Apex Mountain on The Rewatchables
20:51 – 23:43… think we've all agreed that he was good, it never happened again. He's in like 30 movies. Yeah. And they're all bad. And they're all like... This is literally Apex Mountain. This is it. It's the all-time... Him as an actor, Apex Mountain. It's like a ski jump off of Apex Mountain. He gave all the credit to Carpenter. He was like... Carpenter's by far the best director I ever worked with. He's the only director who had a true vision. I'm not a good actor. He may be a good actor. Kurt Russell. Not to step on casting what ifs, but I'm going to step on casting what ifs. He wrote this part for Kurt Russell. He'd …
The whole segment, as transcribed
It was getting rough. L.A. was there. L.A. was doing well. They figured it out. Jokic is there. They're good now. It's all good. The weird thing about Roddy Piper in this movie, because I think we've all agreed that he was good, it never happened again. He's in like 30 movies. Yeah. And they're all bad. And they're all like... This is literally Apex Mountain. This is it. It's the all-time... Him as an actor, Apex Mountain. It's like a ski jump off of Apex Mountain. He gave all the credit to Carpenter. He was like... Carpenter's by far the best director I ever worked with. He's the only director who had a true vision. I'm not a good actor. He may be a good actor. Kurt Russell. Not to step on casting what ifs, but I'm going to step on casting what ifs. He wrote this part for Kurt Russell. He'd done four movies with him. It's basically the Snake Plissken character again. And he decided, I can't do a fifth movie with Kurt Russell. I got to get somebody else. Would you have rather had Kurt Russell, Chris? I think it's a different part. I think it would probably be a little bit more verbose and wisecracking. But there's something about Roddy, like the fact that he has 11 lines in this movie that really works. How about you, Sean? Well, if it was Kurt Russell, you wouldn't get... I came here to do two things. Some of the best parts of this movie... Roddy digging dirt shirtless in the first five minutes of the movie. If that's Kurt Russell, you'd be like, all right, he's in good shape. But Roddy was great. I don't remember him. He's a fucking tank. That was like the height of the steroids era in the late 80s. It was wonderful. I was telling Chris and Craig this earlier. Roddy, when he was wrestling, was not like a super buff bodybuilder. But in this movie, he looks like he's huge. That's the kind of physique you get when you build skyscrapers here, man. That's true. Yeah, that's true. It's all lats. Skyscrapers are all lats? No, you get lats from putting up skyscrapers, yeah. I mean, his hair is magnificent. It's unbelievable. Yeah, and it also does not... For a guy who arguably does not sleep or bathe for multiple days throughout this movie, his hair looks great the entire time. Great conditioner. Great feather. It's a feathering, yes. Yeah, it has body. It doesn't get flattened or greasy. It's amazing. So Kurt Russell didn't get this movie and then saw Piper's hair and he's like, I got a one-up. And then he does Tango and Cash. And he has the same haircut, but it's even poofier and more beautiful. Let's have the Keith David conversation. Let's, please. Great. You remarked how cool it was that the audience literally clapped for Keith David during the opening credits. I'm so glad you guys clapped for Keith David. But this is his 1982 to 2000. I'm just picking out the highlights. He's in The Thing, Platoon, Roadhouse, Mark for Death with Seagal, Reality Bites, Clockers, Dead Presidents, Armageddon, There's Something About Mary, he's Warren's stepfather, Requiem for a Dream and the Replacements. What a fucking run. Is that unbelievable? And he was in like 150 other things
60:42 – 63:31… hilarious to be John Carpenter's neighbor Jesus. It's like, what's going on over there? It's just Roddy Piper's suplexing Keith David for the third week. So Apex Mountain, I think yes for Roddy. Yeah. He was huge from WWE and this was a real movie that came out and, you know, came out in October, came out, I think a week before, a week after Halloween 4. And it won the weekend. It was the number one movie that weekend. Well, it was released four days before the 1988 election, which is fascinating. And John Carpenter legitimately had hoped that this movie and its message would convince people to not reelect to …
The whole segment, as transcribed
And also they rehearsed the fight in John Carpenter's backyard, which I thought would be hilarious to be John Carpenter's neighbor Jesus. It's like, what's going on over there? It's just Roddy Piper's suplexing Keith David for the third week. So Apex Mountain, I think yes for Roddy. Yeah. He was huge from WWE and this was a real movie that came out and, you know, came out in October, came out, I think a week before, a week after Halloween 4. And it won the weekend. It was the number one movie that weekend. Well, it was released four days before the 1988 election, which is fascinating. And John Carpenter legitimately had hoped that this movie and its message would convince people to not reelect to the Republican caucus. I guess so. I mean, he talked about that. But about Roddy, I mentioned this to you earlier today. Like, maybe this should have been my hottest take, but I really feel like without Roddy Piper, there is no Dwayne the Rock Johnson in so many ways. Like as a professional wrestler, his whole persona in so many ways is clearly inspired by Roddy Piper. The like heel who is just so quick witted and so fiery and yet so likable, even if he's not, you know, not the person you're supposed to be rooting for. And then as an action star, the persona is kind of similar, you know? Yeah. Do you think Roddy would have been better in Black Adam? I mean, God bless the dead. If he were alive, I would have preferred it because Black Adam sucked. I wouldn't be surprised. John Carpenter, no in the moment, but Sean was making the case. I still feel like Halloween's got to be Apex Mount for him. It paves the way for 10 years of like doing whatever he wanted. We can argue about what Apex. I mean, because like Starman in some ways is like his biggest movie, right? Yeah. No, I think Halloween. I just meant I meant the 80s. I think of Halloween as a 70s movie. Reagan critiques. Probably not. Probably somebody did a better Reagan critique, but it's in the conversation. I wasn't prepared for that one. What are the greatest Reagan critiques? I don't have them in my back pocket, unfortunately. 1980s downtown L.A. movies. He's dumping me here, but I'm going to say yes. Well, Prince of Darkness, the one that comes before right before this is a downtown L.A. movie. Meg Foster. No. I don't know. I don't know what it was. Masters of the Universe, maybe? Leviathan. How about Keith David? What about our guy? Platoon? Platoon. Okay. I mean, he was great, and there's something about Mary. Got the beans mixed with the Frank. How about street fight scenes? We can give Apex Mound for that, right? What was a better street fight scene? I mean, probably, would you consider the Warriors a street fight scene? Oh, when they fight the Yankees? I mean, would you...
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