Episode 153 - Escape from L.A.: LIVE!

[JulyDiaz 2797]

Recorded live from Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles, D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place) and Dan Levy (Lion) join Paul and Jason to discuss the 1996 John Carpenter/Kurt Russell film Escape from L.A. They’ll talk about Snake Plissken possibly being immortal, Cuervo Jones, playing basketball to save your life, surfing on a tsunami, and much more. Plus, everyone meets a real bad-ass Snake Plissken during Audience Q&A!

[ZARATHUSTRA 245]

 

The nightmares of 1996 find us in 2017.

[ZARATHUSTRA 245]

I thought Blake Plissken's joke was "I thought you'd be taller" from the movie on Jason as "I thought you'd be funnier". I got the reference, everyone seemed to take it as an insult. I feel bad for him, I thought it was pretty funny.

 

Funny episode, guests were great. Bizarre to listen to though as i still dont think this movie is bad. I didnt notice the CGI at all, let alone how shit it was. it wasn't like Spy Kids where its prominent, it was mostly background.

 

I liked all the LA specifics, the plastic surgery reminded me of Bioshock. Alot of this was Carpenter turning around these specifics and throwing it back at us and i really liked that. Plastic surgery becomes a wierd cult bent on collecting fresh human parts. Basketball becomes execution/entertainment like the gladiators in the first film. Surf culture becomes a 60s actor surfing a mini tsunami. Steve Bushemi is the annoying LA agent trope who still thinks he is even after an apocalypse. The slow driveby was also hilarious, reminded me alot of the Futurama episode where Fry gets trapped in an post-apocalyptic wasteland that turns out to be present day LA. I've never been to LA so its probably a different viewing experience if youre actually from there.

I dunno, this movie worked for me. Maybe it's just Kurt Russel. i think with any other actor it probably wouldnt. but with him this movie adds up for me. i don't have a childhood connection to this, i only saw it last week, but I like these kinds of movies. you cant make them anymore. You couldnt make Big Trouble now. It would be too serious or overtly winking at the camera. It reminded me of the era of the first Mummy movies and Pierce Brosnan's Bonds and stuff like that. I like this movie because of all the stuff they talked about. not in spite of it. Compared to the seriousneess of shit like Suicide Squad. Theres no fun to it, everythings too slick.

 

I think this movie could have been really great if they only had like $10 million. It would have been grittier and cooler like the first movie. John Carpenter makes better movies with less money.

 

 

 

 

Also I appreciate Paul addressing the back catalogue issue. If anyone is worried the old ones are on youtube including most of the deleted episodes like Smurfs, Green Lantern etc.

[AstronautDown 282]

Hey all. I don't post on the boards too often but trust me when I say I'm a hardcore fan of HDTGM, plus I'm Greek so I think that makes me the Jason of this group... Last night I was preparing a long post on the whole paywall debacle. A post which I thankfully did not finish because after listening to Paul's intro for this ep it had to be revised.

 

First off, a few words on Howl as a concept. I personally don't care for subscription services, but to each their own. My particular problem with Howl though is that I'm asked to pay for access to a selection of podcasts that I don't care to listen to. Sure, there are some good ones there, and sure, it's cheap (more on that later), but I personally don't care to consume art [/font]in bulk. I'm particular about the art/comedy/music/etc. that I like, and I choose to support those specific artists. But hey, if Howl is your thing, and it's something you can afford, it's fine with me!

 

My main issue though has been an argument used by many here about how "it's so cheap" to subscribe to Howl. Apologies for being harsh but that argument seems narrow-minded (and borderline privileged). How can one know how much money one is making and what their disposable income is? And what is the exact cheap price tag of the HDTGM archives in this argument? Is it $5? Surely not, since that's only a month's worth... Is it $35 for the year? OK, and then what? Who decides how long I need to subscribe for until it's no longer considered cheap? Furthermore, how can one assume what exactly those five bucks mean to one's monthly budget? Many folk are probably counting on this free entertainment because they can't afford any paid one... So please, I would kindly ask you to refrain from arguing how cheap Howl is because cheap is different for each of us. I write this with the utmost respect to all in this forum. Thank you kindly and apologies again for being so outspoken!

 

Finally, there is something that I was on the fence about posting here, but after Paul's intro I decided to go ahead. My main problem is that there is an inherent unfairness in how the archives were removed because many people did not have the heads-up to back episodes up—a process which could be easily done on iTunes and did not involve any nefarious activity. Who is to say that I cannot listen to Sleepaway Camp anymore simply because I did not keep a copy of it, while another person can? I don't like this. I don't like it one bit...

 

I'm sure if one does enough digging they can find scattered episodes online. In fact I'm pretty sure an HDGTM torrent is being compiled as we speak. But if we can learn something from this is that a show like this deserves better preservation (even if they do come up with a solution as Paul alluded to in this ep's intro)! And it's been painfully demonstrated that it's up to us, the fans, to preserve it. So here's my proposal: a dropbox folder of a curated archive that is easy for everyone to access and could be updated every week. Obviously not an easy task but surely nothing HDTGM fans cannot handle. If I knew that such an archive existed I would honestly sleep a little better. I would probably not even access it, just be happy to know my favourite show rests safely within my grasp.

 

If only a hardcore fan would volunteer to perform such task...

 

Now, surely I'm not such a person. I'm not a person with enough hard drive space to have been archiving episodes all along (even the obscure ones), enough dropbox space to spare, enough time to have already manually renamed AND tagged the mp3s and also—as a bonus—removed all the pre-roll ads. And I'm definitely not the person to be uploading such an archive as we speak. But if I was such a person and one of you sent me a private message asking for a link to this alleged dropbox folder, I would probably share it with you. Alas, I'm definitely not this person...

 

Aaaanyway... I do hope such a person exists, purely for the sake of HDTGM's legacy! And if they do, I would probably call them the Jason of this group.

 

Take care, people of Earth.

 

P.S. Paul, you better take the gang and come to Greece, or else I'll come find you in LA! I mean, in a live show, not like a threat. I'll come to the live show.

[bella_008 188]

I watched this movie last year and I couldn't force myself to sit through it again so soon no matter how gorgeous Kurt Russel is.

 

I think it's worth talking about how all of John Carpenters movies that are made with anything but an absolute shoestring are terrible. Also if we're doing Carpenter films than I vote for the terrible Village of the Damned remake.

 

I'm glad Paul addressed the paywall, I actually subscribe to Howl for the Comedy Bang Bang tours so I still have access but HDTGM is a podcast I've turned so many people onto including my techphobic parents and part of how I do that is usually by recommending specific episodes based on that persons individual tastes which is something I won't be able to do anymore.

[ZARATHUSTRA 245]

Hey all. I don't post on the boards too often but trust me when I say I'm a hardcore fan of HDTGM, plus I'm Greek so I think that makes me the Jason of this group... Last night I was preparing a long post on the whole paywall debacle. A post which I thankfully did not finish because after listening to Paul's intro for this ep it had to be revised.

 

I'm sure if one does enough digging they can find scattered episodes online. In fact I'm pretty sure an HDGTM torrent is being compiled as we speak. But if we can learn something from this is that a show like this deserves better preservation (even if they do come up with a solution as Paul alluded to in this ep's intro)! And it's been painfully demonstrated that it's up to us, the fans, to preserve it. So here's my proposal: a dropbox folder of a curated archive that is easy for everyone to access and could be updated every week. Obviously not an easy task but surely nothing HDTGM fans cannot handle. If I knew that such an archive existed I would honestly sleep a little better. I would probably not even access it, just be happy to know my favourite show rests safely within my grasp.

 

If only a hardcore fan would volunteer to perform such task...

 

I got you brother.

 

This youtube channel has the episodes and mini-episodes from Burlesque to Timothy Green #54.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCInAMbEGeqS9eDITvz2ssDQ/videos

 

There's alot of others, I found that one with 10 seconds of googling.

 

I also have a few original files saved from episodes I relisten to alot. Its far from complete but its got alot of the classics.

 

 

I'm also a fairly heavy listener like you and often re-dowload episodes I haven't saved. I'm gonna fill in the gaps from youtube. It just seems like this Howl thing punishes the new listeners. If you just found HDTGM you'd want to listen to all of them and get all the running jokes. If you just discovered it you're not going to pay for Howl. All its gonna do is put off new listeners and make current listeners hoard episodes. It doesn't really make business sense.

 

I assume someone has a more complete collection than me so I would sleep easy.

 

Also nice to know I'm not the only non-American.

[ChunkStyle 1160]

If Carpenter really did plan to eventually make a sequel called Escape from Mars I'd say that doesn't mesh with his dystopian view of the future established in these movies. This movie ends with all of the electronics on Earth being destroyed and probably years of chaos that result from that. But within Snake's lifetime (and presumably while he is still fighting age) he is escaping from a colony on Mars? Instead of dystopian that is a wildly optimistic view of what the human race could achieve.

[pscudese 701]

Continuing the discussion on ridiculous elements that should have been discussed prior to filming (like not forming a circle and having everyone shoot,) I'd like to understand in what world do Presidents bring their daughters to the Space Defense Lab? Was it National Father-Daughter Day?

 

Also are we suppose to accept the fact that the "top secret prototype unit" is just laying out in the open for anyone to steal? And as for Utopia stealing it, you are telling me that she just walks out carrying the large briefcase which is clearly marked!? I mean, that is what she's holding on the plane when delivering her taped message.

 

Finally, regarding the actual unit, it's about the size of a 1st Gen iPod. Why not just have Utopia palm it vs. carrying out the huge case?

 

Argh!

 

Sincerely,

Pete the S-man

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

I usually don't like to complain when a guest makes a factual error. They are busy people taking time out of their schedules to watch silly movies to entertain us. That said D'arcy hit upon one of my greatest and oddest pet peeves. There were no Brontosauruses in Jurassic Park because there is no Brontosaurus.

 

See the problem all started during the infamous bone wars between O.C. Marsh and Edward Cope. The story itself is very fascinating about these two paleontologist that once worked together but became harsh and bitter rivals during the fossil like gold rush of the late 1800s. These two used many underhanded methods to get the leg up on the other which often led to some sloppy careless mistakes. O.C. Marsh discovered the Apatosaurus in 1877 when he found an incomplete skeleton. Two years later he discovered another similar skeleton yet this one more complete, he called this one Brontosaurus. However in 1903 upon further research by a third paleontologist, Elmer Riggs, it was discovered that the Brontosaurs was actually a more mature version of the originally discovered Apatosaurus and not it's own species. As Apatosaurus had precedent Brontosaurs became a synonym of it. Here's where the confusion with the public begins. When all these new dinosaurs were being discovered it was big news across the world and people were hearing all these new names and creatures. Brontosaurus means "thunder lizard" and has a big powerful sound while Apatosaurus means "deceptive lizard" and is less impactful. So when it came time to display the dinosaur at the American Museum of Natural History it was decided to go with the strong more publicly likeable name. Even though in the 1970s it was officially decided that there was no Brontosaurus the name had already been ingrained in the public conscious so much so Brontosaurus became a sort of catchall for any long necked dinosaur.

 

Recently though, in 2015 a new study done by a Portuguese-British team determined that there were enough differences to reclassify the Brontosaurus as its own distinct type of Sauropod while belonging to the same subfamily as the Apatosaurus and thus we could use the name Brontosaurus again. Many paleontologist still disagree and argue over this fact, so its use is still highly debated and remains unused.

 

However, in the end there were no Apatosauruses in Jurassic Park, so she was just wrong about the type of dinosaur in general.

[Smigg 1488]

A small but pointless piece of trivia. Snake Plissken's outfit served as inspiration for former WWE Champion, Seth Rollins' ring gear when the company decided to make him a singles wrestler.

 

 

[pscudese 701]

So Snake Plotskin is infected with the disease and told he has less then 10hrs to receive the antidote. In fact, the first countdown introduced shows 9hr 31min and 14secs. Now obviously the government set the time for 10hrs to ensure Snake moves swiftly for fear that Jose Cuervo will use the device against the U.S. And on the flip side, Snake should want to move quickly so he doesn't die.

 

Since both sides should be concerned about time, then please explain why it takes them a whopping 88 minutes for Snake to change clothes and pick out a few God damn guns?! This is deduced by the next time we see the counter when Snake is entering the submarine at 8hr 8mins and 27secs. Let's move people! Time is of the essence. (And yes, when seeing "88 Minutes," I am immediately reminded of the classic Al Pacino film.)

 

Finally, if the government knows they lied to Snake on what they infected him with... then why do they even have a computer system which audibly warns of a "Neurosystem Shutdown in one hour." I get the point of the actual countdown clock, but why waste an IT specialist's time in creating a computerized voice for a death that will never take place. I mean come on!!

 

All the best Paul. Hope you're on the mend.

- Pete the S-man

 

[pscudese 701]

If ever there is a re-boot of Perfect Strangers, we all know who should be considered!

 

 

[Cameron H. 23786]

Guys, I made a HUUUUGE mistake.

 

As much as I try to live my life by Paul's holy gospel, I flaunted his benevolent wisdom and went ahead and watched Escape from New York first. Goddamn it. I really hope no one else did this. By the time I finally got around to watching this movie it was nigh unwatchable. It was like watching a Xerox of a Xerox that had been smeared with garbage juice and the expressed fluid from a mangy skunk's anal glands. It actually would have probably been better to watch them in reverse order. And it was just so fucking boring listening to recycled dialog that I just kept nodding off. I'm going to try to watch it again later today, but I might have to take a pass on this one...

[Hellboobs 21]

I thought Blake Plissken's joke was "I thought you'd be taller" from the movie on Jason as "I thought you'd be funnier". I got the reference, everyone seemed to take it as an insult. I feel bad for him, I thought it was pretty funny.

 

Long time listener first time poster so, thought my inaugural post should be as bananas as possible. So, here it goes:

What if Road House and the Escape series take place in the same universe and, in fact,

Dalton and Snake Plissken are the same person? Stay with me.

 

Similarities:

Snake and Dalton certainly have a similar look (Russell definitely wins the hair battle).

Both men are famous for unknown reasons.

Everyone expects Snake/Dalton to be bigger.

Both have a fairly flat affect and seem unperturbed by almost everything

The settings are both essentially lawless environments.

Both men have an unusual and highly sought-after set of skills.

And in both movies, the main villain is an old white guy.

 

Completely bulletproof theory:

Here’s what could have happened: James Dalton, the throat-ripping philosopher/martial arts master, finally ripped one-to-many throats. After the events of Road House in 1989, he and Kelly Lynch have to go on the lamb once someone finally realizes that several people have been violently murdered in the small town of Jasper, MO. Naturally, they “escape” to New York, where Dalton is originally from (remember the license plate on his car?) and has friends who can help them hide out. Presumably, they use pseudonyms, perhaps James—if that ever was his real name—becomes “Snake.”

Sometime in the next 8 years, however, Snake and Kelly Lynch (aka Doc. Deathbox) are caught and sent straight to the prison island of Manhattan where, after losing his eye and presumably the Doc, Snake abandons the teachings of Buddha and embraces the nihilism of Nietzsche.

 

Or maybe the real prequel film is Captain Ron…I don’t really know.

Fun fact: Escape from NY was actually filmed in St. Louis, Missouri (a 4 hour drive from Jasper).

 

Love the show and everything the three of you do.

 

Sincerely,

 

Hellboobs.

 

Ps: Poor Blake Plissken. I felt bad when nobody got his joke and worse when everyone kept ragging on him. Clearly he’s a HDTGM and/or Escape series supernerd (not terribly funny, but we can’t all be blessed).

[Shampoodler 1489]

I just popped in to like the post with a picture of Captain Ron.

 

Captain Ron is a great fucking movie.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I just popped in to like the post with a picture of Captain Ron.

 

Captain Ron is a great fucking movie.

 

You're goddamn right it is!

 

[Hellboobs 21]

One more thing. I was surprised nobody on the show brought up the idea that maybe the movie was intentionally camp. I mean, JC's The Thing came out in 1982 y'all. Clearly, the man knows good--and I mean bone-chillingly good--SFX.

 

 

Maybe Carpenter was trying to do some kind of riff on the old beach blanket bingo surfer films from the 60s.

 

[Royboy 430]

On a tangent, if all three hosts saw and hated Dawn of Justice, how has it not gotten an episode?

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Finally, there is something that I was on the fence about posting here, but after Paul's intro I decided to go ahead. My main problem is that there is an inherent unfairness in how the archives were removed because many people did not have the heads-up to back episodes up—a process which could be easily done on iTunes and did not involve any nefarious activity. Who is to say that I cannot listen to Sleepaway Camp anymore simply because I did not keep a copy of it, while another person can? I don't like this. I don't like it one bit...

 

They announced that Howl was going to put archives behind a pay wall at some point in the future on Comedy Bang Bang in August 2015. All the Howl ads have mentioned it for over a year. I'm not sure how much more notice they could have given.

 

On a tangent, if all three hosts saw and hated Dawn of Justice, how has it not gotten an episode?

Most likely because it's not a fun kind of awful. It's just an awful kind of awful.

[SeveralCircles 426]

PAYWALL PARTY

 

I've definitely crankily complained about Howl before on Earwolf forums, so I won't pretend to be a white knight. But to me it is sad to see people so mad about the paywall. My reasons why if anyone cares:

 

A) It IS cheap. You may not personally agree that it is cheap, but why in the arts are producers expected to let the consumer decide on their own whim what a fair price is for their work? Earwolf takes money to run, the hosts are barely paid and they're not exactly price gouging here to try to make some level of profit. Throwing them 5.00 a month that you can dip in and out of as you wish is a pretty low-cost way to support the company.

 

B ) You can still listen to the newest episodes, and many others. So you may not be able to tell a friend to go listen to an episode from 3 years ago--is that really such a huge inconvenience? If you can't get them into the show via ANY of the episodes from the last 6 months, you can't actually get them into the show. I get that it's not OPTIMAL, but is it really that significant, or is just a point that can be latched onto?

 

C)The surprise factor. Yeah, it kind of sucks there wasn't more warning this was about to actually happen. All of the deadlines and timelines with Howl have been blown; it's been a mess. But you were warned this was coming if you were listening to the Howl ads and announcements. And if you don't listen to the ads, how were they going to tell you? I had a ton of episodes saved months ago. If you don't, again I get that it's not ideal, but also maybe cut Earwolf a tiny bit of slack for giving you free stuff for years. They don't owe you much, if anything, and you probably owe them a little understanding.

 

--

 

 

D) PS HDTGM probably has a lot of clout within Earwolf, so they probably will be able to dismantle the paywall system, and then Earwolf loses a major way to make any money. Hosts of less popular shows who don't have the income of these hosts may lose out. Seems sad to me.

[Cameron H. 23786]

They announced that Howl was going to put archives behind a pay wall at some point in the future on Comedy Bang Bang in August 2015. All the Howl ads have mentioned it for over a year. I'm not sure how much more notice they could have given.

 

Are you trying to tell me that a year and a half head's up and weekly reminders were adequate?!? That's bullshit! What they should have done is arrived at each and everyone's door with a full Power Point presentation and a batch of gourmet chocolate cookies explaining how this move benefits both the listener and the company.

 

People shouldn't be punished for procrastinating and being bad listeners, Fister. That's ridiculous!

[SeveralCircles 426]

PS I work a little bit in the music industry, it hits close to home when people complain about the idea of having to spend ANY money on supporting artists that they are supposedly fans of. This idea that art should be free until you choose to donate is BS, and only is allowed to continue because people can and will steal content easily if it can come in a digital form.

 

Which clearly applies even to comedy podcasts.

But go ahead, fill a server with back episodes for the "hardcore" fans.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

A) It IS cheap. You may not personally agree that it is cheap, but why in the arts are producers expected to let the consumer decide on their own whim what a fair price is for their work? Earwolf takes money to run, the hosts are barely paid and they're not exactly price gouging here to try to make some level of profit. Throwing them 5.00 a month that you can dip in and out of as you wish is a pretty low-cost way to support the company.

I am not for or against the paywall subscription but let me stop you right there.

 

It may be cheap for you, but it is not cheap for everyone so just stop it. America is currently in an environment where we keep having to argue why everyone deserves to make enough money to LIVE while working 40 hours a week. Let alone afford extra things like subscription services. I work in the arts industry, I am a photographer, so I am more than aware of how everyone wants to skip out on paying for work. My prices are non-negotiable yet every time I photograph a wedding people haggle with me like I'm a god damn car salesmen.

 

No one is deciding for Earwolf what to set their prices at. Yeah some people are pissed, but fucking just let them be pissed and move along. Literally all of the other points you made are valid and I agree that people are overreacting but why are we even surprised at this point. But still the whole "It's cheap!" argument is flawed cause you don't get to decide what people can afford.

[Cameron H. 23786]

PAYWALL PARTY

 

I've definitely crankily complained about Howl before on Earwolf forums, so I won't pretend to be a white knight. But to me it is sad to see people so mad about the paywall. My reasons why if anyone cares:

 

A) It IS cheap. You may not personally agree that it is cheap, but why in the arts are producers expected to let the consumer decide on their own whim what a fair price is for their work? Earwolf takes money to run, the hosts are barely paid and they're not exactly price gouging here to try to make some level of profit. Throwing them 5.00 a month that you can dip in and out of as you wish is a pretty low-cost way to support the company.

 

B ) You can still listen to the newest episodes, and many others. So you may not be able to tell a friend to go listen to an episode from 3 years ago--is that really such a huge inconvenience? If you can't get them into the show via ANY of the episodes from the last 6 months, you can't actually get them into the show. I get that it's not OPTIMAL, but is it really that significant, or is just a point that can be latched onto?

 

C)The surprise factor. Yeah, it kind of sucks there wasn't more warning this was about to actually happen. All of the deadlines and timelines with Howl have been blown; it's been a mess. But you were warned this was coming if you were listening to the Howl ads and announcements. And if you don't listen to the ads, how were they going to tell you? I had a ton of episodes saved months ago. If you don't, again I get that it's not ideal, but also maybe cut Earwolf a tiny bit of slack for giving you free stuff for years. They don't owe you much, if anything, and you probably owe them a little understanding.

 

--

 

 

D) PS HDTGM probably has a lot of clout within Earwolf, so they probably will be able to dismantle the paywall system, and then Earwolf loses a major way to make any money. Hosts of less popular shows who don't have the income of these hosts may lose out. Seems sad to me.

 

 

I'm agree with you on all points, including also bitching about this...back in 2015.

 

A couple of quick FAQ's:

 

"Cameron, I'm, like, a really giving person--a true altruist. I want to spread the Earwolf Gospel, but how can I do it if I can't share my very favoritist episodes."

 

As many people have pointed out, a lot of these episodes can be found on You Tube. A place where you can make a play list that you can easily ask people to check out. (But, shhhh...don't tell Earwolf. I don't think they realize this "You Tube" exists....)

 

"Well, I guess that is an option...I mean, I just want to support the company I love."

 

Sure you do.

 

"No, really."

 

I get it.

 

"It's just, why do they need more money? It's always been free before. And there are ads so it's not like they're not making money..."

 

You're absolutely right. Success is a finite thing, and once one reaches a certain point, there's absolutely no point in trying to be even more successful. That's just being a greedy son of a bitch.

 

"What I would have done is..."

 

Let me just stop you there. It's not your call. It's done.

 

"But if they actually wanted to make more money they should have..."

 

Of course! Because they put ZERO thought into what would work for them. Maybe they know how to run their own company? Unless you own your own podcasting network, then I really don't think you know all the figures they're looking at. And even if you DO own a podcast network, their situation might be different from yours so any advice you have is probably completely invalid.

 

"But...my butt hurts"

 

I'm sorry. Need some ointment?

 

"Nah. I think I'll just bitch at the hosts and be a pain in the ass."

 

Great idea! Because we all know how fun and productive it is to be bitched at by customers when our boss makes an unpopular decision! I bet Paul and the gang are having a great time listening to all these complaints.

 

"I just don't like it!"

 

I don't particularly like it either, but I'm a fucking adult who understands that life isn't always fun or fair. Now let's direct our ire where it belongs..at this stupid movie that I have no desire to watch.

[SeveralCircles 426]

"That was Gone Girl, bitch"

 

I love D'Arcy.