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also some more random thoughts: 1. I vividly remember seeing this movie in 1999 and how great it was in the theater with a full crowd. Seeing it again was certainly a very different experience, but I still dug it... though I think knowing the twist also made the 'flaws' in the story more visible. They mentioned on the pod the inconsistency of the temperature dropping, and I think that's a good example -- but even just the basic visibility of ghosts, or their anger, or who communicates and how, seems inconsistent to me. It all just happens at the convenience of the story, and not due to any established 'rules.' Maybe I just haven't pieced it all together, but this could and should have been tightened up, I think. 2. I love the way the movie builds up to Cole conquering his fear and being able to help these ghosts out. In that way, it's a super hero origin story, right? He has power now! I want to see him use it more. I'd say the two best scenes are when he helps the sick girl and with his Mom in the car. We need more of those! Especially after seeing the hell Cole went through in the first half, these scenes are SOOO satisifying and awesome. 3. Rob Zabrecky! he played bass on a song or two on Beck's Mellow Gold album (his cool band Possum Dixon was from the same early 90s LA scene). It was cool to hear him here. 4. Maybe the definition of 'horror' has changed, but I really don't think of this as a horror film.

I'm still finishing the pod, but I wanted to react to Amy's comment about Willis' acting. She mentions that he had some emotion in the first scene, but is too stiff for the remainder of the film. Is this not because he's no longer human from then on? I sort of took this as a conscious decision, and not bad acting. He's supposed to be distant and sort of odd, right?

oh, so the masterclass gets an official dalton-approved thread, but the PRO VERSION has to be created by us? dalton clearly playing favorites with the paywall related shows.

Melcome back! What your intention? Learning to write good. What’s your obstacle? You haven’t pressed play yet!

I hate to be this person so early on but I think this one of the most overrated movies of all time. The fact that it is even in the Top 100 of all time I find incredibly baffling. That's not to say that this is a bad movie. It's not. It's an okay movie with two great performances and there is Bruce Willis. I'm sure I'm not alone on this so I don't want to harp on the twist too much, but to me the greatest flaw of this movie for me is how much it centers on that twist. I agree 100% with Amy that there are scenes like the magic trick scene which are just M Night trying to tell us that he's got a secret and begging us to notice or find out. They are like little self indulgent road bumps along the story. There are so many things like the wardrobe that make no sense when you think about it. He's allowed to change or customize his clothing because of what he touched that night? Why? That's note a "rule" of ghosts. It's not even a rule the other ghosts in the film get. It is a rule created to "throw you off the trail" of the twist. In addition you have other ghosts in the film like the cyclist who have clothes that have blood or signs of their injuries on them. So why are Cole's clothes clean? He's in denial so he can't see it? Does that mean the cyclist has just accepted their death? In addition where is the gore? We see other ghosts in the film with their cause of death wounds visible, so does that mean Bruce is walking around with a bullet wound and just unaware of it? Or is it a denial thing yet everything other ghost is in acceptance? So much of what they allow him to do is entirely to serve the purpose of getting you not to expect the twist despite the film stopping in moment to tell you a twist is coming and you won't believe it. I find it slightly insulting. Instead of putting a twist in a leaving clues for people to figure it out, they go out of their way to muddy the waters and it is not to help tell a better story it is for the sole purpose of pointing a finger at the audience and saying "gotcha!"

I was in the middle of writing something but I stopped just so I can say how much I agree with your 4th point. This is not a horror film in my books. Like Paul was talking about dramas having moments of levity, we sort of exist is this world where some people don't like mixing of elements or tones which is silly. You can use whatever tools you want to tell the story the best it can be told. Does Hamlet become horror because there is a ghost? There are witches in Macbeth while we are at it. Clearly that's horror. This is a character drama. Yes there are ghosts in it, yes some of the moment may give you the chills, but at the end of the day this movie was not made to scare you. It may have some moments and elements but it is trying to tell a character based drama.

i say we post any college newspaper articles we've written in hopes of them getting read on next week's pro version. i'll start: here's a review of "the life of pablo"

In the late 90s, I handled the artwork and marketing materials for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, which is north of Philadelphia. Greg Wood (Mischa Barton's dad) and Janis Dardaris (that terrifying woman in the kitchen) were in the repertory at the time, and it was a kick to see local actors I knew in a movie like this. They were the best!

okay kiddos, check it out. in a move that surprises no one coming from a podcast listener/a kevin, i got overexcited and bought an extra ticket to HH live in brooklyn this sunday (early show) without checking if my one friend who is also a fan was available (it was late). SO, if anyone is in the NYC area and needs a ticket, get in touch somehow. (tickets were $25 with fees, but if you can't afford it, we can work something out.)

Well it's Hayes' Birthday today, so lets show our good friend how much we appreciate him. I plan on releasing a video to show my love later this afternoon. (After i get off work) I encourage all of my fellow forum people to do the same =) LOVE YOU HAZY BONEZ

Crap! I forgot!

I guess this is when it really does come down to personal preference and belief ya know? Cause I'm totally opposite and usually the ghost movies with one type and a strict set of rules are my least favorite. I'm way more into the randomness of it all because that's what makes it so scary to me.

Hmm that's really interesting, and not one I'd considered. But, no, I don't believe in ghosts, so that could be why I want and look for those 'rules'. Regardless, I still think some consistency there would help from a storytelling point-of-view. There may be different ghost rules across different ghost stories, but within one ghost story, I think it needs to follow some ghost logic.

I have to add, as a wild ghost enthusiast, that the inconsistencies is actually really appropriate and most life like. Not every apparition will have the same amount of energy and will be able to communicate the same, even to someone that is considered a medium. Apparitions can make themselves known by temperature change, voice, moving objects, shadow people, or even full bodied apparitions. Now this all comes down to whether or not you really believe in this, but let's argue that you do because I know I do and once I could swear I smelled my grandmother's perfume as I walked down the hallway of a house she had never been to before she died. A friend of mine has always claimed that she is more sensitive to these things and has seen multiple full bodied apparitions, and sometimes just feels the presence rather than sees it. Once she told me she felt someone sit on her bed and lie down next to her but when she looked there was no one there. So in my opinion Cole's difference in who can communicate with him and how is rather life like based on other's irl that claim to see things themselves. Basically I think that there aren't any established rules in the movie because there aren't any in real life either.

I stumbled across the Earwolf page on Reddit somehow when I was searching for something on the Google. (Is it weird that I just found out about Reddit? What a shitshow.) Someone posted about the 200th episode coming up and it also made me wonder if Paul will have something big. Maybe something highly demanded? Maybe an all stars of all stars cast? (St. Clair, Nick Kroll and Mary Holland please!) Maybe Jason finally joins Twitter? Anyone hoping for a big celebration? Because CBB usually gets something special for the milestone episodes, I'm hoping this one will be epic, too.

In a perfect world this idea would bring even more people and money in... Think about if, they start selling some VIP/Backstage/Meet and greet tickets at a higher price point they'll be laughing all the way to the bank... P.S. Don't touch Jason

After a few hours in there Bob's corpse will turn a deep shade of it's all over now baby Blue.

I wonder if we'll hear from a certain crustacean living under the sea, perhaps while talking about US President?!

I totally agree with Amy's take on "Beautiful Girls" as a way of showing how garish it would have all appeared, and quite frankly, how radical a talking picture would have been at the time. I think this take is further supported by the scene where they are first confronted with the concept of a "talking picture." I love how totally off-putting that whole presentation is. It almost feels like a horror movie. Again, I think it's well-done as a way of communicating the unease the characters are experiencing with this new technology..

Fantastic pic for hdtgm. I grew up thinking this was a smart sexy sophisticated crime thriller. Then I actually saw it. What the fuck indeed.

I assume there is also an issue of getting paid for doing the show. A paying audience brings them some money that they are probably not making from studio episodes. Podcasts are generally not a big money making endeavor.

Sometimes it's clear that we're listening to an episode that is more than a month old. And yeah, I think that's about scheduling. They have a couple of free weeks, so they schedule four live episodes within that time, which has them covered for two months. I suspect there will be some studio episodes still peppered in here and there, but live episodes are clearly the new normal.

I’m back baby!

They replaced it with this movie so the gang can do a John Travolta double feature with "Look Who's Talking Too" instead.

where's the video huh jay