Episode 141 - The Shadow: LIVE! (w/ Pete Davidson)

[JulyDiaz 2797]

Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live) joins Paul, June, and Jason for a LIVE episode recorded at the world famous Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles to discuss the 1994 superhero movie The Shadow starring Alec Baldwin. They will cover everything including Llama cigarettes, Alec Baldwin's long cocaine nails, and whether or not that hotel in the movie was real. Plus, they find a possible connection to The Golden Child starring Eddie Murphy.

 

 

WATCH Filthy Preppy Teen$ on the FullScreen App today! Get yourself a BB-8 “What Is Its Mission?” T-shirt or Tote Bag over at http://howdidthisgetmade.bigcartel.com/ Set your DVRs for Party Over Here, a new FOX sketch comedy show from The Lonely Island and Paul starring Nicole Byer, Jessica McKenna, and Alison Rich. It airs Saturdays at 11 pm. People of the internet: Watch Paul in Fresh off the Boat on ABC. Awhile ago, Paul and Rob Huebel did a comedy special on a 60 foot glass bus that traveled around LA. Now you’ll be able to see it. Go to https://itun.es/us/3M4J9 now to buy it! You can also see Jason and June in Lady Dynamite on Netflix! Also, check out June in Grace and Frankie available on Netflix, and in all the episodes of NTSF:SD:SUV:: on HULU for free, and Jason in The Dictator (he’s still in it!).

[Smigg 1488]

Excellent, I fucking LOVE Pete Davidson, if you all ever get the chance, listen to him ripping into Justin Stangle for wearing a leather jacket, dubbing him as "Fat Danny Zucko".

 

The piss taking was so brutal, he quit his job, on air.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l67FJXZY6kI

 

This is just a small snippet of it, it's just a prolonged verbal beating that lasts a good couple of hours.

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

pete davidson!

 

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

How did they not mention that one of the Mongols was a white dude with a handle bar mustache. Although I guess with Baldwin's backstory in this movie I guess it makes sense that Bo Abobo from Double Dragon would end up in the Mongol army.

 

I also got confused and I think the movie did too about what Berylium spheres were, because at different points in the movie Tim Curry's dome thing and Ian Mckellens device are both called Berylium spheres. What the fuck was the point of that dome to begin with?

 

I will say I enjoyed this movie considerably more than hosts did, but I absolutely understand their confusion and frustration with it because it really is an insane movie.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

No mention of the master class of acting that was Baldwin shaking like a paint can mixer in order to defeat Khan? I can't imagine what being on the set that day must have been like watching him vibrate like a lunatic. Of course, that's besides the fact that, at no other point in the film did using his powers cause him to physically react. Then there's the issue that breaking these mirrors doesn't seem to actually have anything to do with the ability to cloud men's minds. And don't try to tell me that this battle is happening on some sort of mental or astral plane, since the mirrors cause physical harm.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

In watching the film, the mention of Beryllium spheres sounded familiar. I finally figured out why. That's what they used for fuel in the amazing film Galaxy Quest! Such a reference instantly raises The Shadow a few scarves higher.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

I remember watching this film in the theater when I was younger, but I don't remember having a strong reaction to it. However, I wonder if watching it now, if our perception of Baldwin's performance is colored by his more recent work. As Jason said, you could picture him ending each line with "Lemon." Is it possible to view this film and Baldwin's performance on its own merits anymore? I submit that you can not.

 

And the dream discussion can be put up against the greatest comedies ever written:

Margo Lane: Oh, God I dreamed.

Lamont Cranston: So did I. What did you dream?

Margo Lane: I was lying naked on a beach in the South Seas. The tide was coming up to my toes. The sun was beating down. My skin hot and cool at the same time. It was wonderful. What was yours?

Lamont Cranston: I dreamed I tore all the skin off my face and was somebody else underneath.

Margo Lane: You have problems.

Lamont Cranston: I'm aware of that.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

I think the biggest issue with the film is, who is Lamont Cranston? We have no idea how he ended up an opium kingpin, no idea what he does to get his money, and what he does when he's not being the Shadow (other than drink and hallucinate.) Part of the problem is that with the original Shadow (on radio and such) there wasn't much development of the Shadow outside of his adventures, and Cranston was actually just a persona he used to disguise himself (his name was actually Kent Allard.) Without much of an alter ego, all we can care about is the Shadow, but with heroes, it's as much about their life off the job as it is on it. This may have flown back in radio days, but not so much now.

 

I don't know if you could consider this an omission, but for all the problems in the film, thee are some truly memorable visuals, like the fire around Margot and the face-peeling scene. The FX supervisor, Al Delgado, would go on to work on HDTGM favorites Crank II and Showgirls.

 

And by the way, the film really did want to be Batman, from the Elfman-esque score by Jerry Goldsmith to the fact that they even got Bob Ringwood, the costume designer of Batman, to do costumes here.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

On Paul's mention that the Shadow should have thrown his mind to a dockworker to get him out of the water, rather than across town to Margot, I got the feeling that it could only be done between people with psychic powers. Earlier, Khan did it to the Shadow. so I assumed that's how that worked. Of course, considering how many people in the film have these powers, it's entirely possible that Dave the Dockworker was a mindreader too.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

I admit I don't have a great deal of knowledge of the time period (somewhere between the '20s and '40s) but is it likely that one of the main bridges of New York City would be completely empty when the Shadow takes on those gangsters in that early scene? Maybe back then everyone went to bed at night and there was no nighttime driving? Or is this another The Avengers-style no-extras scene?

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I told y'all today's guest was fuckin' amazing

 

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

OK...so about the shadow argument. I was all on board with the idea that the shadow is a legit shadow of Cranston, the only part he couldn't hide. BUT...the part where he enters the hotel, he FLOATS up the stairs, with the shadow moving around like Casper the flipping Ghost! That doesn't work with the idea that his shadow is just his shadow! So now I don't know what to believe.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

And the fact that June was the only one to understand the idea of hypnotism hiding the building was my favorite part! REVENGE OF JUNE!

[Cameron H. 23786]

I would like to take a stab at giving a "succinct explanation" for this movie (Ha! This is me we're talking about! There won't be anything "succinct" about it).

 

What I think was going on is that Lamont's powers, just like Margo's, were always inherent. What the Master did was help him hone those powers for good. I'm not familiar with the original radio series, but if I were to guess, Baldwin's character started off as a good man and a soldier during the first World War. Having had first hand experience of the horrors of war, and having this experience amplified by his ability to see "the evil that lurks inside of man," it literally drives him crazy. At this point, he has come to believe that all men are evil, and gives himself over to that darkness.

 

After the war, he travels to Tibet, and using his latent hypnotic abilities (perhaps unknowingly), he becomes an opium kingpin. He isn't able to do this because he's a great drug dealer, he's able to do this because he's using his power to make it happen (btw-is there where his wealth comes from?). The Master, sensing his power, calls upon him and shows him a better way--that he can use his powers for good. That's why Baldwin is chosen over the multitude of other evildoers in the area. The power he has is not taught to him by the Master, just given direction. However, after seven years of training, Baldwin does something unexpected. If I were to guess, I'd say the Master always intended for Lamont to stay in Tibet and fight evil there. Instead, Baldwin--now fully trained--abandons his adopted country and returns to America. Perhaps a little disappointed that his disciple has left, The Master finds the only other psychically sensitive person in the area (Kahn) in the hopes of guiding him the same way he guided Lamont. However, Kahn, who was never a good man, perverts those teachings and uses them to further his own evil agenda.

 

Kahn, having knowledge of Lamont's evil past (he only refers to him by his drug dealer name), simply wants to rule the world. He comes to America specifically to join forces with Baldwin as he's the only other person he knows of with the same abilities. He doesn't necessarily want to share power with Lamont, but he knows that he's is the only person who can challenge him. He also doesn't really know what the outcome of such a confrontation would be. So instead of coming in hot, he comes with an air of cordiality, hoping to convert Lamont back to his evil ways--which I think might have been possible if not for Lamont's timely meeting with Margo. She is a sensitive, full of pure good. Her dreams, unlike his, are untroubled. Through her, Lamont realizes that evil is not alone in the heart's of man--there is also love.

 

I think it's tempting to say that Margo should have been the true disciple of The Master--she's just as powerful and her innocence would guarantee that she would never be corrupted by that power. However, I think it's this same innocence that would prevent from being as effective as Lamont. Bereft of the first hand experience of evil in her own heart, she might have been incapable of seeing that evil in others. Lamont, therefore, is the perfect medium between Margo and Kahn--both of which are extremes in opposite directions: good and evil. Since he has personal experience with the evil in his heart, as well as the goodness, he can effectively punch Darkness in the cock, cloak himself in the loving arms of the Shadows that threaten to smother him each and every day, and disappear without a trace into the night.

 

At least, that's my theory. It would have been nice if the movie gave us a couple more details to go on.

[ChunkStyle 1160]

I would have liked a quick scene of Shiwan Khan tossing aside Genghis Khan's remains like trash as he is turning the sarcophagus into a shipping container.

 

Because they couldn't let a good prop go to waste the sarcophagus shows up again as the cover for the escape chute that Shiwan Khan uses. But when he installed that did he have escape in mind? Or did he normally use it to toss his tapestries down to the laundry room?

 

If the Shadow saw someone in danger who would be of no use to him in the future would he still save them? We don't have enough information from the movie to know.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

I think it's tempting to say that Margo should have been the true disciple of The Master--she's just as powerful and her innocence would guarantee that she would never be corrupted by that power.

 

If you want a truly great ending to this film, as Cranston is being attacked by the knife, it stops, and flies away, circling around to Margot, who has entered the room, and floats at her side. She then joins forces with the Shadow to take on Khan, and they defeat him with their combined mental powers.

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

If you want a truly great ending to this film, as Cranston is being attacked by the knife, it stops, and flies away, circling around to Margot, who has entered the room, and floats at her side. She then joins forces with the Shadow to take on Khan, and they defeat him with their combined mental powers.

 

[RobertKennard 5]

there is a report out there that says that almost everyone on the planet is descended from Genghis Khan. like way more than any other person. in in 200 men on the planet can trace their Y chromosomes back to the Khan. and directly back to the Khan. so when one of the guys said that the bad guy was the descendant of Khan, that is just not the case. link for source

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/08/1-in-200-men-direct-descendants-of-genghis-khan/#.V5IvaDX0bHE

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

I am mad at myself for not finding time to watch this movie before the episode. But from what I know of the comics (which isn't even the original form--it was originally a radio COMMERCIAL and then a radio play. Like the Geico Cavemen getting their own show, I guess?)

 

I am pretty sure his backstory is usually glossed over. It is not that the movie left something out. Wikipedia says, "In the radio drama, which debuted in 1937, The Shadow was an invisible avenger who had learned, while "traveling through East Asia," "the mysterious power to cloud men's minds, so they could not see him." This feature of the character was born out of necessity: time constraints of 1930s radio made it difficult to explain to listeners where The Shadow was hiding and how he was remaining concealed. Thus, the character was given the power to escape human sight."

 

Basically, he has magic because he went to Asia. Asian people are magic. That is all you need to know. (There was a lot of exoticism of Asian cultures in early comics. Iron Fisi, as Jason mentioned, still has issues with that. Green Lantern originally got his ring in Asia--not space--which is why it is charged with an old times LANTERN. Even Iron Man has a villain called "the Mandarin" that is a stereotype. They wisely, in my opinion, did a switcheroo with that character in the film. But some fanboys are still butt hurt about it.)

 

I don't believe the powers are latent, as the brill Cameron H. suggests. I think anyone who goes to Asian gets magic Asian powers.

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

 

 

What is that? Harry Potter?

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I didn't watch the movie this week so this is my correction, I guess?

 

I just feel bad for the LA Podfest, which has been around for 5 years now, has had tons of huge podcasts (like WTF, Thrilling Adventure Hour, & DLM), and they can't even get recognized as the actual first podcast festival.

 

This isn't a correction for Paul cause he said that he knew of, but I guess for the people writing the copy claiming that they are the first. Sorry... you're not.

[TARDIS Blue 4]

Just want to point out that Shiwan Khan cannot be the last descendant of Ghengis Khan. "Famously fertile", 8% of Asian men (and 0.5% of the total male population) are descended from him.

 

http://www.nature.com/news/genghis-khan-s-genetic-legacy-has-competition-1.16767

 

Assuming the population at the time the movie is set is approximately 2 billion people, then there would still be 500 million people who are descended from Ghengis Khan, not including women!

[Lukas Holmes 2287]

=( Man, I love this movie. I had all the toys. Ended up buying old The Shadow radio shows after I saw it. Am I a bad person?

[FrancisRizzo3 212]

=( Man, I love this movie. I had all the toys. Ended up buying old The Shadow radio shows after I saw it. Am I a bad person?

 

No. There's a lot to like about this movie. It just doesn't make much sense.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

=( Man, I love this movie. I had all the toys. Ended up buying old The Shadow radio shows after I saw it. Am I a bad person?

Luke, we weren't sure how to break it to you before this, but yes.