SPEAKER_02 0:00

Come on the too.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Wait a minute, what?

SPEAKER_05 0:12

You're a little bit of a little bit of a little greetings, Andor Salutations, and welcome to Imbibe Cinema. The Imbibe Cinema Podcast is brought to you by the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, otherwise known as BWF. We seek independent character-driven films of all length, styles, and genres. To learn more, visit Bwiff.com, that is BWIFF.com. I'm the Festival Operations Director slash MC, Jonathan C. Leggett, along here with my co-hosts, Executive Director, Michael Nowens, and Cinema Centennial Program Director, Trisha Leggett. In this episode, we're going to be discussing uh Jake Kasden's Zero Effect, which is available on digital download. The cocktail we will be imbibing is The Detective, and it is quite tasty. It gives you a little bit of a pep too, given the caffeine from the coffee. But this recipe, as well as pictures, are available on our website, imbibesinema.com.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Bourbon is always a winner in my book.

SPEAKER_05 1:31

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Oh, there's bourbon in this?

SPEAKER_04 1:36

Now is this is this Kirkland bourbon? No.

SPEAKER_05 1:38

No, this is Bullet.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

All right. Well, I'll just edit that out so that way hopefully Kirkland Kirkland's won't get. Oh wait, wait, wait, no. Who's the new bourbon? Because Kirkland hasn't sent us bourbon.

SPEAKER_05 1:48

Yeah, maybe maybe it's bullet now because Kirkland hasn't stepped up.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

This is uh this was the bourbon that was recommended for the drink. And obviously it makes sense. The detective bullet.

SPEAKER_04 1:59

Oh, yes. But in yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Although I'm sure I wonder if you talked about real PIs, if they're like, yeah, there's not really drinking bullets. Well, no, there's not many. There's not as many guns as there are in the movies.

SPEAKER_04 2:11

Uh yeah, I would assume not with private eyes.

SPEAKER_05 2:13

Yeah. Well, there wasn't a gun in this one per se. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Um yeah, there was. Yeah, there's a whole shooting.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

There's the whole flirtation erotic scene.

SPEAKER_05 2:24

Uh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Mm-hmm. Where she's like, should I get the shotgun?

SPEAKER_05 2:27

And he was like, Oh, that's right, yes. And then like sh uh uh uh hip shoots another bottle, as if he anyway. Um, so I really felt this was a an extremely fun eighties interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. And I have to say that it is an 80s interpretation, uh, because well, you know, at the time I'm sure it was a very, you know, modern uh imagining of of Sherlock Holmes, though, of course, in in more recent history we have some really good reimaginings or or even you know yeah, but this one, oh I love, I love, love the the way I mean you take Sherlock Holmes and you know, you know, he's what do we know about the character?

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Uh he's somebody who is not a people person. Yep. He has no um no tact, uh, he has no social cues, he uh is is a stranger to how uh to interact with other people, and yet uh he observes everything. He's very observant. And Master of Disguise. Yes, Master of Disguise uh is a terrible musician.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Uh and uh I love the take on this that it's not the violin, yeah, that it's the guitar, and that his lyrics are trite and heavy-handed. Yes. His songs are so bad. Uh and I I really, really love the opening of the film because it is a description of Sherlock Holmes, and it's told by his Watson character, who is not a doctor, but in this case a lawyer. Steve Arlow. Yes, uh, played by Ben Stiller. And one of the things uh I love about the way this opens is Ben Stiller's voice is so calm and just it kind of like pulls you in because he's doing the sales pitch and it's so soothing and scripted. It feels scripted and rehearsed when you're supposed to feel that way. Yeah, but it's so um solid, so uh you know, almost like it was a hard sale, you know. It's uh and and it cuts between him talking to pitch to the client, his employer, and him venting about his employer to his friend. And I love the transitions where he's like he understands the male mind as well as the female mind. And then it's I don't think he's even dated a girl. And just the the back and forth of of the same topic, but then flipped, and uh just this really interesting description of uh how how he's presented to one person versus how he's presented to another. And then once you meet him, and then there's all this buildup to how you meet him. You don't see him right away, you see his place, yeah. And you see all the ridiculousness, and my favorite of all the weird contraptions to get into the apartment or the penthouse. My favorite after you go through like a safe door and like several locks, is is the alarm code that's like it's like four, it's like he's he's putting in like three or four lines of a book before he gets done.

SPEAKER_04 5:35

Well, and it starts with like one, two, three, four, five, and then like he does something else, and then he comes back at it and it's like 20 digits. Yeah, right. And they're like all over the place.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Right, and it's it's his his uh uh his uh performance through all of this, the silent, subtle, I've done this 800 times, I know everything backward and forward, and because it's so ritual and so habit and yet so ridiculous, it's that much funnier to me. Than somebody discovering something funny. It's it's just established fact at this point that this is what we do, and then going through his apartment, and it's one level of weird to the next level of like all the stocked up stuff because he never leaves. So you have like everything that's bought in bulk just on display.

SPEAKER_04 6:22

Yeah, it goes into the fridge and there's all this tab in there, and he's searching behind the tab to find the one diet coke. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Yeah, and then there's stacks of tuna, and there's stacks of all this stuff, and then there's tab in the hall. Yeah, uh, and all the the weird stuff. He's like a hoarder, it looks like. Yes, and and how dark it is in there, like the sun never sees the light. And then uh, when you walk in the door, you hear him first singing horrendously and playing the guitar, and then you start at his feet and you work your way up. So you have this imagin, like by then you almost have this image of who in God's name is this person before you see Bill Pullman.

SPEAKER_04 7:01

And you're like, oh Bill Pullman with highlights. Yes. Um yeah, I uh one of my favorite parts of the the entering the the apartment scene with that like giant vault, yeah. Uh how the bottom doesn't open and he has to kick it. And that also is extremely like like ritual, like that thing always sticks, you know?

SPEAKER_01 7:27

Yes, the attention to detail and things like that, like the production design on this. I love every every place is a character uh and and reflects who spends time in that space. Yeah. Uh and the same for the woman uh in this film, her home uh is is very tailored to her. Yes. It's not as weird as his, so it doesn't maybe stand out as much, but yeah, it's a little sparse.

unknown 7:54

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:56

Much more, much more evenly planned.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Right, and then um the sleek uh fancy uhness of uh Ben Stiller's uh Steve Arlo's place. Yes. Uh and I do love it.

SPEAKER_04 8:09

Well it's not his place. He moved in with her, right? Right his yeah, yeah, he moved in with Jess. Well, yeah, fiance girl.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Yes, the Mary character in this. And I do love how you uh you go through uh him going through his employer's front door and the series of events to get in, and then his is one lock and it's a freaking glass door right inside.

SPEAKER_04 8:32

Totally different. Yeah. Really solid on the production design.

SPEAKER_05 8:37

Yep. That was uh uh Gary uh Futkoff. He did uh Dark Man, Out of Sight, The Limey, Canine.

SPEAKER_04 8:46

Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:47

Canine, I just I mean, if you're you're talking, you know, Jim Belushi.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Oh, yeah, I haven't seen that.

SPEAKER_05 8:53

Oh, it's oh we're we're talking like that.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Is that his answer to Tom Hanks's Turner and Hooch?

SPEAKER_05 8:59

Pretty much. They they came out about the exact same time. Straight up, they did come out about the same time.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Nice. How is that? Is that that has to be some sort of weird thing in the ethos where you have two movies that are kind of unique that come out at the same time where you're like, what the heck? Like Sixth Sense and um uh what's the one with Kevin Bacon? Um ex Ster of Echoes. They came out at like the same time or Armageddon and Deep Impact. So the kid, the rookie movie, and then the other kid baseball movie, like they all came out.

SPEAKER_05 9:30

That's not a coincidence. No, that's not a coincidence at all. Based on my understanding of how that works, um, because of the way that that um uh uh production companies buy scripts, they'll sit on something until they find out another production company is about to release something, and they'll essentially try to jam one through to like top them.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

Right. So you'll have like Dante's Peak come out, and then they're like, I don't know which one came first, but uh, you'll have like a Dante's Peak, and then somebody will be like, oh, this you know, production company is making a um a big volcano movie with Pierce Brosnan. Um let's do something similar, and you know, then you get Tommy Lee Jones and Volcano, um where there's a volcano coming out of Illinois uh LA.

SPEAKER_05 10:17

Um Yeah, it is it is a strategic thing, you know, it was volcano.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah, I was gonna say I haven't somebody was like leaking like some there was like a spy in the studio and it's like leaking stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04 10:31

I think they just find out that they're making a movie that's about this, and so let's compete with that. But I feel like I haven't seen a lot of that recently in recent years. You know why?

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Because they're doing remakes and sequels. That's what we we live in. You look at Back to the Future, where they're like Jaws 20 something or other, and you're like, no, we're getting there with Fast and the Furious. We're getting there.

SPEAKER_05 10:51

But Turner and Hooch and uh K9 both released in 1989.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:58

Um good memory.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Uh IMDB. When was this movie released? Zero Effect.

SPEAKER_05 11:05

Zero Effect was 98.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Okay, so not the 80s, the 90s.

SPEAKER_04 11:08

And I think the last time I saw this movie before earlier today um was probably 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Oh, right? In our parents' basement with the little TV.

SPEAKER_04 11:20

And I mean, I still remembered the scene in the kitchen, excuse me, the scene I still remember the scene in the kitchen choked out with um with the tab and the tuna.

SPEAKER_05 11:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:30

Because I just thought it was so weird. Mm-hmm. Um and it's interesting to watch watch a movie that at the time I really didn't know very much about Sherlock Holmes. Like, I mean, I knew about Sherlock Holmes, but I hadn't like read any books, seen any, you know, any Sherlock Holmes movies or TV shows or anything like that, really. Um, and so when I watched it, I really didn't make that comparison.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

I was just watching by the time you watch House, you're like, oh, this is a Sherlock Holmes show. Sure.

SPEAKER_04 12:03

But now after you know, watching a bajillion um Sherlock Holmes things like House and Sherlock and you know, the Downey Jr., Jude Law, Sherlock Holmes. Um what about the young Sherlock Holmes? And young Sherlock Holmes. You're right. All of these different interpretations um or renditions uh of that story. It's interesting to go back and watch this story, which I really don't feel like it doesn't feel dated to me. Like I don't go, oh, this is so 1998.

SPEAKER_05 12:36

Well, yeah, I I thought it was 80s and I was just uh Trisha just pointed out. It's the computers.

SPEAKER_04 12:41

Oh, I thought you were just like the computers and like what it had an 80s feel.

SPEAKER_05 12:45

But it had it had an old timey field. No, okay. You know, like a black and white.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

I don't know about you guys, but my big thing when I was watching it and looking at the computers and everything was like, wait a minute, where is the internet? When this is made, is the internet out? It do we have internet? How are you hacking into things? What did people do before the internet? Were your computers just word processor? Like you were it was just a typewriter, right? Like what did you like? Kind of I can't remember that far back. Commit I just remember that functions.

SPEAKER_04 13:18

Yeah, that was still happening in the early 2000s, I feel. I I think dial up was around first.

SPEAKER_05 13:25

It's the AOL to actually connect to the internet.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

And then the one guy on the bus when uh Ryan O'Neill thinks he sees the black leather, and it's it's this guy in all black leather, and he's got the sunglasses, and uh he has uh the flip the flip phone with the uh the antenna. Oh yeah. I love that. It was like, oh, I remember when they had antenna.

SPEAKER_04 13:47

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

We haven't had a cell phone without an antenna in forever.

SPEAKER_04 13:50

I just made a joke about like uh we were watching Catherine and I were watching some video um that was taken on somebody's phone and then texted to her, and it was just like very pixelated and whatnot. And I was like, was this shot on somebody's razor?

SPEAKER_01 14:05

Well, no, my problem is uh with those things, is it's like they they're like, oh yeah, we'll let it break because then you're gonna want a new one. And how many people do you see where it looks like uh their windshield got smashed?

SPEAKER_04 14:16

That's the thing about the that I like about iPhones though, like the ones that they have been making over the last few years, like Mind Scrap.

SPEAKER_05 14:23

I think your screen protector is broken. I don't think the actual screen is broken.

SPEAKER_04 14:27

It is. Well, how many times do you drop your phone? I'll average hold on. This is a silly question because Trisha also hates her phone, and I've seen her throw her phone.

SPEAKER_05 14:39

It's an inanimate object, so it's in trouble. Really?

SPEAKER_04 14:42

It's actually lasted for quite a while.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

You're right. I I am an inanimate uh object uh abuser. I have unbridled rage that I take out on objects. John, is that a brute?

SPEAKER_05 14:54

No, no, I'm I'm fully animate. However, if I were ever to die, the post mortem bruising might be very difficult to discern between what actually killed me and her just taking it out on an inanimate me.

SPEAKER_03 15:12

Aw.

SPEAKER_05 15:15

Hashtag just saying.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

You know, he's not he's not lying. Anyways, the movie. Um I what I think I knew what was gonna happen because we watched it back, you know, when it first came out. But I still love the reveal, and I was really want to know how John, who had seen it for the first time, oh.

SPEAKER_05 15:37

This was this was I I popped my chair in on this bad boy. Um, I the the I liked how they laid the breadcrumbs because um you really had to um it was very nice the way that they pieced it all together. Specifically, it was the um why did the the murderer touch all of these things in in the room, you know, in the room where he killed this person? Um, and specifically, why was the bed, you know, this way? The bed part was actually, I think, the one thing that my brain did not uh uh put the pieces together until I went, oh, okay, they quarantined the baby by moving the bed and and uh but the rest of the reasons I started to kind of piece together. Um not obviously well enough to to have completely solved the mystery. That's that's what Sherlocks do. But that's good.

SPEAKER_04 16:27

Yeah, I mean that makes it more enjoyable.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Yeah, because you want to like spoon fed. Yeah, well, that's yeah, that's one of the things that you like about those movies is you're trying to solve, you're actively trying to solve the mystery with them. And it's more fun if you're kind of guessing till the end or if you think you've got it, rather than I solve this 10 minutes, 30 minutes in and I'm bored.

SPEAKER_05 16:45

Which Tricia usually does with bad ones.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

No, I don't. She just does with some bad ones.

SPEAKER_05 16:50

Your father always thinks that you've seen movies before you have.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Well, when you take a plot from a film and you make it in an episode of Law and Order, I mean I know, hey, this is Laura, they're not dead. So um That's fair. Yeah. But I also love speaking of old films, uh, I really love the fact that they take uh because he's a P.I. and Sherlock is a detective, right? The fact that they make it kind of a film noir. They make it uh an old detective thing in the fact, wow, can I say in the fact more? Um that in fact I can uh that uh uh he has the voiceover just like any gum shoe film. There's like voiceover which comes in and dictating his own right, he's dictating his own memoirs because uh Watson in this case is like I have no interest in doing this. No. And that's that's I like that choice. It's like he's so full of himself that he's like, no, I'm gonna write my memoirs. Somebody know me.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

As he writes it, he says that you know he's not going, he's going to be impartial. Uh-huh. Um, and uh like in the next few sentences, he talks about how he's deflating his own ego, yeah. Detective. Um uh yeah, no, it was it was very good. And some of the things like oh yeah, um, one of my I uh I I mean having seen this movie so long ago, I did forget the ending and I was trying to figure it out. Um, like, how did this movie end? And I I I was I got that whole reveal again um because I didn't piece it together right beforehand. So that was kind of nice. But one of the like the it's interesting having watched the movie so long ago and then watching it again now, what you do remember from it. And so, like I mentioned the kitchen bit, the first time that he follows him, I was like, Oh yeah, I remember how this plays out. And I I remember being so like in love with like uh like the reveal of that, like how to best follow someone as arrive before they yeah, but it's like people you follow someone, they look behind them and they see you following them.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

They know they're being followed, yeah. Right. They don't know they're being followed if you get there. Before this, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

It's like, well, how do you follow someone if you know where they're going already? He's just that good. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Um, and then I I love like uh uh I watched John's reaction to this when he's searching the office, and he's like, When you're looking for one thing in a world full of things, odds are you're not gonna find it because of all the things in this world, you're only looking for one. But if you're looking for anything, odds are you're gonna find something because of all the things in the world, you're gonna find something. Like, what?

SPEAKER_04 19:37

And he's like, the thing that you're looking for is right in front of you. And then we just pan over to the couch, which is funny because again, you're like that was a moment where I'm like, why are we living in a couch? I could not remember. But I love it. I was like, the man had a problem, he couldn't find his keys, and I found them.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

This doesn't, this isn't this can't be a good thing. No, of course it's a good thing. He lost his keys. And it's like, and then the name of the case, when you actually know what the case is, and he calls the case the case of the man who got so stressed out that he lost because he lost his keys that he gave himself a heart at heart attack, and they were in the couch all along. Like, that's not what this case was about.

SPEAKER_05 20:15

Not a good name for the case.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

And then you think of all the other cases that he's listed off, and I'm like, I wonder what they were really about. Yeah, the man with the the the mismatching shoelaces, or the uh the something about um uh midgets or sus-I don't know, or there was some sounded like no no, it was the one where he was talking about the plummeting birds towards how no that was that's how do you write a a poem about uh with a name Clarissa and not include Clarissa if anybody's name called out to be in a poem, it's Clarissa. Um before that he talks about like this is the like the case of the something something. But um or maybe it was um it doesn't really matter. But uh he uh he also gives a different name everywhere he goes, and it's subtle, it's not overplayed, but I do love he books a flight, he's this guy, he checks into the rent a car, he's that guy. He he gets to the phone, he's this guy. And then when anybody meets Arlo or Watson in this case, they're like, oh, Olsen or uh like or Wilson or whatever, it's always a different name.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

Left is for you, or it's like, oh my god, how do you keep it straight who he's going by he can't or like the the fact that you know he he flies to like flies in to see him and he he knew he didn't need to fly in, like um uh Daryl knew that he Arlo didn't need to fly in, but he didn't want to waste the long distance call to tell him he was like it wasn't urgent. And you know they're listening. And you know.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Very funny.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Yeah, no. Uh the the dialogue is very good. I mean, Bill Pullman is stunning in this film. Not only is his comic timing just brilliant, but there is so much depth to his character. There's so much thought behind everything. And there's a scene with the woman where there he's she's trying to probe him for information. She's trying to find out more about him. Now, uh, when she does this, uh, he's given a different name to everybody. He has a backstory for everybody. You don't suspect that he's gonna give something away. And when she asks where he's from originally, he says Minnesota. Yep. And then the look on his face You know it's the truth. And then the like you see him look like, oh crap, I just gave up the truth. And then what does this mean? Like this whole bit, and it's subtle enough that she wouldn't notice, but the audience does. Yeah. And it's just so well done that you're like, oh my god, my heart hurts me right now. And it's so well done. Yeah, yeah, very good.

SPEAKER_05 23:05

All right. Uh uh, so we we've been kind of speaking about Arlo here. Um, and uh uh Arlo uh does have a a moment where he has decided that uh he he's going to leave this job. Um and I believe there was the question uh that Michael you had posed um that have you ever wanted to leave because you were unhappy, whether it was a job or something else, uh, but something kept you there.

SPEAKER_03 23:34

Yes. Who hasn't? But like what is it that kept you there? Well, um a sense of loyalty.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

Oh, okay. A fear of somebody else being hurt, um, and sometimes just afraid of looking like the bad person. Like let's say you're at a party and nobody's else really came, you can't leave. Because then like you're the like it's like there are two of you, and it's like, well, if I leave then the party's over. Right. Or um although it wasn't a party. Well, yeah, or if you go you go to uh let's say uh uh a wake or a funeral and there isn't a big turnout, you can't slip away to have to stay because otherwise it's un it's like nobody's there. Sure. Um so there are lots of sir circumstances where I think you stay because you're like uh it's so weird if I leave now. All right.

SPEAKER_05 24:27

I I think back from uh uh when I finally did enter uh the um the real world um and got a a big boy job.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05 24:37

Uh my mind was on the MTV show.

SPEAKER_04 24:40

Sorry.

SPEAKER_05 24:40

Oh, yeah. No, when I went. You may remember Jackson's real world. No, never. Um anyway. Um, but uh I I know that I I I stayed at that job um for for probably longer than I should have out of uh fear. Um, you know, when you you start to become kind of the king of the castle, um, you know, you you you you don't want to realize that where you're extremely good um at at the job you have, that going somewhere else you could be the oh yeah worst person there. Big fish in the pond. Yeah. Right. So I know that that was one reason I stayed somewhere I shouldn't have for How about you, Michael?

SPEAKER_04 25:22

Excellent question. Um You're not sure if I came up with it. I know. I wasn't prepared to answer my own question. Um I know, I'm ridiculous. Yeah, I think um I think you know I've been in situations, uh several situations where I have found myself um where, yeah, I mean basically you're in a situation whether it is, you know, like uh a conversation, uh, you know, uh something simple like like that where um you know you feel like like you need you need to go, but you don't wanna, you know, hurt the person's feelings. Um and so you stay. Um uh I mean it's probably a huge reason why I was late to so many things. Um and uh yeah, I mean, uh I've uh I've to something more major, like where, you know, you've been uh you've been friends with somebody and uh yeah you know that you know it's kind of a one-sided friendship. Or you've changed and they haven't. Yeah, that's or vice versa.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

And it's like this is not really a friendship anymore. This is a habit.

SPEAKER_04 26:38

Those are really, really hard because it's more on a personal level. What's interesting about this movie is you know, he he uh from the very get-go of the of the beginning of the movie, he talks about how like his just disdain for him, but at the same time, he needs him, and there's that sense of loyalty. Um, and that's the reason why he doesn't want to leave.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

At least that's what I'm saying. And then it's like, what am I gonna do with him?

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:03

Not five million dollars now. Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

Oh, and that shows you what kind of person Arvo is. Yeah, he's honorable. But I mean he can't not be after the big speech she gave five minutes earlier. But I'm tired of working for the Starks for the world. Where are the good guys? What? There aren't good guys, bad, evil guys, and innocent guys.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:25

We're gonna take a few moments to fill our glasses, uh, but get ready to imbibe more after this.

SPEAKER_04 27:31

Hey there, listeners. This is Michael with Imbibe Cinema. Are you looking to experience more great independent films? Begin your Imbibe Cinema streaming membership today and watch the film Dead Weight, now available through October 31st, 2023. This powerful documentary from Italy follows Angelo Massaro, who spent 21 years under lock and key before he was found innocent of a crime he never committed. Check out the trailer using the link in our show notes. Imbibe Cinema streaming memberships are currently $4.99 per month after a three-day free trial. Membership benefits include exclusive year-round content like this month's film Dead Weight, plus discounts on festival passes and tickets. To join, visit watch.imbibecinema.com. Now, back to the show.

SPEAKER_05 28:27

You're listening to Imbibe Cinema. I'm Jonathan C. Leggan. I'm here along with Michael Noens.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Nutricia Legge.

SPEAKER_05 28:35

We are discussing uh Jake Casden's Zero Effect. Enjoying this podcast, please subscribe or follow us at all your favorite podcast providers. Get new episodes as soon as we release them, which is every fortnight. Rate andor leave us a review and help our show reach that larger audience. Uh you can also follow in Bible Cinema on the Facebook and the Grams.

SPEAKER_04 28:56

The Grams.

SPEAKER_05 28:59

Honey Grams. Okay. So um back to uh Zero Effect. Um have you ever conducted your own little investigation?

SPEAKER_04 29:09

Oh, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_05 29:12

Michael is clever.

SPEAKER_04 29:14

But now I have to think of my own.

SPEAKER_05 29:16

He writes these. I I don't know. I think of good questions, I don't think of good answers.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

No, like we do. No, and I know I have, like as a kid, it was much more dramatic. Yes. But it's like, oh, I wonder if so-and-so really is is is is not my friend, and so I'm going to, you know, quiz them or something. I don't know. I can't remember. I blocked out most of my childhood, or I drank it away, I'm not sure.

unknown 29:39

Wait.

SPEAKER_05 29:40

During her childhood, yes. During her childhood, she was just like, screw this stuff.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

I'm gonna drink the baby. It's true. It was old style back then. I was two. But in my defense, my well, in my parents' defense, toddlers don't walk correctly anyway, and they nap a lot. So it wasn't until I think I belched beer in someone's face that they noticed I'd been drinking.

SPEAKER_04 30:03

I'm learning something right now.

SPEAKER_05 30:05

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

Well, you didn't know this. I just thought you tried it and they were like, that's gross.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

Nope, nope. They were they were finishing the basement, and so they would be setting beers down where a toddler could get to them, and nobody noticed, and they were like, Oh, I guess I drank it. But I was drinking all the old style. By the way, old style is gross.

SPEAKER_04 30:22

It really is. Actually, I got ill the last time I had an old style.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

That's disgusting.

SPEAKER_05 30:25

Pretty sure so she did too. She was two, but probably she doesn't remember that though.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

No.

SPEAKER_05 30:30

It is pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

I went through my cheap beer phase early in life.

SPEAKER_05 30:35

Two.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Now she's pricey.

SPEAKER_05 30:38

It's true. We like we like our pricey beer. Um, I I I I can honestly state I don't think that I have ever done a little investigation.

SPEAKER_04 30:51

Really? Like, not even like something. I mean, really, really, kind of comes out of like curiosity. I feel like I've done a million of them. Like, where you're like, oh it might not even be in mean be like people related. More like I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_05 31:06

I've done about 50 million Google searches, but I don't like I can't really think that's an investigation.

SPEAKER_04 31:11

No. More like something you just needed to know the answer to and not something you can just look up in a book or on the internet. Nothing?

SPEAKER_05 31:21

Nothing comes to mind. I kind of just take things at face values.

SPEAKER_04 31:27

Oh, that's a trustworthy man.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

Yeah. Um yeah, no, I can't I can't think of one. Right. What's that?

SPEAKER_04 31:40

One you're willing to share. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Um but uh yeah, I mean Well, I would think if somebody if you thought somebody was cheating on you, that would be a commonplace investigation where that's when people like break into phones and and like start following people to see if they're going where they're going.

SPEAKER_04 31:55

That would be that's where they start to go crazy. Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

I haven't I didn't do that.

SPEAKER_05 32:00

Face value.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Yeah. No, I didn't do that either. Hmm. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 32:06

In fact, I've openly told Trisha if she's working late, she could just text me and say that like, you know, having an affair at La Kinta, and I'd just be like, all right, cool, I'm going to bed early.

SPEAKER_04 32:15

I don't feel like that's exactly how that would go.

SPEAKER_05 32:19

I I think if she texted me the words, I'm having an affair at La Quinta, I'd be like, damn, we're good.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:27

Because you're like, 'cause like hell, she's going into a La Quinta.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

Right? See, that you wouldn't want to know what the real story is. I went through that phase in my early 20s. It's done. The La Quinta phase. I can't even pronounce it. La Quinta?

SPEAKER_03 32:44

La Quinta. La quinta?

SPEAKER_04 32:46

It's like is it a setup above like a motel six?

SPEAKER_05 32:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Yeah. Um, although I did find that motels just remind you of like your grandparents' house because the furniture is so old and mismatched. Oh, that's terrible. I did not mean to install grandparents everywhere. I'm sure some have really nice furniture. My bad. It was a personal memory. It has nothing to do with anything. I've I feel like I've betrayed grandparents. I'll stop talking. All right.

SPEAKER_04 33:08

So, what was the next question? Uh, all right, so nobody has um little investigations. Really conducted a little investigation worthwhile. But have you ever taken part in something deceitful?

SPEAKER_05 33:24

Yes. Yes, haven't we all? I I think there's two that that that I like to state. Okay. One, of course, which you you you've already openly stated you you won't let me get away with, which is why I have the second one, which is funny because you also gave us the idea for the second one, or reminded me of the second one. Uh but drum roll, drum roll, drum roll. Uh my wife's uh 40th birthday party uh was extremely deceitful uh in the sense that I had her own boss in on the take, so that her boss scheduled her to work. I'm using air quotes here, which you of course can't see. Scheduled her to what that thank you. Scheduled her to work. So she saw she was on the work schedule, left the house to go to work, to get uh got to work and found um how many outfits? Three. I'm just bragging about amazing.

SPEAKER_04 34:19

How amazing I am, and slightly tying it back to the movie.

SPEAKER_05 34:22

So you sent her to work to receive a note which sent her home where all of us were ready for.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

What was the other one?

SPEAKER_05 34:33

Uh the other one was, of course, when Michael and I threw ourselves uh a surprise party.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

Now that is a good story. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_05 34:40

Because it was a surprise, surprise party. So Michael and I had this brilliant idea. Our birthdays are about two weeks apart. And so we had this brilliant idea that we were going to uh we we we enlisted one of our friends, uh, and that probably might have been the bigger surprise. Um, was uh she was she was one of our friends, and we said, Look, we want you to host a party that will be our surprise party. And she's like, Wait, what you want me to host your surprise party? And we went, Yes, here's the surprise. You tell everybody to show up at five, but Michael and I will have shown up at 4 30 and then been hiding in a closet so that when everybody gets there thinking we're gonna arrive there at like 5 30, we will jump out and surprise the surprisers.

SPEAKER_04 35:25

I mean, really, it's actually kind of brilliant.

SPEAKER_05 35:28

Yeah, it's like a twisted plot of plots because everybody's thinking they're going to surprise us and we surprise them.

SPEAKER_04 35:35

Well, well, I hope our listeners who take this idea will be able to actually have a better friend than we did.

SPEAKER_05 35:42

Who invites people because what the surprise was is that we we were surprised that nobody was invited, and we had apparently no friends.

SPEAKER_04 35:52

Like no, we were surprised we had no friends.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

So you two hid waiting for people to come.

SPEAKER_05 36:01

Nobody came. But yeah, the the surprise was I mean, I thought that was extremely deceitful. I mean, it was but it was brilliant. Because if if it had worked the way that it was supposed to, where people actually showed up, um, like that would have been just great.

SPEAKER_04 36:22

I think a good example of my deceitfulness would be actually back in my childhood.

SPEAKER_05 36:29

Um age or a Wii Age.

SPEAKER_04 36:33

Um you know, I had a bunch of toys growing up, um, a bunch of cars and whatnot, and I would build these cities and towers in the basement, and then you know, eventually there would be a disaster, you know, that would strike and everything.

SPEAKER_01 36:48

He was like brain man. Let's back this up. Okay, he was like four years old. He'd been in the car a bunch of times, but it's not like you paid like you think the four-year-old pays attention in the car. My father comes downstairs and he's like, Oh my god, Michael recreated O'Hare Airport.

SPEAKER_04 37:03

How did he do that? O'Hare Airport, definitely, definitely O'Hare. Definitely O'Hare.

SPEAKER_05 37:07

Now, mind you. 42 cars in the parking lane.

SPEAKER_01 37:09

Mind you, he had a lot of cars, and it was there's several parking lots, so that worked, but right.

SPEAKER_04 37:15

So great detail, but then I would just wreck it all. Right, because a tornado has to come through. I mean, of course, there's gotta be a disaster.

SPEAKER_05 37:22

Well, that's Bill Paxton, not Bill Pullman twister.

SPEAKER_04 37:26

Oh we know, yes. So, anyway, so what I did as um a deceitful child is, you know, like after wrecking the basement, um, I would be, you know, told I had to clean the basement. And for whatever reason, my sisters would have to help me clean the basement, which I don't quite understand because they never made a mess in the basement. But um, I don't know, maybe my my mother was thinking maybe it'll go faster if the three of them like the three of us uh did it. So anyway, what ended up happening is I would excuse myself to go to the bathroom. Um, like, oh, I'll be right back. And then Heather and Trisha would finish cleaning up the basement and then come upstairs and find me like eating cheese and crackers and hanging out with mom and dad on the back deck. They'd be like, what the hell? And apparently what I did is I came upstairs and I was like, Oh yeah, we're all done. They're just you know hanging out down there, playing, having a good time. That is super deceitful.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

Alright, so it's uh college, 20 years old. And uh I was one of those people who had no social life prior to college, so it's not like I had been around any kind of influence that would lead me to underage drinking. And mind you, I am a year away from other than when she was two. You're right, that's true. Um sorry, my memory has suffered over the year due to that early bender.

SPEAKER_03 39:01

Two-year-old bender.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

Anyways. Fuck you. Anywho, um, so uh the plan was I'm gonna go to this party and I'm gonna get drunk because I'm a control freak and I'm afraid of getting drunk unless I do it on purpose because I think if sneaking up on you is kind of like uh so I'm gonna deliberately get drunk on purpose so I know what's like what that is. That's the plan. So uh in preparation from this, I had uh obviously watched a lot of old movies where people were hung over and I because I could know that the symptoms to being hung over were vomiting and everything was bright and loud as it is in the movies.

SPEAKER_04 39:43

Right, but you like old movies, so you're watching black and white films where they dramatize. Yeah. Got it.

SPEAKER_01 39:51

Okay, yeah, where people still sleep in two beds anyway, and yet have children. Um yes. So uh what was the other thing? Um oh yeah, so I had to tell my mother and I was like, How do I go to this party where I stay the night? Because I have to stay the night because I'm getting drunk. How do I tell them? So I went up to my mother, I'm sorry, mom, and I said, Hey, my friend Stacy, her mom is out of town and she's by herself, and she wanted me to come over and spend the night, but because like she gets weirded out because they're living in a like new place, and I know I should be a good friend and go, but I really just don't want to leave the house. But I told her I would. Should I go or should I stay home? Would it be okay if I stayed home? And mom's like, you should go and support your friend, and I'm like, Oh, all right, I will.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

And I went to the party instead. You inceptioned mom? Wow. Reverse psychology.

SPEAKER_05 40:48

She was like, it was my idea for her to stay. And then it was real weird. She put your mother in a chair and then kicked it over.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

It was just that was just to wake her up. This is where karma is a bitch. Oh so the ending. The ending is. Um, I really hadn't been around much alcohol since the old style, which we all know is bad. Um, so my mom was into um oh god, what is it? White Zinfandel, which is not white. And or zincel. No, it's I don't know what it is. Zinfadel is actually the grape.

SPEAKER_05 41:23

It's zincel is the grape. So it is zinc and deles it is not white.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

Whatever. It's a pink, pink hell. I hate that I know that. Anyway, so I decided I was gonna drink this. And because my my mother drank it all the time, and I'd had sips of it and it seemed good. So I drank it. I drank a bottle in 20 minutes. I did it on purpose. Bottle? A bottle.

SPEAKER_05 41:46

Because I didn't feel like trying to die.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

I didn't drank it. And it's funny because in the beginning, I'm like, this isn't doing anything, and I'm chugging it. And then finally, after I'm done, I'm like, why is the world spit? Oh, I'm drunk. And then I don't remember much of the rest of the night, only that much that a lot of it was spent in the bathroom, and there's a montage in my head of people coming in and going, still, oh no, somebody helping her, I'll get water. And then oh my god, and then uh finally I woke up the next morning expecting my head to pound, right? And everything to be too bright. None of that. I just felt a little nauseous, and I was like, huh, I'm okay, no hangover. So I got in the car and I drove home. Probably not a good idea. I think I was still drunk, and I get home and um I go to class, and I then went to the bathroom and stayed there all morning, wishing, praying for death.

SPEAKER_05 42:41

The sweet release of death.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

And then I went home swearing I would never ever drink again, and that I had learned my lesson, only to find my mother in the kitchen drinking a glass of Whites and Fidel and the smell. Oh my god, the smell. And then she's like, No, come sit, let's talk. And I'm like, I can't. I can't, oh my god. And it's like, I will confess everything. Please don't make me sit through this for a month, two months. Every time I went to church, I smelled the wine. Trauma flashback. Wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:17

I'm not gonna lie, it took me a while. I know we're we're completely getting off topic here, but at the same time, I it's all relatable. I yeah, uh hopefully so are we.

SPEAKER_01 43:25

I'm like Elinda Genesis, no longer.

SPEAKER_05 43:28

But I I I do recall it, probably took me about two years to be able to smell tequila uh again. Now, now this was this was of course uh college for me. Uh uh and uh uh w what a wonderful uh experience. I uh uh I had somebody purchase me a bottle of Amaretto. I was at the time just under. Um, and uh I had mixed it with some Coke, Coca-Cola. Good. Thank you for clarifying. Cocaine. Because they were all out. His teeth were already white and wetness. And all of a sudden, somebody over the din of the party yells, upside down tequila shots, five dollars. And my brother, who is six and a half years older than me.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

And hates you. Well, no, if the story was going to go in a bad turn, this is where he hates you.

SPEAKER_04 44:37

No, that was that was a fantastic reaction. That was like he hates.

SPEAKER_05 44:44

There we go. Well, then we we could have gone full sure luck. Um no, so so uh he uh I remember him explaining to me, because he's six and a half years older than me, um, that his college experience. And and he informed me that leggettes, uh being whom I am, uh, and tequila don't mix. Uh and and so my brain, uh being the rebellious uh college person that I am, goes, what does my brother know? And so I tilt my head back, and an upside-down tequila shot, or an upside-down shot in general, is you sit in a chair, you tilt your head back over the back of the back of the chair, and somebody just pours alcohol into your mouth. Right. And then it's a great idea. Yeah, yeah. What could possibly go right? Um, and so I do one of those, and I'm talking like 20 minutes goes by, and I've been drinking and nursing my Amaretto and Coke. Nothing. I'm not feeling a GD thing about like anything that I've been drinking. So I slap another five dollars down. Oh, Jesus. Tilt my head back again. Not more than five minutes later, my shirt is off. Uh and uh which is actually not that. No, that's not no that that that's pretty much a a night that ends in Y. Um night doesn't end in Y. Um, but Nighty. Nighty. Ooh. Teddy. Um Wow. I should have stunned my wife into silence.

SPEAKER_04 46:20

If only this was a video podcast.

SPEAKER_05 46:22

Yeah, that's true. Um, but uh that that was uh I also had a a uh lofted bed at the time. And uh I got back to my dorm uh and and and crawled up to my lofted bed, and uh immediately the world started spinning.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

Um and by the way, secret to you, young'ins turn into the spin.

SPEAKER_05 46:51

Yes, but uh uh I I remember uh getting the waves of nausea uh and realizing oh god, I'm in trouble, and then jumping off of my lofted bed and hitting the ground and managing to stay, like stick the landing, if you will. But that was when wave one hit.

SPEAKER_04 47:10

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 47:12

And I managed to chipmunk that sucker.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

Oh it's so gross.

SPEAKER_05 47:17

I know it is, and then I couldn't figure out how to unlock my door.

SPEAKER_03 47:21

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 47:26

So I finally unlocked my door and wave two hits.

SPEAKER_04 47:30

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05 47:32

And then I realized I'm not wearing my flip-flops, and I'm in a co-ed dorm with uh with a uh men's and women's restrooms, but I'm not going in there barefoot. There's, you know, any number of things. Yeah, that was a long night. Needless to say, I I couldn't smell tequila for a year.

SPEAKER_01 47:50

For those of you who found this fascinating, know that here about the Disney World Ducks. If anybody vomiting in a story is good, it's Disney World on top of ducks.

SPEAKER_05 48:04

Okay, so here's here's the story.

SPEAKER_01 48:07

No, let's move on. You can tell it another time. We'll see if anybody's listening by anybody wanting to know about Disney World Ducks. But it was a fun party.

SPEAKER_03 48:17

It was. Anyways.

SPEAKER_05 48:19

All right. Uh Mikey, you want to poke the bear?

SPEAKER_04 48:23

Oh, sure, I can do that. All right. First one from uh, well, I guess I'll explain what I'm doing here, you know. Um, so poking the bear. Take a time. Uh we take a look at uh some Rotten Tomato reviews. Um, just uh a little excerpt from reviews uh that uh are rotten. So we take a look at these, we take a look at these rotten uh reviews and I pick a few and uh we just kind of react to them.

SPEAKER_01 48:52

So once we do not read the review as in whole in uh in in because we treat them like the terms and conditions clauses because nobody reads them exactly the American way.

SPEAKER_05 49:04

Yeah, don't read the comments. Not if you want to not cry.

SPEAKER_04 49:08

Okay, so yeah, that being said. USA Today says zero effect, drones on for two hours, unraveling a convoluted black male plot of zero interest.

SPEAKER_00 49:22

Oh, see how they put the name in the clever.

SPEAKER_01 49:29

Um that's sad because they obviously are not Sherlock fans or gumshoe fans and watch any uh uh of those movies because they're good.

SPEAKER_05 49:39

Yeah, I I almost wonder what their take would be on the more real the more recent uh situations. I feel like this being USA Today and this being like the late 90s, they you know maybe they hated Ben Stiller or Bill Pullman. Paxton?

SPEAKER_02 49:55

Bill Pullman.

SPEAKER_03 49:56

No Pullman. Maybe they had like such uh Brian O'Neill has fallen so far. They just they just hated all Bills.

SPEAKER_05 50:04

Yeah, there you go. Bill Pope is the uh the DP? Yep. Wow Cinematographer. Bill Pope. Oh, Bill Pope has been a little bit more than a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 50:14

I know we're into Pokebare, but oh my god, Matrix Spider-Man 2. There's so many sit-down conversations in this where stuff is revealed and the camera doesn't sit still. No, it moves and it's almost like it either moves and is part of the character in in a way, where it's kind of looking around because the person uh is because we're we're discovering something, or you're almost like you're spying on them. Yep, like you're overhearing it, like you're the detective. And it's just oh, and then the bit in the restaurant because the mesh on the top of the it's almost like a confessional. That was what I'm saying. Oh my god, it's so well done. And I I forgot to mention that earlier, but I just love how they make uh even seatings where people are just sitting and talking, like very interesting to watch.

SPEAKER_05 51:00

Two two of my favorite movies that uh uh fall under Bill Pope. Uh Army of Darkness and Clueless.

SPEAKER_01 51:06

Oh, Clueless. Nice. There's a um, what do you call it? Uh secret, a guilty pleasure?

SPEAKER_03 51:13

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:14

Shouldn't even be a guilty pleasure. It's a very good movie.

SPEAKER_01 51:16

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:17

Bring it on is a guilty pleasure. Yeah, that's a guilty pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 51:20

Clueless clueless is a is a brilliant retelling of a Jane Austen novel.

SPEAKER_05 51:24

Yeah, yes, and Paul Rudd looks the same.

SPEAKER_01 51:26

Oh god, yeah, it's weird.

SPEAKER_04 51:30

All right, go ahead. Okay. All right, so the uh Boston Phoenix uh says the younger Kazdan stages each scene handsomely, but as a writer, he stretches potentially witty snaps into disagreeable languorous melodrama.

SPEAKER_01 51:50

Langorous, huh?

SPEAKER_05 51:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 51:52

I don't think any of the words were that languorous.

SPEAKER_05 51:56

No, and again, it's it's the style, it's the film noir-esque genre that they're doing in 1990. I I just I I I feel this person is just missing the fact that there's a stylized piece to this and a style. I mean, again, we're talking Sherlock Holmes, which is you know, circa right.

SPEAKER_01 52:20

And also old gumshoe movies, it's always the monologue in the head. Yeah. And it's full of goofy things like in the world of things, you're gonna find things.

SPEAKER_05 52:32

Yes. If you're looking for one thing in a world of things.

SPEAKER_04 52:37

Um okay, San Francisco Chronicle says Kazdan is onto something, but he needs to develop it. If he tries to bring Daryl Zero Zero back for a sequel, maybe he'll have a better idea of what to do with his eccentric private eye.

SPEAKER_01 52:54

Yeah, they don't know what Sherlock Holmes is. That's sweet.

SPEAKER_05 52:57

Which is interesting because I don't know if you know this, but Kazdan did bring Zero back.

SPEAKER_01 53:03

Why?

SPEAKER_05 53:06

There was a TV movie in 2002 called The Zero Effect.

SPEAKER_01 53:12

And who played Daryl Zero?

SPEAKER_05 53:14

Uh, the person who played uh Daryl Zero was Alan Cummings.

SPEAKER_01 53:19

Oh, Alan Cumming. That's a different, that's a definitely different.

SPEAKER_05 53:23

So that would be a dip, yep, different movie.

SPEAKER_04 53:25

Yeah. Yeah. Well, now I want to watch that.

SPEAKER_05 53:28

I'm very intrigued. See all the wonderful things I can pull out of my bottom.

SPEAKER_04 53:34

On the internet. Well, uh overall, I would say uh the the film had a pr, you know, like we're looking at 20 22 years now after the movie was released. Um the film sits at a 64% on the tomato meter, which is pretty, pretty, actually, pretty good. And um a 77% uh audience score.

SPEAKER_01 53:55

Oh and I will say, it's nice, ladies and gentlemen, if you're into classic film, this is an excellent classic film. To think that it's 22 years, oh my god, it's an old movie. But it's a it's a very good movie. It's a it's a diamond in the rough.

SPEAKER_02 54:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:11

And uh you should definitely check it out if you're into uh gumshoe Sherlock Holmes uh films that are funny.

SPEAKER_05 54:18

Yeah. And I will say that I was pleasantly surprised that other than like Tab uh and and and that cell phone, like it, it it has aged pretty well. I mean, the the computer as well, but still aged very well.

SPEAKER_04 54:32

Yeah, not bad. I didn't feel like it was stuck to a particular time period. I feel like it translated pretty well. Um, I mean, like he buys his tickets, his airline tickets online. Yep. Um, like that it's already done. Yeah. That was actually probably more ahead of its time.

SPEAKER_05 54:51

Yeah, that's a good point. So yeah. We greatly appreciate all of our listeners choosing uh this podcast and for supporting independent films. Keep an ear out for our next episode and to check out our show notes or just to drop us a note, please visit us at imbibesinema.com. Once again, I am Jonathan C. Leggett and thanks for imbibing with us. Cheers.