were actually the first people to really have this insight as to human nature as far as, like, you know what theater kind of accomplished in people. And you know, if people would go and watch these plays, for example, in ancient Greece, and they'd have a catharsis, they'd have this emotional connection to something and they would cry or they would feel something, and then afterwards they'd have the comedy come in, they'd have the clowns, so that when people, people would cry, right, but then they'd leave the play. After they've cried, they left, they let their, they'd have this emotional connection. They would actually leave the movie theater sorry, leave the play. You know in in okay, feeling okay, because now they laughed right. So they had this full experience.

Ingrid: 43:04

And you know the movie theater, when you think about it, it does the same thing People, it's in the dark. You have no other distraction. It's just you and the movie. There's no other distraction. You know you're sitting at home when you're streaming man, you know you get up and you're doing things. You know you're you're, you know I'm, I'm multitasking.

Vito: 43:23

Yeah, absolutely.

Ingrid: 43:25

And that's beauty of a movie, of a theater of you know, like people used to do back in ancient Greece, it was just you and the experience.

Vito: 43:33

Absolutely. I remember every movie I went to movie theater. I remember every movie I rented, you know. But when you're flipping on TV or we're streaming and stuff it, it comes and goes just in and out. And I do like that about the last picture show is like the significance of that movie theater. I definitely love that.

Ingrid: 43:52

And of course, at that time it was a TV right, because that's what the movie theaters at that time were concerned about. Oh, now people aren't going to be coming to the picture show.

Vito: 44:00

Right, david show JC watching TV.

Ingrid: 44:02

Yeah yeah, that was the beginning of that. Right, you know, and and those scenes of people in the living room and watching TV, and it's not quite the same caliber experience as going in watching something in a movie theater.

Vito: 44:18

Yeah.

Ingrid: 44:18

But that's what people were really concerned about at that time.

Vito: 44:21

You know, oh sure, and that's what started, you know, widescreen and Senorama and all that stuff was because of TV, you know, and that's obviously why they tried to do 3D a few years back, the big 3D boom was to try to compete with the streaming services, and you can't you can't compete against laziness, so I don't know.

Vito: 44:41

But that's I think that's why we're trying to do 70 millimeter Now. We're trying to preserve film, but we're also trying to do something that you can't do on TV. You know, give a 70 millimeter experience is still better than any 4K.

Ingrid: 44:56

Well, you know, it's also also the they were talking about for years. In the Hollywood Reporter, for example, they had covered news stories about virtual reality and how they were trying to do something with that with people putting on goggles, right, I mean, we have that with games, right, we have that with games. But they wanted to do something like that with movies and Mata. You know Facebook, the Facebook company. They basically been working on that with the company and it escapes me right now the name of the company, the product but they've been working on something for years for virtual reality and they've been wanting to do more with that. Unfortunately, I think right now, it hasn't been a profitable venture. I think they've had better luck with doing other things.

Vito: 45:40

God, I'm against all of that.

Scene: 45:42

I just like normal storytelling and good acting, and let's just let's doing that.

Vito: 45:49

There's still a shitload of stories to tell, not everyone's like everything's been told, everything's been like. No, it hasn't, it has not been done. I was like we're just Americans we just don't ever attempt to be original, and we really can. You know, once a generation of movie comes and it kind of shifts everything, and until that happens again, we're going to be stuck kind of in this black hole that we're in right now.

Ingrid: 46:14

Yeah, and like you said, right now with the Barbie movie and Oppenheimer, you know that's a good sign that we're having these conversations with these temples and these movies that are still culturally significant, you know.

Vito: 46:30

Yeah, I'd like to know how well they're doing like outside of major cities if people actually care about it but. I mean Barbie, barbie's really, you know raking it in.

Ingrid: 46:41

So yeah, yeah, and you know, and to have a female director like do so well too, is really great, you know, it's good, it's great for female directors too. Yeah, why is she doing?

Vito: 46:52

Narnia. Now, that's what happened Her. She signed with Netflix to do Narnia movie and I'm like, really You're gonna be Narnia. I was like come on. Fuck that shit.

Ingrid: 47:04

Really Wow. And you know it's interesting because she actually started as an actress too.

Vito: 47:07

Yeah, great to talk. Yeah right, that's Noah Bombard's wife.

Ingrid: 47:11

Wow, yeah, yeah, Very interesting direction and I'm just inspired by the fact that you know people care enough about physical movie theaters to try to save them, you know.

Vito: 47:24

I think everything's better physical. I'm more of a fan of physical media too. I still like discs, you know, and all that crap. I, you know, I got a VCR still, I got. You know all that.

Vito: 47:35

Oh, really Me too, but you know I have it in storage actually, to be honest with you, but I don't know though because, everybody's just screaming things and yeah, yeah, but I just like the physical, because internet always gets you know fucked up and things go out and I'm like you know. I just, if I own a movie and it's streaming, I'm going to put on my copy because I just know it's going to look better and I don't have to worry about anything.

Ingrid: 47:58

Yeah and just and having like that, like like a physical, like a DVD cover, like having that, you know. I mean I love digital, don't get me wrong. It's very convenient, sure, but there's some. There's a beauty to having a piece. It's like an art piece, like you could hold something.

Vito: 48:13

Yeah, no, if you really like a movie, you should own it. You know, it is nice that you can access almost any movie. Now, that is, I wish I had that when I was in my 20s. God, I wish I had that, because we really had to look for these movies, you know. But I mean, last picture show I didn't see. I probably saw maybe I guess I did see in my 20s, but I really had to like go find it.

Ingrid: 48:34

You know it wasn't like, yeah, you know what? Now, why is it that it did have a distribution in movie theaters?

Vito: 48:41

right. Oh, it was great, it was everywhere, it did great.

Vito: 48:43

No, it did really well, but just our generation, you know, just up until 2000s. I mean it was just you, really, not every especially. You know, depending on what the video stories you had, you know, you really, I mean you couldn't buy that movie at, like, video stores. They didn't really sell that movie, so you had to rent it if there was a story that had it for rent. I just remember I didn't see it. Yeah, I remember in my like mid 20s or so I ended up watching it just because I knew of it for so long. But I know, I don't think it's like it's not a blockbuster video, you know.

Ingrid: 49:17

Yeah, yeah, it wasn't. Yeah, I mean it really is also like a really a real art house movie. But you know something that could also well, it could go mainstream if it wasn't for the nudity in a way.

Vito: 49:29

Right, right it did its mainstream in a sense that it's an Oscar winner, just like midnight cowboy was an X-rated movie, but it's still an Oscar winner. Mainstream, you know, criterion collection. I mean it's definitely a mainstream movie, it's just an Oscar winner and it's considered dirty for the time just like this.

Ingrid: 49:46

Yeah.

Vito: 49:46

You know, bogdanovich is such a you know big director and it was turned into such a big movie. I think I would consider it completely mainstream, absolutely.

Scene: 49:56

Yeah, just with that art house flair.

Vito: 49:57

That's just what he had, but I don't know if he ever recaptured that, though, bogdanovich.

Ingrid: 50:03

Yeah, but you're right, the actors are very, very high-capture. I mean, I just it was just such an interesting movie to revisit and you know the black and white, you know, like for 1971, that was another very interesting.

Vito: 50:16

And that's what I love about film is that kind of black and white. We talked about it before, about, like you know, with black and white there is nowadays when people shoot black and white it's kind of grayish, it's clean looking. This was rough and it was nothing but blacks and whites. You know, it was very. It was the perfect contrast. They supposedly they had a red filter which helps bring that out, and it's but that I love. I love the look of the film in that, definitely.

Ingrid: 50:43

Do you know, do you have to know, what he shot it on? Like what kind of a camera, like what?

Vito: 50:48

type of camera? I'm not sure. I know it was 35 millimeter, but I'm not sure if it was like an Aeroflex or that. I don't know. I know I'm positive it's on IMDB, but I you know.

Ingrid: 50:59

Yeah, I wonder where it's being stored. You know how they have to store it at its starting temperature.

Vito: 51:04

Well, I'm pretty sure it's one of those Library of Congress movies now.

Ingrid: 51:07

Oh that's right, You're right, it is actually, I think. I think it got some kind of yeah, Library of Congress selected the film. I think it was for National Film Registry, right.

Vito: 51:17

Yeah, National Film Registry yeah.

Ingrid: 51:19

God, that's awesome.

Vito: 51:20

That's when you know, you're immortalized.

Ingrid: 51:23

Yes indeed, what else drew you to this movie?

Vito: 51:26

Like was there, I'm a big black and white fan and when I first watched it is, and I also like, I'm just a big fan of like movie history. So, and out of all those directors from the 70s, bogdanovich is kind of like the scholar you know. So I would see him in these interviews constantly popping up. But, honestly, the only movie when I was younger that I knew him for was Mask. That's the movie share, you know. So that's all I knew him. I was like oh, mask is kind of shit, I don't know.

Scene: 51:56

I was like I didn't think much of it, you know what I actually like that.

Vito: 52:00

No, it's not bad, but I just didn't really know why he was in these interviews all the time and what they're talking about him. But then I started seeing clips from Last Picture Show. I think my brother seen it and said it was good and I, just like I said I was a black and white fan and I knew it. It was going to have like that art house feel to it and and yeah, it just gave it a shot and it was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I just thought it was going to be really boring and artsy, but no, it was crazy Nudy not badness.

Vito: 52:27

I was like Jesus Christ, this movie's nuts.

Ingrid: 52:32

The characters are very interesting and very realistic and you know there's nothing I mean they're very human, right, very human.

Vito: 52:41

Yeah, Nobody really is morally, you know right in this, except for maybe Ben Johnson.

Ingrid: 52:47

But everybody else is just full of skeletons and yes, it was just amazing and just you know the just just a thought, I mean, I just picturing Bogdano, that show you know editing that. You know with the movie Yola, and like you know it had been a while for me to think about how the beauty of physical film and that you know the fact that some directors still like to work with, obviously like to work with it, like Quentin Tarantino, right, he likes to work with yeah, I mean, jordan Pill just shot nope, that was on film, that was on.

Vito: 53:22

I think he shot that on 65. Like, he shot that in the high, you know. And then Christopher Nolan shot, you know, the IMAX film for Oppenheimer. I'm not sure about Barbie, because I'm pretty sure Greta Gerwig is a film person too, but I'm not sure if she was able to shoot film for Barbie. That was probably video. But yeah, I know a lot of people like to shoot on film when they can.

Vito: 53:43

I mean, it's certainly I mean I just shot like a little short on on on. I own a 60 millimeter and just when I get like an itch, you know, because I can't, afford to just shoot her on it, so I'll just go shoot something just to do it.

Ingrid: 53:56

Yeah, I mean, I love film that's awesome To a lay person, what would you say? The end result is, between you know, shooting on like film and doing digital like film, like, just doing like. What is it like when somebody's watching the film?

Vito: 54:11

I mean watching, I mean last picture shows a great example. Then I mean go, just go on any camera that you can get access to now and shoot black and white and then look at, look at it. And then go, look at last picture show, look at the, the grain and the contrast. You cannot replicate that on video. You're just, you can't. And you can make some stuff look great, very film like on video these days. You definitely can. But I mean look at a movie. Like you know, roma and Mank these, these recent movies on.

Vito: 54:41

Netflix that are beautiful, they look great, but they don't look as good as last picture show and they don't have that pure black and white and and it almost the look of last picture show almost to me looked like the film High Noon with Gary Cooper. It looked like the plane looking sky. It just made the town look more. It didn't have, like that, the pillowy clouds that make everything look so bright and nice.

Vito: 55:04

It was like this dead looking sky that made the town look more dead, and that's kind of what the two movies kind of remind me of each other. So that's, the big difference is just I mean just physical texture you can tell film versus video and but even practical purposes as a filmmaker, I don't think it's that big of a price difference. I mean, when you shoot on video, you're I mean you're buying hard drives, you're doing all this bullshit coloring, you're doing all this post work and paying for all this stuff that in the end all your, all your film prices are really all up front. And it's buying film and processing. I mean that's, that's really it. That's, that's the bulk of it. I mean of course there's more to that, but I mean there's. I've never seen anybody shoot on film and be like, oh shit, why did I shoot on film? It's always a beautiful look and you're always happy with it.

Ingrid: 55:54

Yeah, I think for the audience it's like a no filter experience.

Vito: 56:00

Yeah, it just looks real, it just has that dream quality. It's like I mean, if you're shooting a documentary or something realistic, video is great, it brings it all out. But, like for cake, I don't want to see zits and craters on people's faces.

Vito: 56:14

You know I don't need to see everything, yeah like film has this little you know, this gloss on it even to me. I personally think 35 millimeter anamorphic is the best look ever, which is like mostly almost every movie from the 80s and 90s that you've seen. That was when they perfected film. In my opinion it was even when people didn't have a lot of money, a lot of those indie films from the 90s they'd shoot on 16, super 16, blow up to 35, like Reservoir Dogs and films like that they just look awesome and I thought film was at its peak actually.

Vito: 56:51

And then you know digital came and wiped it out and you don't even know the preservation at least we know how to preserve film, but you don't know how to preserve a hard drive or these movies going to be in 100 years.

Ingrid: 57:00

That is such a great point. I mean, yeah, like how are we preserving digital?

Vito: 57:06

I have no idea, just swapping hard drives after a while? I mean, I don't know, I don't know.

Ingrid: 57:11

I mean like that's really a thought. I mean I guess you know you do backups of things, but what about, like how long is that going to last?

Vito: 57:19

Yeah right, that's a really good point actually that's a really good point.

Ingrid: 57:22

I mean, I just remember I used to work at a small TV syndication distribution place and I remember when I used to pick the big, these film reels in their metal casing, these round films, and take them over to the lockers, to the storage, where they had to be at a certain temperature, and it's like okay, well, you know that there's something really physical there that's working to keep these things okay, but yeah, what are we doing for digital? Oh my God, like I actually never really thought about that.

Vito: 57:57

Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm surprised actually. I didn't think they would have fooled this quickly to video. I think there's a good separation with film. You know, you got to. Really you can't be lazy to make a movie. You can be a little lazy on video and it brings it out on you too. I don't know. I mean, we could go on forever about the differences between it, but it's definitely one of my favorite looking films ever, you know.

Ingrid: 58:26

Oh, totally, totally, that was.

Vito: 58:28

Robert Sertis too, I believe, who was the DP on that who was one of the all time classic cinematographers.

Ingrid: 58:36

What was his name?

Vito: 58:37

Robert Sertis.

Ingrid: 58:39

Sertis okay.

Vito: 58:40

Yeah, he did Ben Hur the Sting.

Ingrid: 58:44

The.

Vito: 58:44

Graduate. Yeah, he's like one of the you know, super famous. You know great DPs and so you really again you had. It might have been like a young director doing this movie, but you know, with the Orson Welles influence, you know you have really a movie shot like in a classic sense, like a 50s film.

Scene: 59:02

Yeah it's like perfect like that.

Vito: 59:04

You know I love that. It is, you know, a movie that looks like it's setting.

Ingrid: 59:08

And just in the setting and you know the weather, just everything that it captures. You know it just really captures that small town, Texas environment. You know, right, it's just great. I just it was really good to revisit the film and it was.

Vito: 59:25

we're gonna have to maybe try Texasville. Oh yeah, see if it's worth anything.

Ingrid: 59:30

I totally want to see that now, like and that's like what happened, like 30 years later they were reunited.

Vito: 59:35

Yeah, yeah, I don't know anything about it. I just I saw the poster with those two on it and I was like oh man, okay, this one was kind of cheesy.

Ingrid: 59:46

What did you think about the music? I mean, it's mostly. Was it Hank Williams?

Vito: 59:52

Yeah, it was you know everybody but JC listens to country music. She tries to be more poppy about it or whatever they try to give her. But yeah they. I thought the music was really cool Again.

Vito: 1:00:04

everything felt like I was in that time Like for being a, you know, a city guy, like he really captured the life. Well, you know, again, that town is so perfect, you know. But yeah, again, it's about just like the you know out with the old and with the new, and this is a town I don't think can keep up with the new. Again, I want to, you know, texasville is not just a sequel, but I think it's another book that he wrote as well. So it is. I am not kind of interested to see what happened to this town, what happened to everybody.

Scene: 1:00:38

I don't think there's anything in this tank cent turtle. That's what I like about it. To tell you the truth On trial one Sure, I never liked clean fish or eat them, either. Spend a few time picking out bone. Yeah, I just come out here to get a little scenery. Two pretty days spent in town. You wouldn't believe how this country's changed. First time I seen it, there wasn't a mosquito tree on it. Prickly pear.

Scene: 1:01:17

Neither I used to own this land you know, first time I watered a horse at this tank was more than 40 years ago. I reckon the reason why I always drag you out here is probably I'm just as sentimental as the next fella when it comes to old times, old times. I brought a young lady swimming out here once, born 20 years ago. It was after my wife had lost her mind. My boys was dead Men and young lady was pretty wild, I guess, and pretty deep. We used to come out here a horse back and go swimming without no bathing suits. One day she wanted to swim the horses across this tank Kind of crazy thing to do, but we'd done it anyway. She bet me a silver dollar she could beat me across. She did A little. Horse eyes were right and didn't want to take the water, but she was always looking for something to do like that, something wild.

Scene: 1:02:41

I bet she still got that silver dollar. Whatever happened to her, oh, she growed up. She was just a girl then really here?

Scene: 1:02:57

let me help you then. Why didn't you ever marry her? After your wife died, she was already married. I thought she was married, Earned, her husband was young and miserable with one another, like so many young married folks are. I thought they'd changed us some age, but it didn't turn out that way. Being married all is so miserable? No, not really About 80% of the time. I guess we ought to go to a real fishing tank next year. I don't do to think about things like that too much. If she was here, I'd probably be just as crazy now as I was then in about five minutes. It's that ridiculous. No, it ain't really. Being crazy about a woman like her is always the right thing to do. Being at the crepit of Old Vagabond that's what's ridiculous. Getting old-