Episode 146 - Dreamcatcher

[pscudese 701]

I too was baffled, that during a blizzard, both Beaver and Jonesy are able to clearly communicate with the soldiers in the hovering helicopter.

 

And when the film deposits that these guys can hear other's thoughts and communicate with them via telepathy.... wouldn't this be the right time to use this power?

 

Who cares about the consequences, shit is going down and you need to get the "woodchuck turd" eating guy out of your house.

[Thrillhouse88 32]

This episode flew by. It could have been a 3 hour podcast. There is just way too much crazy stuff to talk about.

[Misnaila 12]

[pscudese 701]

I literally laughed out loud on the subway, when the film revealed how covered Thomas Jane was after diving out of the way from the incoming snowmobile. From the time he made the decision that the person coming towards him was not really Jonsey, to the shot of the snowmobile flying by... was roughly a couple of seconds. The only way to get that much snow on him, is if Thomas Jane was laying still for multiple hours! Ha!

 

[Cameron H. 23786]

During the shouting at the helicopter scene, I thought it was hilarious when the military repeatedly tells them that they are under quarantine and Beaver and Jonsey keep shouting back something to the effect of "No, no. You don't understand. We have a really sick guy in here." I would have loved it if the military guy shouted back, "No, motherfuckers, you don't understand. We know there's a sick guy down there. You're under Quar-an-tine! Have fun with your shit weasels! We're out!"

[Cameron H. 23786]

It really does surprise me how often disaster could have been avoided by utilizing some good old fashioned telepathy. For example:

 

"Hey Beav, I've got an idea to turn this fuckerow into a fuckeree by getting some friction tape out of the shed. But--fuck me, Freddy--I'm getting this real strong impression that you're about to pick up a toothpick up off this blood and shit soaked floor and stick it in your mouth. So, before I go, and you turn this into a real jobba-nobba, you want me to check the kitchen for some more?"

 

ETA: Also, want to know the most frightening thing about this movie? Being a twelve year old boy and having friends who can read your thoughts. Yikes!

[wyldride 285]

So, I had a question about poisonous snakes, and meant to call the 1-800-PAUL-ASP number but it seems to be out of service. Can I ask it at PAUL-ASK instead? I guess not.

[SevenDollarsWorthofHoobastank 226]

Haven't listened to the episode just yet, and I haven't seen anyone mention it, but if I recall correctly, this movie had an "AniMatrix" short that was shown before it. And that's the ONLY reason me and my brothers went to this movie opening weekend. We were severely disappointed to have paid full ticket price for only an animated shorts worth of entertainment.

[Lando 2019]

You could have bought so much Hoobastank with that money.

[Cameron H. 23786]

You could have bought so much Hoobastank with that money.

 

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I re-listened to the Drive Angry episode today as well, and holy shit this podcast has simultaneously changed and not changed so much. Remember way back when they tried to keep the episodes to only ~35 minutes!? I think about how they stuffed the entire plots of Season of the Witch, Drive Angry, and fuckin' Last Airbender into only that amount of time plus the little side discussions they would have (like June's Life Lessons! I miss that!), and it blows my mind that now they still can't even fit every crazy ass thing from these movies into ~90 minutes.

 

This post is basically pointless, but just calling out that I'm so incredibly happy that the gang has stuck with this spectacular podcast for 6 years now!

 

[Xandar1977 421]

Lifelong Steven King fan here, ever since I read Misery when I was about ten. I saw Dreamcatcher at the theater during either my second or third sophomore year of college, and enjoyed it at the time. Never got around to reading the book, and it sounds like I'm not missing anything. Watching it again, I realize that this is just not a good movie. One thing that wasn't mentioned that drove me insane was Morgan Freeman calling everyone 'Bucko.' It's a very Stephen King thing, but it just felt so out of place in this context, and for it to be Morgan Freeman's character saying it.

 

Also, I'm glad you did mention the wipe transitions. I forgot about those, and the first time it happened, I just heard an apprehensive 'OH NO!' in my head, like my brain was saying 'no no no, that's not ok!' I hated those wipes so much.

[AllanStanleyChadwickKew 6]

Omission:

 

What about the scene where Thomas Jane holds a gun to his head as though it were a telephone? Its insane!

What if the film is a Jacob's Ladder scenario in which Jane has completed his arc that started with him nearly committing suicide, and ends with him accidentally shooting himself in the head but dreaming that he has saved the world?

[SlidePocket 707]

In regards to what Lawrence Kasdan had recently done in between Dreamcatcher and The Force Awakens, the last film that he had recently directed was the 2012 film Darling Companion, starring Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton and a dog. That didn't get good reviews and was barely acknowledged in theaters overall.

[JimKata 62]

"Bob/Robert Gray" is one of the personas mentioned/assumed by Pennywise in It - at one point, he claims it to be his real name, and I remember a short part of the story dealing with the idea of Bob Gray as one of many possible 'origin stories' for It/Pennywise.

Drats! You beat me to it.

 

p.s. I can't believe I actually just typed "drats".

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

Omission: I want to know Jason's feelings on the recent clown sightings. Especially if this movie is set in the same place as "It." I think that's a real missed opportunity.

[JammerLea 2070]

I'm glad they mentioned the toothpick bathroom scene, but come on, where's the peanut butter??

 

I'd like to say that for a two hour movie, it really flew by, so I guess I enjoyed it to an extent.

 

I think what disappointed me the most about this film was the whole setup that Duddits passes off these powers so these kids can help save the world, and then when it comes to be their time to use the powers for said duty, one dies immediately, apparently because Mr. Gray says he has nothing in his head, and another is seen as useful, but then killed after one use. Not even directly after, Mr. Gray seemed to have the intent of using him again, but whatever. I mean, it wouldn't make sense to all of them to reach the end unscathed, but one would think they could use their powers to last a LITTLE BIT LONGER, or at least show some usefulness as a character. Beaver obviously got the short end of the stick.

 

This story tries to be too many things and ends up unsuccessful at being any of them. The memory warehouse had a charm to it when it was first introduced, but serving as a mere prison for much of the movie really was a shame. I think it'd be a much more interesting story if maybe it was a slice of life story about how the group bungles their powers, or if it was more of a comedy horror, rather than taking itself so seriously most of the time. Especially with the cartoony personality of Mr. Gray as the villain.

 

I'm glad Duddits chose his favorite cartoon to be Scooby-Doo, since that franchise is forever. Would love to know his opinion on the live-action movie.

 

QUESTION: I get that Jonesy walks with a limp because of the car accident, but why does he also limp when he's within his memory warehouse??

[ZacMiller 5]

Listened to the episode on my way to work. I didn't watch the movie but as I was listening to the Jason Lee "fuckaro" dialogue I honestly thought it was a deleted scene from mallrats with somebody else playing TS. When Curtis made the Kevin Smith punch up joke I nearly veered off the road.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I have a ton of questions about this movie.

 

I feel like I should start this off with I've only seen this movie once and I was super stoned while watching it and this was like 4 years ago and I've never seen it again. The whole time my friends and I were looking at each other like, "Is this the weed or is this movie terribly ridiculous?" So I'm glad to hear the movie was just terribly ridiculous. Also that was really good weed.

 

Anyway, my understanding of this whole plot is that Duddits chose those four guys because they were like really amazing dudes who stood up to bullies and protected those in need like a mentally handicapped kid. But it really sounds that may not even be the case because they all turned out to be the biggest d-bags around. Or is that why? Like I'm genuinely confused why Duddits started to basically brand these four douchebags to be the saviors of this world.

 

So if that is the case and they were really awesome guys as kids, why did they turn into the worst people? Why do they show Thomas Jane as a horrible therapist who makes fun of his patients? Or Timothy Olyphant as a mega creep that uses his powers to hit on women? Or Jason Lee becomes a drug addict/alcoholic? How come these fuckers get these awesome powers and are friends with Duddits and save the world? Nothing about them is likable and therefore I truly don't give a shit about any of them soooo what's the point?

 

Aren't the heroes supposed to be the ones you cheer for?

 

Y'all I just have so many questions.

[Cameron H. 23786]

My question: why does young Douglas Cavell's mother call him "Duddits" too?

[RyanSz 3140]

Ok. So a dreamcatcher is something that catches nightmares.

 

That being said, can someone on this forum explain the connection it has to this film... let alone be the title??

 

During the 2nd flashback, we see the boys around a dreamcatcher they made. Duddits claims the center circle and the friends are represented by those circle around it. Great. This is represented a few moment later in the park, when they are trying to find the lost girl. They all stand around Duddits with a hand on him.

 

But I ask you again... what meaning is meaning of a Dreamcatcher in this film?

 

None of the events take place while they are sleeping. Hell... when the group discussed "IT," that book/film would be a better story under the Dreamcatcher title. You have a villain playing mind games with the heroes... almost causing walking nightmares.

 

And you can't say it has something to do with Jonesy's mind vault. Those are memories; not dreams.

 

So someone. Anyone. Please help me understand this.

Again this was something that was omitted from the book where it was gone into a bit of detail. In all honesty, this probably would have been better served as a miniseries on TV, as they cut a lot of connecting tissue out, though it really isn't much better and I say this as a huge King fan. Also how big of career turnaround is it for Kasdan as this movie basically killed his career for over a decade only for his return to be the Force Awakens?

[RyanSz 3140]

My question: why does young Douglas Cavell's mother call him "Duddits" too?

The only thing that I can think of is that he gravitates to it as a positive, so she uses it because he enjoys it, maybe? I don't know...Oxycontin.

 

 

I have a ton of questions about this movie.

 

I feel like I should start this off with I've only seen this movie once and I was super stoned while watching it and this was like 4 years ago and I've never seen it again. The whole time my friends and I were looking at each other like, "Is this the weed or is this movie terribly ridiculous?" So I'm glad to hear the movie was just terribly ridiculous. Also that was really good weed.

 

Anyway, my understanding of this whole plot is that Duddits chose those four guys because they were like really amazing dudes who stood up to bullies and protected those in need like a mentally handicapped kid. But it really sounds that may not even be the case because they all turned out to be the biggest d-bags around. Or is that why? Like I'm genuinely confused why Duddits started to basically brand these four douchebags to be the saviors of this world.

 

So if that is the case and they were really awesome guys as kids, why did they turn into the worst people? Why do they show Thomas Jane as a horrible therapist who makes fun of his patients? Or Timothy Olyphant as a mega creep that uses his powers to hit on women? Or Jason Lee becomes a drug addict/alcoholic? How come these fuckers get these awesome powers and are friends with Duddits and save the world? Nothing about them is likable and therefore I truly don't give a shit about any of them soooo what's the point?

 

Aren't the heroes supposed to be the ones you cheer for?

 

Y'all I just have so many questions.

Stephen King uses a lot of motifs over and over in his stories like a group of kids overcoming evil, psychic bonds, etc. Another big one of his is misused gifts and the negative effects of that. In The Green Mile book, after the John Coffee character is executed by the prison with the guards who came to like him, know his powers, and knew he was innocent, each of the guards all suffer horrible deaths/accidents, while the Tom Hanks character lives to a very old age and has to suffer watching his friends and loved ones die while he lives alone. In The Dark Tower, Roland realizes too late that he was so blinded by this mission he had that he didn't realize the true gifts he had with his group of travelers both past and present. In It, the Loser's Club lead mediocre lives after separating and only feel whole again once they are together, which is similar to this where these four boys are given these great gifts but don't really do much with them which leads to the situations that we see at the start of the movie.

[tomspanks 9039]

What I didn't understand most of all was the alien life cycle. I don't think the film did a good job of explaining how these aliens work. Do the ass worms grow up to be those bipedal aliens like Mr. Grey? If the ass worms are the immature young versions of them, why are they the ones laying the eggs? Their babies are having babies! Do these tiny worms that hatch from eggs just grow up to be ass worms? Then what's the point of incubating an ass worm in a human, if they can just reproduce outside of the human body? It seems like you only get one ass worm per one person, while a single ass worm can lay hundreds of eggs. It's just more efficient to bypass the human incubation stage, don't you think?

 

And I might have missed this, but what does the red rash have to do with anything? Are the people/animals being infected by some sort of microscopic worm that somehow travel from skin to the gut? We saw that the bipedal aliens can kind of poof into red dust - is that what the skin rash is?

[RyanSz 3140]

Omission:

 

Morgan Freeman's history with the aliens was also in more detail in the book by way of a timeline that mixed actual reported UFO sightings/incidents and made for the book incidents involving Morgan Freeman's squadron.

 

And I might have missed this, but what does the red rash have to do with anything? Are the people/animals being infected by some sort of microscopic worm that somehow travel from skin to the gut? We saw that the bipedal aliens can kind of poof into red dust - is that what the skin rash is?

If I remember right it was how the virus was spread by the aliens and could have been passed through a couple different means, by either the alien blood, the blood of a person infected by a shit weasel, or from the ship spraying red mist. It's basically a nod to the War of the World red plant life that was spread to make the world fully inhabitable to the aliens.

[NathanGordon 1096]

If I remember right it was how the virus was spread by the aliens and could have been passed through a couple different means, by either the alien blood, the blood of a person infected by a shit weasel, or from the ship spraying red mist. It's basically a nod to the War of the World red plant life that was spread to make the world fully inhabitable to the aliens.

There must have been scenes explaining this that were cut, because it was never directly addressed in the movie. Another thing: animals in the woods are running from the alien threat, and later a dog is infected. So the aliens can use the animals to breed, as well? If so, that's a lot easier than using humans.

 

I too was baffled, that during a blizzard, both Beaver and Jonesy are able to clearly communicate with the soldiers in the hovering helicopter.

This was totally wierd. You have a sick guy at your cabin -- a random helicopter flies overhead and you just assume they can airlift him to a hospital?

 

It's hard to believe that this film wasn't intentionally goofy. There's too many elements that can't be anything but comedy; namely, the butt stuff, Morgan Freeman's eyebrows, and Jonesy's campy Mr. Grey. The quippy script seems to support this reading top. The problem is that the film doesn't commit to that b-movie tone and plays it pretty straight, at least up until the military arrive. Then it's just all over the place.

 

It is super entertaining though, that I will say. Those two hours fly by.