Apex Mountain on The Rewatchables
70:48 – 83:35… you're going to have to use. And I just love it. But it's like all cliches and it's a lot of like leaders lead, things like that. It's great. Great Hackman. Apex Mountain. Actually, let's take a break and then we'll do Apex Mountain. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Shave ice by the beach. A trip to the state fair. And a throwback flick at the local drive-in. They're more than just items to check off the summer bucket list. There are also opportunities to earn 2% daily cash back when you use your Apple Card with Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card now. Use in minutes with Apple Pay. Subject to credit …
The whole segment, as transcribed
And it's in the running for top five Hackman performance for me because it's just so clear that he did all of his scenes in one take. And it was just like, that's going to be the take you're going to have to use. And I just love it. But it's like all cliches and it's a lot of like leaders lead, things like that. It's great. Great Hackman. Apex Mountain. Actually, let's take a break and then we'll do Apex Mountain. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Shave ice by the beach. A trip to the state fair. And a throwback flick at the local drive-in. They're more than just items to check off the summer bucket list. There are also opportunities to earn 2% daily cash back when you use your Apple Card with Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card now. Use in minutes with Apple Pay. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at applecard.com. This episode is brought to you by the Hulu original series, Chad Powers, starring our friend, Glenn Powell. This season, the walls are closing in on Chad's biggest secret. And with his future on the field hanging in the balance, he'll have to win back the one coach who wants nothing to do with him. Watch the new season of Chad Powers on September 3rd, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. For bundle subscribers, terms apply. I have a chock-full, chock-loaded Apex Mountain. Tom Cruise. I'm going to say no, but I do think you could make a case AD-8 was his Apex Mountain. It's right before the Scientology stuff. Nicole Kidman, and we don't have a lot of backstory with him. He's just cranking out awesome movies. He's the biggest under-35 star in the world. And the arrow is just pointing up as harshly and greatly as it can point up. I still think it's 96 for him. That's what I think as well. I still think it's Mission Impossible, first movie he ever produced. He's the star, launches the franchise. And Maguire. And Maguire. I agree. I agree with that. Chris? No, I think I'm going to go with what Sean's saying. Yeah, I agree. Hoffman. I think it's Kramer versus Kramer for him. Did we say that once upon a time? Yeah, I think we did in All the President's Men. I think we decided it was Kramer versus Kramer. Yeah. You don't think it's Outbreak? Sphere? All right, I have some good ones for Apex Mountain here. People's Court. I don't think it ever got better. Late 80s, crushing it. Prominently featured in Rain Man, the number one movie. The 4.30 to 6 p.m. daytime TV block. Yeah. People's Court Jeopardy will a fortune. I talked about this on my podcast yesterday about institutions and how Jeopardy, all the work we did with Jeopardy, and the real story with Jeopardy beyond the host stuff is how much longer can this be an institution? Institutions come and go on TV. People's Court was an institution for like eight years. I mean, it just goes. I wanted to ask Craig if you'd ever heard of the People's Court before, because that's something that growing up was, like you said, it was built into the fabric of the culture. But now, I mean, Craig, did you even know what that was? Like vaguely, like I've heard of it, but not really. It's been, I mean, Judge Judy kind of came through. Judge Judy took it. Yeah. She did. Five minutes to Wapner, four minutes to Wapner, whatever it was, became an actual thing people used to say. Barry Levinson, I'm going to say yes. Yeah. I think so. This period for sure. Yeah. But he won Best Director. Yeah. Number one movie at the box office. Here's the other Apex Mountain possibility for him. I really do think he was the key person, other than probably me and Connor, for 30 for 30. Really? Because if he didn't agree to do the 30 for 30, I don't think we could have gotten 30 directors. The moment we got him to commit to do, and I told him this on the podcast, the moment he committed, all of a sudden we could get other directors. Because it was kind of like, it was like, who's going in the pool first? And then he went in and it made it easier. But doesn't that make it your Apex Mountain? Maybe it's my Apex Mountain with Barry Levinson. One thing I would say, just it's not Apex Mountain in the traditional sense of like the most, you know, juice that you ever have. But the fact that a couple of years later, he pretty much invents modern TV with Homicide. Right. The pilot of Homicide that aired after the Super Bowl. He's, I would say, most underrated behind the scenes career. Huge career. If you're having that conversation, he's in the running. Like, he's at least in the semifinals for guys from the last 40 years or girls. Very hit and miss filmography, though. Yeah, but I'm saying like, the movies that he did in the 80s, combined with the impact he had on TV, it's, but not mentioned. You know, there's no Barry Levinson conversations. It's true. You wouldn't be like, hey, on the big picture today, we're doing two hours on Barry Levinson. Maybe we should. I don't know. He's got, he's made a ton of great movies. And he's balanced it between this very personal, you know, Baltimore stuff, Avalon and Tin Men and those movies, with these like more Hollywood jobs that he started taking on in the 90s. You know, I think the personal stuff is usually his best stuff, but. Well, we didn't mention Diner. That creates the template for a movie that pretty much everybody tried to rip off. It's true. For the next 20 years, the dialogue in that movie became a thing. He was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter even before all that. He wrote Injustice for All in the 70s. You know who wins the most underrated tournament? Kasdan. Most underrated, like behind the scenes guy? Yeah. I think Kasdan wins. I gotta say, I watched Grand Canyon again recently, guys. Holy shit. What the fuck's going on in that movie? It's. What a. Kasdan did. Isn't he accidental tourist though? He is. He is. Same thing to me. Highs and lows for me with Kasdan. When we spin off the rewatchables and do white privilege rewatchables, Grand Canyon's going to be the first movie. It is mind-blowing. It's like, oh my God, I'm in the wrong neighborhood. Oh, God. What are the first draft picks for white privilege rewatchables? Bonfire of the Vanities is right up there too. Yeah. There's this weird era in the late 80s where it's like an entire premise of a movie could be a well-to-do white guy drives into the wrong neighborhood in LA. This was the thing that would happen for like four years. Very strange. It's bonkers. I mean, Mississippi Burning this same year is a movie told through the eyes of all the white people. Yeah. It was pretty prominent at the time. Yeah. That movie is not age-well. More Apex Mountain. What about our girl, Valeria Galena? I say Hot Shots. Sean would know. I say Hot Shots. Okay. Road Trip movies? No. No. But it's a great Road Trip movie. They shot it sequentially. So it's like they did it like in the right way. I made a little list of Road Trip movies. Let's hear it. Can I share them? Let's hear it. Easy Rider. Thelma and Louise. Almost Famous. Blues Brothers. Midnight Run. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Smokey and the Bandit. Dumb and Dumber. Toy Story. Tommy Boy. And that's all I got. Road Trip. Road Trip. Okay. National Anthem. Road Trip is age fantastically. It's so inappropriate. It's right there in that whole American Pie era, but it's a really funny movie. There's a lot of them though. I mean, they even, what was that Galifianakis movie where they tried to tap into it and didn't pull it off? Due Date. Yeah. Due Date was like, we've got this. And it was like, nah, not really. That's in the CR Hall of Fame though. Yeah. It's a great Downey performance. How about handheld TVs? Oh, yeah. These were a thing for like three years. It was like, I can hold my TV and take it anywhere. Well, they're a thing now too. With our cell phones. Yeah. Were they really called Watchmen? Because he calls it a Watchmen at one point. That's what they were called. Sony Watchmen. Huh. And it could be like, I can take it wherever and I can get one of the three local channels basically. Who's on first? Apex Mountain? Not Apex for who's on first, but maybe last 40 years Apex. Like it popularizes it? Yeah. I like that. It kind of brought it back. The 1949 Buick Roadmaster, yes. Qantas Airlines, yes. Yeah. This is the Apex Mountain. They're still throwing the no hitter. Jesus. Wheel of Fortune, no. Caesar's Palace. So they go to Caesar's in Hangover too, right? Yeah. Caesar's is having big fights during this stretch too. There's not a lot of competition yet. Still the greatest gimmick we've ever had for a casino in Vegas, in my opinion. I know Sean will never forgive them for botching New York, the New York, New York casino, which is so cool from the outside and just so grim on the inside. It's not ideal. Caesar's still my favorite. I would say yes for them. Blackjack, no. What's the Apex Mountain for Blackjack? You in 1996? Probably me and Jacoby in New Orleans in 2013, seven in the morning, the whole casino behind us. Cincinnati, I think you could make a case because you have this and then you have the Reds in 89 right after winning the World Series. Apex Mountain for Cincinnati. You don't think the Big Red Machine is bigger than this? You know what else happens? The Bengals make the Super Bowl in 89 too. Oh, Boomer. That's right. It's a lot of shit going on with Cincy back then. How about WKRP in Cincinnati reruns? There's just Cincinnati's really on the present this year. Great job by them. Yeah, right before the fall of the Rust Belt, you know, when we just completely hollowed out the center of our country with the destruction of Glass-Steagall. March shot, Pete Rose. Yeah, that's right. Peak of the Nasty Boys, right? This was Dibble era? Yeah. Chris Sabo? This is the last one for Apex Mountain, and it's specifically for Chris because I know it's going to make him laugh. the Apex Mountain of road trips happening because the main character is afraid to fly. It's a midnight run. Midnight run. Yeah. Right next to each other. These things go down. What a gimmick. Wait, when are they bringing this back? I don't know. Every five years. This should be the thing. Now, I can't fly out. I guess we're going to have to go on the road. All right. I would just say one last Apex Mountain is 97X, bam, the future of rock and roll. The 97X has never topped it. Great point. Pick of Nits. Come on, guys. A 1949 Buick Roadmaster going from Cincy to LA. So they drove like 35 miles per hour across the country, and he's like, I can get there in three days, right? I think it's like 30. I can't imagine. 35 miles an hour. What is that? Like, Craig, can you look up how far Cincinnati is to Los Angeles? I'm going to say it's at least 2,000 miles. If you're going 35 miles an hour, 35 into 2,000, eh, maybe. I guess if you're driving like 18 hours a day. But they lose an entire day sitting it out in Missouri. They just sit in Missouri for like 2,173 miles, according to Craig. Good guess, Bill. Yeah, 35 miles an hour. Whatever it is. No way. They're not on like the- No way. The interstops. The interstops, hotel rooms. This one's for Sean. Charlie passes through Vegas with Raymond. Mm-hmm. At that point, you're now, especially at night, you're a four-hour drive if you're going 65 miles an hour, and if you're going 35 miles an hour, maybe it's eight. Why not just, you got to get to LA. Why not just go all-nighter through LA? Why are you stopping at a hotel room and getting breakfast the next day? Like, you're close. You're 240 miles away at that point. I'm glad you mentioned this. I think Raymond has some sleep issues. I think he needs to be in a bed. Oh. Yeah. It's bedtime. Lights out at 11. Can't do all-nighters with Raymond's. You know, got to have the bed in the right place. Do you think he was sneaking? Like, you think Raymond ever fell asleep in his seat? Oh, and Charlie goes back out. Oh, I got it. Three more hours. Probably. Just keep going. All right. Here's another one. I have some great nitpicks for this one. This movie's been out for 31 years. How does Ray burn the waffles that badly? I've never burned toast or waffles that badly in my life. It's like a forest fire. 1980s electrics were a little bit more sensitive, you know? He puts two waffles in the toaster, and it's like the Malibu fires. What happened? It's unbelievable. The whole kitchen's full of smoke. It's like- There are people with horses down on the beach. Brody Jenner has to leave his house. Like, what is happening? So Ray, we get to Vegas,
88:10 – 90:56… and we just saw it right there. Normally he would be so engaged in our high-end car delivery service convo. Now he's just yawning. This is it. Sean's peaked. Apex Mountain for Sean two months ago. Give us a little director's commentary. What were you just thinking when Bill and I were on that jag? He was just thinking about 3.30 in the morning last night as somebody threw up on him. So, okay. Here's the thing. One, whatever you guys were talking about, I wasn't listening. Two, when I was watching Rain Man, I was thinking that this movie is a lot like watching after a newborn child. Charlie can never not be …
The whole segment, as transcribed
I told Sean it was like a torn ACL when you have a kid and we just saw it right there. Normally he would be so engaged in our high-end car delivery service convo. Now he's just yawning. This is it. Sean's peaked. Apex Mountain for Sean two months ago. Give us a little director's commentary. What were you just thinking when Bill and I were on that jag? He was just thinking about 3.30 in the morning last night as somebody threw up on him. So, okay. Here's the thing. One, whatever you guys were talking about, I wasn't listening. Two, when I was watching Rain Man, I was thinking that this movie is a lot like watching after a newborn child. Charlie can never not be looking at what Raymond is doing. Otherwise, he's going to walk into oncoming traffic. And the same way when you have a kid, every single thing you do is like, that's like having a kid. But watching this movie, I was like, man, this is like, I can't get up to go pour myself a cup of coffee because this child might fall off the couch and that could be terrible. So the movie is a weird parable for responsibility. Right. Well, just wait till your kid can start rolling around on the floor and reaching toward electric sockets. Having a kid is like importing some Lamborghinis, you know, and then they're just like, they're on your books. The thing is, though, I'm going to be bringing my daughter to Vegas very soon. We're going to play one for bad, two for good. If we had a category of which part does Chris wish he could have played, it clearly would have been Lenny in this movie. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. This is actually like the Lenny character in this movie is so close to Pantoliano and Midnight Run. Like you just would want him just being like, fuck you. Oh, you know what? That would have been such a better answer for the recasting couch. Joey Pants as Lenny. Yeah. That's good. It's a way better idea. Plus, we would have had a little cruise. You're telling me to go fuck myself. They're telling me to go fuck myself. Plus, we would have had the cruise Guido the Killer Pimp reunion. Yeah. That's what they should have done. I changed my answer. All right. What piece of memorability do you want from this movie? I'm not allowing you to pick the 1949 Buick Roadmaster. Why? That's the one. Because it's too easy. Give me your second choice. Mine is the 1984 uncut top sheet from Raymond's Room, which I was admiring. I was like, oh, the 84. Get that Ted Klusinski card. All the Reds cards? What's an 84? Like Ryan Sandberg? Who are we talking about? I think it might have been like a Roger... It looked like Roger Clemens and Dwight Gooden might have been on that one. I was squinting trying to see it. We should get Gio in to analyze that scene. It was 84 or 85, but maybe it was 85. It was somewhere in that era, but it was a nice one. Cruise's sunglasses is pretty killer in this movie. Yeah. Great sunglass run for Cruise. We probably should have brought that up a little sooner, but he really reinvented sunglasses.
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