A remake? In January?? It's true! We are uncovering the 1983 remake of BREATHLESS starring Richard Gere
What's cool, full of vibrant colors, gets pretty sexy but also is a bit annoying to the point where you question the integrity of the central relationship? That's probably Jim McBride's remake of the 1960 Nouvelle Vague classic À BOUT DE SOUFLE (in English): BREATHLESS.
You might have thought: the most stringent of cinephiles would not touch a remake of this film with the longest of barge poles! It's a classic for a reason; however, this modern, pop-culture-filled, punky injection of 80's Neo-Noir cinema is much better than you might think. It takes some swings and hits most of them if you can get past the fact that Richard Gere's central character is one of the most annoying criminals in existence.
Join us as we continue down an odyssey of appreciating Mr. Gere in all his fine glory from 1983.
Breathless '83: Richard Gere's Erotic Journey
Laura: Well, hello there. Welcome to On the BiTTE, the podcast that uncovers full frontal male nudity in cinema. My name is Laura and I am joined by my man on the run, Ryan.
Ryan: I feel like this. This chill in the air has left me breathless.
Laura: Breathless. Like the 1983 neo noir romantic thriller Breathless.
Ryan: What?
Laura: Neo noir romantic thriller?
Ryan: Oh, we do, uh, a podcast about films. I thought we were doing a podcast about the weather. Um, there is only really one Breathless and it's French. And there's this bastardized sequel that came out.
Laura: This, a. This is not a sequel remake.
Ryan: Sorry, Corre. Um, that came out in the 1980s. Um, actually, I'm going to take that back. It's actually, it's not that bad. It's actually pretty decent.
Laura: It's pretty good.
Ryan: Yeah. I remember, I remember back when I was, uh, when I was like at one of those. One of those pretentious film guys, I was just like, fuck, that, uh, remake can't be as good as a boot de souf.
Laura: I love that you said that in the past tense, but I just watched a Boot de Suf the other day. I hadn't seen it before, and I really liked it. This, uh, is different. This is, this is very 80s.
Ryan: It's very 80s. And it would really struggle to capture the energy of that original film because that original film from 1960 is, uh. Yeah, it'it's. Very much within the time capsule of, like, the zeitgeist of cinema at the time, though. Like, it really captured, uh, a, uh, creative energy that. That was really coming about. Like, it's the. It is the flagship film of the French new wave, so. And it spurred so many inspirational callbacks as well. I mean, Arthur Penn watched Breathless and. Or put de sou. Sorry, um, and made, uh, Bonnie and Clyde on the same principle, basically. So.
Laura: Yeah, that 1960 film, if you don't know, was directed by Godard and it was written by Godard and Francois Chufau. And yes, AB de Souf literally translates.
Ryan: The poster boys of the nouvelle vague
Laura: Yeah, the real boys.
Ryan: Uh, the actual boys.
Laura: So the title of this translated is actually the closest you can get. Not like man bites dog, but this means out of breath, Breathless. Same.
Ryan: Okay, yeah, no, very literal. Um, yeah, no, I think it's. It's u. Uh, it's difficult to make the comparisons, but I haven't seen a book de Sou in like, many, many, many, many, many years. U. Um, but it does. The breathless. Breathless 83, as I've decided to call it, is. It does A very good job of modernizing it, at least in the 80s standards. Um, and it has a few kind of Jim McBrideisms as well, that I kind of appreciate.
Laura: Jim McBride being the director.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Also will just say that this film stars the Richard Gere as the one and only Bluejack. Oh, Richard Gere is my bread and butter. And Valerie Kopinski as Monica.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: In this motion picture. I'll toss the synopsis at you just in case you don't know. Jesse, a small time criminal, high tails it to Los Angeles to rendezvous with a French exchange student. Stealing a car and accidentally killing a highway patrolman. He becomes the most wanted fugitive in la.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And the tagline is he'the last man on earth. Any woman needs and every woman wants.
Ryan: Don't know if it's true.
Laura: I disagree with that. I disagree with that.
Ryan: Makes sense.
Laura: We will dig our fingers and toes into this, like really deep. But Jesse Lujack is a walking, running, dancing red flag.
Ryan: He's a fucking human toilet.
Laura: He is the worst. He is one of the most annoying people I've ever seen portrayed on film. I hate him so much. But I also love him because he's chaos incarnate.
Ryan: He is. Yeah. He. That's one of the M. McBrideisms that I honker because it's kind of like, um, it's a little bit like the Big Easy because Dennis Quaid is in that movie and he's got one fucking accent in that movie
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Ryan: and he is, he is incredibly unlikable. But the thing is, is like, it's not, it's not that you're watching. You're like, oh, uh, fucking hell. Why is he so horrible? He's, he's horrible by design. You know, like in the Big Easy, it's slightly, you know, it's different. It's. It's a crooked cop in New Orleans. So, I mean, Quai is laying on thick. But the thing is, is that Richard, Richard Gere in this movie, he's leying it on fucking super thick. Like, I can't believe it's not butter thick. It's, uh. Yeah. And, and the thing is, is like as annoying as it, as it does. It does end up kind, you know, his portrayal does end up being kind of annoying. It's. There's still an element of like, there's a charismatic element to him, which I kind of appreciate and there's an element of cool about it, uh, that's kind of got this 80 sheen all over it, which I, you know, I kind of appreciate as well, as much as maybe Breathless 83 is a little bit more throwaway than its original incarnation.
Laura: Well, we will. Will definitely figure that out because this was my second viewing of this film and I loved it. The first time I watched it, I liked it. This time I loved it. And I actually want to do a back to back, have people come over, do a back to back breathless. But before we talk about that, I want you to tell me about Jim McBride
Ryan: Jim McBride. Um, so he's an American screenwriter, producer and director. Um, Richard Brody of the New Yorker named McBride is one of the 12 greatest living narrative filmmakers.
Laura: Damn.
Ryan: But that comes with a caveats and that he only really likens that. That, um, that level of brevity on the basis of, uh, his, his. His debut feature, which was a mockumentary called David Holzman's Diary. And that was the only film that earned him that title. I couldn't find that original article anywhere. Um, there was, there was snippets from an article from the New Yorker, um, for the DVD of the week, which, uh, cited Breathless 83. Um, but yeah, I mean, that's fine. Um, you know, I think M. McBride s stuff's interesting. I think it's interesting stuff. I mean, it kind of depends like on how much, how much this site he's been. He'd been, you know, he's still alive now. You know, he's been a filmmaker since the 60s. Um, but really his debut came out in 67. And that was David Holtzman's Diary, My girlfriend's wedding in 1969. Uh, pictures from Life's Other side from 71. Glenn and Randa from 71, Hot Times from 74. Then we have Breathless in 1983, the Big Easy in 1986, which is hilarious because it'just went from one to the other.
Laura: Hell yeah.
Ryan: Great Balls of fire from 1986. And, uh, oh, I seem to have wren Great balls of Fire twice. And it's, uh. This other version is from 1989. I must have been drunk when I wrote this time. And then Uncovered is like his last feature film, which was in 1994, when really you kind of see more of a focus on TV pretty much up until 2001 when he was directing episodes of Six Feet Under. Um, but yeah, as we'd mentioned before, this is the remake of the 1960 God, our true À bout de souffle. Um, where really the original is about an American woman in a French Criminal in Paris, where obviously in this version in 83 is swapped and it's in Los Angeles. The nationalities are swapped.
Laura: I say absolutely.
Ryan: You know, where it's an American criminal and a French exchange student.
Laura: So I don't know it works. I have so much. I cannot believe how much information I have about this. And I have so much information that ties into things that we love. And I'm very excited to talk about it. I don't even know if Phil'll talk about the movie. Before I say that, though, I did want to mention that the film was shot by Richard H. Kleline, who you will know from such films as Body Heat, Double Impact and Howard the Duck, amongst other things.
Ryan: Yeah, I mean, Howard the Duck is a. Is a cinematic marvel.
Laura: Absolutely.
Ryan: The way it looks. U. Um, yeah, but Body Heat, I mean, it's got. It's got that, uh. Uh, yeah, it's got that. There's a sweatiness to this. I mean, yeah, Body Heat's a little sexier. I mean, is sweatier. Um, um. But this, this film and you know, as. As neo noir erotic thrillers kind of go. Um, because this film, this version, this updated version, obviously is a lot racier than the original.
Laura: Oh, yeah. There's no sex in the original.
Ryan: No. But there's a lot of. There's a lot of passion,
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Ryan: you know, because it's French. Um, but, you know, it's ah u. Yeah, we just say like that originals maybe just got a bit more of a cooler, slicker kind of look to it, but it's black and white. So with this version, it's wild Technicolor, very vibrant, a little bit more punky. Punky is probably the word I would use to describe this version of Breathless. And I think if it wasn't. If it wasn't so diametrically aosed with like, you know, a boot de souothe, which is maybe a little bit more mellow with the way that it conducts itself. Like, this is kind of like the Sid Nancy version of that movie. I would see.
Laura: This is the horned up cocaine version of the original.
Ryan: Yeah. And it's. Yeah, I think. I think punky, like punk really kind of characterizes this. It's very. It's rockabilly. It has a lot of. And I'm. Here's the thing. We watch Breathless 83 and I'm like. I'm like Tarantino'obviously stolen from this. Like, pinched, like the soundtrack and all sorts. Like, this is something that he's just kind of straight out stolen from.
Laura: But there's also. I thought about him because there's a really long shot of Monica's feet when she kicks off her high heels and walks through her. Her flat. And I thought about that.
Ryan: Yeah, there'a. There's a thing. And I don't know if this is. I don't know if this is like. Because it's something I enjoy myself. But there's a real accent on the color red that goes through the whole film, which I think is, you know, it's less Tropian 83. It's very tropey now, uh, like to the point where, you know, the Sixth Sense uses the color red. I think I've said this before as an accent. And it's a little bit. It's a little bit trite. A little bit trite. The color red in film is. It conjures up a lot of things you think about films. Like. I don't. Don't look now is also another film which uses the color red quite effectively. And Brian De Pama uses it as part of his style, um, when he lights certain spaces to suggest a transformation in a character by using the color red.
Laura: So well, they wanted the film to look over the top, which they succeeded.
Ryan: They definitely did.
Laura: Yeah. Exaggerated colors, so it looked like a comic book.
Ryan: It'very hyper realistic. I would say it's kind of like bordering on a. On a. On a kind of Takeshi Mike like depiction of reality where it's like. It's so outlandish. It's. It's like. It's like. It's just. It's bordering on just like, comical.
Laura: It did make me laugh when Jesse first steals that car and drives from, um, Vegas to la and he's singing his stupid song and. And it's so red. It's so incredibly red. He goes, oh, look at that sky.
Ryan: It's a red sky. But then it cuts to the whiteide and it's not that red.
Laura: It's not that.
Ryan: But he's. He's singing that Jerry Lee Lewis song from the tapes that he's collected from the stolen car. Um, yeah. No, I mean, well, all the driving sequences for the most. Partly when they're in the car. It's all. It's all rear projection for the most part. It's all projection. Um, but it has like. Yeah, has a style to it. Like, there's a reason why they're doing things a certain way like that.
Laura: So, um. Do you want to hear all of these things? I have. I'm so excited. Um, I mean, how did this happen?
Ryan: It'd be weird if I said no.
Laura: That's true. Because I actually have really interesting things to say.
Ryan: Of course.
Laura: Lucky you. A friend of Jim McBride who worked at the Pacific Film Archive in Brooklyn, New Godard. So he called him up as a favor to McBride and asked if they could have permission to remake Breathless. And Godard's like, sure, and just said yes over the phone.
Ryan: Well, Gordard's not going to stifle creativity. That's something that man would never do.
Laura: It's actually kind of funny because, you know, it takes a long time to make a film. There's a lot that goes into it. Takes years and years sometimes. He had said okay to many different people. He had given permission to several people. So it got a little bit complicated at one point.
Ryan: Well, I think, like, there's an element of. Of a boot de sou. Of it being sacred. You know, it's kind of. It's like if you decide, uh. Like, if you think about films that you're like, oh, you wouldn't remake that, and then how much of a travesty some of those remakes become. I think there's an element
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Ryan: of, say, filmmakers of the time that would just be like, well, you can't touch that with a barge pole.
Laura: Well, McBride was having a really hard time getting onto the next level, and he got a bit of advice that was, attach your. Attach yourself to something that people already are familiar with. Don't start with something new. Get yourself something that people already know and use that to help with your trajectory, which is how this came about.
Ryan: I wonder how many of the. Like, how. How many of the general public would have been as aware of a boot de souf fair. You know, I mean, like, it's. It's very much a. I mean, I wouldn't even. I wouldn't use the word obscure, but it's like, it's a flagship movie from the 1960s that I think a general cinema going on in the 1980s wouldn't have the same reverence for the creatives and filmmakers who've grown up with that, uh, would have.
Laura: Yeah, yeah. And in terms of casting Natasha Kinsky, when they, um, was originally considered for the role of Monica, I don't know.
Ryan: If she would have been better. She might have been.
Laura: I really liked, um. I really liked Valerie Kopinski
Ryan: She's good. Yeah. I mean, it's kind of like, you know, it's not to kind of throw Natasha, like. Like Kinski under the. Under the. Under the bus, but it's kind of like, yeah, you're replacing, you know, another European with another European Um, U.
Laura: The thing is that when the film actually got rolling, she was considered to be just slightly older than they were hoping for.
Ryan: That makes sense.
Laura: And oh boy. So Jim McBride originally. This is a roller coaster, okay? Jimm M. McBright originally did not want Richard Gere in the main role. He wanted Robert De Niro.
Ryan: Oay that film might have been amazing.
Laura: Um, Robert De Niro really liked the script, okay. He asked McBride to call. He goes, call me in a month. Okay. Then he goes, he calls him, he goes, I need another month, etcetera, etcetera. This went on for about three months and De Niro would not make up his mind. Universal Pictures was involved at this point.
Ryan: Course.
Laura: And they said that in order to get another actor involved, they needed a definitive no from De niro. And Jim McBride happened to go to school with Martin Scorsese.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: So to.
Ryan: Yeah, they had to go through Scorsese in order to get an know from Den Niro, basically.
Laura: But Scorsese said that De Niro had gained a lot of weight recently and he wasn't going to give a straight answer, so he just asked him just to decline it.
Ryan: Wow.
Laura: And so when he did, because I.
Ryan: Wonder whato what would Diro have been working on between 82? Like 82, because raging bull came out in 80. Then after raging Bull it's King of Comedy. Right. And then. And then After Hours comes out in like 83, four maybe. So he would, he would have been. Well to say Deiro would have been an inverted commas freed up to do. To do Breathless. But, um, yeah, no, that's like. Yeah, that's some. I would have loved to have seen him do like, I kind of slightly more toned down Max fucking Katie or something.
Laura: Once Upon a Time in America was 84.
Ryan: Yeah, but that's a Sergio Leonei movie. Like he might have been filming that for like two years. Yeah, because that film is huge. Absolutely fucking massive. U um, he probably wasn't filming it for two years, but that, that's. That's like a. That's like a. That's a real journey doing a movie like that with Sergio Leone. Um, yeah, I don't. Yeah, I don't really know. Cause when did King acc. Comedy come out?
Laura: Yeah, 82.
Ryan: Yeah, so he would have done that in 81. So. Yeahus then I think after King of Comedy. I think After Hours was Scorsese's next movie. Um, yeah. See, See that kind of. That gets me excited to the point where like, because the film, the film, the film could. The film would Be a completely different beast.
Laura: Oh, uh. Oh, my gosh. Well, when De Niro declined, Universal dropped the picture. So now they're in trouble. Okay. Then they went to John Travolta, and then they went to Al Pacino, but nobody wanted to work with McBride because he was an unknown.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So at this point, McBride's agent told him, just
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Laura: take the writing credit. No one wanted to work with him, so he just agreed. Cause he's like, well, I want this to get made. This will look good on my resume. Let's just do that.
Ryan: Just wonder who would direct it at that point.
Laura: Well, Orion picked up the picture because Richard Gere signed on.
Ryan: Right.
Laura: We went back to Richard Gere.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: And. Oh, uh. Am I gonna say his name wrong?
Ryan: This is how movies work, though. Like, this is it. Yeah. This is how they work.
Laura: I'm not sure if I'm gonna say his surname properly, but it's Frank Roden. I don't think it's Rodan, but Frank Roden who directed Quadropfenia.
Ryan: Yeah, Frank Roden.
Laura: He signed on direct, but then he left because he got another project that he preferred, which, if the timeline works out, it was a film called the Lords of Discipline.
Ryan: Okay, cool.
Laura: Okay. So Now Orion suggested McBride be signed.
Ryan: Back on's a lot of names, Bandy. Orion here.
Laura: It's not even close to D. Okay. But it's a roller coaster. Right? McBride gets signed back on, but Richard Gere did not want to work with him. So Richard Gere gave a list of people to the studio that he would work with. And then Michael Mann was hired.
Ryan: Wow.
Laura: And rewrote the entire script. And then he abandoned the project to work on the Keep.
Ryan: Okay, okay. Right.
Laura: So then, Ryan.
Ryan: What? Michael. Michael man did Manhunter before then. Right. Then it was the Keep.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Because this was when.
Laura: Yes, but I'm not. I'm not double.
Ryan: Well, this was Michael man before he was like. Like the Michael man that he became, basically. Right. You know, because obviously Heat or LA Takedown, whatever, um, was like the. Is the turning point of the Michael man saga. So.
Laura: Yeah. Thief was in 81, and then he did the keep in 83.
Ryan: Yeah. And then Manhunter must have been after that. Right.
Laura: 86.
Ryan: 86. Right. Okay. So, yeah. I mean, well, Thief. Thief's fucking so good. Yeah. Top tier.
Laura: Um.
Ryan: Um. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And then he's just abandons the fucking thing.
Laura: Yep.
Ryan: I. A Michael Man. Breathless would be very interestly.
Laura: And it's hard to know. I actually don't know which one. If they used Some of his. If they used all of his script or like.
Ryan: But Michael man would have been with Richard Gere.
Laura: Yes.
Ryan: Right. Okay.
Laura: So then Orion goes back for McBride. And Richard Gere was like, no way. I'm not working with this man. But luckily, McBride also knew Paul Schrader. He's like, fuck you, Gear. I'm gonna fucking get youa. So, wow. Uh, we all know that they work together on American jigolo. So McBride called Schrader, asked him to call Gear and just be like, please just meet with me. He reluctantly agreed. McBride flies to New York, meets with Richard Gere. It did not go well. He was super cagey. Didn't want to look him in the eye, didn't want to do it. They had more meetings. None of them went well. Okay, so then McBride goes to a bookstore in New York and just finds a photo book of Jerry Lee Lewis, who, as you know, in the film is, uh, Jesse Lu, Jack's hero in the film.
Ryan: Yeah. He's like. He's idle.
Laura: And for whatever reason, it just clicked. It just clicked for Gear and he signed on and agreed to work with McBride.
Ryan: Boom. Um, actors, right?
Laura: Film, movie magic.
Ryan: Yeah. I mean, this is. This is how at least. At least the business was back then. The business is like. The business is pretty much the same, except it's because we've seen it in recent years. It's like actors who you remember from very popular movies who have lost their appeal getting a resurgence by doing obscure, slightly more arty pictures, like obviously, I think Demi Moore, Pamela Anderson, um, you know, doing slightly more Brendan Fraser. Brendan Fraser, yeah.
Laura: That's a different one though, because there was a sexual assault like, allegation there. And then he got.
Ryan: He left. Yeah, he left. You know, he didn't anything understand. No, but his. His resurgence was that he was brought back because he was always good.
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Ryan: Yeah, because he was.
Laura: Everyone was always. Everyone's always good.
Ryan: Always good. But they didn't get. They didn't feel like they got there. They got their. Their just rewards from the industry because they were. They were. They were pigeonh holed in certain roles. And Demimore is definitely one of those. U. Um, and obviously she's been doing really well with the substance.
00:25:00
Ryan: But yes, that's kind of. It's kind of. It's. It s. It's found this weird kind of 180 turnaround now, uh, that. That, you know, back in the. Back when, you know, certainly the 80s, um, because the 70s was when they were able to experiment and do all sorts of different Things. And they were able to. Like, that's where stars were made was during the 70s. And they did a lot of very obscured things in the 70s. And obviously in the 80s, it was like, well, we need to fucking make some money, uh, doing this stuff. So, you know, that's how it's kind of. That's how it's kind of changed and flipped on its head a little bit more. But, yeah, this is how the business always was. You know, you needed a big star to a problem project in order for things to even get off the ground.
Laura: So I just love researching a story and then you find out m. My boy Schrads is involved, and you're like, thanks, bud.
Ryan: Yes. Yes. And like, yeah, Paul Rader obviously had earned his stripes and stuff by this point anyway, you know, because American Jiggle was a huge fucking success, like, basically made Richard Gear a star, so.
Laura: And he goes, you know what? Let me do it again. Let me take my penis out more. More times.
Ryan: It's difficult to imagine this film without Richard Gere in it. As much as I'm not the biggest fan of the character he's portraying, which I think is very deliberate, it'd be very difficult for me to not see Richard Gere in this role.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: You know, Robert DeNiro. Robert DeNiro does excite me. Uh, Like, I do wonder what that fucking film would have been like if that was the case.
Laura: I don't know if he would have been as annoying as, uh, of a character. I think it would have been a little. I don't know if he can be that. Can he be that silly? I know he's funny and he can.
Ryan: Be silly, but, I mean, he's done, like, De Niro has done a lot of comedy stuff. I mean, High Mo o. I know definly that he's done king of comedy.
Laura: His comedy is very straight.
Ryan: Oh, yeah. He's.
Laura: It's not silly. It's not goofy.
Ryan: No, it's like, uh. I wouldn't even say it's like, deadpan, but yeah, it's like the comedy comes from the fact that he's incredibly serious.
Laura: Right.
Ryan: Um, you know, so it'd be.
Laura: It'd be a lot. I don't know, it'd be a lot darker, probably. It might be more like the original potential because the guy's not funny in the original. He's not goofy.
Ryan: He's not goofy.
Laura: He's just doing crimes and stealing money from babes.
Ryan: Yeah. But then it's like. It's like, well, what's that? What's the movie you're making at that point, if it's just. It's like a Gus Fan San Pyco. You're just like, well, we have the original. Why the fuck am I gonna bother watching this if it's just the same thing, just modernized?
Laura: Have fun. Give me some beautiful neon. Some dumb clothes. Oh, speaking of the clothes, McBride was a little bit afraid of the costume designer because he didn't understand why the main character would be wearing such dumb clothes that were not in fashion. So McBride had his wife come in and talk to him about the costumes, and apparently it worked, and she got him to change the style to how McBride kind of envisioned it. He was like, I don't want this guy wearing stuff that's not traditionally fashionable.
Ryan: Well, he's also meant to be because he's not. He's not like a traditional criminal. Like, criminals don't make a spectacle of themselves, which is kind of what Jesse is. Is a bit about. He's a bit of a showboat. He definitely thinks he's cooler than he actually is.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: And he really does make a little bit of a spectacle of himself. And he's a bit of a hothead. He's just like, he's just an asshole criminal. Like, he's just. He's a fucking. Like I said, he's a toilet. Like, he's just. He's just u. Uh. Like, he's just an asshole criminal. And you do kind of wrestle a little bit with his depiction of whether or not, like, there's any level of charm to him or if Is he just. Is he just fucking annoying?
Laura: There are long bits of time where you just want Monica to escape. You go, why is she going with this guy? He's awful. And then there's just these tiny little bits where you're like, that is really sexy or that is very interesting, or that's very charming or.
Ryan: Yeah. You realize what she maybe sees in the guy to stick around, because I started losing a lot of respect for her because I was just kind of like, I think you're smarter than this.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: You're hanging out with this. This fucking numb nut.
Laura: Yeah. Yeah. They
00:30:00
Laura: had a good chemistry, you know, they. Oh, I don't know. It is. It is tough because you see her resist, resist, resist, resist. And then with a genuine dicking, she's like, all in. She really is committed.
Ryan: But I mean, that's maybe. That's maybe the point of the movie, like, within the storytelling that I find I like. I find the. The most difficult to, like, grasp It'like that uh, that aspect of like, what does she find appealing about this guy who seemingly is just a one night, he's just a one night stand of someone that she met in Vegas.
Laura: Right.
Ryan: And you're kind of like, well he's followed her all this way and he's an annoying prick. He's, he's showboating, he's running his fucking mouth and you're just kind of like y, uh, yeah, but what does he seeing him because he's, yeah. Like you've met, you've met people like Jesse in your life and he's, he's, he's annoying but you keep him around because he's funny. And I'm just kind of like, yeah, I find it, I find it a little bit hard to believe. Like it cuts through the cool affair amount.
Laura: This is the difference. I think, uh, one of the biggest differences between the original and the remake is where Richard Gere's character, I think he genuinely cares for Monica and he has this obsession with her and he just really does want to be with her. And in the original, uh, that's not, I don't think that's the case at all. I think it's just he's interested. I don't think he is that committed to the whole thing. I mean a lot of these beats are similar. The, you know, are you mad because I left without saying goodbye? The pregnancy, you know, uh, instead of going to Mexico, they were going toa go to Rome. In the original, like all these things are quite similar except you know, like in the original when she's talking about the baby, he's furious, you know. And in this one he's like, oh, uh, Maucacho, we'll take a baby to Mexico.
Ryan: Yeah, uh, yeah, it's, yeah, he's annoying.
Laura: He's super annoying.
Ryan: Ah, yeah. The one thing I kind of, you know, the one thing I do like about this remake is that he has killed an officer and he has been committing crimes this entire time. He has to go to Mexico so he has to get across the border. So that to me is a little better than obviously in the original where it's just kind of like, what do you think the cops aren't gonna fall you to uh, to roam like they obviously are.
Laura: I do find it, it's a leap. Uh, I just don't know how they knew it was him in Vegas that stole that particular car to drive to la. He didn't tell anyone where he was going and he, who knew who that he stole the car.
Ryan: The only, the only person who might have known that was the girl. And maybe they quized the girl. Because it's Vegas, there's cameras everywhere. Even in the 19 days. Yeah, of course there was. Course there was. Because, you know, it was one. It was pretty much. I mean, it's still, at that point it was still run by the mob. And um. Yeah, I mean, and, and uh, yeah, they don't, they don't mess. They didn't mess around over there.
Laura: Laura, haven't you seen Casino?
Ryan: You're not seen Casino? Well, what was Casino? The 90s? No, Casino was the 70s and the.
Laura: 80S in the film.
Ryan: In the movie, yeah. 70s and the 8. Yeah. Because then, then Vegas technically got in very calm as cleaned up.
Laura: So love me some Vegas.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've never been so.
Laura: The co writer for the script, Kit Carson, was the one to thank for the inclusion of the Silver Surfer. Big comic book fan and it was his idea to add that stuff into this script.
Ryan: It's. It's a. You know what, it's a valuable edition. And again, it's another one of those things where I'm just like, Tarantino's a fucking thief. Because this is obviously where he gets all that shit from all the pop cultural references and stuff. But this, like, to me, the Silver Surfer stuff is the stuff that makes the Jesse character endearing. Like it makes him relatable to a certain degree because he has a higher, uh, he has higher aspirations for himself. And it's obvious that ever since he was a child he has enjoyed reading the Silver Surfer.
00:35:00
Ryan: And there's certainly, there's other films and stuff out there. I mean, certainly there's the, there's this sequence in Crimson Tide where they talk about the, the Silver Surfer, which is the Kirby Silver Surfer. And they have that giant argument and stuff in there. And again, that stuff that's been pulled from Tarantino, who also did some. Did some uncredited work on the Crimson Tide stuff, which I feel like he's stolen directly from, uh. From American Gigolo.
Laura: Well, shit, yes.
Ryan: But I like what they do with it in American. Uh. Sorry, I like what they do. I said American jail. I like what they've done with it in Breathless because it feels like, it feels contemporary for the time. Like it feels like, oh, this is kind of like a fresh thing that no one's really done where they've kind of referenced like a lot of pop culture stuff, certainly in comic books, because, you know, u. Um, comic books, at least for me, like a very way, it was like poison no. 1'like you're like, what, you're a comic book nerd? It's not like today where everyone, like fucking titty streamers on Twitch are just like, oh, my God, I love one piece. It's like, no, bitch, it wasn't yours to begin with. It was ours. We never got late. That was the thing.
Laura: Well, Jesse Lujack does that guy fucks. He really does.
Ryan: He does.
Laura: He does. I gotta tell y, I was explaining the differences in how they kissed in films in the 60s versus how they do it in the 80s and boy.
Ryan: Oh, boy, it's uncomfortable in 60s.
Laura: They k it up a notch. So let's chat about this first penis scene, which comes in at a beautiful 11 minutes and 50 seconds into the.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: So this is right after Jesse kills a cop on accident and breaks into Monica's apartment in la, right? And he is taking a shower and being maybe definitely one of the most annoying human beings in the world. He's in the shower, he's singing. He's got Ferris Bueller shower hair going on.
Ryan: He's got a total disregard for anyone's personal property in their space.
Laura: Oh, he's taking pictures with her camera. He's ripping up pictures of her with other men. And he's just looking through all of her stuff and her pre much. Yeah, but he's singing in the shower, turns around and as you can imagine as a man in the shower 'not wearing any clothes.
Ryan: He's like, stomping and dancing. He's like, obviously fully naked in the shower, because that makes sense.
Laura: But he's, um, also huge. He's taller than the shower head.
Ryan: It's a tiny. Yeah, it's a tiny. It's a tiny fucking shower. We've, we've, we've had, um. I've had showers that have been like that. We have to crouch down to, uh, do that. Luckily, we don't have that now, but, yeah, certainly. Yeah, certainly. I'SEEN that happen before.
Laura: Well, it's an interesting scene and a good introduction to how annoying he's go goingna continue to be for the rest of the film.
Ryan: Also, it's like it really reflects his I don't give a fuck attitudeu. It's likeu here's the thing. Like, he's in the shower and the shower guard is open. Now, for most people who don't have their shower guards open, the reason you close it is so you don't fucking soak your bathroom floor. Yeah, like, that's the reason why you do that. It's not purely because of privacy, because if you're in there by yourself, you know, you wouldn't. Obviously, you know, it doesn't. Doesn't matter if you have it. If you have it closed or not, but the reason you have it closed so you don't fucking get water all over the place. So again, it shows his blatant disregard for. For what he's doing. Also, again, he's making a spectacle of himself because he. This isn't obviously the only time that he breaks into her place and. And she comes back and he's just fucking there.
Laura: Yes.
Ryan: And he's taking his clothes off or he's like lying in her bed, you know, and he's like cleaning his teeth with her toothbrush because it'not his toothbrush.
Laura: So gross.
Ryan: And you know, he's dancing in the shower, he's got the door open, he's making a right fucking mess. And I think this scene reflects his character relatively quite well because he's just fucking awful. Yeah, it's just an awful piece of shit.
Laura: What is my second biggest fear? The first one being being attacked in the shower. Okay. Second is coming home and there's someone else in the shower. Well, you know, that I wouldn't
00:40:00
Laura: expect.
Ryan: You know how you rectify a situation like that though?
Laura: What?
Ryan: Get yourself a shower knife.
Laura: Oh, a good old shower knife.
Ryan: Shower machete. Yeah. Wouldn't say shower gun because that's, that's not ideal. Unless you get a particular gun, let's say from Tommy Lee Jones, that movie U.S. marshall. You Robert Downey Jr. In it, he gives Robert Downey Jr. A gun. It's like a Glock or something like that. He's like, hu. This, this fucking thing will shoot underwater.
Laura: Okay, so I need a super powerful shower gun.
Ryan: No, you just need to get a.
Laura: Glock and you'll be m. Fine interest in any firearms whatsoever. Um, yeah, no, I'm defenseless.
Ryan: I mean, there's only one step removed from having a Bluetooth speaker and we already have one of them. I have. Not only do I have a Bluetooth speaker, I have a Bluetooth speaker that is also a holder for my beer.
Laura: This is true. This is true. Now I could toss that. Used it earlier today, an attacker's head. I could to toss it right at their skull and maybe I can get away.
Ryan: I don't think you're not a fan of confrontation, so I think having any sort of weaponry that you have to use at any point is probably not advisable.
Laura: I was a. In a commercial once where I Pepper sprayed someone in the face. I could get shower pepper spray.
Ryan: You could show shower bear spray.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Um, yeah. I mean, you could get one that's legal in your state.
Laura: You could go to the Army Navy Superstore and buy any sort of thing like that.
Ryan: The army surplus store.
Laura: Yeah. That's where I did my commercial.
Ryan: Okay. I mean, potentially TV star. Yeah. I mean, there's. There's plenty of things in Florida that are definitely illegal. Um, many, many different things that are illegal in the state of Florida, but.
Laura: Um, like, uh, illegal fireworks that will come down and hit you in the head on.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: 1201 on New Year's.
Ryan: Yeah. Before, obviously, we get two sidendtracked. Yeah. Laura got. Laura got. Got smacked in the head as we were trying to leave because our neighbors had, uh, had crazy mortars going off.
Laura: I got hit by a rogue piece.
Ryan: Of mortar, and blood was gushing everywhere.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: It was a very, very, um, um, memorable New Year.
Laura: Could I have used a couple of. In New New Year, maybe? But you know what? I've got friends that took care of me, and, um, it's all good.
Ryan: Well, I think, irrespective of the fact if. Whether or not you needed those stitches on New Year's night, you would have still needed those stitches on New Year's Day morning. If it was as bad as it was. And it wasn't.
Laura: Okay, good. That's true. I'm fine.
Ryan: That's how wounds usually work.
Laura: Okay. I'm, um, safe now, so let's move on to when Jesse puts that dirty plunger on that guy's head. And so he's looking for money, right? He's Jesse Lujack. He's always looking for money.
Ryan: He puts that dirty.
Laura: Okay.
Ryan: He uses the plunge.
Laura: They go in this.
Ryan: Well, he uses the plunger to lock the bathroom door.
Laura: Is that what he did? I thought he put it on his head.
Ryan: No, he uses it to lock the bathroom door. And then he puts his hand in and grabs his bag. Okayus. That's when the guy's, like, occupied. Caus he's in a bar.
Laura: It was really good.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So they're in this bar, and that. The thing that really stuck out to me is what really connected me to Monica's character is that he promised her food. Okay. He goes, get anything you want off the menu. He takes a plate of tacos from the server, which she didn't think was a problem. Question mark. It's definitely a problem.
Ryan: She was serving someone very odd the food. Or she's just like, it's Just Jesse or Jack or whatever the fuck he calls himself at whatever particular time. Now here he comes.
Laura: He promised her tacos and he stole all this money. So he obviously has to leave.
Ryan: It looks like it's a good sized taco.
Laura: She goes, wait, Jesse, my tacos. And she goes back and grabs a taco. And then they walk out to the convertible. And I was like, absolutely. Um, yeah, like, do not get between me or Monica when it comes to a snack.
Ryan: I could really. Yeah, I could really do with some tacos. Like tacos. Good tacos. Yeah. I fucking love us Saca tacos.
Laura: They're okay.
Ryan: I binbag tacos.
Laura: I want to jump into Penis SC Part 2.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: 53 minutes, 29 seconds into the movie. This is a really, if I may say so, quite neurotic part of the film. They did a good job. Okay.
Ryan: Yeah, they did. They did. This is. This is where the modernizing from the original concept really kind of comes in those. Absolutely. Yes.
00:45:00
Ryan: Like, this is where it's like. This is how you get the RCS S on the seats in 1983 as you Absolutely, really get some naked, uh, eroticism going on.
Laura: I know that I said that Richard Gere is my bread and butter, but. No 80s and early 90s erotic thrillers are my bread and butter. They are what gives me life. Okay. I love this.
Ryan: Yeah. I don't think you've ever said that Richard Gere was your bread.
Laura: And I said something earlier, but just. It's just because he gets naked a lot.
Ryan: It was definitely incorrect.
Laura: And it's. I appreciate him getting naked, that's all. So these two are in the throwes of foreplay. It is really going on. Things are happening. And then the man that she's been seeing, not even on the side, the man she's just been seeing in her life because Jesse was a 1, 2, 3 night stand on holiday. She's been sleeping with her professor. Whatever. It's legal, it's fine.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah.
Laura: I mean they're adults.
Ryan: That'how you wink, wink, improve your greeds, you know?
Laura: Well, whatever you got to do.
Ryan: Yeah. Well, did they did it. An Animal House with Donald Sutherland. He was in there. Yeah, he was just like. He's like, do you want to come back to my office?
Laura: Well, I've told you about. There was a French. He was my Renaissance literature professor at university.
Ryan: What are you about to tell me?
Laura: I've told you the story before. But he was attractive, but he smoked and so he smelled bad. So I wasn't that interested. But I Saw him out at a bar one night and he goes, shouldn't. And he was French, by the way. He goes, shouldn't you be studying? And I was like, maybe I should be. And I was like, oh, my God, am I gonna sleep with this guy? And then I got scared and I'm like, I don't know if I'm allowed to do this. And I asked a friend who was a professor, and he goes, no, there's no reason that you couldn't have done that.
Ryan: No, of course not.
Laura: And I thought, of course not. Damn. Miss my chance. Damn.
Ryan: Um, yeah, he would have. You would have. Yeah. Would have got something.
Laura: I would have just smelled bad.
Ryan: Yeah, well, you would have got. Yeah, you would have got his nicotine fingers probably near your puss.
Laura: That's disgusting. That is disgusting.
Ryan: Um, is yellow stained like riot inside. In Fingert. His middle finger profess.
Laura: Okay, we're talking about the most erotic part of this film. I did not touch that professor. Unlike Monica in Breathless. Okay? So her professor calls her, and Jesse is a walking red flag. Gets so jealous.
Ryan: He does? Yeah.
Laura: She cannot deal with the fact that she's been seeing someone else. But he's not with her. He does not own her. She is an individual human being who can do whatever she wants.
Ryan: Also, Jesse is not shown any level of charm as well, towards her at this point. Like, he's not really. He has not really elicited any level of, like, attractiveness towards her.
Laura: Like, what are you gonna give me? What do you. What do you add to my life or anything?
Ryan: At one point he goes. He just says, like, completely out the bl. Because he goes, show me your tits.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: And you're like. You're like, what? Like, why did you do that? And it's almost as if she has this. This unbridled power just by, uh, pure m. Minimalism to kind of like. Like clean him up a little bit. Like, kind of get him a little bit more on this straight. Because he's. She's very good at being able to kind of, um. Um. Yeah, just kind of like, uh, class him up a little bit. So kind of like take the dirt bag out of him a little bit. Kind of get him in the shower, clean them up, and then kind of make him a little bit more sparkly clean. Because he is. Yeah, he does. He comes across a little bit more like a scumbag, but he's a little bit more gentlemanly around her.
Laura: Yeah, she does.
Ryan: But she obviously likes a bad boy. I mean, that's it. I mean, she Likes a bad boy.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: When the professor calls, he wants to just delete the message. She goes, no, I need that message because she is in school, she's studying architecture. Of course she wants to have a career. This girl is young, okay. She's just starting her life. And need I mention. Yes, I do. That their age gap is 13 years.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: Yeah, she's 19 when they filmed this movie.
Ryan: Yeah, it's kind of fucked up, but yeah, I mean, also like the introduction of him into her life like a g and is like during and ex zam while she's at school. And he's the fucking biggest dick that's ever's horrible.
Laura: But it's also funny. But he's horrible. I hate him so much.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: When the answering machine goes, she says, I need to keep this message. And he
00:50:00
Laura: pulls the answering machine out of the wall, looks her in the eyes, and then just tosses it out the window.
Ryan: Yeah, I do like the fact that like he tosses it. There's a period of silence.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: And then it cuts to her and then you hear it hitting the tarmac and like sliding across the tarmac as if it's like, yep, here you go. Got a few floors up.
Laura: I thought it hit the pool.
Ryan: It sou. It sounded like it hits the ground and it just slides across the tarmac. Um, which I think is actually funnier than hearing it go spash into the.
Laura: She is rightfully furious. I mean, at that moment I go, you absolute maniac. You're just destroying my stuff. Leave.
Ryan: Well, he's.
Laura: He's.
Ryan: He's desperately trying to insert himself into her life when it seems painfully obvious to the rest of us that she's. She's not deemed the relationship that they've had as important as he has.
Laura: Correct.
Ryan: And I kind of like, I wonder how, like how in the writing do we get to a point where that switch really happens? And it kind of does. By way of sex.
Laura: Yes.
Ryan: Really? I mean, this is kind of how it. How it kind of takes a big switch.
Laura: Right. Because we're still in the penis scene here. So this is one of my favorite parts of the movie is just before the sex is when she goes into the shower. She's furious because he's thrown her answering machine out the window. He's being awful.
Ryan: Mhm.
Laura: And then he kind of is pacing. He's thinking about it and then he starts singing Suspicious Minds by Elvis.
Ryan: Elvis? Elvis who?
Laura: Presley. Oh, they m. Make Costello, not Costello. Okay, sorry, a very different version.
Ryan: That'd be awesome if it was though.
Laura: He basically kicks open, he takes all of his clothes off, kicks the door open and he just starts singing to her in the shower. Opens the shower and she's like, oh, loves it, she loves it. And you know what? So did I. So did I. I would have been like, you know what? I do forgive you right now.
Ryan: Well, how would you feel if I did that?
Laura: I would love it.
Ryan: Yeah, you would.
Laura: If you just kick the do. Well, I would screamuse. You know, I scared in the shower.
Ryan: Cause that's the thing, it's like, oh, if I did it'd be great, but it's just we can't go on. Um, it's like why would you, why would you undervalue yourself to be like, oh yeah, I'll do this cheap trick that this fucking idiot does. And she's just like, oh my God, that's so good.
Laura: Because she knows she's gonna get the proper boning that he had promised her all this time. And she does get it. Yeah, she gets it.
Ryan: Good's because. Yeah, it's because that professor doesn't obviously know what he's doing. I mean that's obviously what it is.
Laura: Yeah, that's a shame.
Ryan: So that's the thing like they have that uh. They have, yeah, they have, yeah, they have, they have sex and the show and it's comedic becausee I think like we all learned this from Adrian Lynn is that like watching people fucking is kind of, you know, it's uncomfortable so you got toa make it funny.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: And this is kind of how this is, is that they break the shower doors and stuff like that.
Laura: It's one of those showers where you've got, it's a tub but you've got the kind of the slidey doors attached. So. Ah, yeah, she's got her hands on.
Ryan: The top like, like most shower tub combos, that's usually what they're like of a curtain.
Laura: You've got a slighty glass door. But yeah, she puts her feet up against the door and I think to m myself. No, no, no, no. And then it becomes unhinged and IM m like there's going toa be glass everywhere. It didn't break break, but very scary. No, you gotta be careful. This is what happens when comes were.
Ryan: Proably not made a glass though. It probably just made a plastic potentially. Yeah.
Laura: So then they have a lot of sweaty lovemak making because this is the 80s and this is how we do things in the 80s sweaty.
Ryan: This is how you get it done. Also this is Alie and it's, it's during a uh.
Laura: And they were in the pool, I guess.
Ryan: Yeah, they were in the pool, in the shower. And a heat wave, you know, there's all sorts of things. Yeah. So.
Laura: And penis. Boom. Sex. Penis.
Ryan: Yeah. So they're writhing around on the bed and he's like turning, he turns around and you see it. Um, and it's in a wide shot. All of these penis scenes have been in wides because that's, that's the way to do it proper. Um, but yeah, um. Good old, good old piece of love making rolling around and stuff like that. They think the thing that like I found. I don't want to say like preposterous as if I'm like some kind of classy guy. Cuz I'm not. But it's like, it's like she goes to, she, she goes to like tidy herself up or something
00:55:00
Ryan: or she's like gonna clean herself and he's just like, he's like, no, no, don't you dare because I want, I want you to smell like we've been fucking.
Laura: Well caus. She's gonna go see the professor.
Ryan: Yeah. So she's got that stank on. She loved uh, it and it's like.
Laura: She absolutely loved it.
Ryan: To be honest, I kind of loved it too. That was kind of just like guys.
Laura: This is a top tier erotic scene from the 80s. It's great.
Ryan: It's something I did not expect.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Because I, yeah. I can't even remember if ever saw Breathless. But as now As a near 40 year old man, I'm like, yeah, yeah. I'm like, that's, that's some fucking. That's some stuff right there.
Laura: Well, regarding the love scenes in the film, Valerie Kopinski said that they were not just acting. She said it was wonderful working with Richard. He gives you everything to react to. We were not acting. The love scenes, they were half real. You can't say you act only when they say action. I think it shows in the movie. If you don't really feel like doing it, it shows. When she auditioned, she thought she did a horrible job originally, but then she was asked back for a screen test. Okay, so in this five minute screen test which was filmed, of course, she and Richard Gear lied naked on a bed. And they didn't. Richard Gere didn't need to be naked, but he wanted to make her feel comfortable. Right. Okay. As they were speaking, Richard Gere starts kissing her way kind of up her body. And only the director, cinematographer and the camera operator were in the room. The sound man was, um, holding the boom mic from behind a partition. Okay. So anyway, I just think it'I just think it's very amusing to where Richard ger'like I don't need to be naked, but Im'm going to be. And he specifically wanted in the casting of Monica'character someone that he believed that he would want to sleep with. So he wanted someone that he found attractive enough to want to bang. And there were rumors of course, as there are when you have a film like this, that they were involved, but they've denied it. But she's also said that she was really, really into it.
Ryan: I mean you kind of have to. I mean the chemistry is pretty apparent. Like I don't think it's like, oh yeah, it doesn't feel stilted. Like it's very much, it's very much there. So I think they've done it, they've done a good job of making sure that they had that. Because as much as much as like Richard Gears, like I'm not fucking doing this movie with this director. Like he definitely throws himself into it when it's like he has to. And it's yeah, I think, I think the, the relationship is effective now. Do I The relationship from the story element. I'm just like, well, yeah, I don't really fully understand that, but I do understand that they have a chemistry and it does work on this screen. Um, but yeah, no, it's um, um yeah, they did a good job with this. This is something that you don't, you don't see very often, you know, with intimacyordinators and stuff like that now like you don't really see it that O.
Laura: My gosh, imagine that. I mean he sits her up on her drafting desk. The things that he's doing. An intimacy coordinator. I'm not sure if they would be able to handle this. You know, her previous work before this film, and she's quite young, they were all mostly soft core pornographic films.
Ryan: U, uh, banging.
Laura: There you go. Yeah, great.
Ryan: Tom. BOA yeah, whatever. Yeah, no, that's, that's perfectly fine. That's perfectly fine.
Laura: And then he reads her Silver Surfer in the nude. Who's wonderful.
Ryan: Pretty cool. Yeah, I m mean that's it. Yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty awesome. I mean that's it. He guess get someone wet with some Silver Surfer talk. Like it's kind of crazy.
Laura: There's a whole scene of him like arguing with a child about how the Silver Surfer is really cool again, it'that.
Ryan: Uh, he has that big populp culture.
Laura: The power thing. Got power cosmic. And he's trying to come up with, you know, correlations between the Silver Surfer and his own life. He goes, if I a Silver Surfer, I'd get out of there.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Got the power cosmic.
Ryan: It's great. Yeah, it's awesome. It's really awesome. I think the Silver Surfer is a character is kind of boring, but. Yeah, no, I think that stuff's pretty cool. And again, it's like. Yeah, it's like Tarantino's a dirty thief. A real thief.
Laura: Is there anything else you want to bring up about the film?
Ryan: The only other thing I would maybe point out is that like there's that guy who works that junkyard who's really. Throw in that lolly, lolly like thing.
Laura: You can see the outline of his D and B long.
Ryan: Yeah. From. He's like. Yeah, from his shorts, which is like, it's something. And because he's got tiny little shorts on. And I do like the, you know, because he brought up the costume design and stuff like that, the self referential stuff like that last guy that helps him out and get some that money, um, kind of turns around to him and he goes, he's like, how you meant to be. Like, you're inconspicuous when you dress like an asshole. Yeah. Which I thought was very funny.
Laura: It was m. Great.
Ryan: Yeah. But like there's. Yeah, there's just like, there's a lot of stuff to like in it. But like there's certain kind of key elements in the film that I just don't. Yeah, I just don't like, appreciate as much as maybe some others do.
Laura: So I thought you were going toa bring up James Hong, who's in the film as the, the kind of corner store cashier.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: From. He's in so many things.
Ryan: He s. He's the.
Laura: As Asian Blade Runner.
Ryan: Yeah, the Asian, uh, convenience store worker who has the, the weird fucking T shirts. It's like an Alcatraz like convict T shirt with like a bow tie thing. Like put on it with like numbers and stuff. Very fucking odd. Um, and he, he looks, he looks ridiculous, but he's always pleasant to see in anything.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: U. But yeah.
Laura: Um, um.
Ryan: Yeah, there's a lot, there's a lot to like. There's a lot of stuff to kind of like, uh. But you know, overall it gives you a relatively decent package.
Laura: Hey O. Yeah. In terms of the box office, so the film grossed over $19 million at the box office and it had a budget of seven and a half million, so it was pretty successful. But for whatever reason, McBride was saying that it wasn't terribly successful. It was more successful in France, which he thought was hilarious, than it was.
Ryan: In the U.S. yeah.
Laura: So I'm not quite sure what that's about, but it was quite successful in.
Ryan: The US to 1980 standards, obviously, because it's a. You know, it's a pretty. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't. I would. I would say it's like as's someone'a popcorny. It's a popcorny erotic thriller, you know, and it uses. It uses. Boot de Souf is like a good, like as a good structure you to try and get people. They get RCS on the seats and stuff.
Laura: Genuinely an awesome double feature. I think they work well together and I think it's a lot of fun and you wont find it redundant. You'll find, you know, little hints of this and that and there are some lines that are pulled directly from the original. But it works. I think it works.
Ryan: Potentially. Potentially. I still think, obviously the original is. Is far superior.
Laura: I don't know. They're so different and so anyway. But we can get in. You can tell me about that when you read the.
Ryan: I guess it's def.
Laura: Maybe just rated on its own merits. Ryan. And its own merits.
Ryan: Oh, no, I've done that. I've done that. I've definitely done that. Yeah. I'I've not gone. So I'm not being like, oh, it's a fucking two because I'm a fucking cinephile because I'm so fucking great. You know, Iviously want the rest of the filmy people, the A24R, to really appreciate what I think about classic Senony.
Laura: No, this is the Janus people. This is the Criterion people you're talking to here.
Ryan: Oh, the oldies.
Laura: That's right.
Ryan: Yeah. The granddaddies.
Laura: Well, I'm gonna go into my ratings. I'm gonna start first in terms of visibility and context. I always get confused when I write these down and I look at them when we're talking. Um, I'm gonna give it a four. I don't know if the visibility is. Is really quite there, but I think the frequency helps with that and also the context brings it way, way up for me because you have a, um, female character who is getting naked quite a bit and it is really well balanced. I think it is actually perfectly balanced between the two characters in terms of how much they get nude and in. It just makes sense in terms of what they're doing, the showering, the sex, it's all there. And I think that we're really, uh, lucky to have Richard Gere. So.
Ryan: Yeah, I would. I would maybe say a four. Um, um. But the only reason I give it a 4 is mostly because of how
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Ryan: the two scenes really helped characterize this. This individual. And I think that's something as opposed to, like, you know, because you can look at a scene like this and you'll be like, well, obviously they would be naked if they're having sex. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's fine. But because of the way that this character behaves and the, you know, what he's. You know, what he's behaving like, it makes more sense that he would be. He would be in this state u. Um, to help characterize this sort of person that he is. So that's why I give it a four, because it's probably out of a lot of the things that we've obviously covered, it does a very good job of, uh, helping to. To characterize exactly who this person is.
Laura: Yeah, you're absolutely right. Because he's not a shy person. He is. He has no fear.
Ryan: No.
Laura: He has no wor. Well, he doesn't have that many worries.
Ryan: No. I also think, like. Like if you have no fear, you're either a sociopath or a fool. And I think he's kind of more on the. The foolish side.
Laura: Definitely a bit of both. Yeah, definitely a bit of both. But, yeah, you're absolutely right. Like, why would. He would never be shy or nervous or afraid. He is fully him, uh, himself, good or bad, all of the time. And he's very comfortable with himself. Incredibly comfortable in his own skin.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So, yeah, you're absolutely right. I. In terms of the film, just for how I felt about it, I gave it a 4. When I first watched it, I gave it a 3. I really liked it. I just think it's really fun. The colors are vibrant. They're interesting neon. The costumes are strange. The Silver Surfer is interesting. And I really do like having seen Auta Su first, you know, and then kind of coming into this and just seeing the hints and the homages, but just how different they were able to make a very similar story be and make it weird and turn it on its head and just have a bit of fun with it. And I really, really had a great time with it. And, um, what about you, Ryan?
Ryan: I gave it three and a half because I think it's cool, but it is slightly annoying and it's A little irritating and I don't believe the central relationship is as strong as it maybe should be. But there's a lot more to like than dislike in this film. And certainly I think it's. It's really, it is really a. It's a hallmark of 80s cinema, at least for the time. Um, and I do think that it does some very clever pop culture things that really kind of make it stand out a little bit more. I think it's. I think it's. I think it's very well written. I think it's a really good adaption of something that would effectively be regarded as like sacrilege in the cinema community. But u. Um, yeah, I think they've done. I think they've done as the best that they could do for the time that they made it. Basically.
Laura: It is different how you have. The female character in the original didn't have a lot of knowledge about his crimes and he would be like, oh, I'll be with you in five minutes. And she would go away. And this one, she is involved. She is an accessory. She is there and she is helping him.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So it is quite different. Like she is along for the ride and the other one, she's like, wait a second, this is notnna be good for me. I'd better do something about it.
Ryan: Well, yeah, just. It kind of becomes a little bit more Bonnie and Clyde at that point, for sure. You know, I mean. Or, uh, probably more to the point like Badlands. Badlands is probably a better example of um, what, what breathless CE3 is trying to do.
Laura: But it's really, uh, heck and fun and I think it's a great. I don't know, it's a great movie. Really fune.
Ryan: I mean is. Flicks go like in comparison to things we've seen recently. I think Breathless is a good. It's a good romp for an hour and 40 minutes.
Laura: Yeah, there we go. Well, thank you so much, Ryan. I'm so happy to be able to do another 80s erotic thriller. My favorite. And coming to you from Mexico, I.
Ryan: Have been Laura Rein's tired. He's a tired boy.
Laura: Love is the power supreme Goodbye.
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