You got five hours, 5 hours in the big race.

It's time.

It's time.

Oh, get up.

Get up.

Get up.

Come on.

Sleep and get up.

Can't believe you're still sleeping more excited than you are.

OK, look.

What do you think the other driver's wives will be wearing?

I hate that.

Did.

I hear wives.

I said wives.

I got ahead of myself for a minute.

You say what?

What's?

The slip of the tongue, Alex.

Well, I like that slip like that tongue too.

Alex, aren't you a little bit nervous?

Nervous.

No, I've seen it all in advance.

Hmm, checkered flag honeymoon in the Bahamas.

Listen, let's just take one Zoom at a time.

We'll win that race, honey.

You watch.

There ain't no one out there that can stop me.

Hermande remake of Matthew Fonz lay a kicker.

Cohen brothers send up with Timothy Chalamag.

Say to Sing came prequel, a Midnight Cowboy sequel.

Alvin and the Chip Monsters have another squeak.

There's so many new ways to revisit Sideways Photographic Novel.

That's how we choose to update.

But we still hold fast You can't change the past on the Ruined Childhoods podcast.

On our last F episode, we spoke about Orson Welles 1973 experimental pseudo documentary F for Fake, the story of a famous art forger who spent his life on the run, ultimately finding refuge on Ibiza.

But since Orson Welles can't help himself, he dedicates the final act of his film to tell the alleged story of his real life girlfriend Oya Kodar.

And now her beauty enchanted famous painter Pablo Picasso, inspiring him to create 22 sketches of her perfect form.

To find out how this connects to art forgery, you'll have to watch the film or listen to that episode.

But artist in renowned sex pest Pablo Lacasso's legend exists in ways that a simple podcast introduction cannot begin to explore.

We all know his famous cubist works, neoclassical masterpieces and the iconic Blue period.

There are even quite a few films, television shows, stage productions that depict the Life and Times of the famous painter, or at least elements and fragments of his life.

In 2018, Antonio Banderas portrayed Picasso in an episode of the award-winning Nat Geo program Genius.

In 2011, Argentine actor Marciel Defonzo Beau played Picasso in Midnight in Paris, directed by sex fest Woody Allen.

In the early 1990s, Tim Hopper appeared as the artist in the original Broadway cast in Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapana Gile.

And in 1996, James Ivory and Ismail Merchant brought us Surviving Picasso, in which the titular Picasso is portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Hopkins, a working actor since the late 60s, drudged through role after role with little to no recognition until he broke through as killer cannibal Hannibal Lecter in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, after which he quickly became a Hollywood staple.

But at the same time he was filming his now iconic role, he also appeared in one of the biggest duds of the 90s, which was so poorly received, even Hopkins himself called it terrible on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Rest in peace, late night shows.

But you know what?

We're going to talk about it anyway.

Greeting starfighters.

This is ruined childhoods.

I'm John.

Here's my brother Dan.

And this week we're talking about Free Jack, the story of a famous race car driver who's on the run after being sucked into the future and haunted by a billionaire for his body.

Dan, if you were dying and could ZAP anyone from the past and take over their body, who would it be?

Oh.

OK.

All right.

I debated, I debated like all week if I was going to like prep you with that question and I decided.

To get no.

So all right, so I'm I'm zapping someone just like from from the past.

Somebody who has, yeah, somebody who is is now dead.

And I also, it's just like, it would have to be like on the verge of their death, Free Jack style.

So I right, I don't know.

It would have to be kind of like how Emilio Estevez went.

Well, I mean.

Tragically and suddenly.

Yeah.

Oh, oh, boy.

OK.

I mean, I, I guess then if I, you know, put on the spot as I am and fresh on the brain as as he is from our previous episode, I will say James Dean.

You know, and that's I think the obvious answer for most people because like a sudden and tragic death.

And also it's like oh and I could also be in the body of like the coolest mother fucker to ever roam the planet.

Right, right.

Yeah, I mean, you know, yeah, I've, I could probably, I would maybe find like a more obscure answer, but like just off the top of my head.

And when you think about those circumstances, because, yeah, like it, it, it can't be discoverable.

It, it can't be like, you know, Oh yeah.

Like they were there and you know, they said their last words and then they just vanished.

No, no, Absolutely.

Yeah.

No, it needs to be.

Yeah.

So I don't know, John, who would you?

Who would you body snatch?

You know, I mean, James Dean is such AI know, like you said, it's an obvious one, but it's like, how can you do better?

It's also a, a great answer.

I mean, like, like you couldn't even say like JFK, 'cause she's very, you know, public and.

But then what would happen is you go, you go to the Zapruder film and his body just disappears.

Right, that's what he.

Vanishes.

That's, that's what I'm saying is you can't by the laws of free Jack, you cannot do that.

The McCandless Corporation would not allow it.

You know, they most certainly would not.

But yeah, like a car crash where things, you know, yes, there was like the person he crashed it, that crashed into him or he crashed into.

I think that they would be the only person around that could even acknowledge that there was a person in the car.

Right, right, wow, I feel like I feel like maybe I should just jump into the synopsis because it's like we're already talking about the story of the movie and anything that I'm thinking about I'm like, and and this is a brief synopsis here.

So, all right, so if you're not familiar with with free Jack, why else would you be listening to this?

I don't know.

Maybe you're just you're never sure.

And this is you're dipping your toe into the water and you're like, do I do I, you know, commit myself to that hour and a half of of my life And or, or maybe it's a movie that.

You've maybe it's a movie that you've heard of but just like don't know anything about.

I mean, yeah, like, absolutely.

You might remember it from from the early 90s.

So anyway, here's what happens in Free Jack.

Just as he's about to experience a fatal crash, race car driver Alex Furlong is transported into the future so his body can be the new host for a billionaire's consciousness.

Before the body snatching technicians can execute their plan, Furlong becomes conscious and escapes, trying to piece together where he is, when he is, and who he can trust as he fights for his life as the titular free Jack, Alex Furlong, we have Emilio Estevez as as his love interest and executive at the McCandless Corporation, who kind of like controls this technology.

So as Julie Redland, we have Renee Russo.

Jules.

Yeah.

Jules.

Yes, we funny connections there to a a an an something down the road.

Yes, yes, yes, I was like, oh, foreshadowing.

So we'll I guess I will come back and talk about free Jack on that episode.

But as wait as as McCandless, the CEO of the McCandless corporation, we we have Sir Anthony Hopkins as the bounty hunter vicentic who is hunting down Furlong John the the look on your face tells you that you appreciate the performance we'll.

Talk, we'll talk about.

We'll talk about all this.

Of Sir Michael Mick Jagger as as well as I.

I don't I I assume he's been knighted at this point.

But anyway, Mick Jagger as vicentic fabulous.

We also have in there Speaking of of rock icons, David Johansson as as furlongs, you know, like his kind of like agent from when he's alive and kind of like, you know, the first person he tracks down when he arrives in in the future, the future, which is 2009.

So right, right.

You know this.

Is a 1992 movie.

Early, early 1992.

So this was a this was a 1991 table scrap, right.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Like January 17th, 1992, it's released, which mere weeks before Anthony Hopkins gets nominated for best actor.

That's right.

Yeah.

So anyway, who else we have Jonathan?

Jonathan Banks as as Michelette, who's like like one of McCandless top executives.

Yeah, as Vicentex right hand man, one of my favourites, Esai Morales.

Esai Morales, That's right.

Yeah, always, always happy to see Esai Morales pop up and.

I want to say I'm always happy to see him pop up and we'll get to that.

Oh, OK.

I don't know.

I'm like, what did he do?

What don't I know about him?

Oh no.

No, no, no.

He's not a problematic person to my knowledge, but yeah.

Yeah, and you know Frankie Faison in in there, my old bowling buddy.

Your old bowling buddy.

I'm, I'm sure I told this story when we talked about the Hannibal Lecter movies, but OK, really quick.

Once Upon a time when I was acting and I was involved in the like regional theatre scene in Northeast New Jersey, Frankie Faison's wife ran a theatre company there.

I want to say it was Luna Stage Company.

Now I'm.

Remembering yeah, there was kind of like this, you know, like N like New Jersey theatre, like North Jersey theatre Alliance, like little bowling like once a week we we'd all we'd go bowling and and Frankie was there at least one week and he was like he was good He had like the glove and everything like.

Was he eating a fried river rat?

He was.

I that bowling alley might, might have been, I don't remember the name of the bowling alley.

I I remember like I think it was in like West Orange, NJ OK, so it, it was a, it was a pretty nice bowling alley, But I do remember, yeah, bowling with him and which.

So it's always fun for me to see him pop up and things.

Yeah, and you know, his, his role in this isn't extensive, but he's got a pretty solid scene in there and a little, a little extra, you know?

And you know, hey, a little like Silence of the Lambs reunion here and pre.

Pre union they probably were filmed right around the same time.

Yeah, I mean they, they don't share any screen time.

I also don't know.

So the timeline for this.

So, so this is directed by Jeff Murphy who also directed Young Guns too.

Yes, and I don't know like the timeline of when this would have been filmed, but like Young Guns 2 comes out in August 1990.

Did Emilio?

I think Men At Work came after this.

Was that 92 also?

I think that was 91.

OK, I.

Think men at.

Work well, the timeline is all messed up because yeah.

Yeah, well, we don't know Elsa.

Like, yeah, we don't.

Filmed.

Long before it came out.

Yeah, like I, I, I, you know, I, I, I didn't see exactly when this was filmed, but it was.

1990 was Men At Work.

Oh, 1990 was Men At Work.

OK, All right.

So it, it feels like it feels like this was, you know, kind of filmed and then maybe kept on the shelf.

It it it had I'd read it had a really disastrous test screening for whatever that means.

Like that might have been a really good film that just had a like either was shown like so many of these test screenings, like they don't like things aren't finished in them and you can there's already a few scenes in this where and like kind of just speaking to the the quality of the film.

There's some like green screen stuff that's just really obvious.

Well, I mean, yeah, the visual effects I were, they seemed more primitive than they should have felt.

And yeah, a lot of it was very screen savory, Right.

You know, The thing is, this movie should have been so much better.

Yeah, it could have been plot, which I mean, this is adapted from a book novel.

Yeah.

A novel.

Immortality Inc by Robert Sheckley.

In nineteen, 1959, yeah.

Yeah, and, and I'm very curious.

I'd I'd be very curious to read it actually, because I feel like the story is very interesting and you do have a lot of people in this movie.

You know, it's like, yeah, OK, Anthony Hawkins.

One thing we, you know, David Johansson does what David Johansson does, and we love it.

Rene Russo is great.

You know Malik.

'S buddy.

Yeah, and Mick Jagger could have been better, but I think that it's just like, you know, it was poorly directed.

It was.

And I don't think that, and I don't think that Emilio Estevez would have was the right person.

No, no, yeah.

I feel like it feels like something that they wanted Tom Cruise for at that time.

And maybe like, then Days of Thunder came out and we're like, like.

Yeah, You know, Tom Cruise would have been interesting.

I mean, it was definitely before his action movie run.

Well, kind of a well, it's but it's also it's it, yeah, it's it's before he gets into like, because Tom Cruise has his whole like sci-fi action sub genre.

Right.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's pre that, but it's like post, yeah, it's like just post days.

Days of Thunder, I must say.

Days of Heaven.

Very different movies.

The Top Gun, but it feels like the type of thing where they would have want, where they would have wanted him for that.

And yeah, Emilio Estevez, I agree, doesn't.

I think it would have been better with like, even with just like Charlie Sheen, I think it would have been better like, you know, it's, it's just like that.

It's it's just fall short of of working for me.

And I think that a lot of it is like, I don't know if there was ever a screen test with him and Renee Russo, but I feel like they don't have any chemistry.

And even though it doesn't, you know, it's not like a thing that matters.

Like he's a little guy.

Like I feel like even Tom Cruise presents larger, but Emilio Estevez just presents like a little guy.

And I feel like if McCandless is looking for the perfect vessel, I feel like he could have done better, you know?

Like even.

Like he could have found somebody who was maybe just like, you know, I don't know, like an, an upgrade.

Yeah, yeah, but, but but the like, you know, part of it is that for a lot, that was who Julie loved.

Oh, that's true.

He he did do it for selfish, you know, sex reasons, right.

Yeah, I guess there was that, there was that angle to it.

But also it's like, and OK, this gives away the tiniest little, nothing of a thing.

But like, if you're somebody who doesn't drive, why would you put yourself in the body of a race car driver?

Like I feel like there's like a lot of different.

And yes, it's not like the the body itself is is designed for.

It's not like you get the skills that the person had or anything like that.

I don't know, maybe maybe you do get some of the skills, but yeah.

Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, I guess.

Well, no, because it's you're.

It's the consciousness and driving the.

Total consciousness, yeah.

Like, you know, that's a a skill and you know, I'm, you know, there's a certain amount of natural talent, but that's still that comes with, you know, that consciousness.

I think.

I think so.

But again, he's also not planning on masquerading.

Right.

It's a little confusing as to like, how he expects to get away with just, you know, having a different body.

But this is Russo being OK with it.

And yeah.

Well, well, yeah.

I mean, yeah, the fact that yeah, that that part is not well thought out.

Right.

But yeah, I I really agree with you.

I've, I've always felt this way about this movie.

And I, I first saw this movie on Vhsi remember I, I like, I remember renting it when it came out on VHS.

Like I, I just remember seeing, you know, posters for it and like, oh, like this looks like it could be fun.

And it's very much in that.

And it is fun it.

Is fun and because you know what it fits, it does fit into that early to mid 90s futuristic sci-fi like Demolition Man.

Right.

All that and it's and, and what's fun about what's what.

I don't know if fun is the right word, but what's interesting about going back to those movies is how much they get right.

Oh, no.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

The about the future.

Oh yeah, thinking about, I mean, I was recently having a conversation.

It was really, this was after my rewatch of Free Jack and it it was on the topic of climate change and its impact on the insurance market, specifically housing insurance, because fewer and fewer homes and fewer and fewer and fewer areas are becoming insurable.

So and it's specifically like coastal areas.

Right.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

And they and you think about where that leads to if things keep going in that direction.

And it's that wealth disparity where you either have a home and you are wealthy enough that you can afford a really nice home, or you're eating like Fried river rat.

Yeah.

And and.

And Frankie Faison does an awesome job of like, laying out, you know, great expositional scene of just like what's going on in the world in 2009.

Oh, Oh, yes, yeah, No, it's a wonderful, I think, as we called it in Under Siege and Aleniac moment.

And I also the director did Under Siege 2 dark territory.

Oh well.

Hey, Jeff.

Murphy, Did he not do dark Territory?

I think he did.

I believe you.

Yep, Under Siege 2 Dark Territory, which I'd say is the better of the Under Siege movies.

I remember you saying that I still haven't seen it.

It's kind of great.

It's almost never streaming and I'm just not, I don't know, I guess I just not going to the to a further extent for it.

Well, and and just to kind of clarify a little bit of what you were just saying because you're you're likening his character just kind of like the Erica Elena, yes, but like for first under siege, her entire purpose was to go around the entire movie, you know, with Steven Seagal and it's somebody for him to explain the movie to all.

Right.

We used it as as a as a character choice or as like a character type.

Not not what was happening.

OK, so anyway but.

But but, but thank you for calling that back because I it's, it's so funny and I think about it all the time.

I yeah, I know.

As do I.

As do I, Yeah.

Well in this movie you get like little dumps of exposition.

So first you you have David Johansen, then you have Amanda Plummer.

Who you didn't mention earlier.

Yes, whose character I wish was in the entire movie.

Love Amanda Plummer in this.

She's as the the nun and she's, she just does like it's, you know, Amanda Plummer, do what you do so well.

She's great.

And, you know, I do wonder if Quentin Tarantino, you know, saw her, you know, in this performance and kind of had the idea to put her into Pulp Fiction because it.

It she's so good, and this is coming right on the heels of the Fisher King.

Right, but she plays a completely different type of role.

At least in this one she can.

You can see her wielding a gun.

And actually, hold on, she's on the verge of getting it.

Didn't Amanda Palmer get nominated for the Fisher King?

Am I wrong?

You may be right.

Wow, so two people.

Yeah, well, that's totally fine.

So I also with with Amanda Plummer and sorry, in the Quentin Tarantino thing, isn't there a scene in True Romance where like they're what, like Free Jack is on ATVI want to say that that's a thing?

True Romance.

We're both Googling things right now.

This is the Google show.

True.

Romance free Jack.

I'm looking up to see if if she was.

Oh no, she did not receive and she got a BAFTA nomination for the Fisher King.

She did not get an Academy Award nomination for the Fisher King.

OK, in In True Romance, Brad Pitt is watching Free Jack when he's just laying on the couch.

Oh.

Wow which is so funny and honestly it makes me like his role in True Romance is so good but I love it even more that he's just getting high and watching free Jack.

That's amazing.

I really now want to know if that was his choice.

Well, and, and, you know, just going back to the, you know, Quentin Tarantino thing, I wonder if that was even in the script.

Oh yeah, yeah.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's.

You know, I mean, True Romance was 93.

I don't know how the production coincide.

I guess early 92 is when this was released.

And everything.

Also, so funny to me that like, Tarantino and Brad Pitt were connected at that stage in their careers because I often forget about it and I think of, I want to say Inglourious Basterds as like their first collaboration.

And I don't know how involved Tarantino was with the production of True Romance that Tony Scott directed, but it's definitely like his screenplay, and it definitely feels much more like his film than, let's say, like Natural Born Killers.

Wait a second.

OK, so True Romance.

It has the same music as Badlands, starring Martin Sheen, father of Emilio Estevez.

Dan, I'm free jacking out right now.

Oh.

Oh my.

Oh my God.

Wow.

I don't know.

So OK.

Back to Free Jack, which I'm so happy I get to say.

Yes, back-to-back to free Jack.

So I, I had a really, I had a really good time watching this movie And, and I had watched it, you know, not too long before this most recent rewatch, maybe six months, seven months or so.

And it was when I watched it that first time, it was one of those just like, oh, I've heard of this movie and I, you know, I've got the time.

I could enjoy putting this on.

And it was just like, what the hell am I watching right now?

This is bananas.

And all of the decisions are so weird.

But like, yet like we're like we're saying like at the core of it, there's a really good story there.

And yes, I'd love to read the the source material, but also it's like this was written by Dan Gilroy, who at the time wasn't much of anything.

But just the other day, if we're recording this one, an Emmy for Andor and is being, you know, really propped up as, as being, you know, you know, one of our days like more incredible writers and, and film makers, of course, of the, of the the Gilroy brothers.

I think all three of them are in the, you know, 'cause Tony Gilroy, yeah, you know, of, of Michael Clayton, right?

That one was Tony, right?

Yeah, I it's funny.

I was like, I was like, I don't want to say it.

I'm like, which one did?

Michael Clayton.

Michael Clayton.

Yeah, Michael.

Clayton yeah.

And he also did the did The Bourne Legacy.

I remember that because that was actually what got me like, interested in seeing that movie.

Oh, reconnects with Renee.

He did.

Nightcrawler, the Jake.

Gyllenhaal, Renee.

Russo, Dan.

Gilroy.

Tone.

Yes.

Yes, Dan Gilroy.

Right, Yeah, 'cause he, he got, he met Renee Russo on the set of Free Jack.

And then they, you know, are still living, living happily ever after, to my knowledge.

So John Gilroy is an editor who edited Billy Madison.

He also did Michael Clayton and The Bourne Legacy, Duplicity, Nightcrawler, Pacific Rim.

So they're twins?

Slouch.

Oh, what are they?

Which ones are twins?

John and Dan.

John, Hey, that's our names.

They they do a podcast.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, they're twins.

Yeah.

Oh, that's so much fun.

So, yeah, mad respect to the to the Gilroy brothers because I, I mean, I've been plowing through season 2 of Andor and I just watched the the episode that he was that he actually won the Emmy 4, which is called Welcome to the.

Rebellion 00 and sorry, you know, and now I'm letting now I'm of course like making the Renee Roos connection because she's also in two for the money which he wrote and he wrote the Fall, the the Tarsem Singh film, which I I remember watching.

I didn't see it in the theatre, but I remember, I think it was, was, you know, quite was really good.

That's the one with Is that Lee Pace?

Yeah, with Lee Pace, where he's in the hospital bed like he's the 1920s like movie.

Star you know, I somewhat inexplicably like purchased the the movie on like Apple TI think it might have been like the first movie I bought on like Apple TV or something and and I I was just like, man, what made me buy that one?

It's good, but it's not like one that I think I'll ever really watch again.

But I like Lee.

Pace, I don't know yeah, I remember I remember think it was really cool.

The visuals were were really impressive on that.

Yeah.

But yeah, anyway, yeah.

So Danielle Roy no slouch and and yeah, like Free Jack has a lot of has a lot of good stuff in it and there's it's just like a mismanaged mishandle.

It sounds like a like a studio botch job.

A director who didn't like really, you know, mesh with the material, a star who really didn't, you know, like all these things that we're saying, it just sounds like something that, you know, well, it didn't work out.

You know, you were mentioning that this is kind of at a time when there's all these other like, you know, science fiction, future thing, action type things, you know, total recall.

Well, total recall, yeah.

And I, yeah, there's right.

Yeah.

But there's so many others.

And I mean other like Philip K Dick adaptations too.

And and it's like this one, it seems like they were just like, oh, we could get this one cheap, let's do this one.

And, you know, we're trying to to capitalize on it.

And it just wasn't with the right, it wasn't in the right hands.

And yeah, I mean, Emilio Estevez, there's something about him too that's just like, I don't buy him being able to like escape from these bounty hunters and, and everything.

And I, Mick Jagger, I feel like with the right director could be good.

And this is also at like a time when, like, you know, The Rolling Stones weren't like, you know, at the top of everybody's mind.

It was kind of like in a dip, I'd say.

Because I feel like they, once they started to just, like, do all their farewell tours for the next 20 years, that's when, you know, they had a bit of a they, they kind of regain the legend status.

And this was like trying to figure out what his next move was.

Right?

Yeah.

Newton.

Yeah.

Whatever moves they were were like Jagger.

So I couldn't help it.

You could.

No, I didn't want to.

But you know, and actually having seen this movie, you know, when it was first out on VHS and for as as long, you know, ever since then, Mick Jagger's performance is really what I associate with this movie and how campy it is.

Yeah.

Oh, OK.

I I want to shout out all of the great names in this movie because Masendek is an awesome like Victor.

Masendek.

I don't know if it's taken from the book but like what a great name.

McCandless is such a strange name and also it like the person who says it the most is Mick Jagger and it sounds so weird coming out of his mouth.

I think Michelette Michelette says character great name.

It like these are names that people don't really.

Have although it reminds me.

It reminds me of Ray, Nicolette from Out of Sight and Jackie.

Brown.

Yes, absolutely, totally.

But.

Yeah, no Micholette.

Yeah, great name, Alex.

Furlong is like the worst name in this.

So it's the it's the worst name.

And since this came out like so soon after Terminator Two, you just think of Edward Furlong.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, it just makes it his name, makes the other ones just seem even better because it's so dull in comparison.

Yeah, like, yeah, Julie Redland, Julie Redlands, whatever.

But yeah, no, no.

Victor Vassendek and yeah, oh, Mark Michelette, that's.

Mark Michelette.

So lots of alliterative names, right?

What's Mccandless's first name?

Do you have that in?

Front of me, Ian.

Oh, Ian, it's.

Kind of weird.

Yeah.

Just Ian.

You know what?

I did find the one moment pretty cool looking when it's we don't know that it's McCandless in the moment, but like we just see the guy and he takes the hood off and it's like a hologram of oh, of Emilio Estevez.

I thought that didn't look terrible.

Like the like, I want this body thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, that was.

It has to be him or whatever he says, something like that.

Yeah, no, right.

It was cool.

There were so many moments where you're just like the potential.

Right.

Yeah.

But yeah, but, but my, I'm trying to think, I wish I had a list of like my favorite Mick Jagger lines, like the ones that he does.

Like I'll tell you, like my favorite is when he's counting and he says Mississippi between the numbers because it's so strange that he's saying Mississippi.

Like I think that it's the fact that he's not American and he's saying, I don't know if like non American, say Mississippi to kind of space out numbers when you're counting seconds.

Probably not.

I feel like you know, 11000 is maybe.

They're like, we're British, we don't need to say something to know how long a second is.

We just.

One Mississippi.

Just say 1-2 and speak like a normal human being.

Yeah, I know.

I, I, I really enjoyed that.

I mean, oh, here's a great moment when when Alex is trying to prove that he is McCandless and they're having him recite his like ID number and and he's like 6 and Vicentec is like that's.

Correct.

It's like it's almost seemed like the his ID number was just six but then the next number he says is 9 and it's just like is he just saying 69?

It's so funny he just says it.

Over and over.

Yeah, 696969 And he's like, honestly, that's completely true.

That's correct.

Absolutely correct.

That was very silly.

I mean, everything that was up in that, like the 200th floor stuff was, was pretty wild.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the.

Consciousness Zone or whatever it was called.

Right.

Yeah.

Like it was weird.

It was weird.

And it was fun.

It was like, oh, OK, all right, this is what's next.

Yeah.

This is this is where we're going.

You know, and there were some moments that I was a little surprised by.

You know, there were there were a few twists in it.

I mean, there were a lot of there were like 4 too many, too, too many like twists or whatever.

And but I enjoyed it because it was that kind of a movie and you know, you do want the Sendak to, I don't know, turn a little bit.

And so it's, it's a little satisfying when like there is, you know, there are those, those moments.

Right.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

I mean, cause like, it's Mick Jagger.

Yeah.

And, and yeah, he's just fun.

He's fun.

Jerry Hall pops up.

Yeah.

Oh, OK, So Esai Morales, the reason why I winced a little bit when you said his name, because you're saying that you're always happy when he pops up.

I did not like him in the Mission Impossible movies.

Speaking of the Tom Cruise, you know, yeah, action, well, this that those weren't.

Consciousness.

Well, I guess they turned into sci-fi a little bit.

Yeah.

So I I didn't love Esai Morales.

I think that he would have been better as like a different Mission Impossible villain.

Well.

And yeah, I mean, it was also like kind of like, it was like the script was just kind of like weak and.

Yeah, the last two were.

Yeah, yeah, he, he wasn't given the best material to work with.

And I honestly.

I feel like blame him, but it's just like God.

Now I see him and I think about those movies.

Oh, now you see, I still think of him riding that motorcycle in the opening credits of La Bamba.

Right of La Bamba.

Yes, you.

He's great in La Bamba.

Yeah, and he's good in this.

I mean, he has a very small role, but.

There's somewhat.

Cool.

Like little one color sunglass thing, which of course was such a big early 90s thing to do.

So yeah, so early 90s, yeah.

It's fun, nostalgic, you know?

Yeah, but I thought that he was.

I thought that he was fine in in this movie where he's not given much to do.

No.

But it's but it was one of those moments where like I saw him and I'm just like, wait, is that ESI Morales?

OK, Yeah, yeah, there's really not too much more to this movie.

We haven't talked about the car crash at all or anything that happens.

But, you know, in the in the in the 90s segment for it, I thought that that all looked really good.

I thought they did a pretty good job, you know, doing that whole stunt work and, and that scene and everything.

That was a lot of fun.

And also it's like, you know, he's doing Formula One, which is like super popular right now and it's almost like ahead of its time in the way that like that is that's true being an F1 driver, so.

That's true, Yeah.

Not not, not so much in in 91 or 90.

Two, Right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, the way that they depicted, it's like, it almost looks like there's not a big crowd watching this thing, even though it's like, you know, televised.

And he's celebrity enough that, you know, people in the future know who he is, I guess because he had this tragic crash.

That's probably a good way to be famous.

But yeah, So, yeah, I don't know.

But the crash looked good.

The crash looked looked good and you know, and I mean, I guess what else, what more can we say other than like what like what do you do with this?

Well.

I did, of course, have the thought to like expand on Esai Morales's character and have that kind of be the origin for his like, you know, getting involved with like the IMF and everything with Mission Impossible.

But no, no, I think that what what they should do with this is I think that Dan Gilroy should, you know, do a a a new draft of the script, freshen it up and they should just try it again.

And The thing is like this is a new type of thing that I'm talking about doing this where it's not a reboot, it's a do over where it's like it's a remake.

Well, it's it's a do.

Although I guess it's a film maker make remaking.

Yeah, their own film.

Yeah.

I think that it's like when there's a movie that is not beloved, but the like the bones are really strong and like there is just the production didn't have things going for it.

It's just like, OK, let's just try this again.

And but because like a remake, you're, you're typically doing something that is beloved.

And the reason why you're remaking it is because there's a fan base for it.

And there's, you know, reason to to revisit this property that has to that is that is kind of feeding off of the fandom of this in the first place.

But there are, and I, I wish I could tell you some off the top of my head, but I, I think there are also those remakes that are that like, you know, hey, they tried this before and they couldn't make it work.

Then let's make it work now remakes and maybe maybe like and and I, I don't know, like, I don't know how big, like the original thing, like the thing.

Right.

OK.

Yeah, that's.

Fair.

But that feels so, so it's like, yeah, there's the remakes of like, you know, I guess worst case scenario, like the Gus Van Zandt psycho remaking, remaking a, a, a classic and trying to do it shot by shot.

Yeah, I just found like a Reddit post and somebody says Little Shop of Horrors, which I don't know if if I would call the original a bad one.

I mean, I think that they took something that was a good movie and they just made it.

Here's why.

Different, but you're a little shop.

Here's why I say not Little Shop because the because the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors is a film adaptation of the stage musical, which is an adaptation of the original film.

It's not a remake of the original.

Film.

So this is an interesting one and this is one that we've talked about before, but somebody mentions Gaslight.

You know that is that's a super interesting one because it was remade just a couple years later.

I think it was like 41 and 44 or something like that.

But but yeah, it's I don't know necessarily if the original was it was like actually bad.

I think it's just like they're just like, hey, let's do this again.

See, somebody says Dune, But that's The thing is it's just a re adaptation.

So that doesn't really count, right?

Somebody says Thomas Crown affair, but the sick the, you know, the Steve Thomas Crown affair.

Is that was good.

That was a high profile movie, and it's a good movie, yeah.

Yeah, somebody does say the BLOB, which I think is.

I don't know.

That's debatable because the original is iconic.

Yeah, yeah.

And I don't think and and it doesn't, it just, it hardly feels like the 88 version is even trying to like top it or or say like, you know.

Somebody else said the Fly, which is an interesting one.

Oh yeah, but I've seen the original.

I've seen, I mean, I've seen clips from it.

I haven't seen the.

Full thing that feels like something like.

Bad.

But that but that also feels like something where you could say like, OK, this concept didn't work out.

It came out kind of cheesy.

Like maybe on that level of free Jack, like you know, where it's fun, but it's kind of cheesy.

But like, you know, David Cronenberg comes along and says like, I could take this and really make this work.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, yeah.

So anyway, I that's what I'm thinking is is is.

You could argue you could.

Well, no, Yeah, never mind.

I'm sorry.

I was, I just, I, I counter argued myself out of saying what I was going to say.

Uh.

Oh, OK.

Well, a good example is Free Jack 1992 versus Free Jack 2026.

Yeah.

They're already in production.

Spectacular.

Yeah, Well then what would you do?

So one of my one of my thoughts was pretty much the same thing was a a remake and I would just my only casting suggestion was Harry Styles as Vascendek.

OK.

That was just kind of like my like, who, who could do that?

Like I'm like, who could honour Mick Jagger's work properly?

Well, but that's the question is like, does a redo or remake, you know, how much, how many nods to the original need to be there?

Or do you kind of just wipe the slate clean?

Well, I guess and it but it and if it's a like Dan Gilroy remaking or retooling his own script, maybe there's more of the original DNA in there.

You know, I and and like I said, I'm watching Andor season 2 right now.

Take the cast of Andor and put him in there.

The guy who played in Dan.

I don't know if you watch any Andor.

You watched.

You told me you watched a little.

Yeah, I've seen a few guy who plays.

So the guy who plays Cyril would be a really great vascendak, you know, Diego Luna would be an amazing Alex Furlong, you know?

Yeah, maybe a spicier name.

Diego Luna is awesome.

And honestly, that's somebody who you would look at and be like, I want that guy's body.

Yeah, you know he's.

And he's handsome as hell.

Is it Stellan?

Stellan Skarsgard.

Stellan Skarsgard greatly can us perfect is a perfect McCandless.

I mean, there's so many you could get Benjamin Bratt in there as oh.

Right.

Jonathan Banks character I'm I'm blanking on.

Oh, Michelet, Michelet.

That's right dude.

He would be a great Michelette.

Benjamin Bratt would be a great Michelette.

Yeah, you've got you've got such a good cast to pull from.

If you just kind of like go to the and or player and you've got like all these amazing people, whether they were guest stars or or regulars, you've got an awesome cast there.

But yeah, stolen Skarsgard as McCandless would actually be amazing.

Great.

I don't know if that's like because he's also, you know, in Dune as the like big baddy.

I don't know if it's too too similar.

But but it's it's such a different type.

Of bad he could also he could also be Michelette.

Like he he'd be awesome there too.

Yeah, yeah, or he'd be the David Johansen character.

I don't know.

He's good at he's he's good in any situation.

I think stolen Skarsgard.

I I've, I agree.

No, no, the other idea I had was I thought that if you took the the world of free Jack and kind of the the concept of free Jacks and you broadened it and you expanded it out into a series, I felt like an animated.

I felt like animated.

I pictured like anime I felt like.

Yeah, as soon as you said it, I was thinking like Ghost in the Shell type stuff.

Right.

Like, yeah, like the Akira visuals keep popping into my head when I think about it.

So, you know, something like that, taking that concept of the wealthy being able to purchase bodies and transport them and what happens when one of these people comes?

Because also like it sounds like there's a like they have a name for this type of person.

So right, it must have happened before.

Well, you know, and I'll tell you something that's also really cool about free Jack is that like they're they acknowledge that like the technology to do this is like pretty primitive and janky and not a precise thing.

And so it's like the fact that they're able to do it is super risky because the technology is wonky as hell.

And I really appreciate that they don't have it to be like this is something that they do all the time.

There's like a, you know, a clinic to do it.

Now, a free Jack is somebody who is brought in and then escapes, or is it just somebody who's brought in to be a body?

That's that's no.

It's somebody who escaped, somebody who's brought in.

Wasn't there.

And then isn't there a name for just somebody who's brought in?

Isn't there like something, some other kind of.

I feel like there was something that one of the exposition characters, you know, introduced into the script that like probably just got lost in the shuffle.

But I feel like there was some sort of name for for that type of thing.

But yeah, like you said, you know, if it if it happens enough for there to be a name for it, then you think that they would probably because it's like they're so shocked that he regained consciousness and escaped as if like that was such a rare thing.

But if it if there's a name for it to the fact that like if he says people are saying I'm a free Jack and then it shocks people.

Right.

Yeah.

I mean, they're, they're right.

He's a free Jack.

Yeah, that one moment.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So like those are my ideas.

Like I'd be curious if I, if I saw the like, you know, if Netflix, you know, had like, you know, the the free Jack animated series, I'd be like, I might check that out.

But also, if I heard Dan Gilroy was doing his was was remaking it, I'd be down for that.

You know what?

And Dan Gilroy's white hot right now, so I feel like now's the time to do it.

You know what?

I I was wondering if he had any screenplays produced before this.

I'm just going to quickly ZAP over to no.

This is his first free Jack, then chasers.

Oh yeah.

Direction by Dennis Hopper.

Chasers Co starring Erica Oleniak.

Oh my God, is that Erica Oleniak?

Oh, my God, it is Tom Barringer, William McNamara, Gary Busey.

Oh, Gary Busey and Erica Laniak back together again.

Oh my And then, yeah, as you said, too, for the money, The Fall, Real Steel, The Bourne Legacy, Nightcrawler, Kong, Skull Island, which I really enjoyed.

Oh, yeah.

Roman J, Roman J Israel Esquire, which I've never seen, but I actually now knowing more about Dan Gilroy, who also directed Roman J Israel Esquire.

It makes me what It makes me want to see it.

And I've been on like, a bit of a Denzel kick lately.

Yeah.

You know, highest to lowest.

Dan, did you watch highest to lowest?

I did watch highest to lowest.

OK, me too.

What do you think about it?

I liked it.

I thought it was good.

Yeah, I, no, I, yeah, I liked it.

There there's a certain thing that's happening in a lot of Spike Lee movies where like they take a moment where it kind of takes a bit of a left turn and it's just like, we just need to pause for a second just to teach you about something.

So like and this one, it's all about the like the Ebony alert.

You know, thing where it's just yes.

Well, we we paused the the rest of the movie to talk about Ebony alerts for a second and.

The Ebony alertness, you know, I, I found that.

I found that there was something where like, I had a moment realizing that like, Jeffrey Wright was in a scene that takes place in a room where there's Basquiat paintings.

My God.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It was just one of those like, like no one calls it out, but I was just like, hey.

Basquiat Yeah, there was a a Jeffrey line, a Jeffrey Wright line where I was just like, come on.

That was such a oh God, what was it?

It was towards the end.

And he's like making jokes in the car and he makes a reference to something else that somebody else in the movie was in.

And I'm spacing on it right now.

Oh.

God, now it's going to bother me.

Right.

Yeah, I, I mean, was it like another Denzel Washington?

No, I Oh my God.

All right.

Give me a second here.

Oh, oh, oh.

He's making references to different insurance.

He 'cause he names his guns and he, like, has one of them that's like called, you know, something from like some insurance commercial.

I think there's another one that's called Mayhem, which is Dean Winter's character.

Yes, yes, I yes, I noticed that and also have a kind of similar response.

Yeah, I was just like, come on.

Also because it's like we're referencing like the safe, like whatever State Farm commercials.

Right.

Yeah, Oh, right.

He calls one of them Jake from State Farm.

Yeah, Jake, Jake from State Farm is isn't another one flow from Progressive.

You know what, if he had three guns, I'm sure that that would have happened.

Possibly, I don't know, but yeah.

So anyway, yeah, highest to lowest I thought was fine.

Yeah, I thought it was fine.

Makes me wanna watch, you know, the Kurosawa.

Yeah, yeah, actually, yeah, me, me as well.

You know, Denzel Washington's like, you know, scene in the recording studio with ASAP.

That was really good.

Yeah, Yeah, that was really good.

And he was great in it.

I thought.

I thought that he was really fantastic.

Yeah.

And yeah, the way that that scene kind of like takes the two of them and like, you know, the shots and kind of splits them together and everything, that was really great.

And yeah, you know, he's fantastic.

I really, you know, Denzel Washington, nobody doesn't like him.

And I recently watched Inside Man again for the, you know, so, you know, 12th time or something.

And that's one where they take a moment to like, talk about violence in video games.

You know, it's just like, oh, this has nothing to do with the movie, but OK.

We just need, we just need to take a yeah.

But this, this one I felt was a little less like, a little like less like of Spike Lee's voice in it.

Like, just in those moments, right.

Like those moments, the moments when like, you know, Denzel's like talking to like, you know, the, the, the great black musicians, yeah, you know, kind of like their, their spirits trying to, you know, if that felt like a, that felt more like a spike moment.

Right.

Yeah, for sure.

There, Yeah, so.

But you know, I'm a I'm a big fan.

You know what?

I'm happy that he does what he does because no one else, no one else can do it.

No, no, no.

And I like, I, like I said, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a big fan of Spike Lee and I still need to go back and watch like a lot of his like lower profile films in his documentaries.

But because I'm so interested by watch, you know, when I go back and rewatch things like do the right thing and, and even inside man and bamboozled was my favorite.

And like I recently was watching a little even of of Summer of Sam.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

We talked about that recently, yeah.

Yeah.

And it's like, you know, I got to, I got to go back.

I got to, I got to fill in the blanks there in that filmography, see what I haven't seen.

Yeah.

Well, Dan, before you talk about what we're going to cover on our our next episode, I want to thank everybody for tuning in.

It really means a lot to us.

And it means even more to us when you rate and review us on the podcast platforms.

Apple Podcasts leave a comment on Spotify, we're on YouTube.

You can watch us on on YouTube or on Spotify.

You can see the look on my face when Dan mentioned always happy seeing Eastside Morales pop up.

And this is our third season that's coming to a close pretty soon.

And what we've been doing, it's been a year long series, 52 episodes where we've done 26 episodes going up the alphabet, you know, Alpha movie titles in alphabetical order, and then 26 episodes going down the off bed Z to A.

And this was our second F episode.

Like we said earlier, F for fake was our first F episode.

Dan, what are we doing for our next E episode?

For next E episode, so I'm going to I'll lead into this and and we will say more on the episode, but as but if you have followed ruined childhoods, you know, you know that John and I are both huge fans of the the late great legend Robert Redford, who passed away.

Yeah, we're recording this on September.

19th.

19th and Robert Redford passed away was on the 17th.

16th or 17th or.

Earlier earlier this week and like we've covered so many of his of his films.

We went ahead and just did like a long string of them for a while.

I don't know if it was just a month.

We like said, you know what, let's just do a whole bunch of Robert Redford.

Movies, right and, and just, you know, big fans of him as an actor, a film maker, a a an activist, a human.

And so, you know, as we come to our our E episode, you know, we found the the perfect opportunity to kind of honor him and and his work.

So we we're going to be talking about 1979's The Electric Horseman, starring Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Willie Nelson and directed by Sydney Pollack.

Yeah, Now this is Robert Redford's only movie beginning with the letter E Yeah.

And so it was kind of like, we really want to talk about him, you know, 11 more time, you know, you know, right on the on the heels of his passing.

And you know what?

If it's going to be a a a lesser known of his movies, then so be it.

And you know, you know, we get to talk about his works with Jane Fonda again.

We talked about Barefoot in the Park before.

That's right.

Did we do?

He has one other one with Jane Fonda I believe.

I he had a more recent one with Jane Fonda.

I know we didn't do that.

Yeah, but oh, was it?

Oh, no, never mind.

That's not with Robert Redford.

That's James Caan.

It was along comes along comes a horseman, I think, or something like that, that Jane Fond.

I think Jane Fond.

Isn't that with James Caan?

But anyway, no.

And we'll, you know, on the on the next episode, like we'll, we'll run down all of the, the Robert Redford films that we've, we've talked about done one of his directorial efforts quiz show.

Yep.

Yeah, but so many of of the films he's starred in and, you know, it's, you know, I don't know that we're going to say anything that we haven't said before, but it's still it's so worth saying it and and he's.

He he is worthy of celebration.

Worthy.

He's worthy of celebration no matter what.

So anyway, if you, you know, want to share your thoughts on Robert Redford, his life, his career, which you know of his works have touched, do you, please e-mail us at ruinedchildhoodspod@gmail.com.

Or if you have ideas on how you'd want to resurrect Free Jack, which is an appropriate way of of phrasing it, you know, we'd love to hear from you.

And if only we could have put Robert Redford into.

If only we could have gotten.

You know, put him into Brad Pitt's body.

Like officially.

The process is complete.

It's just taken a long time.

Yeah, so.

All right, well Dan, as you are racing in your F1 car and careening towards a giant Nissan sign, I wish you a good journey.

That does sound like a good journey.