Apex Mountain on The Rewatchables
11:22 – 14:14… Is it Wayne's World, Austin Powers, or Shrek? Shrek. Isn't that amazing? Yeah. Shrek. Shrek. I think Wayne's World 2 kind of felt, we're going to talk about Apex Mountain later. That felt like when he had the most kind of the highest ceiling. Because how does Wayne's World 2 even get made? And that movie did really well, too. And it put him in a better spot. I remember in 93, So I Married an Axe Murderer came out, which is like kind of half a movie. One of my favorites, though. It's great. I love it. And my whole generation went, because we all just like Mike Myers. It's like Mike Myers has a new movie where …
The whole segment, as transcribed
But it was a lot of going backwards and then re-evaluating why we thought something was funny or why we didn't realize it was funny. Okay, let me ask you this. What is Mike Myers' key legacy? Is it Wayne's World, Austin Powers, or Shrek? Shrek. Isn't that amazing? Yeah. Shrek. Shrek. I think Wayne's World 2 kind of felt, we're going to talk about Apex Mountain later. That felt like when he had the most kind of the highest ceiling. Because how does Wayne's World 2 even get made? And that movie did really well, too. And it put him in a better spot. I remember in 93, So I Married an Axe Murderer came out, which is like kind of half a movie. One of my favorites, though. It's great. I love it. And my whole generation went, because we all just like Mike Myers. It's like Mike Myers has a new movie where we're going. And that movie was, I don't even know really what happened, but it has like these really good chunks that became like the legacy of that movie. Like the old Scottish uncle. Boy, heed! No! Heed, move! No! Look at that head! Like an orange on a toothpick! It's like Sputnik! So it had that whole thing. And then it had the scene when he goes to work at the fish place with Nancy Travis. And he does all Mike Myers stuff. Like he really could have these two-minute stretches in movies that, and that's what Austin Powers is. It's just these little stretches of movie that are just great. But I thought, Now, So I Married an Axe Murderer was not nearly as big a hit as Wayne's World. No. But I thought what he was going for was a little bit more of like an Albert Brooks type of thing. Yeah. Where he would write and direct and produce his own movies, and they would be half serious, half super jokey. And he was trying to get to the bottom of something. Like his character in So I Married an Axe Murderer is like a beat poet. Yeah. And it's a movie about like paranoia and the relationships that you get into and feeling like your partner is after you. You know, it's like there's kind of some ideas going on in that movie. Yeah. Wayne's World is just a broad comedy. You know what I mean? It's very specific in terms of the kinds of characters that they're doing. But Wayne's World is about selling out, which I actually thought was, you know, I think there's stuff going on in that movie too. Wayne's World 2, I don't know what's going on. Well, maybe it's about like the commodification of the culture you love because it's all about like the festival that they're putting on and who owns it. But there's a whole like Doors subplot that just- Oh, yeah. The Native American dude who's taking them on the spirit quest. It's just rough. It's rough. It's right after Kilmer made The Doors, which was a big movie. But now it's like if you watch Wayne's World 2, you wouldn't know what was going on. It doesn't make any sense. But Austin Powers, like is Austin Powers about anything or is it just a funny movie? In the research, it just seemed like he came up with this character in the car and it made his wife laugh. And then he wrote the movie in three weeks. And I don't think there was a lot of thought put into it. He always was fascinated by accents and the stuff that he did the best on SNL. He was never himself. He was always like wig, prosthetics, some weird character.
49:18 – 55:20… of years off. It's because Robert Wagner tried to kill her. I'm beet red right now. Beet red. Are we going to talk about Jay Roach? We can. I was going to do Apex Mountain. Ooh. Okay. Jay Roach is on Apex Mountain. Is this Apex Mountain for Jay Roach? It's got to be, right? This movie made a shitload of money. Yeah. Although, God, I mean, he really parlayed these freaking movies into a huge career. I mean, who was Jay Roach before this? He had written Blown Away. That was it. That was all he had ever done. That was amazing. And this is the Jay Roach run. Yeah. 97, Austin Powers International Man of Mystery. …
The whole segment, as transcribed
Oh no, it's right after, yeah, G.I. Jane 97, Deconstructing Harry 97, and then she takes a couple of years off. It's because Robert Wagner tried to kill her. I'm beet red right now. Beet red. Are we going to talk about Jay Roach? We can. I was going to do Apex Mountain. Ooh. Okay. Jay Roach is on Apex Mountain. Is this Apex Mountain for Jay Roach? It's got to be, right? This movie made a shitload of money. Yeah. Although, God, I mean, he really parlayed these freaking movies into a huge career. I mean, who was Jay Roach before this? He had written Blown Away. That was it. That was all he had ever done. That was amazing. And this is the Jay Roach run. Yeah. 97, Austin Powers International Man of Mystery. 99, Spy Who Shagged Me. Same year, 99, Mystery Alaska. One year later, Meet the Parents. Then Goldmember. Then Meet the Fockers. Dinner for Schmucks, which I think is actually pretty funny, but bombed. The Campaign. Then Trumbo. And then this year, he's got a movie called Fair and Balanced about Fox News, starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie. Do you think he made... Plus, all the HBO movies, Game Change, Recount, there were huge hits and he won Emmys for. Right. He was good. Those are good. Those are good. Yeah. Nice 20-year career by Jay Roach. 25. Yeah. I mean, he literally turned an Austin Powers movie into one of the more significant portrayers of American politics on movie screens. Like, that's crazy that he did that, but he did. And there's no Jay Roach conversations. No. Gotta get him on a pod. He also appears very humorously on this season of Barry. Season two. Bill Hader auditions for him. He's the director that he's auditioning for. Oh, wow. Yeah. And Alison Jones, the very famous casting director. Mike Myers, I say yes. Coming out of this movie, it's like... This is the hype. Has the power to do anything. Leads to Shrek. Absolute hype. Vern Troyer, no question. Heather Graham, tough one. I'm leaning toward yes, because it felt like it was a thing that she was in this movie. And she also had both fingers same year. And Boogie Nights, as much as we revere that movie, was not like a smash hit sensation or anything. And I just feel like this was probably it. This is the most successful movie she's been in. And this is right during the Maxim Details era, which is like she's one of the Mount Rushmore people of that era. I think you're right. I think this is her Apex Mountain. Do you know Heather Graham is going to be 50? Wow. Legend. Isn't that crazy? Lorne Michaels impressions? Well, Dr. Evil impressions. I'm not even totally sure we understood the Lorne Michaels thing until a couple of years after this. Anything else for Apex Mountain? The VW Bug? Maybe. Remember when they relaunched that? That feels like that was really the mix. Probably. Right before the merger. Probably. When did you do your first mailbag? 97. Okay. So not quite. So not the Apex Mountain of mailbags. No. Is it... I think that's pretty much it. That's pretty good, though. I think there's a really good chance I did an entire Austin Powers fake movie script parody involving like the Patriots and Pete Carroll. In a column? Yeah. I think I wrote a whole column parodying this movie with Pete Carroll. Can I be honest? That doesn't sound very good. I think it was pretty good, actually. Yeah. I think it was like solid. I think this is also Apex Mountain for... Let's just throw all these random songs in a soundtrack. Yeah. You know... Madonna and... Madonna. The Dragon in the Line by R.E.M. Lenny Kravitz's American Woman. Is this also Lenny Kravitz's Apex Mountain? I feel like his cover of American Woman was like a big thing. And also, wasn't Heather Graham in the video for American Woman? Yeah. Okay. So maybe Lenny? Yeah. That's good. The Joey Pants Award for the best that guy or that girl in a movie. It's got to be Frau Farbisna. I was just going to say Mindy Sterling. I had to look up her name again yesterday. It's got to be Mindy Sterling. I don't know her in anything else. I know she's been in a bunch of stuff, but... Yeah. Mindy Sterling, is there anybody... I mean, what's your relationship to Michael York? No, he's Michael York. He was once a big star, but I think to my generation, I didn't know that that was the guy from Logan's Run and The Three Musketeers. Logan's Run was a big movie. Yeah. Okay. Saw Rubenek, they knew. I have Kristen Johnson for this one. I never really understood her in that whole thing. Not a third rock from the sun person? No. Her and Lithgow together, that was like my idea of hell, watching that show. Wow, you're out on Lithgow? I think... Are you kidding me? I'm not out. Not out. I've liked him in things. I think he is one of those people that is better or worse, depending on who's around him. Okay. And that one, if it's like, oh, I can just go nuts, that's the Lithgow I don't like. This is a take. Loved him in Dexter. Loved him in World According to Garp. Loved him in Cliffhanger. Okay. I like him in certain roles. What about Ricochet? Liked him in Ricochet. Raising Kane? Nah, not as much. Oh my God. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. This is brutal. But yeah, Kristen Johnson, that's good. That's a good call. Picking nits. So, Vanessa, it turns out she was a fembot at the beginning of Austin Powers 2. And then she blows up. And then he actually says, this is great, I'm single. And it's actually funny. That was funny. She was a fembot the whole time? That's what they have us believe. Remember Basil Exposition at some point? And this is like, oh, yes, we knew that. And they make a joke of it. This movie is, the one way that it's really, really modern is that it knows that it's better to just dispatch with trying to explain things with logic. Yeah. And just be like, ah, whatever. It's all a joke. Doesn't matter. They do the wink to the camera a couple times. He does the joke when they're driving about, it's amazing how much England looks like Southern California. Yeah. It is funny. And the same thing with the time travel stuff, which, as I mentioned on Twitter, that's exactly what Avengers Endgame does, too. They're basically just like, don't worry about the time travel. It's going to make your head hurt. Yeah. So then they kind of yada yada it. And this movie, I wouldn't say it invented yada yada-ing, but it was very, very funny about it. Well, he does, he does, oh, and then he goes back, I've gone cross on. Exactly. That's actually really funny, the part.
59:35 – 62:23… every scandal and failure imaginable. And he keeps bouncing back. Then ends up on this same year, West Wing and... Maybe this could have been Rob Lowe, Apex Mountain. Might have been. West Wing and Austin Powers, same year. Might have been. Although I'm not sure that Rob Lowe was getting projects greenlit. In the 80s, he was pretty hot. St. Elmo's Fires, probably. Yeah. Like About Last Night, that era, where he was the star. Craig, have you seen About Last Night? No. I'd be interested if you and Liz saw that one. So the original title of About Last Night is based on a David Mavitt play. It's called …
The whole segment, as transcribed
And then did Wayne's World and became this kind of comic actor on the side. I mean, is there a more resilient actor in the last 30 years? He's basically survived every scandal and failure imaginable. And he keeps bouncing back. Then ends up on this same year, West Wing and... Maybe this could have been Rob Lowe, Apex Mountain. Might have been. West Wing and Austin Powers, same year. Might have been. Although I'm not sure that Rob Lowe was getting projects greenlit. In the 80s, he was pretty hot. St. Elmo's Fires, probably. Yeah. Like About Last Night, that era, where he was the star. Craig, have you seen About Last Night? No. I'd be interested if you and Liz saw that one. So the original title of About Last Night is based on a David Mavitt play. It's called Sexual Perversion in Chicago. Is it more weird than Cruel Intentions? No, it's not more weird. It's actually a very stereotypical rom-com dramedy type of a couple just fall in love and then everything that happens to them. And they're in Chicago in the mid-80s. Worth a watch? I'd be interested to see what you think. I would say watch it. All right, that's your assignment. Anyway, Rob Lowe's really good in that movie. I enjoy Rob Lowe. Also, it's Jim Belushi in the John Belushi part. Because it was supposed to be John Belushi, and he played that person in the play. Just a few years later, he almost destroyed the Oscars forever when he duetted with Snow White. I know. People got too mad about that. It wasn't Rob Lowe's fault. I don't think it was his fault, but it was a big mistake. This guy was a huge movie star. This would be like, what's an example? This would be like if Chris Hemsworth did something like that. I would say Zac Efron of the 80s, basically. It's pretty bad. Yeah. Mike Myers wins the movie. Is this truly his last great moment for you? No, because I think Shrek really matters. But do you like it? Because it wasn't really for you by the time you got to it. No, I just think Shrek has real cultural cachet. I think it's his last great comedy moment. I mean, when was the Kanye-Katrina thing? Oh, that is like his last great moment. Wasn't even intentionally great. No, but it is highly memorable. I just thought that was incredible because there was an SNL sketch with Heather Locklear 12 years before that was basically the same moment, but it was fake. Yeah, it was like an infomercial. And they're selling, I forget what they're selling, like some juice mixer or something. And Heather Locklear is like the stereotypical model next to him. And Mike Myers is selling it. And she's trying to sell it. And she goes, and if you think that's a lie, it's not. Or it's something like, no, she goes, blah, blah, blah. Then you think that's a lie, like the Holocaust. And then it's like record scratch. And Mike Myers is the guy and he's like doing this thing, doing the eyes, like doesn't know
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