Midweek Mention... They Live

They Live

Reegs: So 100 episodes I can't help but feel this is huge anticlimax

Sidey: haven't even started yet

Reegs: Yeah Yeah You didn't realize did you

Dan: Yeah we've been tweeting about it all week and it's only just tweek days this week We're tweeting about 100

Reegs: So this is

Sidey: The the Twitter campaign was Very exciting I have to say I spent a lot of time on it Pete what was your methodology for Cause it was me and you that well at first weeks you ran away with it

Reegs: Yeah I tapped into a community that I knew liked this film so we got them to retweet it and know people who like

Dan: So for anybody who doesn't know what was happening we had a poll on Twitter and we all nominated a film and somebody won and somebody didn't And in fact three of his Last

Pete: Well I think I think two of us one and two of us lost

Reegs: Does it include did you get the breakdown of the votes Because I got Facebook votes as well Cause that was an interesting part to the

Sidey: Well you snuck that in without telling one

Dan: canvas by hand in my local supermarket and I've got 4,000 votes

Pete: I I there's still one ballot to be counted from the polling station in Marsha

Sidey: It looked like you went more general with Like a hashtag and twisted verse

Pete: Well I don't really know what I'm doing on Twitter So this was these were my my first hashtags ever they were my first quote retweets I think is what it was called So these are and what I also did is set up a load of like rogue accounts and vote and voted for myself It was all email addresses that I've had just when I'm doing like elicit things online I set up a lot of yeah Yeah exactly Right So that was how I managed to boost my albeit I did get they get told the day after that someone would have voted for me So I felt like it was mine was the moral victory

Sidey: I just searched for people talking about the film recently and then I just bombarded them with spam And we met a lot of people did vote And also I went through like loads of WhatsApp groups and stuff And then on Sunday night at the masters on I was doing something for this and I was watching the poll because I didn't realize that you'd gotten the lead to see So it was only about an hour and a half left to go And so I was counting people I was using all my old emails and then a few people who were a bit fucking tardy got round to Boeing and it brought a level And then I was like shit there's only like two weeks ago So I was texting this lad that I used to work with his sound and I was like quickly separate fucking account And I think it must've just been like 10

Dan: talking about how you

Sidey: 10 seconds out

Dan: fucking

Reegs: poles

Sidey: I was just enthusiastic about my movie and I wanted people to see it

Reegs: I did try I set up a sort of Quiet Facebook poll in which I then railroaded various people that I know into voting for it

Dan: had to just it out

Reegs: were oblivious

Sidey: is how democracy works down

Pete: Absolutely

Reegs: there was a bit of a weird thing because we had a for some reason we had credit in the bad dads ad account that we'd run from before So I was like all right okay I'll pump I'll run an ad to see if I

Pete: on just your film

Reegs: No on the whole post but then I

Pete: I mean it mast like eight votes or something It was it was frightening The impact that that

Reegs: so I got I targeted the demographic that I wanted to appeal to that it was like Male slightly male dominated 18 to 65 parents interested in cinema and all this stuff What they gave me was a bunch of fucking rednecks

Sidey: who

Reegs: then just pull out a load of abuse back on the boasts about being spam

Sidey: Oh did you see that guy I ran back to him Don't fucking solicit Don't fucking blah blah blah And I spent thanks Brian

Reegs: Yeah Yeah Anyway your movie one I'm going to make you watch my movie at some point We're going to do as we're going to do the man-cave we're going to watch the movie and then we're going to talk about it straight afterwards One time we'll sort that out because I think it really does warrant that kind of discussion

Sidey: Yeah For people who didn't see rigs point at me it was they live that one So we're going to talk about that but we're also going to run a competition for some exclusive and fucking brilliant they live artwork which will create So we'll put out a tweet about how you can win that

Reegs: Are we allowed to win it Because the the design of all this stuff is so cool Anyway the the they live alien and the graffiti graphic Yeah Yeah

Dan: but we can't enter ourselves

Sidey: Your family might be able to

Pete: I heard earlier righ Scott here and he caught you trying to enter yourself

Dan: not trying to Peter

Pete: Okay

Reegs: So how are people going to win this prize Sidey

Sidey: I think we're going to say something and then ask them to answer a question based on what we've said in this episode

Reegs: This is a bit of a shambles Isn't it this bit

Sidey: No I think it's good I think we don't normally have any intro chat on a midweek or so it makes it more special

Dan: Did you think you would get into this when you started out long Has that been that's been a hundred weeks not Mister

Sidey: No Cause we did two weeks it was it was November November, 2019 It was

Reegs: Yeah

Hours and hours of drivel vomited into the ether and into

Pete: to work out how much booze we've drunk in that time then Nah

Reegs: no I would say the booze drinking has gone up quite a lot since P yeah

Sidey: cheese eating has gone up exponentially

Reegs: Anyway we've watched They live And I if I was going to lose to any movie this is a good one to lose too

Sidey: Had you seen it before

Reegs: Yes I've seen this a few times

Sidey: It popped up on Netflix and I thought Oh that looks great

Dan: but I I obviously refuse to acknowledge your cheating poles So I didn't actually say

Sidey: well we'll convince you although we will also spoil it

Dan: Yes Okay Watching you

Sidey: But I think even looking at the movie poster there's nothing better It's not shocking It's yeah It's just a bit of an action rumps satire kind of thing

Reegs: Well it's this really fascinating class Dissection as well There's a whole load of other stuff and Luna conspiracy theories and lunacy in there There's a whole lot going on It's John carpenter's 1988 classic They live just sort of looking at looking at Reagan's America and the corporate greed so anyway it starts off with rowdy Roddy Piper the wrestler

Sidey: was only credited as a Roddy Piper They were disappointed They didn't stick the rowdy in

Reegs: Well there he had to leave the

Sidey: out yeah I found out with Vince McMahon by this Yeah

Pete: yeah

Reegs: yeah He really wanted to leave because he was like I want to work with John Carpenter I want to do this movie It's going to be great Vince My mom was like we'll give you a load of we'll find you a movie you know it'll be a WWF thing Cause they had already had no holds barred I think it was with Hogan and that had been quite a big success but he said no I want to work How many times am I going to get to work with the director of Halloween you know so he he quit the WWF to do this movie

Pete: I looked so I looked up his filmography on Wikipedia and he 40 films or seven I don't know

Reegs: to Frogtown is the one that we might

Pete: there were some quite funny titles in there but yeah and there was even a couple of ones that made it as far as sequels so they could have all been total pitch but he I didn't know that he was an actor I knew him from his from his WWF fame

Dan: which is true

Pete: which is yeah it's real as it gets

Reegs: you say it's not acting but he obviously when he's arrested has a absolutely spot on Scottish

Sidey: Astra is very

Reegs: And yet in this he was you know very believable is slightly Canadian sounding Canadian I would have said maybe he didn't like that kind of sound too

Sidey: It was breathtaking

Pete: It there was some scenes where it bounced quite a lot as he was moving around and

Dan: it Doesn't take two bottles into the shower

Sidey: Wow That is a bit of a an oxymoron I don't know if that's the right word but he's He's basically a kind of homeless guy works in construction on these odd jobs that you can get but clearly conditions his

Pete: completely Yeah absolutely Yeah

Sidey: He lives in

Reegs: It's sort of shantytown slummy that he literally steps over the wrong side of the tracks in the opening shot of the movie It's amazing and he says drifter comes into town and he's got this rucksack on his back in a sleeping bag He's got his own tools with him He goes to a construction site but he can't get a job because even you know the man's keeping everybody down sort of thing he goes to a shanty town run by this bearded fella and a preacher

Pete: just

Dan: a man with a beard

Sidey: I don't know if he's he was just there He was they were trying to help him because he was clearly insane But the the the bed dude I think you're just supposed to believe he's kind of just too Yeah well meaning I was going to say do good but do good It sounds like an insult He's just like a charitable guy is looking after this community of homeless people but he's also but what happens is they there's a TV set up but the the station is being hacked and this sort of subliminal but it's not subliminal but this this message is coming across but it's kind of garbled because they're not getting the full message and it's they're sort of

Reegs: as a scientist isn't it He's saying

Sidey: You're being but he's trying to

Reegs: There's a signal that there's a signal is basically being broadcast in the middle of the regular TV programming You've got this guy just saying that yeah there's a signal being broadcast and you know kind of introducing these sort of paranoid thoughts basically to the audience

Dan: are watching these homeless people when they turn up or into this town that they're given a place to stay and eat and everything and then they're watching this

Sidey: telephone That's just that's just the way they are But this is sort of they're saying like nationally or globally

Reegs: It's sort of saying You're being kept in this kind of co-operative dreamlike state basically and then there's also this preacher who is talking about how there is a sort of other are they who are rich essentially the rich and elite controlling all of power in the society you know to to so they've got absolutely nothing People are homeless there's sort of a There's a hint that there's a sort of minor small middle-class but it's mostly a really divided society where everybody's that they send

Dan: in then to the poor people And I

Sidey: assume it

Dan: the rich that are doing this

Reegs: you just wait because he basically finds that there is

Sidey: but the police the police raid the commune sort of site and everyone flees as

Reegs: brutal though Isn't it Cause the the what are those things called with a fucking massive bucket on the front as well Just sort of bulldozers its way through the and you've seen stuff like that on the news you've seen maybe it's in Gaza you've seen things being bulldozed down Maybe it's in Brazil in the favelas you know you've seen that sort of stuff So

Sidey: yeah And after that he cause he's already sort of explored there's a church based the opposite where the guys that run this So it was sight They keep disappearing in there So something's third he goes in and then he finds out this is where these hackers are that are trying to come up this signal and get their message out But everything is basically destroyed while he's in there He sort of finds a secret panel He bumps into something So the next day he goes back and he retrieves a package out of this secret compartment is for the sunglasses

Pete: The morning off to the bulldozing He finds some like lad with blonde hair who I thought for a little while was Shane mourn cricketer

Reegs: it

Pete: It wasn't No it looked a lot like him though Yeah So if you if you're a cricket found out and you can get get your kicks that way as well

Reegs: So when he's he's got the box of sunglasses puts them down and it's been a real quiet opening to the movie There has been those bits

Dan: thing to have just pulled out box that

Pete: Somebody hidden away

Reegs: Well you you wait until what happens next then

Pete: but there's references Right So one of the first things you see is spray painted on the wall at the train station is they live And then before he even gets to this this commune or whatever we were calling it he walks through a park and happens upon the preacher who's you know on on his slide on his box talking about they a lot And then he gets to the sort of commune And then there's the there's the hacking of the TV station That's So even though it's kind of like a fairly sort of standard drifters The story man arrives in town finds commune He's got to get work he's got to get food He's trying to make friends There's this there's this theme running through it So you're kind of expecting things to then sort of fall into place And whilst at that point in time I had no idea what the the point of the sunglasses was I knew that it would have something to do with what they were talking about or guests that it would be

Reegs: So when he puts on the sunglasses suddenly an entire world that lives behind the world we see exists So the giant advertising billboards have slogans like obey and spend money And what are some there's some really good ones on there Mary and reproduce you you know stay asleep the and Probably the most significant thing that he sees after he sees that is that some members of the population have got basically skeletal faces

Sidey: Yeah

Pete: Yeah Some do And some don't

Reegs: do even someday

Pete: but only when he's got the

Reegs: So he checks that a few times he takes the glasses off He looks the first guy that he sees is it the new standard Isn't it He sort of frightens him off doesn't he runs into an alley and there's two cops Yeah who are of course both skull faced Actually there's a lady who sees him because she says she says into her watch One of them can see us and it's so like your mind is just reeling because suddenly you've seen it There's all these things There's security drones flying about that you can't see So clearly there is a Small population of aliens that lives amongst humanity and is controlling them through using propaganda you know and subliminal messaging to subdue the population yeah it's just a it's an amazing idea Styling is you've seen it a load of times before Shepard Fairey is a

Sidey: Yeah I've got it

Reegs: Graffiti artist who does the abase stuff you ever seen that I love the baseball caps and the

Sidey: He was in it was featured in an exit to the gift shop Yeah

Dan: yeah I'm cool on that stuff

Pete: right It's probably also worth adding at this point that even I mean now we're probably 25 minutes or so into the film but they've also been some quiet like bits that it's been sort of splashed with humor like the interaction with it with the old lady is like he's Sort of obviously nobody else can see what he can see And he's like saying you know audibly in the shop like ah this woman is so fucking ugly And so you know but like in a comedic way and everyone's like what's this guy on about So it's I think it's probably You know it the fact that it was his hit he's like this like big oversees he's he's well put together rowdy Roddy Piper but he's you know he's not he's not immediately

Dan: man with the

Pete: He's the main guy Yeah this is he's the

Sidey: He's our hero

Pete: he's the hero right He is

Dan: I thought you just had like a

Pete: No no no This is he is the

Reegs: he plays nada I think his name is literally nothing nada

Sidey: not he's never named in the film It's only in the credits It says Jonathan to nod or something like that

Pete: and

Dan: Performance wise

Reegs: He's very good Yeah It's it's a sort of perfect mashup

Pete: I think I think because he's meant to be because he's kind of you know he's like this Drifter and you just kind of like meet things head on and he at no point is he terrified He's a bit confused And he's startled when he sees the guy at the new Stan but he's not like we would

Sidey: well he

Pete: like just basically shit yourself

Reegs: kills the two alien

Sidey: by it's not like they're often some fucking

Pete: no it was right by the side of the street And no one comes to even investigate what's going on That

Sidey: into a bank

Reegs: Yeah

Sidey: And we

Reegs: And you get

Sidey: of the

Reegs: of the great yeah

Pete: Oh

Reegs: No inside He should drop

Sidey: He says I've come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass and I'm all out of bubble gum

Reegs: It's so good

Pete: The thing is

Sidey: he's got like shotgun in his hand He just looks fucking cool about it Yeah

Pete: Like if if someone else had said that or if like Arnie would have said the Odegaard fuck So it actually I just like chuckled to myself and thought that's pretty cool

Reegs: Yeah Yeah It was good so he ends up sort of robbing a when does he Rob the bank

Pete: No he doesn't Rob the bank He just kills all the people who are

Reegs: on this huge killing

Pete: He's got his sunglasses on So he just kills all the people who are Scolito Yeah

Reegs: from the

Pete: police start there There's a lot Yeah it escalated quickly

Dan: So he's he's now on this mad

Reegs: Rambo

Sidey: it's kind of

Dan: juice Cause there are people there not because of the money

Reegs: He's

Sidey: no

Reegs: he's not robbing No but he's obviously he's had this massive reveal That reality is a con and there's something else happening and anybody can be

Sidey: Because we get another absolute highlight where he is now on the run And he's earlier he's made friends with this dude at the construction site and he saw high as behind a portaloo

Reegs: wait wait wait wait before this before this there's another highlight Sorry You've missed When so after the bank he goes back to this television executives house It's this chick and she's she did you see this coming Because I'd forgotten this she's she's a she's a human he goes back to her house hides out There's some like real sexist dialogue from I can't remember what you said It's it's really dodgy when you look back

Pete: yeah She is Did you recognize her

Reegs: Yeah

Pete: she is evil Lynn from masters of the universe

Reegs: golden striking

Pete: yeah yeah With golden striking that she's and the thing is I remember her in that film because what I was I remember her from like the master university and because I was really struggled all the way through the film with would I or wouldn't I With evil Lynn I would I do or not and and I don't know she was Oh she looks a little bit like a bird No no she's okay Very piercing eyes

Dan: for you

Pete: though Yeah Eyes are I believe her own eyes like very very piercing and yeah and I had the same dilemma in this film as well

Reegs: Anyway she fucking leathers Roddy over the back of the head and he falls out the window which is really high up and then just does this and it's a practical stunt Right So natural stuntmen doing it It's it's really good It's a big fall so yeah he he Has the shit beaten out of him One thing I noticed that's really interesting is that the injuries that they sustain over the movie and it leads into the bit that you're about to talk to society they keep which is really rare for an action movie You know normally they're like fixed in the next scene but if the guy lands badly on his ankle he's limping in the next scene that sort of thing So good

Pete: no a lot of use of cotton wool like later on in the in the film Yeah

Sidey: Yeah He's now on the on the lamb as they say any hides in the construction site basically behind the low and he causes my own He's like what are you doing here You know I can't be sitting talking to you fuck off

Reegs: Is that Frank Keith David Yeah Keith David So he's an actor very distinctive He was in men at work He's like the lunatic entre That is the worst example you could ever give What was he in

Pete: I remember him as the guy from this something about Mary who is like who's I think he's like is he Cameron Diaz stepdad or something

Reegs: Yeah

Pete: And he's there in the beans above the Frank scene like trying to help him but yeah You'd know him

Reegs: Very distinctive voice Also built like a brick shit house in this

Sidey: If they eventually come together in a car park and

Pete: it's it's sorry It is where it's saying that by this time Roddy Piper's face is all over the news as like a wanted man because he's gone into a bank and killed a load of people And well as far as people are concerned it's he's just gone mental and got on a rampage but he's he is killing the baddies but no one else knows that So his face is plastered everywhere

Sidey: yeah he wants he wants someone else to see the world through these glasses So he tries to get frat effects I know fuck off I'm not putting on those glasses Just fucking leave me alone You're a wanted man you know I've got a family or this

Reegs: Well he had a whole he had a whole box but at this point he's just got one And he's saying Frank Tate and

Sidey: to see this You've got to see what's going on And he won't do it about a bit of a coming together

Reegs: a bit

Sidey: which goes on for fucking

Pete: It's at least five

Sidey: It's over five minutes Yeah

Pete: a five minute fights

Sidey: to be a 20 32nd little fight scene but say fuck it went all

Reegs: out

Sidey: Proper wrestling moves in it There's a S there's a suplex There's a

Dan: got to use it If he's got it I guess

Sidey: not just him doing it like Frank does it to him It's fucking immense it's it becomes a parody and then goes back to being normal again

Reegs: it's in an alley It's in an alley Yeah because yeah because much of this movie is set where the poor people are you know I mean that's part of that's part

Sidey: I think the seeds would have been the inspiration You said it's the far show They used to have a sketch on it called the lung Big punch up Yes Which was basically this

Reegs: It's they have this punch up It is different because you've got the wrestling moves also It's very physical and both of them get knocked down a few times What's going on here though is he's basically like He wants to show him the world as it really is And these this is the effort that somebody would go to not to see it to stay blind You know that's what's being represented here So that's why the fight is so long That's why nobody gives up it's loads of hilarious moments as well He goes to attack him with a bottle but it shatters in his hand And then he rowdy Roddy Piper just pisses himself Then he picks up a two by four he's about East coast to smack him

Sidey: Was that his No it

Reegs: was And he ducks out the way No that was

Pete: Jim Dugan

Reegs: He he he ducks out the way two by four puts a massive dent in the car and he's like Oh shit sorry And he drops the cause he's like Oh that would have gone really badly So there's loads of good moments in this little fight it's worth seeing Anyway eventually he wins the fight Sucker punches him doesn't he And he puts the glasses on and obviously Frank sees everything I can't remember if this is a short where you get him It's like He's looking out and everything is the you know the alien

Pete: but he looks he looks up and sees a ship at that point He sees some like alien faces and then looks up and sees the ship and then straight away realizes that it's yeah Yeah He's on the moon

Sidey: after this it it does kind of get a bit generic reaction I thought for me

Reegs: Yeah well they meet a resistance movement they're given contact lenses to replace the sunglasses which I felt was a real shame because it's such an iconic look and those that stylist sunglasses is now way back in over here as well So

Pete: They looked like the the Terminator sunglasses they were the same sort of style like quite quite big like chunky black

Reegs: original Terminator So the more black sort of bigger ones Yeah so you find out that basically resources are being plundered If you like to support this alien race that lives amongst us And that they're also using human collaborators because of course they are because humans are slimy shits and they'll rather side with the aliens and subjugate their fellow people quite happily There's a whole load of shooting

Sidey: There's loads of machine garner just you know they can't hit him but he can hit a met another ministry It just kind of I don't know if it dropped down to quality I didn't enjoy those bits as much as all the stuff leading up to it

Reegs: I I did like this stuff but it's fairly If you've had all the way through it's been quite quiet at points You've had the Western bluesy score that you know John Carpenter makes his own music for his own movies So and you can go and listen to him play his soundtracks and stuff as well which is pretty cool But yeah So you've had this Western theme then it's the big shootout basically And then at the very very end through happenstance and seeing people go off planet and all kinds of other weird stuff they end up at the TV studio

Pete: Yeah

Dan: Is this the hub Is this the the

Reegs: well his idea is to stop the signal because if you can stop the signal people can see the world as it is Yeah

Dan: That that that would effectively give everyone sunglasses

Pete: Yeah that's right It reveals everything Yeah

Reegs: The bird who'd already double-cross them come back and then double crosses them again and kills Yeah she kills Frank

Pete: Yeah Cause she's one of the the upper classes who's in cahoots with the alien

Dan: Okay

Reegs: Then rowdy Roddy Piper kind of kills everybody but he's fatally shot by a helicopter in a

Pete: Yeah Yeah Some guys in a helicopter up on the roof of the a TV station where the mat like the massive antenna is

Reegs: And he gives him the finger which is sort of well I'm doing it quite viciously a bit more broken

Pete: Yeah Yeah He he must as up one final bit of strength just to give the

Reegs: the fuck

Pete: yeah The middle thing Yeah

Reegs: Destroys the transmitter that then suddenly you get these shots of the aliens being revealed

Pete: all around the city and around the well round around America it looks like yeah

Reegs: there's a couple of

Pete: Yeah

Reegs: There's a couple of funny reveals here but I think that probably the standout one is the final shot of the movie where a woman is about to have sex and the guy has just turned into that skeleton thing And what does he what does he say what's the problem baby or something like that

Pete: So that that picture I showed you before Dan it's just one guy in a bar and he's watching the telly and he doesn't realize that he's been revealed but everyone all of a sudden just turns around and looks at him And he just

Dan: imagine from the poster the film is what you've just described you know it's Shouldn't judge a book by its cover

Reegs: is an absolute classic You know John Carpenter

Dan: escaped me this one I've never seen it

Pete: before

Reegs: yet you can relate to the idea so much because you've seen it you know it's the

Sidey: loads of stuff in this that's quite topical So they mentioned climate change There's a whole political thing with Reagan and Trump I guess is a sort of same

Dan: You know themes aren't they that that you could definitely you know resonate then And and still today

Pete: I can imagine I can imagine he's the nutcase he's playing golf for Coventry city Who's the British guy massive conspiracy theories He's always on about reptilians and yeah Yeah I imagine he's a big fan of this

Sidey: This is his favorite

Pete: going to say I thought about David I

Sidey: that because you brought up that that's a true fact

Reegs: I I is something that was obviously like really really relevant at the time it was made it was carpenter talking about Reagan's economics and sort of the 1% and all this stuff that still feels relevant today But when you look at drones in the sky people you know having conspiracy theories militarized police in the streets economic inequality iMedia that seeks to address and or control issues It's like it just couldn't be any more prescient in any era that you look at it In so it's really tapped into some paranoid thoughts There

Sidey: Was

Dan: hitting some things that were drones and things you know in AEA you wouldn't have

Pete: you could definitely this film could definitely it would be very different in terms of its look and everything but it would you could remake this film currently and use different sort of I don't you know some of like black mirror type stuff is is is along the same kind of theme but yeah you could definitely remake this film and make it modern and and it still be around the same story

Reegs: I think because of its ability its hook that everybody can relate to you know in the matrix they call it that splinter in your mind that tells you that something's wrong with the world sort of thing that those feelings that a lot of dodgy shit has been also projected onto it So there was a whole thing where carpenter had to explain no it's not about Jewish lizard people controlling the world

Sidey: the white supremacists co-opted it And suggested that the aliens were where the Jews

Reegs: Yeah That that old Chestnut the old David one And you know you you wouldn't have to look very far for Q a non cold tests to resonate with this kind of thing as well So you know really powerful stuff I think the design of the faces is good Yeah

Pete: well Yeah

Sidey: Yeah I thought the whole assessment was brilliant Really liked it

Reegs: and he's brilliant in it Roddy Isn't he That's

Sidey: great

Pete: Yeah

Dan: That that's just yeah Double surprise

Pete: It's a surprisingly good film

Dan: If you've sold me gents

Pete: You didn't enjoy it then Oh

Dan: I sounds like a well yeah

Reegs: What would you give this movie Sidey

Sidey: I would give this nine skeletal aliens out of a close encounter

Reegs: Okay

Pete: That's a strong school