DrGuts1003

I saw that this week’s episode hasn’t been posted yet. Is there any chance that because the film is so cop-centric that they opted not to do it given the current climate in the country?

This is the second time that Paul has read a C&O from me but did attribute it to me. I’m beginning to feel like Homer when Mr. Burns wouldn’t remember his name.

Has anyone been able to come up with an explanation for why the tag line of this movie is “Deeds Not Words”? Because as far as I can tell, that motto is not said in the movie.

Barry Bostwick and Michael Beck were interviewed at a Florida comic book convention last year and Bostwick claims that he got the part because of Pirates of Penzance. He said during that performance he would wear a blue bandana that he would throw out to a lady in the crowd. One night the recipient of that bandana was Hal Needham’s wife who then recommended that he be cast as Hunter. The full interview can be seen here.

If you thought the film's confusing central premise was the result of bad filmmaking, you're wrong - it is the fault of the US government. The original version of this film centered around a private army who went to war to defend Western democracy and protect US interests in the Gulf of Oman. However, when the filmmakers wanted to use military vehicles for the film, the Pentagon expressed their reservations with the film's message and use of real countries. A letter written by USMC Colonel Michael Sheridan states, "The basic storyline that a private army exists in the US, available as “the court of final appeal” to besiege free world governments, is rather incredible. The United States Government(USG) has clearly demonstrated that such organizations are illegal and subject to prosecution. However, should an agency of the USG support the film production by providing military equipment, such support might be construed as tacit acceptance of the concept, at least by those who wish to embarrass the USG. Furthermore, when the storyline includes employment of the private army in support of the “only country standing between hostile forces and the straits through which the world’s oil supplies pass” (a relatively clear reference to Oman), the sensitivity of this incredible story is raised. Countries in that region are sufficiently xenophobic and suspicious of US intentions with regard to oil in the region that we would not want to provide even a gratuitous basis for reinforcing their concerns. Therefore, it would not be in the best interests of the USG to support the production of this film." After several negotiations, the film was changed to have the conflict be between two fictional countries - the peaceful Republic of Sardun and their aggressive neighbor Gamibia. In exchange, both the Air Force and the National Guard ended up supporting the film, renting out men and vehicles on a ‘courtesy’ basis and charging full rates (the Air Force alone charging nearly $167,000). Images of all of the official correspondence between the filmmakers and the government can be seen in this article from SpyCulture.

I know the original story idea was for an R-rated movie, but did they also originally have an R-rated cut of this movie? There were several times where it felt like an edit was made that removed some of the more explicitly sexual content. For example, it felt like they filmed and then cut out a scene of Holli giving Deebs oral sex in front of the neighbor and her mom.

June couldn’t get over the fact that neither Brad Pitt nor his mom were wearing a helmet while riding the motorcycle, but I was more disturbed by the fact that he took his mom joy riding without letting her turn off the stove. I have to assume that their house was already ablaze by the time the drunk couple crashed into them. Maybe that is why he was ok with staying in Cool World.

The issue of how long Gabriel Byrne was in prison was brought up in the episode. I just watched the film’s original trailer and it states that he has been in prison for 10 years, which seems too short of a sentence for murder and too long to be away for his neighbor to have that kind of an attachment to him. And are we to believe that his house was just sitting empty for a decade? Also the trailer suggests that he began creating the comic while in prison. I find it hard to believe that a convict’s comic book would become as popular as Cool World supposedly is. I mean how did he get comic book stores to carry it in the first place? And if they are all being made from prison, then aren’t they all technically signed by him from behind bars? Why does the comic book shop make that signed copy such a rare a valuable piece of memorabilia?

Among the multitude of story ideas not fleshed out in this movie, one that was not discussed in this episode is the fact that Brad Pitt’s character doesn’t age. This could have been given as an explanation as to why he doesn’t want to leave Cool World. Also, when he returns to our world, they should have showed him in awe/surprise over how things have changed since 1992 Vegas is significantly different from 1945 Vegas

When KT is trying to get Vin to trigger his memories by having a drink with him, if he had chosen to have a Corona, would he have started having flashbacks of stealing TV/VCR combo units and towing a bank vault down the streets of Rio?

Once it is revealed that they keep rebooting Vin to kill each of these guy, the implication is that they keep the story the same and that Vin responds the exact same way each time by remembering after drinking, stealing the jet, etc. So does that mean he is punching that load-bearing column every time? If so how is it not completely destroyed by now? Are they having Phyllis and the other office drones repairing it every time he is getting rebooted on that table?

Everyone seemed confused about the ending and what happened to Vin, but given that this movie is basically one big cheat when it comes to what is and is not real, isn't it possible that the "happy ending" is just a new simulation by Guy Pearce and his company? What if they realized that their current motivation story wasn't working anymore and developed a new story that made him think he had killed off the team and was now free, when in reality he is still being manipulated by Pearce? In essence, it would be a much dumber version of the ending in Inception where it's ambiguous if the top will stop spinning. It seemed like that Navy medallion was maybe going to be used in a similar capacity, but it (like so many things in this movie) never really pays off.

If no one has yet, I could text Paul and see if he would be open to holding off on this episode a few more weeks until it is at least available to rent.

It’s not much, but here are the first 9 minutes of Bloodshot:

I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I was just listening to the Vampire’s Kiss (which stars Nicolas Cage if you don’t remember) episode and at the end, Paul announces that he’s now in a movie with Nicolas Cage called Army of One. Clearly they had no issue mocking one of Cage’s films and have also done others since. And I’m sure there are other examples of Jason, June and Paul working with actors who have been in movies they have done on the show. So why is Cheadle so special? Did Cheadle specifically ask they not air the episode?

If they are going to have Valerian be an episode while we are in quarantine, then I demand that the Swordfish episode also be released. BTW, by my count, I believe there are six episodes still not yet released. Megaforce, 2.22, The Visitor, Governor Gabbi, Abraxas, and Holy Matrimony. That’s 12 weeks worth of shows. Hopefully we’ll be out of quarantine by then.

It seemed like June was a fan of Matt Damon’s hair in this film, but someone who wasn’t a fan of it was Damon himself. In an interview he said “I mean they put 700 extensions in, it took like 12 hours and then I had to try and keep them. By the time they cut them out it was like a rat’s nest. I took a picture of it, I think there was stuff living in there.” He also said that he just left the pile of hair on the flood of a production office in Hungary when he was finished filming. Maybe that’s how they set up a sequel...a new breed of Tao Tei were living in Damon’s hair and grow up to once again wreak havoc on China.

Nobody could seem to figure out what type of accent Matt Damon was going for in this movie. And apparently that was by design. In an interview with Yahoo, Damon discusses the character's accent, which he created with acclaimed Hollywood dialect coach Tim Monich. "The accent we made up," he says. "It had to be understandable. It couldn't be modern English. And then [Monich] made rules for it -- the way he does with any dialect we're working on -- so we kinda cobbled it together that way.” Who wants to speculate on what those rules could possibly be? I’m guessing they were based on the color of the outfit each character that Damon spoke to was wearing. If the person wore blue, Damon spoke in an Irish accent. If the character wore red, he spoke with a Texas twang. And so on.

The announcement of next week’s film is now always at the end of the minisodes. Next film is The Great Wall starring Matt Damon.

And is that another HDTGM film, Unforgettable, I see there?

I’m surprised Snake Eyes isn’t on this list.

So Michael’s blood contains the Corvinus strain. According to an Underworld wiki “The Corvinus Strain, the parent strain of the Vampire and Lycan Strains, is a recessive genetic anomaly that, when inherited in its active form, gives its carrier immortality and superhuman strength, while additionally possessing the capability for another stage of mutation when subjected to gene-fusion. Thus, the Corvinus Strain uniquely has the ability to sustain and harbor both viruses carried by Vampires and Lycans. This anomaly is the only known gene that is capable of combining properties from both the Vampire and Lycan strains that would otherwise destroy themselves on contact due to the incompatible components contained at their cellular level.” I don’t really have much to add other than Corvinus coincidentally looks too similar to Coronavirus. And as such, I now plan to quarantine myself from any more of these terrible movies.

Since we are all stuck at home, I propose that they make all old HDTGM episodes available for everyone to download and listen to to help pass the time.

Bad news for Paul and Jason...I just read that Fast and Furious 9 has been pushed back until next year due to Coronavirus.