0:00

Hello, I'm Hal Lublin. And I'm Mark Gagliardi.

0:03

Since the dawn of humanity, one issue

0:05

has gone unsettled. With the fate of

0:08

the world in the balance, we're here

0:10

to settle once and for all. This

0:14

could rustle really. That's

0:18

right, don't worry everyone. We

0:20

got this. podcast should have a theme song

0:22

podcast should not have a theme song yes

0:24

they should know they shouldn't they sound good

0:26

yeah but people are just going to skip

0:29

past it you know

0:31

what you're right we

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got this hey

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everybody this is Hal and Mark and you're listening

0:39

to this episode during the 2024 MaxFun Drive that

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is the time where we celebrate all

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things MaxFun including all of the people

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whose membership helps make this show possible

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we're also inviting new people into the

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fold to become members at maximumfun.org just

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five dollars a month or more is going to

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get you a lot of wonderful stuff that's right

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we'll tell you all about the wonderful stuff

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a little later in the episode but for right

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now just remember maximumfun.org join

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to become a member or upgrade or boost

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and tick that box for we got this

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with Mark and Hal and to you we

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say thank you thank you thank you enjoy

1:15

this episode best kurt

1:17

rustle wait wait gabe

1:25

tango he goes in and takes all my

1:28

cash best kurt rustle movie

1:31

best kurt rustle movie but

1:33

that was almost it sounded wrong it sounded

1:35

wrong yeah it's sad it did sound very

1:37

Charles Bronson-esque that was Jack Palance though yeah

1:40

that was Jack Palance from the

1:42

great Kurt Russell film tango and

1:45

cash which yeah

1:47

now this is first of all let me uh

1:49

this is the biggest time of year obviously for

1:52

all the shows on the network it's max fun

1:54

drive and welcome to max fun drive

1:56

everybody welcome to max fun drive a week two

1:58

here's the thing all right We

2:01

want to do our biggest episodes but also we

2:03

want to hang out with our buddies on the

2:05

network and when Adam Pranika emails you it is

2:07

like, best Kurt Russell movie, is this a thing?

2:10

And one of your hosts is not only

2:12

a huge Kurt Russell fan but has his

2:14

own Kurt Russell film rating system which I'll

2:16

get into in a second. You say, yes,

2:18

we'll do that. You will come on and

2:20

do it. You're like, are you sure there's

2:22

enough there for an episode? And I said,

2:24

I promise, I promise there is. It was

2:26

not originally best Kurt Russell movie. There were

2:28

two additional words on the end of this

2:30

email chain. It was

2:32

best Kurt Russell movie by

2:35

hair. Yeah. So

2:37

the original idea... Oh, my goodness, the

2:39

proposition. The original proposition was to just

2:41

go best Kurt Russell movie by the

2:43

performance of his hair in that movie.

2:45

That's right. Oh, I got so

2:48

honestly, Adam, I went to a feud state when I

2:50

saw best Kurt Russell movie and lost everything after it

2:52

and got it done. You really did. But let's do

2:54

a twofer. I was doing a

2:56

rewatch of the thing that I tend to

2:58

do once every year or so and I

3:01

was like, is this the best hair I've

3:03

ever seen in any movie ever? It's

3:05

definitely the best Santa Claus

3:07

hair ever. The Santa

3:09

Claus hair that he's rocking in the

3:12

Christmas Chronicles, which is way better than

3:14

the mullet that Tim Allen is rocking

3:17

in, the Santa Claus. For those who... Since

3:20

we did just jump right in and

3:22

didn't properly introduce, welcome to We Got

3:24

This with Mark and Hal, it's Max

3:26

Fun Drive. This is Max Fun superstar

3:29

Adam Pranika is joining us for this

3:31

episode. Adam, how the heck are you? Before

3:33

being introduced. You did. You

3:35

jumped right... You just poked your head

3:38

through that rainbow curtain that Johnny Carson

3:40

had. But thank you for being here.

3:42

This is delightful. How's your Fun Drive

3:44

going so far? It's

3:46

great. Great success. Good. Mash

3:49

hit. Tons of fun. It's

3:51

amazing that you've broken all those membership

3:53

records already. I know, I know. It's

3:56

almost embarrassing how good we're doing. is

4:01

a great big part of our show. Sure.

4:03

You know, obviously, we're asking for support during

4:05

Microsoft Drive, but not only for our show,

4:07

but both Greatest Trek and Greatest Generation deserve

4:09

overwhelming support for you. Last

4:12

time we had you here, we were talking about starships from

4:14

the Star Trek universe, but now

4:16

we get to talk about something non-Star Trek.

4:18

You get to shed, you get to show

4:20

everybody what's going on outside of Star Trek,

4:23

like all that you bring. I

4:26

love getting out of my lane a little bit.

4:28

And when you look at us, who

4:30

better to grade hair? I'm

4:33

going to take it, I'm going to start the show

4:36

back to grading these films on hair, Hal.

4:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just straight

4:41

heads of hair on all of us. Oh,

4:43

fantastic. High five, guys. I wear this hat

4:45

because I don't want to embarrass other people.

4:47

Fair. I understand. Oh, because

4:49

we're going to talk about hair. Let's do the hair.

4:51

We'll get the hair. First of all, the thing is

4:53

a great choice. Also, are we

4:55

including facial hair? Yeah. I

4:57

think the wide-erp is up there. Wide-erp is

4:59

up there, but if you're going to go wide-erp

5:01

and put it on crack, you got to go

5:04

with Bone Tomahawk because he's got like the full

5:06

bushy mustache over the beard and the flowing lot.

5:08

Like that's like he can't control the hair

5:10

coming out. It's like he pulled a hold

5:13

my beer on Jeff Bridges in true grit

5:15

for the look that he decided to have

5:17

or that hair and makeup decided that he

5:20

should have. Hold my beard. Yeah. He

5:22

hold my bearded. Yeah. So

5:25

Hal, I am so curious and I

5:27

know Adam is probably curious as

5:29

well. Aside from the hair, Hal,

5:31

in fact, does your

5:33

Kurt Russell rating system work? It

5:36

is a three-tiered system. I'm so glad you asked.

5:39

The lowest tier is if a movie

5:41

is Kurtastic. Then if

5:43

it's better than Kurtastic, it's Russell-icious. But

5:45

if it's peak Kurt

5:48

Russell, then that's Kurtastically Russell-icious. I've

5:50

been no joke using this rating

5:52

system maybe since high school. My

5:54

best friend will ask me if

5:56

a Kurt Russell movie comes out.

5:58

Is it Kurtastic? Like how

6:00

is this? We discuss where it sits on

6:02

the scale. You've provided us with a list

6:04

of your favorites of the Kurt Russell movies.

6:07

Are all of these movies, Kurtastically Russellicious, that

6:09

you have provided in this list of eight?

6:11

Because I have some that are not on

6:13

your list that I would love to talk

6:15

about. They may either be one of those

6:18

two. They may not be both of them.

6:21

We're looking for a movie that's both. You

6:23

just keep in a wallet or something, Hal? Like

6:25

at all times? Like where your body to

6:27

be found? I don't. You

6:29

directly identify your remains based

6:32

on the list of eight that you have. Do

6:34

you need a dental print? No, we don't

6:36

need a dental print. He has this tiny

6:38

Lisa Frank notebook that he's been writing down

6:40

the names of Russell, or Kurt Russell. I

6:43

almost said Kurt Russell Crowe. There's a good Wheel of

6:45

Fortune before and after for you. You

6:47

know, the guy who works in the morgue is really

6:49

going to appreciate the levity of like, you know, we

6:52

really loved Hal and you're going to get kicked out

6:54

of this duck. Like he's

6:56

got a tennis wallet that you're really going to

6:58

appreciate. It's going to be like Twin

7:00

Peaks. Somebody will pull a piece of paper

7:02

out from under my fingernail that will

7:05

just have tequila sunrise written

7:07

on it. Or they

7:09

will pull a piece of paper out of

7:11

Walt Disney's hand immediately after his death. And

7:13

the only two words he has written on

7:15

that piece of paper are, and

7:18

this is true, Kurt Russell. Which

7:20

is a bonkers story. For those who don't

7:22

know, the last thing that Walt Disney ever

7:24

wrote was just the words Kurt Russell on

7:26

a piece of paper. Wow. Isn't

7:29

that wild? What an honor. What

7:31

a threat also. What

7:33

does it mean? It

7:35

is either an honor or a threat. That's

7:38

like Kendall Roy. Like

7:40

does the underline go under or through the

7:42

name? Yeah. Was

7:46

his final form to inherit

7:48

the Disney properties? Right.

7:51

Well, with all the power that Walt

7:53

Disney wielded, it might have been a

7:55

shopping list. Hmm. He was

7:57

just purchasing one Kurt Russell, which

7:59

he did. did do for a full

8:01

decade. Kurt Russell had a 10 year

8:04

contract at Disney. Did the Computer

8:06

Wars shoes or any of those

8:08

1970s teen Kurt Russell

8:10

movies make the list, you don't think? Even

8:12

if someone who loves primates, I couldn't pick

8:14

the Barefoot Executive either, which has a chimpanzee

8:16

on the cover. If there's any movie that

8:18

was made for me specifically, it would be

8:20

that one. But no, none of his early...

8:23

What's weird is that contract, a lot

8:26

of those movies he made in like the mid

8:28

to late 60s, Walt was already... Like, Walt was

8:30

not alive for much of Kurt Russell's contract. But

8:32

I think he knew that that was someone who

8:34

was gonna be a... Like, you can tell... There's

8:36

some like child actors that you can tell, they're

8:38

really good at the work. So they're going to

8:41

have a long career. No matter

8:43

what. Their jobbers. Yeah, their jobbers.

8:45

They're gonna make it through. They're in it to win

8:47

it. And he definitely was one... You could tell he

8:49

was a star at a young age. And then his

8:51

career is like crazy career definitely

8:53

fits into buckets. I'm just gonna talk about Kurt

8:55

Russell for 45 minutes. But

8:58

he's done like a really wide variety of

9:00

different types of movies, which is fascinating to

9:03

me. It's so fun.

9:05

And I gotta say for a

9:07

Nepo baby, the apple didn't fall

9:09

far from the tree because a

9:11

talented parent, talented performer and talented

9:13

kid. Yeah. His son is also

9:15

talented. His father was

9:17

a star before Kurt Russell

9:20

was a star and

9:22

was promoting a baseball team, which wasn't that how

9:24

Kurt Russell wound up playing minor league ball up

9:26

in Oregon. Did you watch that documentary he did?

9:28

That was really good. The Battered

9:30

Basterds of Baseball? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I have

9:32

not seen it yet, but I'm dying to

9:34

check out that story. Probably not gonna make

9:37

the hair list for... No. But

9:39

like for his voiceover. A good movie he's done right. Yeah.

9:43

The problem is... Yeah, and his voiceover jobs aren't gonna

9:45

make the hair list either. I don't think Fox and

9:47

the Hound is gonna be high on the

9:49

Kurt Russell hair list. No. So

9:51

it's a good movie. Yeah. So

9:54

what movies... Let's just start with

9:56

some heavy hitters, Al. What is

9:58

curtastically Russell-icious? Well, I'm gonna

10:01

veer off of the list for one moment

10:03

and mention one of my favorite movies of

10:05

all time, which is kartastically rustlicious by my

10:07

measurement, but I recognize, you know, there are things

10:09

that we love because they hit us at

10:11

the right age or the right time and

10:13

they just stick with us forever. And you

10:15

come to the point where you go, okay,

10:17

I love this. This does not mean

10:19

it's good. But I, you know, I can love

10:21

what I love. Other people don't have to love it. And that's Tango and

10:23

Cash. I love Tango and Cash.

10:25

It's ridiculously stupid. It's a great action

10:28

movie, though. It's a great late

10:30

80s or early 90s. 88,

10:33

yeah. You know, hearing you describe that,

10:35

you know, like your relationship with that

10:37

movie, how it makes me think that it's a

10:39

Fritos movie. And what I mean by that is

10:41

like, I think in the

10:44

late 80s, early 90s, the Fritos

10:47

corn chips had a commercial jingle

10:49

that went like, I know what

10:51

I like. I like Fritos. And

10:55

that is how you describe Tango and Cash.

10:58

Yeah. That's it. That's perfect. Yeah. Yeah.

11:00

Fritos was great. Adam, do you have

11:02

an indulgent Kurt Russell movie that you

11:04

know may not be the best movie

11:06

but is? I do. I

11:08

don't know if your parents were like this with you,

11:10

but it's weird. Like my parents

11:12

were very overprotective about the sort

11:15

of films that I was permitted to

11:17

see. But for some reason, Overboard was

11:19

one of my first movie memories. Yeah.

11:22

And like going back and like scrutinizing

11:24

that story and all that happened, like

11:27

kind of a weird impression to imprint

11:29

on a child. Sure. Yeah. That movie

11:31

a hundred times when I was like

11:33

eight years old. I feel like I

11:35

saw that when I was about that

11:37

age too. I

11:39

haven't seen it in probably 15 years.

11:42

I have no idea if it

11:44

holds up. I can't imagine it

11:46

does. No. What you're watching when

11:48

you're watching Overboard is a very

11:50

charming crime. Yeah. Oh yeah. I

11:53

think a lot of films of the

11:55

80s are like that. Yeah. You're just

11:57

watching a very charming execution of a

11:59

crime. Yeah, there's a compartmentalization to it though

12:01

because I've seen it probably in the last

12:04

five years. I still enjoy it Russell

12:06

has so much Riz though. He's got some

12:09

Riz He's

12:11

with his lifelong partner or since 1984

12:14

at that point. They've been together What

12:18

three years three four? No 82. I think

12:20

was when they got together something like that

12:23

But they knew that they loved one

12:25

another and that they were relishing work

12:27

Like they were enjoying working together and

12:29

you can tell when someone's really enjoying

12:31

working on something So there is like

12:33

a fun to it from that and

12:35

it dangerously probably takes you away It's

12:38

sort of guides you away from how

12:40

terrible this is. Mm-hmm. Like if it was

12:42

yeah passengers is that the one with Fritz

12:44

Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence where

12:46

where there are the ship like this could

12:49

easily be like a passengers type of movie,

12:51

but it's light-hearted It's got a killer cast.

12:53

It's a Frank Marshall film, isn't it? You

12:56

direct it overboard. Yeah,

12:58

I Don't know it has

13:00

the vibe and it's sort of or Gary Marshall Sorry,

13:02

has a Gary Marshall kind of vibe to it if

13:05

it is not a Gary Marshall and sick very much.

13:07

I was on doesn't it? Yeah, there you go. Gary

13:09

Marshall joint, which is how Gary Marshall put that's

13:11

how he labels always. I would always say it Yeah,

13:13

yeah, I had that on my list. I don't think

13:16

it's the best one but it is curtastically

13:18

rustlicious because it's a great like the

13:20

fact that they're able to take such

13:22

a terrible premise and Somehow

13:25

lose you in the charm of them and

13:27

you realize Going through like oh

13:29

she is meant to be like and

13:32

the cast is clearly Edward Herman is great

13:34

and Catherine Hellman But

13:36

it's a stack cast they carry the

13:38

movie But it's a time, you

13:41

know, like like the dangerous

13:43

danger Yeah, I meant

13:45

of the films of that era. Mm-hmm

13:47

and overboard is a great example of that. Yes.

13:50

Yes So it's a great yeah, I think

13:52

it is a good it is a guilty

13:54

pleasure literally because he's guilty of crimes Yeah,

13:56

so if you enjoy it that you're mark

13:58

you're suggesting that I shouldn't rewatch it. Like, you

14:01

wouldn't have a childhood memory. Um, maybe

14:04

let it stay in your childhood

14:06

as a really fun romp that

14:08

you remember. Yeah. I would argue.

14:11

And not a dude taking advantage

14:13

of a person with a physical

14:16

trauma and a lot of money. Not

14:18

a Fritos movie. Yeah, not a Fritos movie.

14:21

It's not. But I would actually

14:23

suggest you do rewatch it just to see, because

14:25

I don't think that, you know, there are movies you like

14:27

as a kid. Like I loved Mel Gibson when I was

14:29

a kid and that turned out to be, I didn't think

14:31

at my bar mitzvah that I would ever be like, Mel

14:33

Gibson doesn't like me. But here

14:35

we are. Yeah. The relationship I

14:37

had with those movies when I was a kid is

14:40

still there. Right. It's just,

14:42

it's colored differently by being an adult. I can

14:44

still watch movies of his, but it's

14:46

certainly a little different. This at least,

14:49

you know, they're not horrendous people. It's

14:51

just the premise isn't very good. And

14:53

they somehow managed to skirt the line

14:55

of he never takes advantage of her

14:57

physical. Like there's no, his goal

15:00

is not to make her, his goal is to

15:02

make her work off the cost of his tools.

15:05

Right. Not to do anything illicit. And then they

15:07

happened to fall in love. It's a very sweet

15:09

thing at the end. Yeah. Even

15:11

though it's very weird. Like why would you, why would

15:14

you suddenly decide, yeah, I do want to be with

15:16

this guy. Oh. I mean, it's a

15:18

film about class, isn't it? Yeah.

15:20

Yeah. It's a class

15:22

war. It is, if you don't look

15:25

too deep into other stuff, if you want to

15:27

look at it as a class war movie, great.

15:29

Yeah. I would like to throw

15:31

out one that is a guilty pleasure of

15:33

mine. That is, it is not Kurt Russell

15:35

playing a character committing a crime for the

15:37

whole movie. It's Kurt Russell playing

15:39

a character who is, he

15:42

does do some, he does a little

15:44

bit of crime, but then things go

15:46

way too far and he becomes the

15:48

hero that is going to save from

15:52

Kevin Costner's other Elvis in 3000

15:54

miles to Graceland. Yeah.

15:58

That is a perfect movie for you. It is

16:00

three thousand miles to grace land is for

16:03

those who don't know it's elvis impersonators doing

16:05

a high and there's like

16:07

a whole cross country driving element

16:09

there's kevin cosner plays the ultimate

16:11

villain kurt russell is the hero

16:13

of it who is also part

16:15

of his crime squad cosner

16:31

with all of the lasers

16:33

from all of the cops that have

16:35

surrounded him in the smoke you see

16:37

all these red lasers on him and

16:39

him just sort of standing in a

16:41

circle and swaying his hips while elvis's

16:44

version of my way plays and

16:46

it's one of the most delightfully

16:48

over the top cinema moments ever

16:51

but while we're talking about russell crow

16:53

i'm not russell crow i keep i'm

16:55

gonna keep doing that russell crow while

16:58

we are talking about kurt russell playing

17:01

elvis how about when he

17:03

played elvis two years after elvis

17:05

died in the movie

17:08

elvis the movie is elvis

17:10

impression in that movie. Is

17:14

perfect and yet he

17:16

didn't have any problem losing the

17:18

affected voice yeah take that austin

17:21

butler you don't have to get

17:23

that weird dude it's

17:25

called acting yes my boy

17:27

my boy what he

17:29

also like it's weird kurt russell

17:31

plays an elvis impersonator who

17:33

is a thief who crime roll back he

17:36

plays elvis then roll back to i think

17:38

his first ever movie he's elvis movie. Yeah

17:40

he's done like the whole gamut of elvis

17:42

work that you could possibly do and a

17:45

great uncredited great partner elvis movie.

17:48

Elvis pays him to kick him in the shin so he can

17:50

go out on a date with a nurse and

17:52

then kurt russell runs into elvis and the

17:54

nurse later on is there on their date

17:57

and ask him if you can kick him in the shin again

17:59

for money. Sure. Look as

18:01

far as like early career like

18:03

bit parts go. Yeah, that's a

18:05

great early career bit part Do we want to

18:08

jump into some of these? Do you want to

18:10

give us what's on your list? How sure sure?

18:12

I forgot I had eight movie. It's actually nine

18:14

movies I had it as eight and I forgot

18:16

to add one here are the movies that I

18:19

had listed I'll exclude overboard. We've already talked about

18:21

it. These I think are Kurt ruffles

18:23

best movies I'm not counting movies in which he

18:25

has Like he is the narrator

18:27

once upon a time in Hollywood and and briefly

18:29

appears as the stunt coordinator Who

18:32

whose wife gets Brad Pitt fired because he beats

18:34

up Bruce Lee in a very weird

18:36

seat So we won't count that but here's what

18:38

I have. I have the Christmas Chronicles. I have

18:40

death proof I have escaped from

18:43

New York executive decision breakdown

18:45

miracle and the thing and Tombstone

18:47

those are the ones I have that for

18:49

me. Oh and big trouble in

18:51

little China. Oh my gosh I

18:54

was shocked by but the last had it in my

18:57

head I had it in my head and then you're

18:59

just going escape from New York not escape from LA.

19:02

No escape from LA is Vastly inferior,

19:04

although fun just the same. Yeah,

19:06

can I give you a cinema?

19:10

Autobiographical fact about me is that I

19:12

thought escape from LA before seeing escape

19:14

from New York me too assled

19:17

me No,

19:21

yeah, there's no I knew like roughly what

19:23

happened in escape from New York like

19:25

I knew the idea of it but then Alien

19:28

resurrection like was inspired

19:31

by the basketball scene in escape

19:33

from LA I

19:36

Think entirely. Yeah, that's what I would say. Well,

19:39

let's talk about escape from New York. Let's talk

19:41

about snake Pliskin That's it's

19:43

probably his most iconic character of his

19:45

adult career He had played

19:47

one character in a bunch of those Disney

19:49

movies as a teenager But what gives snake

19:52

Pliskin his staying power and his iconic status?

19:54

Is it just the iPad that's what I

19:56

learned in escape from LA you can shoot

19:58

the J Yeah, shoot the J. Dude's

20:01

an athlete. You can never one of his eyes.

20:03

He's still in depth perception, no problem. It'll lay

20:05

out for you. From an athlete. Yeah, how is

20:08

he that good at depth perception? He's

20:11

Nick Pliskin. I think it does

20:13

kind of embody Russell Cro- I'm gonna keep

20:15

doing it. I did it again. I need

20:17

a Russell Cro-jar. I keep saying Russell Cro-

20:19

instead of Kurt Russell. I think it does

20:22

embody him, though. That sort of snarky, like

20:24

he created such a persona with

20:27

that character of like, lovable

20:30

anti-hero bad boy. It's

20:32

one of those roles where it's

20:35

really difficult to imagine anyone else

20:37

playing it. No.

20:39

I think John Carpenter had to fight to cast

20:41

him because he was the Disney kid before that.

20:45

John Carpenter probably defines Kurt Russell's

20:47

career more than anyone else. He

20:49

directed Elvis the movie. He

20:51

directed Elvis the movie, so that's where

20:54

they meet. Then he cast him as

20:56

Snake Pliskin, and what is either the

20:58

greatest B-movie that's actually an A-movie or

21:00

just the greatest B-movie ever made, just

21:02

from premise, just everything about it. Screams

21:04

B-movie, but it's so good as John

21:06

Carpenter's directing it. He's off of Halloween,

21:09

and Snake Pliskin, he does a

21:11

lot- like, it's a really understated

21:13

performance. That's the thing, is like, he's

21:16

a quiet- that's a quiet, like,

21:18

character, and he plays extremely well. Then

21:20

he does the thing with him, follows

21:22

it up with a great remake of a

21:24

horror movie, another iconic role for him. But

21:27

I would say that Big Trouble in Little

21:29

China is probably- that's probably his most

21:31

iconic role. Again, John Carpenter. Yeah.

21:34

I read that, like, the thing was very poorly

21:36

received, but it makes me wonder if, like, John

21:39

Carpenter movies in general are impervious

21:42

to review in a conventional way.

21:45

I was going to ask about that. Are

21:47

we going by best Kurt Russell performance, or

21:50

is it the best Kurt Russell

21:52

movie? Because is the, like, is

21:55

Miracle a good movie? Yeah.

21:57

Miracle's an outstanding movie. It's

22:00

fine. Of all

22:02

of the Disney 90s to

22:05

early 2000s inspirational sports movies,

22:07

we're talking about the rookie, we're talking

22:10

about Remember the Titans. This

22:12

is far and away the best one. I love Remember

22:14

the Titans. I watch it at least once a year

22:17

because Denzel Washington and Will Patton together.

22:19

I need to get on that level

22:21

because all of those, that era of

22:24

inspirational sports movies, I missed all of

22:26

them. I didn't think, so I never

22:28

saw it. Miracle, which

22:31

you probably already know, but for anybody listening

22:33

who doesn't, is the story of the 1980

22:35

US Olympic hockey team that defeats the Soviets,

22:37

the famous, do you believe in miracles, call

22:39

from Al Michaels, which he recreates, I think,

22:41

for that film. Wow. And

22:43

Kurt Russell plays Herb Brooks, who was the coach of

22:46

that team and figured out how to beat the Russians

22:48

at their own game and had played, had

22:50

been the last guy cut the year of the Olympic,

22:52

I think the last year that they beat the Russians.

22:55

So he wasn't on that team. Again,

22:57

like a stoic, he adopts a

22:59

Minnesota accent and late,

23:02

like Herb Brooks is like a serious kind of

23:04

guy who put his

23:06

players through hell. And

23:09

it's, again, a great performance. Just

23:12

he anchors the film and it's

23:14

as charismatic as he is in movies

23:17

like Overboard. He's the opposite of that in

23:20

Miracle. But I think it is

23:22

a fantastic performance. It just shows like the range

23:24

that he has that he can do that and be

23:26

Jack Burton because they're very, they're very different

23:29

not only from one talks a

23:31

lot, the other never talks, but one of

23:33

them just, yeah, like yeah,

23:35

Riz and it, he can

23:37

play the full spectrum of

23:39

Riz and he does it really well in Miracle. It's

23:41

worth another watch if you haven't seen it in a

23:44

while, Mark. All right. I'll give

23:46

it another look. I love a good sports movie and

23:48

it is a great premise. It's a great hook. It's

23:50

a great real actual story. By

23:52

the way, when I was thinking Snake Pliskin earlier,

23:54

I was totally confusing Jack Burton and Snake Pliskin.

23:57

Oh, okay. Jack Burton is, I think, my favorite

23:59

of his character. Actors. Know.

24:02

But that movie. That movie is

24:04

pure insanity. Yeah. It's so

24:06

fine. Big Trouble in Little China. I

24:08

think Big Trouble in Little China might

24:11

be my favorite movie on this

24:13

list. Yeah. Just because I think

24:15

it's just when you think it's gonna

24:17

go in one direction. They introduce magic

24:20

and ancient of lore into air and

24:22

pretty early on it. but you're like

24:24

wait, what is okay, how old are

24:26

you at your are still others skaggs.

24:29

I. Was probably like. So.

24:32

I saw it when I was a kid, right

24:34

was the first time I saw it. And

24:36

I'd I'd sign it in. Remember it it

24:38

was one of those like it didn't suck

24:40

me in. And then as an adult I

24:42

had a friend whose dog was named Gracie

24:44

Law that innocent life you know from big

24:46

trouble in little China Like Not been a

24:48

long time since I saw the it's like

24:50

well we have to watch the sushi and

24:52

vitamins people of we watched it and if

24:54

I my mind was blown. By. This

24:57

movie that I had not see. I remembered

24:59

bits and pieces of it as a child.

25:01

But to put this whole thing together into

25:03

this crazy story. And Tim

25:05

could trawl through. By the way

25:07

makes the great entrance. Introducing

25:10

her character, By. Rushing

25:12

into a room and sang still where

25:14

Everyone it's Just Me Gracie Law. Is

25:17

the best way to make a character entrance

25:19

ever. And I want to start walking into

25:21

rooms like that. Still where everyone. it's just

25:23

me. Mark Agliotti. As. I

25:26

love that I much like Overboard. I was

25:28

sat down in front of Big Trouble in

25:31

Little China and his movie scared me like

25:33

I was seven when I watched. it scared

25:35

me the way to number to death. Scared

25:37

me because it had a. Player:

25:40

Like it so very like Horror at

25:42

season's It's don't like goes her. It's.

25:45

Only going to me at this. The magical

25:47

stuff in it felt like that ghosts seems

25:49

a tad a ghost busters and it is.

25:51

It's scary but as yet all fun. And.

25:54

Ah, So. Fun! The for some

25:56

you watch and I think you're kind of

25:58

forensic by Kurt Russell by Perform. This is Jack

26:00

Martin because it's so good. It's like

26:02

the perfect extent. You know, the best

26:04

I think actor-director relationships, the actor becomes an

26:06

extension of the director and certainly that's kind

26:09

of what's happening here. But when

26:11

you watch it again or the next time you

26:13

watch it, you will realize that he

26:15

is the sidekick to everyone else. He is the

26:17

least competent character in that movie outside of it's

26:20

all in the reflexes. So he

26:22

needs everybody around him to do

26:24

anything. He is the ultimate sidekick

26:26

which is a really smart move because

26:28

otherwise you would watch it now and

26:30

go like, oh, a white guy is

26:32

leading a bunch of Asian people in

26:34

a movie about Asian culture, like that

26:36

explores Asian culture in a way, in

26:38

a very like B-movie way. But it

26:41

holds up. It holds

26:43

up extremely well. Your

26:45

description of him like as

26:47

an extension of a director made me

26:50

think of the rumor about him in

26:52

Tombstone and that he directed instead of

26:54

George P. Cosmatos. Like do you? Yeah.

26:57

Have you heard this, Hal? No. Tell

26:59

me. I don't even know if it's a

27:01

rumor. Do you think it's true? I think it's true.

27:05

According to all the stuff that I've been reading,

27:07

it was just that the director said, don't say

27:09

this while I'm alive. Interesting.

27:12

And so after he died in 2005, Kurt

27:14

Russell was like, yeah, I basically directed Tombstone.

27:17

So interesting. I mean, why? I love

27:20

a George P. Cosmatos film. Yeah.

27:23

I mean, he's part of the reason that I

27:25

love Tombstone so much and it really, it changes

27:27

my feelings about the film. Yeah.

27:29

Maybe he wasn't the guy. Well, the

27:31

first director was this guy named Kevin

27:33

Jar or Jarri. I'm not sure how

27:35

you pronounce his name, but he was

27:37

removed. Sylvester Stallone recommended

27:40

Cosmatos. Yeah. From First Blood

27:42

Part II. Yeah.

27:45

Together. Exactly. So yeah, they

27:47

took all of this footage and Kurt Russell gave

27:49

Cosmatos a shot list for the movie, which is

27:51

like, you actually wrote when you said the actor-director

27:53

relationship. I was like, oh my gosh, I have

27:56

to remember that. I'm so glad you brought it

27:58

up. I mean, the idea that he- He turned

28:00

that performance into a movie. If I'm an aging director, the last

28:02

thing I want to deal with is a shot list. Like, you

28:04

can take that. Yeah.

28:07

It's like the opposite of Marlon Brando refusing

28:09

to be directed by Frank Oz and calling

28:11

him Miss Piggy. I'll

28:14

tell you what, well, this is, I mean, this is

28:16

huge news for me. I'm very excited to hear it because

28:18

I love Tombstone. I think it's a really good movie. I

28:22

think what would take it out of the running for

28:24

me is it's much more of a valkid. Like, the

28:26

thing you remember, you certainly remember his scene with Billy

28:29

Bob Thornton where he smacks him and says he could

28:31

do something or just sit there and bleed. But it's

28:33

Val Kilmer's film, 100%. Again,

28:35

and a killer cast. Sam

28:37

Elliott, Bill Paxton, Michael Bean.

28:40

But the best Kurt Russell movie

28:42

can't be the movie where Kurt Russell gave

28:45

the second best performance in that movie. Yeah.

28:47

Why don't we take a quick break and

28:49

we will come back and talk about some

28:51

more Kurt Russell crow movies. But first,

28:54

let's tell you a little bit more about the

28:56

Max Fun Drive. Hey,

28:58

everybody. This

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is Hal. And

29:05

Mark. And you are listening to this episode during

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now back to

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the show. All

34:36

right. As we're coming back, I want to throw in

34:38

one more guilty pleasure movie from when I was a

34:40

kid and my favorite line from

34:42

that movie, because I felt like it was

34:44

just talking to me. Okay.

34:46

And that is of course, this

34:48

is how charismatic Kurt Russell is.

34:51

He can make a movie with Martin Short

34:53

and Martin Short is the straight man. If

34:58

you are so charismatic that you can

35:00

make a movie with Martin Short and

35:02

Martin Short is playing it straight to

35:05

your Captain Ron. Oh yeah. I

35:07

loved Captain Ron. That was one that I watched

35:09

the way Adam, you watched overboard over and over

35:11

as a kid. I watched Captain Ron over and

35:13

over. This is in the mix for me too,

35:16

for sure. It was so fun. It's

35:19

him just playing bumbling,

35:21

this charismatic bumbling boat

35:24

captain. And then Ben Salisbury in it, who

35:26

incidentally was my boss years later at Universal

35:28

Studios, which was very odd to go revisit

35:30

this and go, oh yeah, I forgot. He

35:33

was a child actor, but the line that

35:35

I remember was he says, we got

35:37

to watch out for pirates. Pirates.

35:40

Yeah. You know, the pirates of the Caribbean.

35:43

We've been to Disney world one too many

35:45

times, Ron. Nah, I've been

35:47

to Dollywood though. And I

35:49

was like, that is the greatest exchange

35:51

in any movie ever. I

35:54

was so excited about that. That character still

35:56

lived in, like it's been on

35:58

vacation to anywhere. form, like

36:00

you will encounter Captain Ron. Yes,

36:03

100%. That guy is all

36:05

over the panhandle of Florida. Absolutely, yeah.

36:07

Him and Pink Eye, that's what the

36:09

panhandle of Florida has. Why,

36:12

Mark? What? I

36:14

don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk

36:16

about the fact that I just got back from the panhandle

36:19

of Florida with a case of Pink Eye. Did you sleep

36:21

on a fart pillow? Be honest. Um,

36:24

I did. You would know. That

36:26

would do it. You know, when you lay your head

36:29

down on a fart pillow, there's no mistaking it. I

36:32

always bring my own pillowcases to an Airbnb.

36:34

Does that make me weird? No,

36:36

you don't have Pink Eye. I want to be

36:38

sure. I want to be sure I'm not sleeping

36:41

on a fart pillow. It's

36:43

really, yeah, that's brilliant. I left a lot

36:45

of pillowcases behind in my third time. I've

36:48

realized now from you saying that how long

36:50

I've been dancing between raindrops everywhere I go

36:52

to stay, but it's not my home. The

36:54

dangers of playing hell. Dancing

36:56

between raindrops. I've never heard that phrase before.

36:58

Here, you want a dangerous game? I'll give

37:01

you a dangerous game. Imagine you work for

37:03

the government and your job is to, you're

37:05

basically a CIA analyst and you've been tracking

37:07

this known terrorist, you know more about him

37:09

than anybody in the world, but your pleasure.

37:12

Sure. Turns out you have a chance

37:14

to, uh, this terrorist takes

37:16

control of a plane that

37:19

has a few important people on it, but

37:22

you know, he's a, has

37:24

commented this plane and you are part of

37:26

a sort of putting together the

37:28

plan. We're going to take this sort of like

37:30

Black Hawk jet that can't be detected. We're

37:33

going to attach to refuel because the plane needs

37:35

to be refueled for it's able

37:37

to refuel. We're going to

37:39

send a SEAL team inside or Marines. I forget

37:41

whether they're SEAL or Marines. We're going to send

37:43

them inside and you have to go with them.

37:45

They just pulled the SEALs that this is in water. So that's how you

37:47

got them to go with this. And he's the

37:49

only one who knows what the guy looks like. So

37:51

they're going to put cameras in to try and find him.

37:54

Then it all goes awry and you wind up on the

37:56

plane. I think executive decision is

37:58

a, I have a movie that's even. more

38:00

slept on than this. I think this is a great movie. It's

38:02

from 1996. And maybe the best

38:05

part of it is they sold it as like a

38:07

Kurt Russell and Steven Seagal movie. And nobody wanted to

38:09

see Steven Seagal in anything anymore. He had a shot

38:11

with Under Siege and then that's it. And

38:13

he dies within the first 20 minutes. That

38:16

is the thing I remember most about this movie is

38:18

going, did they just kill off the guy on the

38:20

poster? When that happened, that

38:22

was like seeing the usual suspects for

38:25

the first minute. You see that moment

38:27

that early in the movie, anything is

38:29

possible in any movie afterwards. Yeah,

38:31

it's the Janet Lee effect. Yeah, yeah,

38:34

yeah. He died so bad too. Like,

38:36

as I recall, it was the umbilical

38:38

between planes that kind of separated and

38:40

out he goes. Like it's so undignified.

38:42

Yeah, he doesn't get cut down on

38:45

a hail of bullets or anything. He

38:47

just dropped. He's not standing there while

38:49

Elvis is my way plays and he

38:51

has lasers on him. Incredible.

38:53

What a moment. I'm not going to lie

38:55

though. I don't remember much of the rest

38:58

of that movie. It's good. It's

39:00

another good like another thing about him is especially

39:02

at all these movies is going to have really

39:04

good actors around him. He's got John Leguizamo.

39:06

Halle Barry is in this movie as

39:09

BD Wong David Soushay. He

39:11

got a win. Yeah,

39:14

you got like an incredible cast.

39:16

The guy who plays the inventor of

39:18

the chip from Terminator from Terminator 2.

39:21

Joe Morton. Yes, yes. He's

39:23

the bomb expert. He ventilates before dropping

39:25

his hand on the bomb that explodes

39:28

at his office building. That guy? Yes,

39:30

that guy. He's the bomb

39:32

expert and he gets injured immediately and he's

39:34

stabilized. So he has to guide someone in

39:36

how to take the bomb apart. He's like

39:38

looking with a mirror. It's crazy. A really

39:40

fun movie. I don't think it's going

39:42

to win. I want to

39:44

throw one of these ones that you've got

39:47

on your list out here as a movie

39:49

that is another one that's easy to sleep

39:51

on that I think is a great Kurt

39:53

Russell performance because I think to my experience

39:55

of him, he's such a larger than life

39:58

person. His hair is spectacular. His performance. are

40:00

spectacular. Throw it out there Mark.

40:02

I think that he is brilliant

40:05

as an everyman in Breakdown.

40:07

That's right. Oh, that movie

40:09

because it's one of those,

40:12

that movie is, I remember I saw that

40:14

movie in the theater and that movie is

40:17

terrifying because you are with

40:19

him the whole time. Just when

40:21

JT Walsh is just playing dumb like who are you

40:23

talking about? I don't know who you're

40:25

talking about. Yeah. It is, for those who don't

40:27

know the movie Breakdown, how would you describe it

40:29

in a sentence? Breakdown is about a couple played

40:31

by Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan who are driving

40:33

across the country I think for a job. They

40:35

have all their money in the world which is

40:37

like $10,000. They break down and

40:41

a trucker played by JT Walsh offers

40:44

to help them, winds up kidnapping

40:46

Kathleen Quinlan and Kurt Russell

40:48

is the only one who sees it and he's left to try

40:51

to piece together where his wife

40:53

is and what's happened and finds out she's

40:55

being held for ransom and she's told them

40:57

how much money they have and it's more

40:59

than the actual amount so he has to

41:01

remember that like just every, it's one of

41:04

those where maybe in writing it you just

41:06

start at the very end like you're building

41:08

a good mystery. You work your way backwards.

41:10

As a linear path for a movie, I

41:12

think it makes total sense how you get

41:14

from A to B to C all the

41:16

way to Z and you bring up what's

41:18

great about this movie is he's in khakis

41:20

at a button down like polo t-shirt. Yeah.

41:22

The whole time he looks like he's dressed

41:24

like Clark Griswold on the original vacation and

41:27

he has to, a guy who's

41:29

like in a panic the whole time to

41:31

try to get people to help them to try to convince

41:34

them that JT Walsh's character is a bad guy.

41:36

Who is less tactical. Yeah. It's one

41:39

of those movies. It's just like it

41:41

feels like it's one of those, this

41:43

is terrifying because it could happen to

41:45

anyone. It's like that movie The Strangers.

41:47

Why'd you pick us? Because you were

41:49

home. It's just your car broke

41:51

down and your car breaking down can lead to

41:54

this harrowing experience. The restraint

41:56

of breakdown I think is what

41:58

I appreciate the most. Like Joyride

42:00

was in the same section

42:03

of the genre, but Joyride

42:05

showed so much. It's

42:08

a huge part of the horror of what

42:10

Breakdown did so well, like the mystery of

42:12

your wife being gone. And I

42:14

loved it. What a great film. It's

42:17

so good. To see him at a,

42:19

like he's at an emotional 10 the

42:21

whole time, but like a good, I

42:23

think that instinct, somebody who is maybe

42:26

less seasoned or still learning acting

42:28

or really getting into it, they'll play 10 the

42:30

same way the whole time. But any of those

42:32

numbers have a ton of shades of what it

42:34

is to be panicked or upset or determined. And

42:37

he hits all of them so that it

42:39

feels, it hits all these different notes,

42:41

even though he's heightened. And you

42:43

bring up a great point, it has that jaws

42:46

effect of you never, you don't know what's going

42:48

on. You don't know if she's alive or dead.

42:50

And you don't know if anybody's gonna believe, like it

42:53

could have just as easily ended with, she's

42:56

gone and he gets killed. And you would believe

42:58

that too. And it's

43:00

satisfying. And that makes it so much more

43:02

satisfying when you get to the end. I

43:04

love this movie so much. And I think

43:06

it's maybe the most slept

43:08

on film in his body at work

43:10

because the other stuff is so showy.

43:13

Jack is a very showy role. It

43:15

a big hard to forget movie, escape

43:18

from LA is iconic, even miracles about

43:21

something that we all know, this big

43:23

like cultural moment for America. But

43:25

this is a small story,

43:28

stays contained within itself and

43:31

is thrilling. Like you're invested in

43:33

the characters so that when she's taken, you

43:35

care. And then following him on

43:37

the journey is just, I'm

43:39

sitting here thinking I need to watch this again tonight.

43:42

Yeah, it's been a long time, but I remember loving

43:44

it. I wanna shift gears

43:46

a little bit. You mentioned that this

43:48

is one of his smaller, more subdued

43:50

performances. And in the career of

43:52

a guy who's, I mean, he played ego

43:55

in Guardians of the Galaxy too. This

43:57

guy gobbles up scenery.

44:00

He's great at it. He's one

44:02

of my favorite scenery gobblers of

44:05

all time and always with that

44:07

signature Smirk on his face

44:10

that kind of lovable bad boy

44:12

image And I think there's a

44:14

movie on this list that to

44:16

me was such a fun way

44:19

to take that character and flip it

44:21

on its head and That

44:23

is his performance as stuntman Mike

44:25

in deathproof Where he

44:28

is that charming guy at the bar?

44:31

He's the grizzled older version of that

44:33

super charming They might as well just

44:35

called the character Kurt Russell because he's

44:37

just playing charming Kurt Russell but

44:40

then he's got this menace streak to

44:42

him and his

44:44

whole opening scene and monologue

44:47

in the bar and Then once

44:49

they're in the car and you find out

44:51

you you know He has this turn this

44:53

sort of heel turn where he's this bad

44:55

guy It's so fun

44:59

What do you guys think? Are you guys deathproof fans? I

45:02

always preferred Planet Terror to

45:04

deathproof Yeah in

45:06

the grind house combo genre. It's an

45:08

opinion. I can barely support. I don't

45:10

know It's

45:13

a bigger flashier movie. Yeah, like there's

45:16

a woman with a machine gun for

45:18

a leg. I mean, yeah Yeah,

45:21

I mean maybe that's all it

45:23

took. Yeah If

45:26

only Kurt Russell Crowe had a machine

45:28

gun for a leg the Jeff Fae

45:30

He Character in Grind house is

45:32

in a terrorist what kills me every time

45:38

Spectacular yeah, I mean Grind house

45:40

as an experience and I don't

45:42

know why there must be

45:44

a rights thing It's a stock Tarantino. Maybe

45:46

he does like screening it exactly how it's

45:48

meant to be done at New Beverly Yeah

45:51

The movie house that he's bought in shows Grind

45:53

house pictures in the experience of

45:56

it is fantastic and after Planet Terror

45:58

Which is so clanked up high

46:00

octane. His is such

46:02

a counter to that and

46:04

it's a pretty small story. It's a

46:07

small story, it's really well written, it's

46:09

got a hilariously shocking ending and that

46:12

you don't expect the credits to roll yet they

46:14

do and it's a really good performance. I don't

46:16

think it's as bad. I'll dock it points because

46:18

it led to Hateful Eight being made with

46:20

him. Fair. A rare misstep. I didn't care

46:22

for that movie. I thought it was a

46:24

little bit too. First of all he shot

46:26

it in like whatever eight million millimeter and

46:29

the only real shot you get to see

46:31

the outside is in the first like 30

46:33

seconds and then it's all in one room.

46:35

Yeah, why don't we, here's an idea, why

46:37

don't we shoot a movie in Epcot's Circle

46:39

Vision 360 and set it

46:41

in a cabin? Right. What

46:43

are you doing man? I love

46:47

that though. I love Deathproof. Did you think

46:49

that that would kick off a whole, like

46:52

a brand new era of Grindhouse type

46:54

of films? I guess we got a

46:57

hobo with a shotgun out of that.

46:59

Yeah, we got a machete out of

47:01

that. Yeah, but like I know I'm

47:03

forgetting a few but like that didn't

47:05

really kickstart a new Grindhouse era

47:07

did it? You know what? I think if it

47:09

did launch a house, I

47:11

think it launched a Blumhouse. Maybe it did.

47:14

You know what I mean? Like Blumhouse is

47:16

one of those really fun movie studios that

47:18

makes what are essentially, as you mentioned before

47:20

Hal, essentially B movies by the way you

47:22

can describe them. It's like, okay, it's a

47:24

happy death day. Well, you can, I can

47:26

know what that movie is about by the

47:28

title. Truth or Dare?

47:30

Three Venge every Christmas. That's a

47:34

nostalgia play for me. I love it. And

47:36

is it Tree Venge? Yeah. I don't know

47:38

revenge. Tree Venge is.

47:40

Oh, Tree Venge. Yeah. I

47:43

don't know Tree Venge. The

47:45

guy who directed hobo with

47:47

a shotgun, directed a short

47:49

film called Tree Venge, where

47:51

the trees that are cut

47:53

down for Christmas decorations, get

47:55

their revenge within the

47:57

homes that they're decorated. Why have I

47:59

not? I've seen this. Using their decorations,

48:01

like the stars, like a throwing star. Of

48:03

course it is. And you can hear them,

48:06

like the trees are making sounds and they're

48:08

in terror when they're taken from these tree

48:10

farms. Incredible

48:12

watch, you've got to see it. All

48:14

right. Amazing. I'm ready for

48:16

treevenge. Yeah, I mean, bee movies exist. Like

48:19

we don't have Grindhouse theaters anymore, really. I

48:21

think that's part of the thing, like they

48:23

don't really get... You see them go direct

48:25

to streaming or they show up on cable.

48:28

They're definitely there. I think that they were

48:31

already sort of dabbling in that. You could

48:33

argue that the Robert Rodriguez Il Mariachi trilogy

48:35

of Bee Movie from Dust Till Dawn is

48:37

100% a Bee Movie. It's

48:41

just like they're two mainstream, especially

48:44

by Tenderloin from Dust Till Dawn and Grindhouse.

48:46

This is them like going, these are the movies

48:48

that we love and we're going to make

48:50

our versions of them and you're going to sit in a

48:52

theater and watch for full price

48:55

the whole thing and not complain. It's

48:57

weird how like the modern Bee

48:59

Movie that's like direct to streaming

49:01

or whatever is just a bad movie. Yeah,

49:04

that's what the Bee stands for now. But

49:06

like the regime in quality is the

49:08

joy that you feel when you watch

49:10

a Bee Movie of the mid 2000s

49:13

like the Grindhouse, the

49:15

Grindhouse Nouveau era. Like all the

49:17

joy of those films is gone

49:19

now in the streaming machine. Yeah,

49:21

it's pretty saturated. That's right. Just

49:24

watch the Asylum movies. I mean, I

49:26

don't watch Asylum movies. Those aren't even Bee.

49:28

Maybe it's an exposure bias. Like I'm just

49:30

not watching as much as I should. Well,

49:33

you're avoiding them. Watch more Bee movies.

49:35

Yeah. All right, we got to

49:37

start whittling this down, guys. We haven't talked about

49:39

Christmas Chronicles yet. Now, I am an avowed, in

49:41

addition to being Kurt Russell fan, Adam, I'm also

49:43

a huge fan of Christmas. Like

49:46

many Jewish people, I like the pretty lights, all

49:48

the music that we wrote for it. And

49:50

the movies are a pleasure. Everything from Hallmark

49:52

all the way up to... That's my recommendation

49:54

for Treevenge. It's going to change

49:56

your feelings back. No. I must watch. I

49:59

remember a short film. from it had

50:02

to be like 80 somewhere between

50:04

1980 and 1983 where all

50:07

of the video games like including Space

50:09

Invaders come out of the television and

50:11

terrorize children and it's I can't

50:13

find it I don't know the name of it

50:15

if anybody was that an Adam Sandler movie no

50:18

that no I auditioned and where they were

50:20

they very much did not get cast if

50:23

carnal relations with Qbert I

50:26

mean have you seen that

50:28

snoot he's got yeah big

50:30

Doug have a moment to do a

50:32

lot with that yeah look once

50:34

you if you spend too much time at

50:37

Tapper anything can happen

50:39

afterwards not the root beer version

50:41

that you just have to go to P. But

50:44

as someone who loves Christmas movies and someone

50:46

who loves Kurt Russell I was kind of

50:48

nervous to watch the Christmas

50:50

Chronicles because you look at the post you

50:52

go like that how does it looks bad

50:55

how could this possibly work and then the

50:57

story is very touching and he's a fantastic

50:59

Santa Claus like slightly different a cooler a

51:01

more rizzed up Santa Claus than

51:03

seen in anything else. This guy's all rizzed

51:06

yeah I mean rivals

51:09

the thing in terms of

51:11

hair I think yeah yeah

51:13

yeah incredible yeah and

51:16

it goes all like in the thing

51:18

it goes all the way around yeah

51:20

yeah yeah it's front and back hair

51:22

caricature of Kenny Rogers back in the

51:24

day is is hurt Russell

51:26

Santa Claus in this film. Well

51:33

we've talked about all the movies on the list from

51:35

how we've talked about the

51:38

addition that we've added to it big

51:40

trouble in little China and three thousand

51:42

miles to Graceland obviously. We've

51:45

talked about a lot of Kurt Russell movies

51:47

and again are we going with best Kurt

51:49

Russell performance or which is the best movie

51:51

out of these. I mean I

51:54

think the ones that are contenders they're great movies in

51:56

which he is great so that's what do we

51:58

think of the big I think. Yeah,

52:00

I think you're right. One of the ways I

52:02

think about this is like when you imagine sadly

52:04

his future in Memorial

52:07

real at the Academy Awards,

52:10

what's the clip they show? What is

52:12

the most representative film? Like what are

52:14

they going to pull from for that,

52:16

do you think? Stargate, the

52:19

brush cut. Stargate

52:21

and Winter People. You know what, we didn't talk

52:24

about anti-hair movies. Like for a reason you cast

52:26

a Kurt Russell and you give him like a

52:28

number four guard on the top and a two

52:30

on the sides and what

52:32

are you doing? Wait, when has he ever had shorn

52:34

hair in a movie? Stargate. Oh,

52:37

in Stargate, yeah. For me, to answer your question,

52:39

Adam, what I think is to my mind that

52:41

I would think that the roles, the Kurt Russell

52:43

that's going to show up in the in Memorial,

52:46

I think it might be Snake Pliskin, I would

52:48

like it to be Jack Burton. I

52:51

would like it to be Big Trouble in Little

52:53

China because that's the best version of Kurt, I

52:55

think. Yeah. He'll

52:58

get two though. They'll show like because

53:00

you know some people get multiple clips, he'll

53:02

get both. He would get both. Do you think he gets

53:04

the gavel, the last one? Oh,

53:07

is that called the gavel, the final one of the

53:09

year? Yeah, I think he's the gavel.

53:11

I think it depends on who else goes

53:13

that. Guys, this is a very sad conversation. Sadly.

53:16

Yeah, he's not going anytime soon.

53:18

He's not going anywhere. He'll be here forever.

53:20

He'll be here forever through his movies. That's

53:22

right. I think you can sense his wellness

53:25

based on the volume of his hair. He's

53:27

a healthy individual. He's got so

53:29

many more Christmas Chronicles movies in him. Yeah.

53:32

Yeah, yeah. Bivo goes to Big Trouble in

53:34

Little China purely for the joy

53:36

that it brings me and because I think it

53:38

is peak Kurt Russell, if you

53:40

were to play the character of Kurt Russell,

53:42

the SNL impression of Kurt Russell would be

53:45

of Jack Burton, I think. I

53:47

would say and I would offer that as

53:49

a fine choice and a wonderful choice, but

53:51

I think Breakdown is such a good

53:54

movie and such a great performance that

53:56

nobody talks about that I want to throw it up there

53:58

number one because I think it could. be valid

54:00

as a winner but number two because I hope

54:02

people will watch it. I feel like not enough

54:04

people saw it. It was a moderately successful movie.

54:06

Adam, do one of our choices cover what you

54:09

think is the best or is there a third

54:11

one you want to throw out there? I

54:13

want to throw a third one out there,

54:15

a film that we have not mentioned which

54:17

I think should be

54:19

a scandal for those who enjoy

54:21

the show. How could we not have

54:24

evoked the title backdraft at

54:27

any point? Oh my gosh, we

54:29

didn't mention backdraft. A film that

54:32

I love, totally rewatchable like when

54:34

DVDs first came out. Like backdraft,

54:37

watch backdraft all the time in

54:39

college. One of the great rewatchable

54:41

films and a great character. A

54:44

great character, a great film, too

54:46

much of an ensemble film? I agree. Is

54:48

it a Kurt Russell movie? He doesn't take

54:51

it over, you're right. I think it's a

54:53

Scott Glenn movie if I'm thinking of my

54:55

favorite performances in that. I think it's a

54:57

Ron Howard movie. But I absolutely agree that

54:59

it's a great, that's true, it is a

55:01

very Ron Howard movie. You

55:04

could argue that Donald Sutherland took that movie

55:06

over in a scene

55:08

that only lasted a minute. Yeah,

55:10

it's so fun. He belongs there, Kurt

55:12

Russell belongs with heavy hitters like that

55:14

which is a testament to him. Yeah.

55:18

That's a Kurtastically Russell-icious movie. I

55:20

think so. It belongs. It

55:23

belongs and I'm glad that you brought it up. Agreed.

55:26

All right, so then... You could do a show about

55:28

him without mentioning it. That's true. That's

55:30

true, yeah. I didn't have it on my list but that's why I

55:32

didn't want to like, look, I love the

55:34

movie Sky High but he's only in

55:36

it as a supporting character. He's fantastic in

55:38

it along with Kelly Preston. That

55:41

old cast is again insane. A lot of

55:43

people, a lot of the kids like went

55:45

on to Cousin Greg is a let. Really?

55:47

The other kid who makes flames. That's

55:50

great. That's a big awkward kid with the

55:52

bleach blonde hair is Nicholas, whatever his last

55:54

name is. Extremely talented guy.

55:56

Okay, so if the three finalists are

55:58

Big Trouble and Little Chum. of breakdown

56:01

and backdraft. Is there a clear

56:03

winner out of those three? Dr. Justin Marchegiani To me,

56:05

there is. But I'm the one that put

56:07

mine forward, so. I think so too. Yeah,

56:10

I think mine is a distant third

56:12

compared to year two. The film I'm

56:14

most excited about rewatching after this recording

56:17

session is Breakdown. Dr. Justin

56:19

Marchegiani Yeah. Dr. Justin Marchegiani Like the

56:22

warm feelings I have for that film, the fact that

56:24

I haven't seen it in 20 years, like

56:28

I wanna go back to that more than

56:30

Big Trouble in China. Even though Big Trouble

56:32

in Little China is many people's favorite film.

56:35

Dr. Justin Marchegiani Yeah. Dr. Justin Marchegiani

56:37

Kurt Russell or not, people love that movie.

56:39

Dr. Justin Marchegiani Mm-hmm. Dr. Justin Marchegiani Where

56:41

is that in your like on your

56:43

Mount movie more, Mark? Like

56:46

is that like- Dr. Mark Alyn It's not,

56:48

I mean, it's a great movie. It's a

56:50

lot of- again, I didn't rewatch it until

56:52

my adulthood and really get an appreciation for

56:54

it- Dr. Justin Marchegiani Until I was

56:56

an adult, but it is pure

56:58

popcorn fun. I think that's kind

57:00

of what we're deciding right now

57:02

is pure popcorn fun, Kurt Russell,

57:05

or arguably his best performance.

57:07

Dr. Justin Marchegiani Breakdown isn't fun.

57:09

Dr. Justin Marchegiani Breakdown is not a

57:11

fun movie. Dr. Justin Marchegiani No, it's tense. It's

57:14

a- it's really good, but it's a

57:16

tense movie. I would argue that Kurt

57:18

Russell, his mythology is

57:20

based in fun. Dr. Justin Marchegiani

57:22

Yeah. Dr. Justin Marchegiani And so I think

57:25

that Big Trouble in Little China accentuates

57:27

that element of him, even though it

57:29

is an incredible performance in Breakdown. And

57:31

that gets me back to the question,

57:33

is it best Kurt Russell performance or

57:35

best Kurt Russell movie? I gotta tell

57:37

you, I think much as I love

57:39

Breakdown and I think I've accomplished my

57:41

goal, which is to get people who

57:44

listen to this to check it out. So I'll- Please

57:47

watch Breakdown. It feels like it would be

57:49

a grand disservice to choose anything but Big

57:51

Trouble in Little China. We got

57:53

this as a Breakdown stan account. I

57:55

think everyone recognized that. Sure.

57:57

We stan a breakdown. Yeah, we do. I

58:00

think it's big trouble in Little China, do we agree? I'm

58:03

good with it. Yeah, let's enshrine it. Alright,

58:06

people of the world, if you have

58:08

green eyes, be careful. If you're a

58:10

lady with green eyes, don't become a wizard's bride.

58:12

You don't want to do that. That's not, you

58:14

know, they'll kidnap you. They'll kidnap you right away.

58:16

You'll become a bride and then you can live

58:18

forever or come back or whatever. Stay

58:20

away from Lopan. I used

58:22

to do the magic with

58:25

a friend of mine in math class.

58:28

You would hold the jewel and I would do the cross

58:30

pinkies and we would fire magic at each other. That's

58:32

why I was bad at math. But I'm real good

58:35

at picking Kurt Russell movies. That is why we have

58:37

selected Big Trouble in Little China

58:39

as the best Kurt Russell movie. You might have known

58:41

it from the beginning, but now you know for sure

58:43

asked and answered. And one other thing

58:46

you know for sure is that it

58:48

is currently the Max Fun Drive. Yes.

58:51

One last time, this is Max Fun Drive 2024. You

58:55

have till end of day on

58:57

Friday the 29th of March, this

58:59

coming Friday to support the art and

59:01

artists you enjoy at maximumfun.org/join. If you've

59:03

never been a Max Fun member, you can try it

59:05

out at just $5 a month and enjoy great bonus

59:08

content. And if you're already a member and you'd

59:10

like to support a little more, we would certainly

59:12

appreciate you upgrading your membership or even boosting it

59:14

by a few dollars per month or so. Please

59:17

do it now while you're thinking of it. We don't want

59:19

you to forget. That's right. Don't

59:21

forget to join maximumfun.org/join. We have

59:23

special thank you gifts. You can

59:25

check out when you head to

59:28

maximumfun.org/join. That is bonus content for

59:30

all the shows at the $5

59:32

level. That's our awesome pin

59:34

at the $10 level. And

59:36

you can get these if you become a

59:38

member or boost or upgrade. And you

59:41

can get these if you join or

59:43

upgrade your membership today at maximumfun.org/join. Don't

59:45

forget to click that box that says

59:47

we got this with Mark and Hal.

59:49

And to those who have already become

59:51

members, thank you. We couldn't do the

59:54

show without you. The thing inspired this

59:56

entire conversation and yet like such

59:59

as Kurt Russell's. entire career

1:00:01

like what

1:00:04

a legend. Yeah. Absolutely.

1:00:06

This is the most I've ever thought about

1:00:08

Kurt Russell and I'm so glad that we

1:00:10

did this. Yeah, me too. Thank

1:00:13

you for this Adam. Thank you for the

1:00:15

suggestion of the hair. The thing

1:00:17

is the best hair. I'm going to keep

1:00:19

in closer touch with you guys. I love doing

1:00:21

this show. I love to have please weird.

1:00:23

Do we find we just get lunch sometime?

1:00:25

It doesn't have to be for a podcast. We

1:00:27

were in the same city. You don't have

1:00:29

to monetize our friendship. We don't. Let's have a

1:00:31

good time talking about movies off mic. Amen.

1:00:35

Speaking of monetizing, if you're going to support, we got

1:00:37

this with Mark and how you should also support the

1:00:39

greatest generation and the greatest track. Adam, thank you for

1:00:41

joining us. Thank you for having me. I

1:00:43

love this show. So fun. Well, we

1:00:45

love you buddy. We love you back. It's

1:00:48

so fun to have you. You're an absolute

1:00:50

blast. And yes, to reiterate what Hal said,

1:00:52

please go listen to greatest track and greatest

1:00:54

generation. And we got this with Mark and

1:00:57

Hal and support them on max fun as

1:00:59

a member maximum fun.org/join. Thank you for this

1:01:01

topic. This topic is closed. We can say

1:01:03

to the person who suggested, thank you. Uh,

1:01:05

let me look at my notes. Adam Pranika

1:01:08

at today's topic. This topic is closed, but

1:01:10

there are many more topics to discuss. So

1:01:12

please reach out to us via email at

1:01:14

we got this [email protected] or share your

1:01:17

love of all things. Kurt tactically, Russell,

1:01:19

licious at facebook.com/groups slash. We got this

1:01:21

podcast. I don't want to ever stop

1:01:23

seeing gifts of Kurt Russell there. I

1:01:25

will watch them all and thumbs up

1:01:28

each one that I see. You can also

1:01:30

find us on tick tock at we got

1:01:33

this podcast and on Instagram at we got

1:01:35

this show. Thank you to producer 10 plume

1:01:38

researcher, Kate McManus graphic designer, Eric Hellman

1:01:40

and QA engineer, Jen Alba. And thanks

1:01:42

of course to our musicians, Jonathan Dinerstein

1:01:45

and Mike Furman for our score and

1:01:47

theme song respectively. And thank

1:01:49

you. The people of the

1:01:51

world for, as

1:01:53

you have done for so many seasons

1:01:56

of Max fund drives and years of

1:01:58

this show, giving us an. opportunity

1:02:00

to sit down with our buddies and

1:02:02

talk about stuff that we think is

1:02:04

fun and hilarious and interesting and cool

1:02:06

and things that we can add to

1:02:09

your collection of movies if we can

1:02:11

and you are the happiest place on

1:02:13

the internet, the most fun argument anywhere

1:02:15

and for that you are responsible. So

1:02:17

to you I say thank you, thank

1:02:19

you, thank you. For Hal Loveland,

1:02:22

I'm Mark Gagliardi. For Mark Gagliardi, I'm Hal

1:02:24

Loveland. Don't worry everybody. We

1:02:26

got this. We got this. Maximum

1:02:29

Fun, a worker owned

1:02:32

network of artists and shows,

1:02:34

supported directly by you.