Jump to content
🔒 The Earwolf Forums are closed Read more... ×
JulyDiaz

Episode 171 - Miami Connection: LIVE!

Recommended Posts

 

Don't forget about this dude ...

784042465_1004404.gif

 

And these two, sexy HDTGM alumni:

 

de226b0f6211f38d06dd4faed159eced--joey-fatone-boy-bands.jpg

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post

At the beginning of Jane's computer programming class, the instructor congratulates the class on finishing third in the international computer programming contest. This is a real thing! The ICPC has existed since at least the seventies (the actual UCF finished in 15th in last year's contest).

 

Anyways, finishing third at ICPC is a pretty impressive achievement for a class that still needs the directions for starting up BASIC from the MS-DOS shell written on the chalkboard.

 

Gk65Ib.png

 

Also, BASIC? Really?

 

Didn't he announce that they finished in 4th place? That really stuck out to me that in this insane movie they didn't even bother to give themselves a podium finish.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Didn't he announce that they finished in 4th place? That really stuck out to me that in this insane movie they didn't even bother to give themselves a podium finish.

 

You're right. Second was RPI and third was Rice. It stuck out to me too, because they didn't show the first place winner!

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post

Lots of speculation on how Jeff and Yashito are brothers, despite one apparently being Japanese and the other . . . clearly not.

 

Perhaps they are not literal biological brothers, but that as part of this ninja cult they all call one another "brother" as a standard greeting? We don't get much verbal interaction between the other ninjas (and the heavy usage of ADR means that any dialogue could have been changed at any time), so it's hard to prove this for sure. But it seems like the most logical explanation.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post

Lots of speculation on how Jeff and Yashito are brothers, despite one apparently being Japanese and the other . . . clearly not.

 

Perhaps they are not literal biological brothers, but that as part of this ninja cult they all call one another "brother" as a standard greeting? We don't get much verbal interaction between the other ninjas (and the heavy usage of ADR means that any dialogue could have been changed at any time), so it's hard to prove this for sure. But it seems like the most logical explanation.

 

Kind of like Mr. Hogan?

 

giphy.gif

 

Who is also from Florida...Maybe "brother" is a Florida thing? Although, I grew up there and I never said it. Then again, we did all say "bro" a lot, so maybe "brother" was a thing in the Eighties that got shortened later....

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post

I can't fault Y.K. Kim for inserting this film trope into his masterpiece, but can we demand that Hollywood no longer have cops or henchman test a bag of cocaine in the dead center with a knife?

 

u6ncOcG.jpg

 

I get what they are trying to communicate; they need to test if the product is pure... but does the buyer not have any concern that this bag will leak in transit? Just think of all that wasted nose candy!

 

In the end, I would totally respect the tester to simply cut the corner of the bag and then break out one of those potato chip clips to seal it up. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey

 

As I recall, this guy also doesn't take a very small taste as you usually see in movies, he goes back for more, like 3 or 4 times. This movie isn't fucking around.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post

How much of this movie would you say is made up of shots of Dragon Sound sitting in their convertible, looking around somewhat apprehensively at an obviously hostile situation, and then just continuing to sit there for far longer than any rational human would?

 

I didn't put a stopwatch on it but I'm going to guess 20 minutes.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post

How much of this movie would you say is made up of shots of Dragon Sound sitting in their convertible, looking around somewhat apprehensively at an obviously hostile situation, and then just continuing to sit there for far longer than any rational human would?

 

I didn't put a stopwatch on it but I'm going to guess 20 minutes.

 

It's even more bizarre when you consider that the members of Dragon Sound have absolutely no reservations about killing people. Twice in the movie their car is surrounded, and in both instances, they just park their car until they're forced to get out and fight hand to hand. Now, to be fair, I think the first time in beautiful, downtown Orlando, the bad guys had set up some sort of a road block. But the second time? They were just cruising along, trying to get home to the wrong side of the tracks, when a dude throws a bit of PVC pipe at them. They then just park their car! Fuck that! You're in a car! They're throwing garbage at you! Run over those motherfuckers!

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post

Question:

 

Don't know if this has been asked yet, but am I the only one who thought for the first half of the movie the band was named Dragon San? With how bad the audio was at parts mixed with the bad line reads from the actors, I legit thought that was the name of that group.

Share this post


Link to post

Look I get that Dragon Sound uses taekwondo, and they will supplement that with wooden swords and PVC pipes when needed. I mean their whole image is wrapped up in taekwondo and breaking boards and shows and grabbing noses with toes. Clearly they would never use a gun, but what is Jeff's gang's excuse? I mean I get the first time they fight not using them. They thought they were tough and could take the guys on. Then the second time they try they get thoroughly trashed again. The third time they grab some spiked poles? Did that think that would give them the edge up they'd been lacking in the first two fights? Two members of Dragon Sound took out nearly the whole gang the in second fight and now you've kidnapped one of their members and you think it'll be somehow easier? I think Jeff got what was coming to him for being a bad leader.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
And just a quick nitpicky correction. Paul said that Dragon Sound was all guitar players - that's not true.

 

Tom - co-lead singer; lead guitarist

Jane - co-lead singer; hype person

Mark - Rhythm Guitarist; Tae Kwon Do antics

John - Bass guitar; Gross, Onstage Maker-Outer

Jim - Keyboardist; The Cute One

Jack - Drummer; The Dreamer

 

(I just realized, if you include "Jeff," this movie went to town on the "J" chapter of whatever baby name book they were pulling these character names from...)

 

I'm pretty sure that later in the movie they show Jane also playing guitar, which represents a remarkable musical evolution for her: back-up dancer to lead singer to guitarist. And they say this movie isn't feminist!

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post

Speaking of the train yard fight scene, one thing that I thought was pretty funny was when the cops came roaring in, sirens a-blazin,' only to get out of their squad cars, and say, "Where did everybody go?" Then the second cop responds with, "We have to get these gangs out of Central Florida anyway," as if - just by their arrival - they've done their job and the dispersal of the criminals means that this particular gang is gone forever. Dude, if you turn on the kitchen light and twenty cockroaches scatter across the floor and disappear, it doesn't mean that your pest problem has gone away. Face it, dude, Orlando is infested with ninjas...

 

But also, now that I'm thinking about it, why doesn't Dragon Sound just stay there and talk to the cops? They're the ones who got ambushed and they're the ones being harassed by Jeff and his sweaty gang of neckbeards. Between Uncle Song, the owner of the hottest club in Orlando, and the entire student body at UCF, they must have enough eye witnesses that would be willing to come forward and testify on their behalf.

 

Finally, apropos nothing, why do you think the camera panned to a shot of sand pipers after John and Jane's gross make out sesh on the beach? Is it because they go in and out with the surf? It is, isn't it? Gross.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post

Speaking of the train yard fight scene, one thing that I thought was pretty funny was when the cops came roaring in, sirens a-blazin,' only to get out of their squad cars, and say, "Where did everybody go?" Then the second cop responds with, "We have to get these gangs out of Central Florida anyway," as if just by their arrival they've done their job and the dispersal of the criminals means that this particular gang is gone forever. Dude, if you turn on the kitchen light and twenty cockroaches scatter across the floor and disappear, it doesn't mean that your pest problem has gone away. Face it, dude, Orlando is infested with ninjas...

 

But also, now that I'm thinking about it, why doesn't Dragon Sound just stay there and talk to the cops? They're the ones who got ambushed and they're the ones being harassed by Jeff and his sweaty gang of neckbeards. Between Uncle Song, the owner of the hottest club in Orlando, and the entire student body at UCF, they must have enough eye witnesses that would be willing to come forward and testify on their behalf.

 

Finally, apropos nothing, why do you think the camera panned to a shot of sand pipers after John and Jane's gross make out sesh on the beach? Is it because they go in and out with the surf? It is, isn't it? Gross.

 

I don't think they covered this on the podcast, but those cops were real cops who thought there was real fighting in the train yard, according to imdb trivia.

  • Like 5

Share this post


Link to post

 

I don't think they covered this on the podcast, but those cops were real cops who thought there was real fighting in the train yard, according to imdb trivia.

 

I was going to call "bullshit" on that, but you know what, I can buy that. They go to check out a disturbance, they find the hometown, Tae Kwon Do hero filming without a permit, and to smooth things over, he gives them a bit part. I mean, what's the alternative? That they're professional actors? I dont think so.

 

Also, and I might be misremembering this, but when the cops deliver those lines isn't it, like, sunset even though it was just the middle of the afternoon?

 

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post

Speaking of the cops and non-actors, I wonder what percentage of the people in this movie auditioned for it? I mean can we assume Jane probably did as well with any actor who doesn't fight. Did Yashito? I mean he has to do some ninja stuff but his face is covered for it so it could be YK Kim under there for all we know. The bikers were probably real bikers as they didn't have much to do but ride around and party.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post

Speaking of the cops and non-actors, I wonder what percentage of the people in this movie auditioned for it? I mean can we assume Jane probably did as well with any actor who doesn't fight. Did Yashito? I mean he has to do some ninja stuff but his face is covered for it so it could be YK Kim under there for all we know. The bikers were probably real bikers as they didn't have much to do but ride around and party.

 

I saw this on IMDb too:

 

In the original version, Jim dies at the end on the way to the hospital. However, when the film was screened at Cannes in 1987, Y.K. Kim was told by all potential distributors that the ending was a downer. Director Woo-sang Park had already returned to Korea, so Kim himself re-shot the ending. The final fight between Mark and Yashito was added. But Si Y Jo was unavailable so Yashito is played by William Ergle instead.

 

So, the actor who played Jeff was Yashito in the final fight scene.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post

 

Didn't he announce that they finished in 4th place? That really stuck out to me that in this insane movie they didn't even bother to give themselves a podium finish.

I spent far too much time looking this up.

 

UCF finished 4th (out of 24 teams) in 1986.

 

You can even look at the problem set the teams had to solve here.

 

For what it's worth, the programming languages at the contest were Pascal and Fortran.

  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post

I spent far too much time looking this up.

 

UCF finished 4th (out of 24 teams) in 1986.

 

You can even look at the problem set the teams had to solve here.

 

For what it's worth, the programming languages at the contest were Pascal and Fortran.

 

Whoa. Cinema Verite. I am absolutely sure I am using that correctly.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post

Is Miami Connection actually a Musical?

 

In the Film there are several FULL LENGTH songs where the lyrics help explain the narrative, with the lyrics for Against the Ninja as well as Friends being sung in the first person. Song lyrics were even referenced during the podcast when trying to clear up confusion about the plot; "bikers by day, ninjas by night" as heard in the song Escape From Miami... If the movie only had some of the biker gang singing the lyrics for Escape From Miami or Toughguys this would undoubtedly fall into Musical Film territory. Without the antagonists getting some time on the mic I am not sure if it qualifies as a Musical or not?

 

I have to say it would have been AMAZING if Yashito and Jeff went into a "ToughGuys" duet at the biker rally though.. Oh sweet baby jesus that would have been amazing.

 

dragon-sound-y-k-kim.jpg?w=600

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post

It took me a while to find time to hunt this shot down, but ...

 

37317716865_603b8d62ba_b.jpg

 

... can we talk about Dragon Sound's next-level school spirit and these totally bonkers UCF shirts? And can we all agree that two of these are made with duct tape?

  • Like 6

Share this post


Link to post

It took me a while to find time to hunt this shot down, but ...

 

37317716865_603b8d62ba_b.jpg

 

... can we talk about Dragon Sound's next-level school spirit and these totally bonkers UCF shirts? And can we all agree that two of these are made with duct tape?

That shot may be more homoerotic than the YMCA scene of Can't Stop the Music.

Share this post


Link to post

It took me a while to find time to hunt this shot down, but ...

 

37317716865_603b8d62ba_b.jpg

 

... can we talk about Dragon Sound's next-level school spirit and these totally bonkers UCF shirts? And can we all agree that two of these are made with duct tape?

 

those shirts clearly appear to be screenprinted, probably legit UCF shirts at the time.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post

×