Ep 42 - The NeverEnding Story (1984)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: The Never Ending Story 1984 Turn Around look at what you see Interface the mirror of your dreams make believe I'm everywhere Hidden in the lines written on the pages Is the answer to a never ending story Reach the stars fly a fantasy Dream a dream and what you see will be rhyme that keeps the their secrets will unfold behind the clouds and there upon the rainbow Is the answer to a never ending story. [00:00:49] Speaker B: Hello everybody and welcome back to R rating. The show where I get together with two of my friends, we take a movie franchise, break it down by a movie, give it an overall score and throw it on the board. Today I'm joined by my co hosts Will and Brian as well as a special guest. We've got the ying to my yang, the writer of my thang, Mrs. Mongoolie, here to join us. Hello Amy, how are you doing today? [00:01:12] Speaker A: Wow, that's the intro. [00:01:15] Speaker C: Yeah. Wow. [00:01:18] Speaker B: You're welcome. Love you. [00:01:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:01:23] Speaker B: So Brian, we were talking about this a little bit beforehand. There are three movies in this franchise. I didn't know one of them existed until just recently. What's your history with this franchise? Have you aware of all three of them? Have you seen these before? [00:01:36] Speaker C: Well, I mean I'm aware of them now obviously, but I had thought that I'd only seen number one and it turns out I think I've seen parts of number two because I was getting the, the main star of number two mixed up with this movie. So I, I watched this movie and I remembered all of it and I was like, yeah, I've seen it before and I think I've seen some of this, the sequel. I did not know number three existed. And because all of these are Chuck filled with child actors, there's probably good reason for it and we'll get into that. I'm going to try not to be too hard on child actors because this is, you know, it's a family film and it's full of child actors. So I'm going to try and keep the rating in there at the same. But that is a tough one for me to get through for sure. [00:02:18] Speaker B: Honestly, anybody long term fan of the show probably saw that one coming. What about you, Will? Are you familiar with this franchise as a whole or any part of it? [00:02:27] Speaker A: I am very familiar with the first movie. I believe I watched the second movie once. That was enough. And I don't think I ever. No, no, I never watched the third and I probably never will. [00:02:43] Speaker B: Fair enough. I know you actually requested to join us on this one, so I know you've Seen the first one a ton. We own the second one but it's not even open. So I don't know if you've ever seen that one. Did you even know the third one existed? [00:02:55] Speaker D: I knew there was a third one. I same as you will. I loved the first one. I got into the second one and it got so out there and it was just missing all the marks, all the beats that I loved about the first one. So I didn't even bother with the third one. [00:03:11] Speaker A: Yeah, clever girl. [00:03:12] Speaker B: I and I mean I believe the first one's obviously a theatrical is that didn't do all that well. Probably found its audience on VHS or whatever it was at the time. Betamax. You're giving me a weird look. Well, I'm pretty sure I looked up that it did not make its money back in theaters. [00:03:27] Speaker A: The first movie. Yeah, it absolutely did. It made 20 million in Germany alone. It only cost 27 million to make. And then all of the other places were released is where it made almost 100 mil total. [00:03:43] Speaker B: Interesting. I did not see that at all. I was looking on IMDb it looked like it only made 20 million total. I didn't realize that was. [00:03:48] Speaker A: No, that was only. Yeah, that's only in Germany. And then it was released worldwide like a few months later. [00:03:54] Speaker B: That makes far more sense for why it made two sequels. I was. [00:04:01] Speaker A: 27 million. Yes, it was. [00:04:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:05] Speaker A: It was the most expensive non American movie of its time budget and you know what? [00:04:12] Speaker C: I to just jump into it. I think that was money well spent. I think they did an amazing job with the set scenes and animatronics. It was. It was pretty incredible. For you especially. [00:04:22] Speaker B: I'm going to throw you a bone on this one run. I think all of the money went into the set, the design, stuff like that. And they had nothing left for the actors afterwards. [00:04:31] Speaker C: Yeah, that checks. That checks. [00:04:34] Speaker B: I don't know if that's true. That's just how it feels. [00:04:37] Speaker A: Oh my goodness. [00:04:38] Speaker C: So, okay, so we. We have a ton of child actors. We don't have a lot of big names in this film. At least they weren't when they first started here. Not a lot of human characters. There are a lot of animatronic characters. There are a lot of people in huge costumes, double triple heads. You've got people with hair and fangs, a rock monster, all kinds of crazy stuff. As for the human characters. And I'm going to throw this one to Will. What. What did you think of the acting for the human characters? Because when it comes to the animatronics and stuff. It's kind of a whole different ball game there. But like, Will, what did you think? Especially, you know, that we had a couple little boys, little princess girl. And I don't even know if there were any real other human characters that weren't covered in makeup from head to toe. [00:05:25] Speaker A: Adult characters were made up pretty good. But yeah, you know, I. Maybe because I watched this as a child, I wasn't that hung up on the child acting, so to speak. That said, I believe Treyu was pretty good. The actor who did betray you. I didn't mind the Empress either. She has a very small role in the movie. And then the kid who paid Ashton was probably the weakest of them all, which is unfortunate because he's the protagonist of the story. Story. But luckily we get a Trey. You more than anybody. [00:06:04] Speaker C: Dan, what do you think of the. The human aspect of this movie? [00:06:07] Speaker B: I'd have to say this is the first time. Well, this is probably my second time watching it as an adult. We watched it with the twins when they were like five or six, then watched with Charlie this time at seven. So this one, my second time watching it as an adult. And the first time I was watching with a really critical eye. So I would say this is the first time. The acting, I. I noticed the acting. I'm not gonna say that any of it is phenomenal, but none of it is, like, laughably bad to me. Like, it was all serviceable for what it was. And if that's nostalgic glasses, who knows? That's possible. I'm not sure on that one, but that's just how I was feeling. [00:06:40] Speaker A: It's no Home Alone four through six. [00:06:42] Speaker B: I'm honestly gonna make the exact same joke with Home Alone. [00:06:44] Speaker C: I'm not even gonna lie. [00:06:46] Speaker B: What were you thinking? [00:06:49] Speaker D: I. I have a soft spot for this film. And again, probably a lot of it's nostalgia, but I found a lot of it just hit on kind of some foundational growing up moments. And so I think for that, again, I love human interest pieces, so that kind of hit for me. Yeah. Watching it now as an adult, I'm like, the acting was a little bit rough, but I mean, young people, what can you do? And yeah, the animatronics. Like, I was impressed with how well it still held up. [00:07:24] Speaker B: Yeah, a lot of practical effect on this one. [00:07:27] Speaker C: You say young people, what could you do? Well, you could cast old people in the role of young people, I guess. [00:07:33] Speaker A: How do you do, fellow kids? What? [00:07:36] Speaker C: But I mean, I don't want to [00:07:38] Speaker B: be real Weird having an old person running through the school and reading a book in the attic. [00:07:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't. I don't want them to AI somebody down to the age of seven. I think that would look creepy and weird. I don't like when they do the special effects of aging. I like a little makeup to show age difference or something. And that's about. About it. I felt like both Atreyu and Bastion had a lot of expression. They were really good at showing a variety of different expressions. Were they good actors? No, they weren't. They weren't good actors, but they had what it takes to grow up to be a good actor. And they had this nice range and everything. The only thing that really like and. And so it was serviceable. It was. It was okay for what it was. And it didn't bother me. It didn't take me out until they started crying. And there was a lot of crying in this movie. And it looked like they had milk tears, like, real literal. Somebody spritzed their face with milk because their tears were white as they were crying. And then they did the Tobey Maguire ugly cry, which just ruins it for me. I just can't stim it. Hey, hey. I mean, the tears of milk coming down their face. I was like, they're not crying. So somebody stepped on that kid's foot or something, like. Yeah. So the crying scenes, really, I was just like, oh, that's terrible. But the rest of it was serviceable. It was okay. I don't like giving kids a pass simply because of their age. I think if you want to act, you got to have the chops and. Doesn't matter. I don't give you a pass on anything else. But for what we were watching, it was serviceable. [00:09:07] Speaker B: I would accept that. A little bit more from you if you can point out a kid actor that you actually do like the acting jobs of. [00:09:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I can't do that. [00:09:13] Speaker B: I'm sorry. Exactly. [00:09:16] Speaker A: I mean, I will say the movie [00:09:19] Speaker B: does have a lot of tears, but most of them are from the audience, like, talking to people about this movie. The number one thing that most people point to is that the Bog of Sadness. [00:09:28] Speaker A: The swamp of sadness. [00:09:30] Speaker B: The swamp of sadness. And a Trey, you and a tricks. Yep. Our attacks. Thank you. That's why you're here. It's one of those key moments in, like, a lot of kids lives right there, like Bambi's Mother, where it just stands out. And I was. I was shocked when I watched this. This time specifically, it's like 15 minutes into the movie like it is. [00:09:48] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:09:49] Speaker B: And I was like, I assumed it was really late and we had time to like get attached to this horse. No, no. It's like the second my sister said [00:09:56] Speaker C: the same thing, I was talking to her about it and she's like, that's the one where the horse dies in the swamp, right? I'm like, yeah. And she's like, that was really sad for me and I didn't want to watch it again. [00:10:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:04] Speaker C: And I was like, really? Like I sat there and watched it and I remember as a little kid I was thinking it was pretty sad scene. But me, I was like, just give the horse a treat. It'll cheer up. And you can take him out of the swamp. And then, and then the horse dies. How come he's not overwhelmed with sadness and sinks in the mud? [00:10:23] Speaker B: Okay. This is the first time I thought of that. [00:10:25] Speaker A: Somebody missed the plot. Somebody's missed the plot. [00:10:30] Speaker B: We'll let you get there. Well, I'll give you one second. This is the first time I thought of that. Because he is just sitting there looking at where his horse died. Sitting in the mud, floating, totally fine with sadness. Why are you sad? And will point us out. Why wasn't he sad? [00:10:43] Speaker A: Well, okay, let's start at the beginning. A treat would not have saved the horse. First thing the horse had to succumb to. Almost in a spin, the horse had succumbed to the sadness. There was no helping that horse. And if you've read the book, which I haven't, but I've heard a lot about the book because I really enjoy the movie. Spoiler alert. In the book, the horse talks and tells Atreyu to leave him. That he. He can't go on anymore and he doesn't want to watch. He doesn't want Atrey you to see him die. That he has succumbed to the sadness and he. There is no saving him. Which I think if the horse rocks, [00:11:21] Speaker C: they couldn't give that horse some peanut butter and Mr. Ed his ass. That would have been way better. [00:11:27] Speaker A: It would have been way more sad, I think, if they had done that. [00:11:30] Speaker C: I think. [00:11:30] Speaker A: I think the scene was sad enough as is. But that said, I don't think there was any saving the horse. And that was fine. It made for a really tear jerking scene, which is cool. And then I think there's like two reasons why Atreyu didn't succumb to the sadness at this point. Because he does. Later, he does almost sink into the swamp until Felcor saves him. [00:11:51] Speaker C: Right. [00:11:52] Speaker A: But I think it's the. The amulet that he's wearing and that he is this renowned, brave hero. And so I think he's got the qualities to keep going, even though he is saddened by his, like, one friend being destroyed in front of his very eyes with no hope of saving him. But anyway, yeah, I think. I think it's a two pronged why he. He doesn't succumb at that point. [00:12:16] Speaker B: Strong enough to be sad, but not give in to sadness and. [00:12:20] Speaker A: Correct. [00:12:20] Speaker C: Also riding another white horse at the end of the movie. I don't know if that was supposed to be the same horse. [00:12:27] Speaker A: Same horse. [00:12:28] Speaker D: What? [00:12:29] Speaker C: Same horse? Okay. We just got the horse back out of nowhere. All right. [00:12:34] Speaker B: The whole world came back out of nowhere. [00:12:35] Speaker A: Did you not watch the movie? Bastion had limitless wishes and he wished everything back into existence. [00:12:42] Speaker C: Oh, okay. Sorry. [00:12:44] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. This is gonna be. [00:12:46] Speaker C: Sorry. [00:12:47] Speaker B: How many parts did you watch this movie in? [00:12:50] Speaker C: Two parts. [00:12:51] Speaker B: Okay. [00:12:51] Speaker C: Halfway through. And then watch the other half. [00:12:53] Speaker B: All right, that's better than. [00:12:54] Speaker C: I was a little rushed because I rented it for 48 hours and I was looking and I had 47 minutes left in the movie and 49 minutes left of the rental period, so I had to watch it. It was like, can't pause it. Can't pause for a potty break. Gotta go through. [00:13:11] Speaker A: That's funny. That's amazing. All right, well, I'm worried about the rating on this one. [00:13:18] Speaker B: Oh, I was worried about this one before I even started. That's why I brought a ringer. [00:13:23] Speaker C: Okay. So we talked about the humans. There weren't very many of them, and their acting was passable, not amazing. There were a ton of other characters done up in a ton of makeup and others that were animatronic, like Falkor. These were very memorable characters for me. I enjoyed all of them. I loved the variety. I liked the look of them. The animatronics were spot on. I mean, for its time, it looked really good. A lot of the time, I was very happy with that. When he goes and meets the witch and the scientist at the gates, Remember, those are great characters. Those were such great characters. They reminded me of Miracle Max from the Princess Bride. You see, they reminded me of. And the wife. I believe. The witch. I believe she was the witch from Willow. [00:14:15] Speaker A: I think you're right. [00:14:16] Speaker C: She was in Willow. Right. And she was amazing in Willow. And she played a great character here. I thought all of the side characters, whether they be animatronic, the big rock guy on the bike, all of them were just amazing, vivid, really memorable. Characters and very much enjoyed them. [00:14:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I. This is the first time I really noticed that the. The characters you're talking about were supposed to be Dwarven or smaller people. And they were doing that trick with the camera that they do in Lord of the Rings so well, where like one of them is a little bit further back, but they look like they're standing beside each other, so they look like there's a leg inside. Size difference. It doesn't really exist. And the fact that I've been watching this movie and this is the first time I really noticed that trick of the camera kind of proves how well that actually worked in 1984. I know a lot of people praised Lord of the rings in 2001. I believe this did it just as well or almost as well. Yeah, 20 something years ahead of it. So I. I was really impressed with that once I noticed it. [00:15:11] Speaker A: But I agree they did some great camera tricks and smart cuts to make that force perspective really work. Even like when he's at the telescope, they. They cut right when the scientist goes back to the telescope. So you can't tell that it's a different telescope model of a varying size. So they did a really good job of on the detail of that. I agree. [00:15:33] Speaker B: Now, as far as that couple goes, we were talking before the. The episode started and you were mentioning, like, that's like, I do a show called the flicks that make you tech where I get together people and like, they can kind of choose movies from whatever they choose, what that title means to them. [00:15:46] Speaker A: And. [00:15:47] Speaker B: And this is the first time that my wife Amy has said, like, I might be on that, and if I did this movie, might make that cut. Do you want to talk about this scene and what it kind of means to you? [00:15:55] Speaker D: Sure. Put it on the spot, honestly. So there's a lot of different things I loved about this film, but one of the biggest takeaways that I had when I was little was in this particular scene. And the witch, when she's checking in on him and like, how are you feeling? He's like, oh, not too bad. Doesn't hurt too bad. She's like, good. It has to hurt if it's to heal. [00:16:17] Speaker A: Well, little man still in pain a [00:16:20] Speaker C: little, but it's all right. [00:16:21] Speaker D: I like that the patient telling the [00:16:25] Speaker A: doctor, it's all right. It has to hurt if it's to heal. [00:16:29] Speaker D: And something about that line really, like, cemented in me of like, oh, yeah, that's so true. Like, if you scrape your knee, of course it's going to hurt while it heals. But, but like any obstacle you overcome, it's going to be tough, it's going to be painful, but you come out the other side of it. Like you just have to kind of push through that pain and, and be stronger for it. [00:16:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:54] Speaker D: So that kind of really cemented in me through my whole life from that one little scene. [00:16:59] Speaker B: From a young age. [00:17:00] Speaker D: From a very young age. Yeah. Yeah. [00:17:02] Speaker B: That's really cool. [00:17:03] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:17:05] Speaker A: And let's be honest, this whole movie, is that right? [00:17:08] Speaker D: Yeah, exactly. [00:17:09] Speaker A: I mean, the loss of the mother at the beginning. [00:17:12] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:17:12] Speaker A: And, and, and where Bastion's at and how his dad takes it compared to how he's taking it. And throughout the film, the. All the messages of depression and sadness and loss and how, you know, creativity, imagination, and how you can get through it by diving into storytelling and all these things. It's incredible. It's incredible. And even that, if without the pain, it can't heal, is just like a very nice bow of like what this whole movie is talking about throughout. And that's what's beautiful about this movie. 100. Yeah, bring her on more often. She's got. She, she knows what she's talking about. [00:17:53] Speaker B: It'll just quickly, like, she'll come in more and I'll just, I'll just do the intro and just get out of here. [00:18:01] Speaker A: Now. [00:18:01] Speaker C: Now. [00:18:02] Speaker A: Okay. I was gonna ask because, you know, we're always jumping around here, but. Mrs. Mongolie. Amy. Right. And Dan, you said you watched this with your twins when they were five or six years old. [00:18:14] Speaker D: I don't remember what age, but they were young. [00:18:15] Speaker B: They're probably a little. Maybe like 7ish, but. Yeah. [00:18:18] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. Because my son is currently 5 and I feel like the movie's just a little too dark for him at this age. But I do feel, and I know many, many people have passed this movie down to, to their younger, you know, selves to keep this movie alive for as long it's been alive. 40 some years. Right. And I'm, I'm so looking forward to letting my son watch this, but I just feel like he's a little too young right now. [00:18:47] Speaker C: My, my 11 year old watched this with me and you could tell he was, it was an emotional movie for him. Now he's an emotional kid. He's. He has very strong emotions and stuff, so I do have to be very careful with what I show him on television because I didn't think he would have too hard a time with this. And he got through it, but he had a harder time than I expected. The horse dying right off the bat was huge for him. And I was like, oh, that's right, there's the horse scene. I didn't remember it so much, but I do remember it being a very impactful, dramatic scene for a young person to go through. And so, you know, he started having a lot of emotional ups and downs with this. Fortunately, like, I'm a child of divorce, I've lost people in my life and at the times when I was growing up and saw this, I lost people and stuff. So there were things that I could relate to in this movie in a variety of ways of, of, of stuff that's hard to deal with and healing from. I'm hoping that I gave my son a good enough childhood so far that he has a little bit more trouble relating to the darker aspects of this movie. But anybody can pick up on the emotional cues that the characters are showing that the main characters, the sub characters, all these people in this world that they're going through, anybody can relate to these themes whether you've experienced that or not. And my son is proof of it because he was vividly and emotionally attached to this film from start to finish. [00:20:25] Speaker A: That's, that's awesome. And like, to me, I feel like this movie is very important for children to watch because it does show ways to cope and to get through dark times, depressing times, traumatic events. And it's not sugar coated and it's not Disneyfied all that much. And so it's, it's, it feels so much more real. [00:20:50] Speaker D: More real. [00:20:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:51] Speaker A: Yeah. And so I really, I really love that this movie has lived on as long as it has. And I feel like it, there's the reason because of that is because it is so real and, and so relatable. And so, you know what, if the acting isn't all the best, you're still drawn into this great story. It also, to me personally, makes me want to be a better reader because I don't read a whole lot. I'm not a bookworm. I wish I was. And this movie just makes me want to read stories. But I'm a visual learner and I, I, I, I, I pull things in through video games and movies and that kind of content. So it just makes me want to watch more movies really. But I wish I was a reader because this, this makes me want to read books because that's what it's all about, right? [00:21:38] Speaker B: We, we showed this to our kids again when they were like seven or so. We both grew up with this. We've seen it a ton. When we watched this time, we were showing it to our youngest, and she was pretty excited about it or the fact that it was gonna happen. And our two are the twins. They're, like, 13 now. They're like, I don't know if I want to watch this. So, like, they were playing on their laptops and tablets, but, like, there were large chunks of this movie where they were glued to the screen as well. So, like, we were watching this as a family. So. Yeah, this. The. The movie not only has a whole lot to say for a whole lot of different people and. And means a whole lot to a lot of people, but it just. It's just entertaining for a lot. Right. Like, it just kind of grabs you and brings you into this fantastical world that we're creating. And it doesn't have flaws. Absolutely. Is the acting amazing? Not particularly. I don't want this to get remade, ever. I don't think they could ever remake this, even with great actors, and make it as good as what it is because, you know, it would just be a CGI fest. Yeah, right. Like, and most of the charm of this is the practical effects, the puppetry, the makeup. Does Falkor look like a real thing? No, he does not. Would I want to change a thing about him? Not really. Like, he's kind of magical the way he is. [00:22:47] Speaker A: It also gets a pass because it is this fantastical world. Right. It can be anything that we want it to be, and what it is is fine, because that's what the world is. And that's the beautiful thing about these 80s fantasy movies like Willow. Never Ending Story, you know, the list goes on. Labyrinth. Exactly. It's like these worlds are created in fantastical ways. So it. It's okay that it's, like, dated technology to create it, but it still feels real because it is real. They built these things. [00:23:21] Speaker B: They're actually legitimately interacting with them. [00:23:23] Speaker A: Exactly. And that goes a long way compared to actors acting against a green screen, looking at nothing or dots on a person and imagining what they're talking to. It just. It just has a different feel to it, and so I'm. I'm okay with it. [00:23:40] Speaker B: Brian, can you go ahead and pet that dragon right behind you real quick? [00:23:44] Speaker A: Make it. Make it believable, though. Make it believable. [00:23:47] Speaker C: See, look, I can't. I can't get it. [00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:54] Speaker C: So way to go. Bastion. I love. [00:23:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Sorry. [00:24:04] Speaker C: Yeah. When they put him in front of the green screen flying on the dragon, I was like, oh, welcome to the 90s, I guess. I don't know. Like, that's when the movie was terrible. This movie, it was Iliad and Odyssey, it was Sinbad, it was Lord of the Rings epic. Big. This world creation that I really loved. Everything was unique. When that rock monster rolls up on his tricycle and there's a dude riding a racing snail and another guy that flies underneath a bat. Like, these are all unique characters that I've never seen before and have seen very few of them since because they're so imaginative and so creative and it's amazing that you can have something so fantastically abstract and yet deal with emotional situations that are so incredibly relatable and you put them into one film and good acting or no, they pulled it off and they, they made something that will just live through the ages. I mean, here I am, 43 year old man talking about this movie that was made almost what, two years after I was born and, and it's still classic to me. Nostalgic as heck. Still classic, Still a solid film and I'm glad that I got to share this with at least one of my children. [00:25:32] Speaker B: I'm actually, I'm super happy the way this is going. I was really nervous that this is gonna be something that I love from my childhood that like maybe Will hadn't seen and Brian, there was too many kids like me fighting up against you guys or something. I'm actually, I'm loving this is going the way it is. [00:25:47] Speaker A: Here's the problem, here's the problem with me. I have watched this movie so many times and it's like a comfort movie for me. I asked Amy earlier, like, what's a go to movie she could watch any day of the week? This movie I could put on any time. But I'm so, like, it's such a, like a comfort thing that I would just, I can just fall asleep at any time during this movie. So it was actually hard for me to like watch this movie in full because I was just like, I'm in my happy place. I can just relax. It is, it's, it's like totally, because it's just such a, a wonderful nostalgic piece, but also just so heartwarming as well. And it is, that's why I have trouble getting through the movie. Not because it's bad, because it's just so good and, and it's so dear to me. [00:26:33] Speaker C: So I'm. I'm gonna warn you guys, this movie isn't gonna get as high a score for me as you think. I do think it's amazing. I do think it's an important film in, in cinema history. I think this is an important movie that we carry on its legacy. We pass this down to our kids and say, hey, look at this. This was, this was huge back in the day. And I think you should check it out. But there were things that I maybe didn't get, didn't enjoy as much as y'. All. And man, it kind of held my score back a touch on this. I just didn't have as much fun with it because they do deal with a lot of depression, a lot of dark issues. And for most of the film, everybody in it is sad, confused, lost, hopeless. They're struggling throughout almost the entire film until the very last like five minutes. Do we ever have this triumphant hooray, everything's great, happy ending moment. And so for me, Will talks about it, puts him in his comfort zone and makes him able to fall asleep. For me, it makes me uncomfortable to watch, but I'm glued to it. I am glued to it. Especially when we saw the two statues at the gate that Atreyu had to go through because those boobies were really good looking boobies. I know Dan didn't see them. Dan's gonna say he didn't even notice it. [00:28:02] Speaker B: I'm saying the opposite. One of my notes is, was it really necessary to put nipples on those things? [00:28:06] Speaker C: Yeah, they were. They. Yeah, those look like aftermarket. Yeah, they were distracting for me. My son's like, is he gonna make it? And I'm like, make what? Yeah, sorry. [00:28:24] Speaker A: That's a great point right there, Brian. That's why this is a great kids movie. Because you noticed that your kid didn't even notice. [00:28:32] Speaker C: Yeah, it doesn't matter to him. Yeah. [00:28:34] Speaker A: One, it's unimportant. I mean, nudity on screen, nudity as a whole is like on for me, I think is blowing way out of proportion. [00:28:43] Speaker C: I agree. [00:28:44] Speaker A: Normalize it. All of this. And this movie, I think being a German film, didn't care as much about that. So it's there. It is what it is. And kids don't even, they don't even think twice about it because they're so invested in the story. Is he going to make it across this gate? [00:29:03] Speaker C: Yeah. My son was literally jumping up and down on the couch going, run, run. Make it a Trey. You. And yeah, and I was just. And I was sitting there going, really? I don't remember those statues. [00:29:16] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. [00:29:18] Speaker B: I, I'm, I, I think you're mostly joking, but I'm gonna go the opposite on that one, like, these statues are right up there with the horse dying for me, where the yellow ones, more so than the blue ones, are such a huge part of this movie. They're not, but they were just one of those things I latched onto as a kid because I thought this scene was. [00:29:32] Speaker A: They look huge, Dan. They look. [00:29:34] Speaker B: What I mean, like it. It. For. As far as the themes in the movie go, they might not make as much of an impact as other things. And even watching it this time, I could remember that obviously he lived, but I couldn't remember if the eyes shot and he dodged it or if the eyes let him through because he was worthy. And it was really interesting to, like, still be surprised by this movie after having seen it so many times. Admittedly, not as much as Will has, but that was a fun fact where I was like, I don't remember exactly what happens here. Like, again, I know he lives, but like, how, like, is he worthy? Is he not worthy? But he tricks it. What's. What's going to happen here? [00:30:07] Speaker C: And for me, the one of the memorable characters, aside from the rock monster, which I've spoken of repeatedly, was the sneezing turtle. The sneezing turtle for me was incredible. I'm going to turn my fan off there because my camera keeps shaking. The sneezing turtle for me was a super memorable moment. In fact, I was turning and just watching my son, waiting to see his reaction to the turtle coming out of the ground. You know, it's. He was supposed to climb the mountain and find the guy at the mountain, and he didn't realize he was the mountain. And I loved the look of that turtle, the way the eyes moved, how, Trey, you had to keep grabbing onto the tree to get, you know, blown off. Constantly repeating itself over and over, which would normally irritate me, but strangely enough, it just. It just made that character that much more memorable for me. Will, what was one of your favorite characters or moments in the film? [00:31:01] Speaker A: I've got two characters. One you touched on the Rock Biter. I. I love that character in this movie. I love the way he talks and what he talks about. One of my favorite lines in the movie. I've written so many notes about this movie, and I'm not even saying any of them because we're just chatting about the movie that we all just unanimously believe is a good movie for people to watch. But anyway, the Rock Biter line near the end of the movie where he's like, they look like good, strong hands, don't they? [00:31:30] Speaker C: They look like Big, good, strong hands, don't they? I always thought that's what they were. [00:31:44] Speaker A: And he's just like so sad that he couldn't. He's like the strongest character we've ever seen in this. In this movie, in this fantasy world. And even his hands aren't strong enough to save his dear friends. It's just so gut wrenchingly sad and. And getting that sadness from this big oversized rock puppet who's, you know, earlier in the movie, chowing down and rocks are raining on his friends. Like, it's just so good. It's so good. So I really love that and I do love Gamor. Not as much for the puppetry itself, but some of the. Some of the things he says at the end of the movie. [00:32:27] Speaker B: Can you just remind us which one Gamor is? [00:32:29] Speaker A: Gamork is the. The big wolf creature that's chasing him through. Yeah. But his big thing is people who have no hopes are easy to control. And whoever has the control has the power. And that still rings true today. Like it's universal. Like fear media keeping poor uneducated so they don't know, you know, who to vote for, what to do. AI killing creativity for all of create all of creative types. AI is just taking over and that's run by big business corporations. Gamor is just talking about things that are happening here and now and it was made 40 years ago and that to me is incredible and sad. [00:33:21] Speaker B: What about you? I mean, you mentioned the. The doctor and his wife or the witch and his whatever. Are there any other characters that really stand out for you? [00:33:29] Speaker D: I loved Marla again, the turtle. It was an interesting scene to me because there's such a focus on like the indifference and like nothing matters, it doesn't matter. And he's like, no. Like there is things that are worth fighting for and you need to be passionate and persistent about. And he keeps getting knocked down literally and climbing back up and like the symbolism in that particular scene. I again, I really loved that. [00:33:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:04] Speaker D: I can't pinpoint what it is, but again, the. The oracles at the end. Something about. Something about that and not the physical features, but something about that test of your character. I guess. I also really loved not so much of a character but like that scene in general. Yeah, probably those two. I mean, Falkor is pretty cool, but. [00:34:34] Speaker B: Yeah, doesn't have a whole lot to do. [00:34:36] Speaker D: Yeah, not too much. It's interesting hearing what you said, Will, about Gamora, because I. I never really connected that as much, but that was a really interesting take. That was cool to hear. [00:34:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I watching it this time, paying attention to that scene, not only did I really enjoy it, but it was the first time that I was ever kind of like, oh, he's, he's got a master. And we never really find out who that is or see that master in any way, shape or form. It's just kind of. It's not really important. The point is what he's saying and how important and realist it. It resonates how much what he says resonates is the important part. Not who his masters are, but like he is working for somebody that we never really find out about. But I want to go back to something Will said earlier because it was so beautiful and it's something that. It hit me really hard this time is the Rock. I hate calling him the Rock Monster, but I don't know his name. [00:35:25] Speaker A: Rock Fighter. [00:35:26] Speaker B: Thank you. The opening scene when we first see him where he's like chewing on the rocks and they're breaking open and they're falling down on the cast, like that was such an. I mean, I didn't say it's an unnecessary thing they had to do there, but at the same time it was so incredibly well done. It was so cool that they went out of their way to make that. Like when he's biting the rocks, they're breaking apart, crumbling, falling down, him landing near his friends, they're all dodging out of the way. Like the amount that went into that scene was really cool. They went that extra distance. But it's not like he could have easily just like chucked a rock back, not have it spill all over the place. Would have been way easier for production design, but it added to the movie, it added to the overall feel of the world. It was really cool. And the scene at the end, you're talking about where he's just sitting there like sad, looking at his hands, just willing to give up to the nothingness. We talked about the fact that I've got three daughters. Long time fans know, like I've got messed up shoulders. My hands are already starting to get hit with arthritis a little bit. That scene hit like more so this time than any other scene at time. More so than the horse scene. Like the idea of like I'm a big guy, I'm like 6, 5, 300 ish pounds. And like the, the rock biter just sitting there being like, I, I couldn't do anything. Like, these look like strong hands. These look like I should have been able to protect my friends and I couldn't. And he just has to live with that. And it. It. I'm getting emotional now talking about it, but, like, it was just very, very powerful for me. [00:36:51] Speaker C: It's got something for everybody at all levels. It really does. [00:36:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:36:56] Speaker A: It's interesting, for sure. So many good characters. I also shout out to the Speed snail. Okay, the Speed Snail is super fun. All right. Let's be honest. Give that guy a treat. [00:37:09] Speaker D: That scene in the beginning, though, with the Rock Fighter and the. The two little guy characters, because it gives you a connection to that world. You're getting to know these little characters and makes you drawn in. Draws you in, I guess, a little bit. [00:37:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Everything they can do to make the world feel more lived. [00:37:28] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:37:28] Speaker C: And it even carries a bit of misdirection, too, because when you first come into it and you don't know anything about this film, you see these guys camped out, and they seem pretty chill, and all of a sudden the earth starts shaking and there's this huge wheel of destruction coming their way, and they're like. And then it turns into the Rock Biter, who's one of the most memorable characters in the film. And everybody loves him. And he's a. He's a hero, you know? I mean, he's. He's a good guy. And so there's a lot. Like, you never know where they're gonna go with this and how it's gonna end up. What was the wolf's name? [00:38:00] Speaker A: Go. [00:38:01] Speaker C: Gamor. Gamor. Gamorg. I had trouble getting a beat on that character. He had lots to say, very important lessons to be learned and everything, but at the same time, you know, he's. He's. Isn't he supposed to be kind of the weapon of destruction for the nothingness to come and stop Atreyu? And it almost felt like. Like he didn't really maybe want to complete his job. Like, he. He kept talking to Atreyu and giving lessons, and he didn't know it was a tray. [00:38:34] Speaker B: Oh, he realized he was talking to his enemy. [00:38:36] Speaker C: Oh. Oh, okay, okay. [00:38:40] Speaker A: Multiple things there. It's kind of wishy washy, though, too, because obviously he's tracking Atreyu at the beginning. How is he tracking him? Through scent or something? How can he not tell that this kid is the same kid? But there's other things, too, that he says he's weakened as well by the end and that he might. Atreus, before he knows who he is, might be the last person he can take down. So I think working with the Nothingness to kill Atreus. But he's also realizing that the nothingness is also taking him, which is also, like, really interesting that this, you know, death bringer for the nothingness is also being used up by the nothingness. Like, nothing will take everything, you know, [00:39:25] Speaker C: including everybody's gonna lose and. [00:39:28] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:39:29] Speaker C: I. I didn't really see that as what the intention was, but it was something that I was like, okay, maybe this is the thing they're trying to. To shows what you're. What you're saying. But I didn't feel like they. Like, I'm not certain that's what they were going for. [00:39:44] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:39:44] Speaker C: That's what I got from it, but I'm not certain that's what we were supposed to get from it. But. But with that character, there were just some. Some ups and downs that I. Maybe I was missing some things and didn't make the right connections. I didn't realize that he didn't realized it was a trey or he was hunting him. [00:39:59] Speaker B: If I can jump for one second. [00:40:01] Speaker C: Yeah, go ahead. [00:40:02] Speaker B: Maybe I have the timeline wrong on this. I believe he was hunting at you. Atreyu goes to the swamp. His horse dies. He gets muddy and carried up. Falcor picks him up and flies him halfway across the world. [00:40:14] Speaker A: Yes. [00:40:14] Speaker B: And, like, at that point, he loses him and kind of goes like, oh, he was swallowed up by the swamp. We know the horse is swallowed up, so it makes sense. So he kind of gives up and he kind of goes back to his lair, and he's just, like, waiting at the end of the time for the nothing. Somebody shows up and he's like, hey, man. Like, we all kind of fail at something. I failed this kid. I was supposed to hunt to tray you. And he's like, I'm a trey. You. He's like, oh, cool. I can succeed in my mission. I'm gonna die. The nothingness is gonna get me. But at least I can do this one thing right before I go. And that's why he kind of lunges Adam. And I'm sure you gets the jump on him with that small piece of glass, but. No, I. I don't think you're wrong. Leave a comment down below, I guess. [00:40:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't. [00:40:49] Speaker C: I don't. [00:40:49] Speaker A: I don't like that. I. I don't mind that read at all. The only problem, I think, and maybe this is. Maybe what Brian is doing, talking about, is there's so much interesting stories being told throughout this. This journey that Atreyu is on, that Gamor Kind of just kind of gets lost in the mix. And maybe a strong enough present of him throughout to really get the payoff at the end. And it doesn't help on top of that that the fight at the end is him just jumping on a trey and he stabs him and it's over. Which I read about that. That might be because they had trouble with that big animatronic puppet and it almost poked the kid's eye out. So they just made it as simple and it's clean as possible. [00:41:34] Speaker B: Well, as is. Like, correct me if I'm wrong, you said you were pretty scared of that wolf as a kid, right? [00:41:39] Speaker D: I remember it being intimidating. Yeah. [00:41:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. [00:41:42] Speaker C: My glowing green eyes were pretty intense. [00:41:44] Speaker B: A kids movie, if you make that wolf, you know, really going for that kid, go for the jugular, it might be a bit much. So they kind of had the wolf lunge at him. I don't know if it fades to black or what happens, but you don't really see the action. Yeah, they did see what was going on. We're just like, this is a bit much, guys. [00:42:00] Speaker A: He rolls them off him. [00:42:01] Speaker D: Yeah, that's a good point. Because Charlie's what, seven? [00:42:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:04] Speaker D: And that scene, she was good with a lot of it, but, like, seeing the blood, the fake blood, after that, she was winced and turned away. That was. That was a lot. [00:42:12] Speaker B: That was the door. [00:42:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:15] Speaker C: All right. [00:42:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:15] Speaker A: It's interesting. [00:42:16] Speaker C: Maybe you guys can help me understand something. I don't know why the princess needed a new name. What was the symbolism? There was. [00:42:27] Speaker A: Why. [00:42:28] Speaker C: What was this all about? I just didn't get it at all. [00:42:31] Speaker B: And to jump on that, they mentioned at one point, I thought, maybe I'm wrong. He was going to give her the name of his mother. And then when he gives a new name, he screams out, moon Child. And I'm like, what kind of a hippie nonsense was his mom? Like, maybe I missed something there. But I was just like, what? Like, I was be like, you know, Amelia or something. I was like, moon child. I'm like, okay, is that a legal name? Is that on her birth certificate? [00:42:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I. I didn't. I didn't get any of that. I didn't understand. I didn't understand why she needed a name to overcome the sickness of the nothingness, or none of it made any sense to me at all. And that really bothered me at the end that there was. It was so convoluted that I could not even come up with my own reasoning for why this works. And that really made me troubled with this movie because I'm like, there's no logic thread for me to follow here. And maybe it was just deeper than the waters I normally swim. We know I'm pretty shallow here. [00:43:28] Speaker A: Right. [00:43:29] Speaker C: I'm the American who likes things that explode. And, you know, I just didn't quite. [00:43:34] Speaker B: In a kids movie, so. [00:43:35] Speaker C: Yeah, Yeah, I didn't get it. I didn't get it. [00:43:38] Speaker A: Okay. Okay, so I'll let Amy cover Brian's question and I'll cover Dan's question. [00:43:45] Speaker D: All right. So my take on that is kind of tying back into Bastion, escaping to the bookstore, escaping his real world and all the hardships he's going through. He's escaping into this fantasy world. And through the fantasy, the nothingness is essentially lack of imagination. It's. It's the. The stages of adolescence and having to grow up and keep your feet on the ground and get your head in the game and. And that shift away from being a kid and being free to create and imagine and so towards, like, over the course of Atreyu's journey. The whole thing is to get the reader, this young person, hooked into this world and keep them creative, keep them inspired and stay in touch with their inner child so that by the end, the kid is invested in balancing, like, their real world. But also, still, it's okay to still be creative and still be in touch with that side of you. [00:44:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:58] Speaker C: So. So they, they wanted him, Bastion, to give a name to the princess. He chose his mother's name or moon child. We're not really sure if that's his mother's name or not. But the idea was, is that the story needs the reader to then help create the story. [00:45:15] Speaker A: Right. Continuing the never ending. [00:45:17] Speaker C: Continuing the never ending story. [00:45:19] Speaker B: The snakes intertwined on the front of the book. [00:45:21] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:45:21] Speaker C: And it just so happens that the kid's got some real life issues involving his mother. And so that's the tie in. He happened. But it could have been like, like the story could have gone anywhere. And they could have been like, name this new race car. And he'd be like, fire wheels. And they'd be like, sweet. And the story continues. [00:45:36] Speaker B: Well, he's also, by naming the. The main character the ruler of the world, he's also making the story his own. Okay. He's bringing a piece of himself into it. [00:45:45] Speaker C: Okay. This all makes sense in a very theological way. I get it. I. I guess I get just. I don't know, I needed Indiana Jones to, like, lift an object off a pedestal or something. Like, I needed A thing to happen. [00:46:03] Speaker B: I mean, kind of Indiana Joanie, like spiritual theology. [00:46:08] Speaker C: It's pretty, pretty tough for me. But yeah, it's cool. It's cool. Now I'm, you know, I'm the minority of the group here on this one. That's. I'll let it pass. I'll let it pass. [00:46:17] Speaker A: I just also, I also really think the, the interesting part is that the Empress actually talks to Bastion and not only that, talks to us, the audience, and actually breaks the fourth wall twice. [00:46:31] Speaker C: Right, right, Yeah, I noticed that she [00:46:33] Speaker A: breaks the fourth wall saying that the real world, Bastion's world is, is involved in creating these stories and, and keeping them continuing. And he is the reason why Fantasia can be rebuilt because a whole new story will be told. A whole new. A never ending story. Right. [00:46:50] Speaker C: And here we are watching that story, Bastion. [00:46:53] Speaker A: Yes. And he says there's somebody watching him as well, which is us, which is like so cool because it's just the, the snakes intertwining over and over again. It's just like so cool for a kids movie to have such deep content. Content and, and concepts. Right. That you just don't see every day in, in the child's movie. And that's why I'm like, what is the perfect age? And I think it, it's like 8 to 10 is a good age for kids to be able to wrap their heads around a lot of this. But now, going back to the mother's name, it's unclear and there's like a lot of debate online whether the mother's name is or is not Moon Child. But in the book, the mother's name is Moonchild. And again, the movies change things slightly, but that is the name he calls out. There's a couple of things being like, oh, maybe it was her nickname or maybe, you know, she was a very creative person, so that's what they called her. There's also a theory that I, I recently read in preparation for this, that Bastion kind of finds what he. He bases a true. What's his name? I. Trey, you are. [00:48:15] Speaker C: Is. [00:48:15] Speaker A: Is like Native American indigenous people. Right. Because he looks to the indigenous people hunting the buffalo. I can't remember where he sees the picture of that. And, and one other thing that he looks towards. And so there's a theory going on that his mother was perhaps indigenous. And so her name actually was Moonchild, or the meaning behind her name was Moon Child. And I thought that was a really interesting and creative way to think about it, that they could actually integrate it and it actually makes a Lot of sense that it could be Moonchild without it being like, oh, is she a hippie from the 60s? So I really kind of like that take, whether that's the take or not, because the book doesn't really divulge any of that information either. [00:48:57] Speaker B: Now, none of us have read the book, Correct? [00:48:59] Speaker A: I have not. But we do know that this movie is only like the first half of the book. [00:49:04] Speaker B: Sure. [00:49:05] Speaker A: And they changed the ending, obviously. So it had a closing point. [00:49:09] Speaker B: Yeah. My understanding just to go against your point a little bit, and I apologize. [00:49:13] Speaker A: No, go ahead. [00:49:14] Speaker B: In the book, and apparently they tried to do it. Atreyu is actually green. [00:49:19] Speaker A: Yes. [00:49:19] Speaker B: Green is not necessarily indigenous. And they tried to do the face, the makeup, and it just looks awful. And they're just like, no, scrap it. Yeah. So that was just an interesting tidbit that I just read today. I was like, oh, that would have been a very different movie. [00:49:31] Speaker A: 100. But I mean, that said, he still talks about hunting the blue buffalo in the movie and things like that. So I think the indigenous roots could still kind of be prevalent. But you're right, he was supposed to be. Because the. None of these are human. Right. They need a human child. He's not human. So it made sense that he was a kind of a green person. You know, everybody looks different. But anyway, lots of interesting theory and, and, and things going on about why things are the way they are in this movie. [00:50:02] Speaker B: Very cool. Jenny, have anything they. More where they want to get out before we go to the ratings? [00:50:10] Speaker A: Dude, there's so much I've got. Like, I know who paid. [00:50:13] Speaker B: This could be a two parter. [00:50:15] Speaker A: Okay. I. Oh, go ahead, go ahead. [00:50:17] Speaker C: I wasn't. I wasn't the hugest fan of Falkor, to tell you the truth. I kind of thought he swooped in out of left field with no, no illusion to him whatsoever. And it was, It. It went beyond luck for me though. It was just straight up just mystical nonsense. They're like, oh, hey, let's just save them. We'll just bring in a new character and save them. And that kind of irked me if there would have been some sort of foreshadowing of the dragon. Just some. Just somebody happens to mention that luck dragons are a thing earlier in the story. That would have been enough. But out of nowhere we get introduced, the luck dragon. He comes in and saves them. [00:51:01] Speaker A: So again, in the book, it's different. Atreyu actually saves the luck dragon from like a giant spider in the. [00:51:12] Speaker C: See, that would have been cool. [00:51:13] Speaker A: And they Tried to do that, but it was like way beyond their budget. They couldn't make it work. With what. [00:51:19] Speaker B: He pretty much just lays there the entire. [00:51:21] Speaker C: All right. So it's unfortunate they don't have a way to write him into the script. Smooth and cool. So they just did this. Okay. It's still. It sucks they couldn't pull it off. I'm not gonna let it. Let it go. That's a. That's a ding. But also, why didn't the dragon just fly him over the statues to the other side? Right. It's not like a cave or anything. Just past the gates, walk around them. Like, why? [00:51:52] Speaker A: I think it's a fantasy thing, Brian. For the most part. It's like you need the trials and tribulations in order to pass. Right? [00:52:00] Speaker C: Sure. [00:52:01] Speaker A: In any type of movie like this, they could be like, oh, I can just bypass it. And you could watch them walk around and end up right at the same time. Spot in. [00:52:11] Speaker C: In Crusaders, Jones went down a tunnel and had to pass the three trials. Right. He couldn't skip them any way he wanted to. Made sense to me. This one, I was. That's you 10,000 miles and then sets you down on the wrong side of this game. [00:52:28] Speaker A: Said specifically 9,862 miles, actually. [00:52:32] Speaker C: Right. [00:52:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:34] Speaker C: Quit your change in a trey. You take him the extra 12 miles and put them on the other side of that fe fence so the boy doesn't get eye blasted by the booby statues. I think the other reason. [00:52:45] Speaker A: The other reason one Indiana Jones is based in reality. So that's one thing. This is fantasy. The other thing is it's not about why Atreyu has to do it more than Atreyu has to do it. Because Bastion has to see it happen. [00:53:03] Speaker C: Okay, that's a good point. I like that. [00:53:05] Speaker A: He has to see Atreyu's confidence because he is Atreyu. [00:53:09] Speaker C: Right. And he has to get attached and he has to be shouting, run. Or try you run. And he has to get involved. He has to want it. That makes sense. I. I get it. That makes sense. I just wish it was the opening to a cave. So there's more reason why the dragon didn't just fly into the other side. Little things. There were a couple of these little. Little plot holes that just kind of bothered me a little bit. But it's a kids movie and the kids aren't going to be thinking about that. You're right. It's the point of the story. The us, the viewer, Bastion, the reader. Atreyu, the character. I I get it. I get it. I liked the witch and the scientist, and that's all I really have to say. I think I've covered everything I want to say. [00:53:48] Speaker A: Nice. [00:53:49] Speaker B: That. That being said, though, Atreyu kind of didn't pass though, right? Like, they did try to kill him. He wasn't worth it. [00:53:56] Speaker C: I know. He dove out of the way of those laser blasts. [00:53:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:00] Speaker B: He survived, but he wasn't worthy. [00:54:03] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:54:03] Speaker A: It's an odd. It was an odd choice to have them fire altogether. I think it was more just for dramatic effect than anything. Maybe they always fire. Nobody's ever passed it. Which is also funny. They say nobody's ever gotten past that, but they know what that is at the second gate as well. So it's like. How do they know if nobody's past the first gate? [00:54:20] Speaker B: Well, they threw over the first gate and saw the second game, like. [00:54:23] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, exactly. So it's all, like, wishy washy. But it's like, as long as you're invested, it's all good, right? [00:54:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:54:32] Speaker A: All right, Amy, what else do you have to say about this movie? Anything else that comes to mind. I'll put you right on the spot where you love to be on the spot. I love it. [00:54:40] Speaker D: There's a scene at the beginning that I really liked. I don't know if I read too much into things, but it was. [00:54:48] Speaker B: That's what the show's all about. [00:54:49] Speaker D: Excellent. It was the scene where the. The one that's speaking on behalf of the Empress. [00:54:55] Speaker B: He's like the speaker. Okay. Yeah, yeah. [00:55:00] Speaker C: Bishop or something. Emissary guy. [00:55:01] Speaker D: Yeah, that guy. He comes out and he's talking to everybody. And, you know, we've called for this warrior. And then Atreyu shows up and he's like, okay, I'm here. He's like, so dismissed. So quick to dismiss. I'm just like, you're just a kid. Like, what can you do? [00:55:21] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think a warrior. [00:55:23] Speaker D: Yeah. And I think as a young person watching that you really connect with that moment of, like, [00:55:32] Speaker B: don't dismiss me. [00:55:33] Speaker D: Yeah. Don't be so quick to dismiss a person. You want to. [00:55:37] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:55:38] Speaker D: Ability to believe in oneself. And he's like, that's fine. Okay, I'm out. You asked for my help. [00:55:44] Speaker B: You need me. I didn't ask to be here. [00:55:46] Speaker D: And I thought that was a really cool scene. I thought it was a really neat touch that they added into that. [00:55:50] Speaker B: Nice. [00:55:51] Speaker C: Now. Now that you mentioned that, I did like that scene. I like the way that Atrey. You didn't even bother to be offended by it. He's just like, I know my worth and if you don't want me here, peace out, I'm gone. And then they were, they were backtracking. And I wish I had that conviction in myself when I was a younger person, because I hated being dismissed because of my age. I grew up working in an industry of old men and I was a young man and people dismissed me immediately and it hurt. But Atrey, you just. And he was. Didn't even phase him. And they turned right around because they were like, oh, wait, wait, wait, hold on. We need you to save our lives. Yeah, no, that was, that was good [00:56:33] Speaker D: that when you're phrasing it that way, because then it ties into the end with the oracle. Because he does start out so self assured and so confident and he's going through all these trials and tribulations and he's starting to have doubts and he's starting to think, like, maybe I can, I can't find the answer. And so he's getting to the oracle and he's like, no, I. I know my worth. But then he's starting to have that hesitation and that's where they fire at him. [00:56:58] Speaker A: Like, I think that's, I mean, realistically, [00:57:00] Speaker B: he kind of fails all the way along. Like, he loses his horse right away. He talks. He finds the turtle and talks to her. She doesn't really give him any help. He has to get carried the entire way to the oracle. [00:57:10] Speaker C: He's not failing, he's stumbling. He's stumbling repeatedly. Repeatedly. And he continues forward in his effort even though he's constantly being bombarded by doubt and fear and stress, anxiety, all sorts of these horrible emotions that are constantly being introduced into children's lives. And he continues to move forward even though he keeps stumbling. And because of that, he gives Bastion the courage to step up and become part of the story as well. [00:57:42] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Well said. Brian did get it. Brian did get the memo from my friends. [00:57:49] Speaker C: I was able to figure it out. And I mean that literally, not metaphorically, because I was very clean and sober for this movie. I needed to pay attention. [00:57:57] Speaker B: I would have loved it if that all had worked out exactly perfectly. And at the end of it, he confronted the bullies or did something to the bullies that wasn't a luck dragon. [00:58:06] Speaker A: Yeah, right. [00:58:07] Speaker B: Yeah, it was a little weird for me. Like, okay, so you have wishes in this book, but now you have wishes in real life. Can you get your mom back? Like, how far are these wishes go? Are these like a lot in genie wishes or. What are we talking here? [00:58:19] Speaker C: And you know about Falkor? I didn't like the look of Falkor. His scales looked, like, watery. Like, I don't know. They look gross. The scales on him look gross. And it was very distracting to me. He's supposed to be this big, cuddly dragon. You want to scratch behind the ears. But I kept thinking, like, are those eggs on your chest? Like, what is that? That's gross. [00:58:42] Speaker B: Like, dog face. Like, I like the look of that. [00:58:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:58:44] Speaker B: The rest of the body kind of creeped me out a little. [00:58:46] Speaker C: Russians on the dog's face was. All of the animatronics were so good. The. The wolf that. Whose name I can't remember. Gormick or whatever his name. Falkor. All the animatronics were just top notch in this. Even the flying bat was so adorable. Man, he's just so dopey. [00:59:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's good. He's good. Okay, so I've got so many things to say. I'm gonna try and make it really quick. There's like that scene where he's talk where a trey is coming up and being like, hey, I'm. I'm the guy you need. And they're like, no, no, no. And if you, like, freeze frame, the. The big, far back, wide angle of all the people. There's, like, little shout outs to. To, like, Yoda silhouette there. There's like a Gumby silhouette. Apparently there's a Mickey Mouse. I couldn't. I couldn't find Mickey Mouse. But others as well, like Ewoks. All of these fun, fantastical characters from other movies are. Are in that group scene, which I thought was really fun and a cool nod. ET which brings me to something Dan will love and hate. Steven Spielberg worked on this movie. I don't know if you all are aware of that. There's two versions of this movie. There was the German release, and then a few months later was the international release. And Steven Spielberg, Wolfgang Peterson are friends. They're friends. And so he asked Spielberg to take a look and edit this and make it appeal to a wider audience, like the international audience that Spielberg, you know, kind of knocked out of the park. He knew how to make those movies, right? So that introduced the synth 80s music with the title song. He cut seven minutes out for pacing because, you know, us Americans, North Americans, we like a quicker pace. So there's all these things that Steven Spielberg helped with in this movie for its release in America, and I thought that was a notable Thing. And the. The Orin, the. The snake charm thing is actually still in Steven Pillberg's office. He's got it encased in glass in his office. It was a gift from Wolfgang after helping him with the movie. So I thought that was very cool. And I would also be remiss to shout out David Fincher, who also worked on this movie. At the time, he was working in special effects with Industrial Light and Magic, and we obviously have talked about him in his directing with Alien 3, so I thought I'd throw that in. This was before he started directing music videos, so that was a fun little point out. And then, of course, I have to. I can't not. DAN clean's CANADIAN SHOUT OUT oh, give me a second. CLEANS CANADIAN SHOUT OUT Get. Get. [01:01:39] Speaker C: Oh, wrong guy. [01:01:40] Speaker A: Wrong guy. That works. This movie is a German movie. Everything was filmed in Germany except for the real life portions with Bastion and, you know, the real life parts. That was all filmed in Vancouver, British, British Columbia. And so, I mean, all the background actors in all of those scenes would have been Canadian. Not the main actors, more or less not. So they're all mostly us. But there is one bully, bully number one, that is chasing him and throwing him in the dumpster, isn't. He was a Canadian actor as well. He doesn't act anymore. He did some TV stuff throughout, but now he. I think he actually is the director of a organization against anti bullying, which is pretty funny because he was a bully in this and I think he was a bully in it. When the. The tv, uh, the TV movie or TV series, limited series was out, he was a bully in that. So now he is anti bullying, which is pretty fun. Anyway, that's Clean's Canadian Corner, representing Vancouver. [01:02:46] Speaker B: Love it. I love everything about it. I thought there were some things this movie that were so obviously of their time. And one of the ones I made mention of is the way that the adults talked to the kids in this movie. Like, the dad is straight up talking to his kid. I don't know, does it mention how long ago his mother passed away? It makes it sound like it was fairly easy. [01:03:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:03:10] Speaker B: And his dad is just like over a glass of egg talking to his kid about, like, you gotta get over it. It's time to put your feet back on the ground and just like, suck it up and move on. And then he's getting bullied on his way to school and he runs into this building, like, hoping to save his life kind of a thing. And the bookstore owners are like, well, why didn't you just throw a punch back at them. I'm just like, man, these are not the kind of things you generally tell kids in 2025, but would probably be exactly what you'd say back then. But it's just that, like, oh, your mom just died. Suck it up, son. Just like, ooh, don't love that. But okay. [01:03:43] Speaker C: I actually really. [01:03:44] Speaker A: Oh, go ahead, Brian. [01:03:46] Speaker C: I was gonna say, speaking of the bookstore owner, I did like how that bookstore owner said, set Bastion up to steal that book 100%. Like, knew the buttons to push, leave it out in the open. And when. When Bastion stole the book, I think the only surprise there was that Bastion left a note that said he'd bring it back, but that. That bookstore owner 100% wanted him to take that book. [01:04:08] Speaker B: I mean, he hid it so well under that envelope. I mean, clearly, no kid would be able to find that. [01:04:14] Speaker C: Exactly. [01:04:14] Speaker A: Exactly. [01:04:15] Speaker B: In. [01:04:15] Speaker A: In sight of the child. [01:04:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:18] Speaker A: So I was gonna mention that I actually really liked the father depiction in this movie. It's very brief, obviously. It's like the first two minutes of the movie, and he's gone through the rest. But you mentioned he had the egg orange juice concoction, which was a common thing in the 80s as a hangover cure or. Or a quick breakfast because it gave you a protein kick in the morning to get your day on, and vitamin C. So I feel like the dad was really well executed in a way of, like, hey, the only way to get past this is to pick up your bootstraps and just work. Focus on other things, work through it and. And. And move on. So you need to go to school. You need to get that math grade up. You got to do this and that, and that's the way. That's the only way he knew how to talk to his son about this. Right. And I thought that was really interesting. And. And growing up when I did felt very reminiscent of my dad, so I. I was all for it. And I don't think he was, like, brutal on his son. I don't think he was mean to his son. [01:05:28] Speaker C: No. He just even had good things to say at the end of that conversation for his son. [01:05:31] Speaker A: He did, exactly. He thought it was a good conversation, even though he doesn't have the first clue how to help his son in reality. Right. [01:05:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:05:39] Speaker A: But it just came across. [01:05:41] Speaker C: The father figure I grew up with, too. Is that same. That same thing means very well. Not. Not being hurtful, but does not understand how to integrate emotionally with someone on that level. [01:05:52] Speaker B: Yeah, No, I will point out, I Wasn't necessarily being critical of the father so much, saying, like, it's interesting the difference between the generations. Right, right. That generation didn't know how to deal with that. I, I had no idea about the hangover juice, but that's actually kind of a brilliant, subtle touch because, again, kids would never pick up on that. You did. I will in the future. Now, like, oh, like he's dealing with this the best he can in his own way. [01:06:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:16] Speaker B: Doesn't really know how to handle the kid. Doesn't. [01:06:18] Speaker C: Probably drinking at night and then having the, the, the remedy in the morning. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:06:24] Speaker A: And I wasn't critiquing what you said. It was just like, I just wanted to like, note that I, I really enjoyed that interaction, how short it was with how much kind of was behind it. And, and that was one of the things that the German original release had, which was different than this, the American release that we all watched. There was like 20 seconds when Bastion was just sitting in bed, just staring out at nothing before he actually gets up and, and gets moving. And then after the conversation with his dad, there's like 20 seconds of him just sitting there, not even eating, just sitting there staring. And it's just like, really amplifies, like, his retreat into himself and like his despair about his mom and all of this. And I think it's really heavier, whereas in the international release, it's shorter. They're trying to make that pace move, which makes sense, but I kind of would have liked a little bit more to get that lingering, like, oh, this kid's really in it, you know? [01:07:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:29] Speaker A: Anyway, there's like just those kind of things that, that are different but interesting and how can we not talk about the amazing title song that lives on forever in our. [01:07:38] Speaker D: Everybody. [01:07:39] Speaker A: I've been singing it for the last week since we mentioned this movie. [01:07:43] Speaker C: I stopped and showed my kid Stranger Things. When they do the recitation of the song Stranger Things, a never ending story. And then now my son's like, I want to watch Stranger Things. And I'm like, oh, let's wait till you're like 15. [01:08:03] Speaker A: Yeah, you can maybe. Yeah, you can make it a 12 or 13 maybe. [01:08:08] Speaker B: It's one of those things. Like in my notes, I was saying, like, I love the theme song, but it's so incredibly 80s. It's not something that I, like, listen to. Like, I like, I. I've said before, like, I'll sometimes put movie soundtracks on at work because it's something that, like, it's cool to listen to. But there's no words to distract you. Something like, the Never Ending Story is not something that's in my playlist, but it's such an iconic song. And I kind of wonder, like, for the newer generation, like, how many people think of it because of Stranger Things more so than because of the Never Ending Story. Even when I was watching the movie two nights ago, I was kind of getting flashbacks to, like. Because it's a montage in Stranger Things, I was kind of thinking about that while listening to it. I'm like, is this. Like, obviously this is classic because of this movie, but, like, is it kind of getting. Is it in the cultural zeitgeist now because of this movie still, or because of Stranger Things? [01:09:01] Speaker C: I think it has dual appearance. People of our age recognize why that scene in Stranger Things is so amazing, because we grew up with a Never Ending Story. If we didn't exist to shed a tear for that scene in Stranger Things, then our kids wouldn't find that scene that amazing. It would just be a musical scene in their show. [01:09:22] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And. And I think what happened was, you know, rentals and sales for Never Ending Story rocketed after it was in Stranger Things. [01:09:32] Speaker C: Right. [01:09:33] Speaker A: Because it brought it all just back to people who have seen it, and now they're wanting to watch it again or share it with other people that haven't. Exactly. [01:09:41] Speaker C: And that's why I had to pay $4 to rent it instead of watching it for free on the Roku Channel. [01:09:46] Speaker A: Well, you should be smart like the rest of us and just own it because it's a classic. [01:09:50] Speaker C: You know, I did think about that, actually, but I was like, I'm gonna watch it and see how this goes and see if I want to own it or not. And I probably should have just bought it because it's. It's good, it's solid. It's definitely. It's definitely a winner. [01:10:02] Speaker A: Okay. I got through most of my stuff. Should we rate this thing? It's going long. [01:10:05] Speaker B: You were worth the hour and a half mark. I think this is probably my apologies. [01:10:10] Speaker A: Our talk about the movie is longer than the movie itself. [01:10:13] Speaker B: There. There's so much to unpack. There's so much to unpack. If you like what we do and you want to support us, head on over to Patreon. There's a link down below. Huge shout out to our executive producers, Real Bubba, Hotep, Dino, and Elder JM990. Thank you guys so much. You're helping keeping the show on the road. All right, Brian, we're gonna throw to you first. [01:10:34] Speaker C: Yeah. All right. So I'm gonna jump in this because I have a feeling I'm gonna be the lower end score. And the reason. The reason that my score is, I'm guessing, coming in lower than everybody else is because simply I. I do enjoy watching movies that deal with things like depression, but they're not fun for me to watch because I. I am a person who dealt with depression a lot. I don't want to get into it, but I watch those movies, films, TV shows and stuff that deal with these issues, and I very much take them to heart. And they're hard for me to. Because I can find attachment to them in so many ways. And this movie especially, I can find attachment to every single scene. I can relate in some way to everything. Even when it's so abstract, I don't even understand what's going on, I still feel it. And for me, much like Sunshine of the Eternal, Spotless Mind or whatever, I can't butcher that title. It's hard for me to get through and it's not so much fun. And that brought down my fun score for the film in every other area. This is a stellar film. Acting, it's passable, but the character depth is so amazing that I don't mind the three or four not so great actors. Still, they had the chops to produce a wide range of emotion and that's what was needed for these roles. But, you know, not. Not in a stellar performance, but the. The amount of characters that are so unforgettable just completely pulls you away from any kind of bad acting whatsoever. And such great lines and moments delivered by those sub characters really makes it astounding. Overall, I gave this movie a 77 out of 100. I think it is definitely something that needs to be shared with others. I think a lot of other people are going to enjoy it more than I did. I just have trouble with such dark topics that this film deals with throughout its. Its. Its length. [01:12:51] Speaker B: I'm not going to lie. That was way higher than I was anticipating you scoring it. [01:12:55] Speaker A: I mean, it's a good movie. It's hard not to agree. [01:12:58] Speaker B: I just. I was. Before we started the conversation, I was talking to the chat and I was just really nervous that the child actors were going to tank this for Brian. [01:13:06] Speaker A: Right, right, right, right. That's fair. That's fair. [01:13:09] Speaker C: No, honestly, they weren't that bad. They weren't good by any means, but they weren't so bad that they took it out. The only time that the act. Their acting took me out of the film was when they were crying. And it was mostly because they. They put on those fake teardrops on the kids faces that just looked. It looked like milk was running down their faces. And it. And. And then they didn't do a good job of crying. And that took me out. Every other scene, I was like, it's passable. I'm fine. [01:13:36] Speaker A: Good. [01:13:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna go next, and then you can do your little piece. And Amy's score won't factor in the same way Bubba Hotep score didn't really factor into the R rating board. That'll still just be Brian, Will and I, but we'll. We'll hear her final thoughts and what she has to say about it. [01:13:53] Speaker A: So love it. [01:13:56] Speaker B: All right. For me, as you know, I break these movies into five different categories, kind of give them a score, and go from there. As far as the sound design goes in this movie, the music is absolutely brilliant. Not only the opening theme, but even just the themes out the story are really, really well done. The fact that you. We talked a lot about the puppetry and the practical effects, but even, like every different character has a very different voice style, it all feels very lived in. It doesn't look realistic by 2025 standards, but it looks good. It sounds good. The cinematography on this one is. Is kind of insane to me. For 1984, for a kids movie, it looks incredible. We didn't touch once on the storms in this movie. The. The main protagonist or antagonist, if you want, is just the nothing. It's just a storm that's falling them everywhere. And some of the scenes in this, I'm not entirely sure how they film them. I know the camera trick that they did with some of the bigger storms, but, like, when there's actually stuff blowing around and they get Trey, who's kind of blowing off in the wind, it looks really good. All the. The makeup looks great. The characters look good. Falkor, you're right, he kind of looks a little gross, but the dog face of him looks really, really good. The cinematography for me was kind of just next level. And let's not forget this is a 1980s movie, so it had to have blue lightning in there. And I loved to see it. Highlander lives on. The acting in this is obviously the weak point for me. I don't. I agree with Brian. It never was bad enough to really, really take me out. There's one line from Bastion that I don't know if it was the writing or his delivery, but when he's. He's refusing to give her a name. And he's like, I can't give her a name. I've got to keep my feet on the ground. And I was like, okay, sure. But other than that, like Atreyu, I thought did fairly well. The Empress, I thought did pretty well. It was the lowest point of the movie, but it's the low point because everything is so good. Except for that. The plot, as we talked about, there's so many elements that you can take away from this. Everybody left here with a little bit of a different take about what was going on. And there's so many parts that, like, Will brought up that I had never noticed before that I legitimately, I'm kind of excited to go back and watch this again sometime. Not necessarily tomorrow, but at some point and see what else I can pick up on her or pick up on the stuff that he's talking about. My entertainment is the wonky one for me because this is not a comfort movie for me the way that it is for Will. But I also didn't have the upbringing that Brian did. So the depression of this one doesn't really hit me. It's just not something I'm likely to put on very often. But when I put it on, I did enjoy it. And I can't take away from the fact that my teenage girls kind of stopped what they were doing to watch this. My wife actually joined me not only to talk about the episode, but to actually watch the movie with me. My youngest was engaged all the way through and desperately wanted to watch the second one. I was like, wait until after Thursday. So, like, this movie hit all of us, like young age, teenage, adult, Everybody. And it's 40 something years old, 41 years old at this point. That's kind of magical. Like, it's hard to find a movie that old that really does that. And it does it expertly. My score is not as higher than Ryan's as I thought it was going to be. I gave this an 83, which feels pretty good. But anyways, Amy, you want to give us your take? [01:17:09] Speaker D: You guys have hit a lot of the points that I would share as well. Like, I think the. The human elements of it are just captivating and everybody can find something to relate to. I agree. There's moments where it was getting a little bit. It was straying from that and it was hitting more that fantasy realm where now he's flying a luck dragon in the middle of downtown. That was weird. And when it gets into those elements, it starts to lose me a Bit I agree about Falkor. He always looked, yeah, like, like eggs were laying on his back. Like it just was something creepy about that. But again, the animatronics, the expression, the. The nature of him was really cool and, and like that best friend that he was kind of needing through all this darkness. It was a little bit uplifting. I would land around an 85 on this one. Again, there's a lot of moments that you can really draw and I found as much as it was dark, I found a lot of strength from it and I drew a lot of positives and, and like character building, strengthening moments from it. So yeah, 85. [01:18:28] Speaker B: Very cool. Will, that leaves you. [01:18:32] Speaker A: So I'm torn because I really want to read the book because it's supposed to be better than the movie. But I also really don't want to read the book because the author, Michael Ende, he gave the rights to make the movie, sold the rights for the movie, and then he was on board to be a script advisor throughout. And then he got really miffed because they were changing elements. He didn't like it. He hated the sphinx statues. The ending doesn't make any sense because that's not in the book at all. And then he actually tried to shut this movie down and took it to court, sued the production company. It failed because he had already legally given over the rights. Not only that, it was like the biggest production Germany had ever seen at that point. And the jobs and employment, it was all good things all around. Except for this guy. Hated it. And to this. Well, he's passed now, but he hated it forever. Wanted nothing to do with any production of this movie ever since or any, any anything. So that makes me not want to read the book as much. And that's fine. I still want to read it, I think, because it's supposed to be really good. That said, this is a classic nostalgia. Yes, I think there is some nostalgia within this for all of us. We're all of the age where when this came out, we were the right age to just take this in and run with it. Is it going to be as lasting for our children? I don't know. I hope so. I think, I hope that this can be a never ending story. I'm just talking about all these other things because you all have covered everything else, everything else that we've talked about throughout. So I've got nothing better to add. So with that I'll give my rating. This is a solid 80 movie. I think this is an unmissable watch. I think it is More important to watch this with your kids, because it takes on subjects and concepts that not a lot of movies do with not a lot of sugar coating. And I think it's done so well that it can get away with it and actually makes the message stronger. And whether you've dealt with those traumatic incidences or not as a child, you will. And I think this helps prepare people for those times, which is crazy to think about a film art being able to help people. And this is 40 years ago. 10, 15 years ago. We didn't even recognize post depression syndrome or anything like. It's. It's so crazy how ahead of its time this is. And so I think it is required viewing. It should be required viewing for everybody. 80%. It's got its ups and downs, production wise, acting wise, but it is an incredible message that needs to be told. [01:21:25] Speaker C: All right, all right, Dan, you got our list. [01:21:29] Speaker B: I can't wait to show you this, guys. [01:21:31] Speaker A: It's gonna be up there, and it's gonna. It's gonna plummet. [01:21:35] Speaker C: Yeah, it's gonna plummet for sure. [01:21:37] Speaker A: What? [01:21:39] Speaker C: Top of the charts. [01:21:42] Speaker A: The Never Ending Story, which we're gonna [01:21:45] Speaker C: wish ends after the sequel. [01:21:48] Speaker A: It absolutely should have. [01:21:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Why is this looking so awful? [01:21:53] Speaker A: I don't know. You don't have the big screen on [01:21:55] Speaker B: it, but it's taking up, like, way anyways. Whatever. Normally this would only be, like, half the screen. I don't know why it's taking up as much as. Yes. Dollars Trilogy got dethroned instantly. Well, but I'm sure it'll be back on top pretty fast. [01:22:09] Speaker C: Yeah, for one week. One week only. [01:22:13] Speaker B: Well, and I could have put it underneath it, but no, I think it gets its time in the sun. [01:22:18] Speaker A: You got to get a bit time. Absolutely. It's never going to be this high ever again, so. [01:22:22] Speaker B: Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, it will not. I'm imagining by the end of this, this is going to be in, like, Venom Anchorman territory. I. I've only looked at the IMDb ratings, and it goes from like a 7.3 to a 5.5 to like, a 2. So, like strapping Boys. [01:22:44] Speaker C: Oh, man. [01:22:45] Speaker A: We knew this was coming, though. We knew this was coming. [01:22:47] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, the fact that none of us even heard of the third movie. Not a great sign. [01:22:53] Speaker C: I. I actually thought you guys were gonna be giving it a slightly higher score, closer to 90 rather than 80. [01:23:00] Speaker B: I'm not gonna let my score went up a little bit during our conversation. We'll put out some really interesting points that. That I really liked as well. [01:23:07] Speaker C: My score did as well. Like I said, it's just. It's a hard movie for me to watch, not a bad movie. And I'm not even saying that it's. It's not good. It's just. It's just hard for me to watch. I do. It doesn't put me into the comfort zone. It makes me deal with emotions and stuff that I've either dealt with and don't feel I need to deal with them again or. Which is probably the same thing. Have suppressed and don't want to deal with. So. [01:23:38] Speaker A: So yeah, yeah, and you've mentioned that before, Brian, with other movies that like, deal with these heavy subjects that you just. You're not comfortable watching them because they are so, well, important. [01:23:50] Speaker C: But also a lot of times the reason we watch movies is to escape reality. [01:23:54] Speaker A: Right. [01:23:55] Speaker C: You know, and that's. And, and that's one reason why sometimes movies are preferable to books. We were talking about that earlier about books or movies. We watch a movie because you can easily digest a movie in two, maybe three hours for a long one where a book, you have to work at it. And especially for somebody like myself who has trouble reading, it's hard for me to get through books. I do love reading books, though, and I doubt I'll pick up the Never Ending Story, but those are some very interesting topics that you brought up, Will, about the author of the story and, and. And where this is all going. So cool. [01:24:36] Speaker D: If you end up reading it. Well, you have to give me the recap. [01:24:40] Speaker A: What's that? [01:24:41] Speaker D: If you end up reading it, you have to give me the recap. [01:24:43] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. [01:24:44] Speaker C: I would be. [01:24:44] Speaker A: It would be my pleasure. All right. Dan, do you have like an outro thing you want to do before I thank Amy for being here? [01:24:51] Speaker C: Hey, Dan, you better watch out or pretty soon your wife's gonna start up our reading with her, her and Will, and it's gonna be the book version of this. [01:24:59] Speaker B: As long as it's on the Mongoolie show, I don't give a. Do what you gotta do. Get paid. [01:25:03] Speaker A: Just give me the clicks. [01:25:05] Speaker C: I'll spell out. [01:25:09] Speaker A: I think your wife's way smarter than to name any channel the Mongoolie anything. [01:25:13] Speaker C: So she's not. [01:25:16] Speaker B: She's not too smart that she married me. So let me. She's very intelligent. Poor decision making, just throwing it out there. Fair. Fair. [01:25:26] Speaker A: Well, I. I'll just say it was a pleasure having you, Amy, and I thank you so much. [01:25:31] Speaker D: It was fun. [01:25:31] Speaker A: Thank you so much. For just like jumping out of, out of your comfort zone a little bit because you brought some great elements to the discussion and I appreciate it greatly. [01:25:40] Speaker C: Absolutely. Amy, I hope you come back and welcome back. [01:25:43] Speaker A: Welcome back. Anytime, anytime. To get a little glare off the screen from Dan's bald head, I, I will take it in a heartbeat. [01:25:56] Speaker B: Go yourself. Well, all right, everybody, that's our rating of the never ending story. But what's yours? Let us know down in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you. We record this live over at Twitch TV themongoolie show. So you can head over there and hit the follow button if you want to interact with us live as were recording this on Thursday nights. Or hit like and subscribe if you made it this far in the video and then you'll be sure to be here for the next one.