Episode 146 - Dreamcatcher

[RyanSz 3140]

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.

 

The virus was briefly explained in the first scene with Freeman and Sizemore where they talk about it and its codename of Ripley. Freeman explains that he's seen how nasty the virus can get but it doesn't get any deeper than that.

[MoFuzz 17]

"Friction tape" is what you put on the blade of hockey sticks so you can better control the puck and helps keep the handle from being slippery. It's a rough cloth tape, similar to gaffer's tape, except sticky on both sides --more about creating a grippy surface than holding something together. Totally belongs at a Maine lake house. Duct/Duck tape is too shiny and smooth. People also put friction tape on skateboards so their shoes don't slip on the deck -- Jason Lee would be familiar with this.

 

Also, Duddits didn't know what these guys would be like when they were older -- he just knew they were better than the shitfeeders (totally Ace and Eyeball's gang from Stand By Me). All in all, they are decent guys for the most part. At least they try to help defeat the worms.

 

The "vagina worms" look really similar to lamprey eels, a delightful sea creature, and various parasitic worms. Their mouths can do some major damage... google it, or don't. Ick.

 

 

Finally, the original/alternate ending is on the DVD and really sucks. Duddits basically stumbles into the water station, does his twirly finger thing, and Mr Grey is just sent into a "worm"hole, no sweat. Then a really hokey gravesite scene where the last two d-bags sing Blue Bayou. Groan...

[Cameron H. 23786]

"Friction tape" is what you put on the blade of hockey sticks so you can better control the puck and helps keep the handle from being slippery. It's a rough cloth tape, similar to gaffer's tape, more about creating a grippy surface than holding something together. Totally belongs at a Maine lake house. Duct/Duck tape is too shiny and smooth. People also put friction tape on skateboards so their shoes don't slip on the deck -- Jason Lee would be familiar with this.

 

But, considering their goal was more "We need to keep this fucking lid shut" than "Criminetties! Let's make sure Beaver doesn't slide off" it sounds like friction tape was still the wrong way to go.

[RyanSz 3140]

Omission:

 

Regarding the bully trying to make Duddits eat shit, he wasn't barehanding it, he did have what looked like a heavy wool glove on one hand Michael Jackson style so technically the shit wasn't touching his skin.

[MoFuzz 17]

 

But, considering their goal was more "We need to keep this fucking lid shut" than "Criminetties! Let's make sure Beaver doesn't slide off" it sounds like friction tape was still the wrong way to go.

 

It's what he thought they had in the shed... it's strong and sticky as hell (sticky on both sides!), so would probably work as well as duct tape. Duck brand even sells it (among others). The point is the HDTGMers acted as if it was something the movie just made up, simply because none of them had heard of it. They do it all the time.

 

Like they did with "criminetlies!" as an exclamation... it's a perfectly cromulent word:

 

...I consulted some fellow experts. One said that "Criminentlies!" was from the Disney 1973 animated version of "Robin Hood," where it was the favorite interjection of the Sheriff of Nottingham, voiced by Pat Buttram (Mr. Haney in "Green Acres"). But another pointed out that George Gobel used the word frequently in his 1950s comedy routines....

[MoFuzz 17]

"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.

 

"Greys" is a common term for Roswell style aliens, like the ones in "Communion" (starring Christopher Walken)... King might have been using that as a shorthand...

[MoFuzz 17]

Also, I'm a qualified British person (born and raised here, never lived anywhere else) and have lived in both the North and the South for a while. I've never heard Duck/duct tape referred to as "Friction tape" in my life....

 

Because it's a different thing... a rough cloth tape (sticky on both sides!) frequently used to improve the grip on hockey sticks and other sporting equipment, tools, etc, but would be good for securing toilet seat lids in a pinch. (Get it? Pinch?) Hockey is pretty popular in Maine, especially near frozen lakes...

 

[MoFuzz 17]

The only way to get that much snow on him, is if Thomas Jane was laying still for multiple hours! Ha!

 

Or he dove out of the way into the snow bank and it got on him then, or he even pulled snow onto himself to hide better?

[MoFuzz 17]

 

The virus was briefly explained in the first scene with Freeman and Sizemore where they talk about it and its codename of Ripley. Freeman explains that he's seen how nasty the virus can get but it doesn't get any deeper than that.

 

I think the "host" whether human or animal, is basically just a food supply until the worm reaches maturity, sort of like in "Alien" -- hence the Ripley reference. It's also referencing cancer, how it starts growing inside you and you have no clue, but when symptoms present, it's often too late to do much about it.

[ChunkStyle 1160]

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.

 

Not that I wanted to spend any more time with these characters but I will say that I didn't agree with Curtis when he went off on the four friends as all being giant assholes. I think we were supposed to feel that these were good people that had problems fitting in comfortably in society because of their powers.

[JammerLea 2070]

 

Or he dove out of the way into the snow bank and it got on him then, or he even pulled snow onto himself to hide better?

I'd guess the way the snow pile was undisturbed and how much he was covered he must've dove face first into the bank. I think my only surprise was that their mindlink or whatever didn't give his position away anyway. He obviously knew Gray-Jonesy was coming his way, so how did it not work in reverse?

 

I think the "host" whether human or animal, is basically just a food supply until the worm reaches maturity, sort of like in "Alien" -- hence the Ripley reference. It's also referencing cancer, how it starts growing inside you and you have no clue, but when symptoms present, it's often too late to do much about it.

I was wondering if "Ripley" was an Alien reference. It makes sense anyway.

 

Oh, thinking back on the military scenes, it really bothered me when the alien ship was going to self-destruct that the other pilots disobeyed the order to pull away even though they were told it was going to self-destruct.

 

Also did the base only have the one helicopter left when Freeman goes on his little revenge flight? Was there no way someone could follow him in another copter, or was he just not worth pursuing? lol

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

My favorite Stephen King universe connection that occurs only in the books: the Stand By Me junkyard dog "Chopper was - at least until the Camber's dog Cujo went rabid twenty years later - the most feared and least seen dog in Castle Rock."

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

 

There's also a bit of a connection to another HDTGM film: The Covenant. During an English class scene in The Covenant the teacher brings up Stephen King and the blonde witch yells out "Dreamcatcher is the shit!"

 

I couldn't tell if the audience's intended reaction is supposed to be "haha, that student really stuck it to that snotty teacher!" Or "that student sure has terrible taste".

[AstronautDown 282]

Ok, here me out.

 

This is definitely one of the greatest movies in the HDTGM compendium. And this episode is an instant classic. That said, there are huge chunks of the movie that were simply omitted, which is inevitable given its length and chaotiness, but also a shame since literally every frame of this film is crazy banana bonkers! Hence...

 

I propose the first official HDTGM sequel. I'm not talking Zardoz-style. I'm talking, same team in the studio, talking about the film again. Go over the omitted parts, go over the same parts, honestly, who cares. Just keep talking Dreamcatcher to me!

 

All in favor, like, repost, tweet, start a petition, whatever. Just make it happen.

[MoFuzz 17]

One other little logic glitch... when Pete the car salesman pulls the woman's car keys out of the deep puddle, she uses the keyless entry to open the door. Pretty sure soaking in water for that long would render that broken, and she'd have to unlock it manually... woot!

[MoFuzz 17]

My favorite Stephen King universe connection that occurs only in the books: the Stand By Me junkyard dog "Chopper was - at least until the Camber's dog Cujo went rabid twenty years later - the most feared and least seen dog in Castle Rock."

 

Watched the 11.22.63 miniseries, and as the hero arrives at the book depository and heads up the stairs, you can just barely see that someone has painted "REDRUM" in red on the wall... Tony must have been there, too, Mrs. Torrance...

[paultab 225]

Can we talk about the Blue Unit Chatecism (AKA "The BUC for all BUCcos") for a second? Morgan Freeman asks his soldier if he knows it, then runs him through it:

 

Q: Is Blue Unit regular Army?

A: No, boss, better, boss.

Q: How does Blue Unit operate?

A: Under the radar. We do not salute. We do not display rank. We do not say "sir." We are a force unto ourselves.

Q: Regular Army, compared to Blue Unit...?

A: Pussies, boss.

Q: Under what rules does Blue Unit operate?

A: Rules of combat.

 

Is Blue Unit Training Camp just learning a shitweasel-ton of pat routines? How often do they have to say that shit? Clearly, it's just a fuckerow for the sake of exposition, but this isn't the only kind of Q-and-A routine Freeman enacts in this movie, which makes it seem like a defining characteristic of Blue Unit is being off-book for this kind of stuff.

[paultab 225]

Also, to the comments that Duddits should have defended himself as a boy: Duddits wasn't an alien in the book or the original screenplay as I understand it, so the alien reveal is tacked on, but they didn't think to change anything else about the movie.

 

I had a flashback to when this came out in theaters. I remember going to see it because the ending to the book had kind of lost me, thinking, "Well, maybe the movie will make sense of it and then I'll go back and read it again." Realizing in the theater that they had dumped the original ending made me feel a lot better for hating/not understanding it, but also, it is truly striking how much of the book made it into the movie. Beat for beat, the book swings from plot to plot in exactly the "wait, what?" fashion that the movie does. I just sat there saying, "Yup. Yup" to the person who came with me who couldn't believe this was all the same book.

 

What I picture now is someone pitching the story Menahem Golan style, where they're just talking through what happens in the movie, but constantly reading the room and jumping off whenever they think they're losing somebody. "And these four psychically bonded friends... (losing them, pivot) go into the WOODS and are marooned in their cabin (losing them, pivot) no, TRAPPED in their cabin, by the army (losing them, pivot) ... who are hunting down ALIENS (a ten-year-old walks in) THAT COME OUT OF YOUR BUTT." Not that that's how this came about, but it's fun to think about.

[BlakeHinton 0]

I haven't read the book in forever but I feel like Duddits was not an alien in the book or am I remembering wrong. Also while the book wasn't good there is a lot more connective tissue and tension that makes it marginally better than the film.

[RyanSz 3140]

My favorite Stephen King universe connection that occurs only in the books: the Stand By Me junkyard dog "Chopper was - at least until the Camber's dog Cujo went rabid twenty years later - the most feared and least seen dog in Castle Rock."

Yeah I love the King connected universe because there can be huge connecting points, like a scene where Roland Deschain has a brief cameo in Insomnia, or small ones like in Apt Pupil when Kurt Dussander mentioning that his accountant (Andy Dufrene) went to Shawshank for murdering his wife and her lover. The best thing is that there have been a couple books titled The Stephen King Universe, if I remember, which go into detail about all his books up to a certain point and lay out every connecting instance between them, and really help even the most die-hard fans remember tidbits that they may have forgotten. Even better was someone went and made an infographic showing EVERY connection and where they fall within the SK universe.

 

 

I haven't read the book in forever but I feel like Duddits was not an alien in the book or am I remembering wrong. Also while the book wasn't good there is a lot more connective tissue and tension that makes it marginally better than the film.

Yeah he wasn't an alien in the book, just had unexplained psychic powers because Oxycontin.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

This is a small observation but it's one of the things in 'Dreamcatcher' that made me positive that this movie is full of shit. The scene in which Jason Lee gets himself killed via greasy alien anal probe (while attempting to reach a toothpick) only occurs because Damian Lewis takes so damn long to find the duct tape. This is absurd. These are 30-something men who go to the same cabin every year. If there's one thing they have in a tool shed, workbench, or tool box, it's fucking duct tape! Hell, they probably have a good dozen half-used rolls just lying around random places. If Jonesy doesn't remember where he put the nearest roll after completing a makeshift repair of taping a broken table leg back together after it was damaged in an all-night "fuckeroo," one roll is most assuredly on top of a pile of random shit somewhere in that cabin. In fact, duct tape is probably the only tool that actually gets used in that place, especially out of the stuff in the shed, and not buried under the pile of rusty saws, drills, clamps, and medieval torture devices that Jonesy has to sift through before finding it. Are we to believe that Suicidal Psychologist Thomas Jane or Drunken Car Salesman Timothy Olyphant are so handy, they are frequently using those decrepit tools for home improvement projects, then pile them haphazardly on top of the one useful object in the cabin? These are men whose solution to a plumbing problem involving ALIENS shat out of a dead man's anus is "tape the toilet shut!" The one thing they know is where that tape is. That toilet was probably installed four decades ago when their cabin first got running water and is only held together by duct tape already!

[MartinFletcher 28]

Duddits uses a pretty odd method of choosing helpers to save the world with him ... Let's find four teenage boys who will go out of their way to possibly see a picture of the prom queens pussy. Hmm.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Not that I wanted to spend any more time with these characters but I will say that I didn't agree with Curtis when he went off on the four friends as all being giant assholes. I think we were supposed to feel that these were good people that had problems fitting in comfortably in society because of their powers.

I think that his point, and mine, is that the movie doesn't set it up this way. I don't get the sense that these guys are just having a difficult time fitting in. When you have 4 incredibly good looking white dudes who have supernatural powers and they still act like dicks, it's hard to get that feeling like you're supposed to feel bad for them.

[MoFuzz 17]

Duddits uses a pretty odd method of choosing helpers to save the world with him ... Let's find four teenage boys who will go out of their way to possibly see a picture of the prom queens pussy. Hmm.

 

I think they chose Duddits (aka Douglas) rather than the other way around... they are fundamentally good kids who fight back against bullies, even against the odds, and are resourceful and strategic bullshit artists -- was that kid super fast? Doesn't matter. The boys were "puffing up" to discourage the bullies from starting a meaningless fight, even though they'd probably crush the littler kids. Again, presuming these are basically the same boys from "Stand By Me", they showed guts in that story standing up to Ace, then did the right thing by anonymously tipping off the police rather than exploiting the situation to be big shots, even though that was ostensibly their reason for making the trip in the first place.

 

"Stand by Me" and"Dreamcatcher" both address that everyone in a circle of friends has their strengths and weaknesses, but friendship unites them despite the flaws, and combines their strengths as a team to overcome bullies, military badguys, and even tremendously powerful alien invaders. You see the same thing in Marvel Avengers, X-Men, Justice League, PowerRangers, the Seven Samurai, the Three Musketeers, and almost any story where two or more characters work together for a common goal. Literature 101...

 

It's the point of the dreamcatcher scene -- they aren't 5 separate dreamcatchers (plural) but united as one single dreamcatcher -- all for one, one for all -- and probably why the title is "Dreamcatcher" (singular).

[JoeDeProspero 0]

In the flashback twenty years prior the gang meets Duddits as a young boy, he's already got super powers and disability and they become lifelong friends. Now our pal Morgan Freeman says he's been hunting aliens for twenty five years and when we meet Mr. Gay one of the first thing he does is start asking about Duddits. Mr. Gay is so interested in Duddits that when he finally hears Duddits in his head he stops the car he's driving, literally putting his plans for world destruction on hold just to marvel that he finally has a line on Duddits.

 

So here's my theory, Duddits and Mr. Gay are two members of slightly different species and maybe used to date.

 

Mr. Gay demonstrates that aliens can turn their bodies into a dust cloud at will to take over people's minds and not die, seeing as how Mr. Grey gets pulled back out of Homeland at the climax. So like, 30 some years ago Duddits, knowing that Mr. Gay is an asshole on a planetary scale, goes to Earth and finds the mentally weakest person he can find that has died and come back. In this case a sickly, handicapped child named Duddits and takes him over so he can stop Mr. Gay's.

 

Cut to the end of the movie. Duddits just lays there and takes it while Mr. Gay sticks his stinger into him. Then Duds flips the script and turns into a suspiciously similar looking alien as to what Mr. Gay's species looks like when they're bipedal (aside from color) and stabs Mr. Grey with a nearly identical stinger. Then they seem to melt into each other and then turn into a puff a red mist, which is what this species uses to spawn and has been established as nonlethal so I'm pretty sure that last scene of the movie is Duddits and Mr. Gay having sex.

 

If this is true, then this could also mean that the crashed "invasion" ship misted itself to avoid being shot instead of self destructing (which seems stupid if you're there to infect everyone with your presence anyway).

 

That movie made me mad and I never thought I would have to write the word Duddits that long.