Hostages & Kidnappings Movie Draft (w/ Dave Lester)

Eli (00:01.199)
Hello and welcome to the establishing shot a podcast where we do deep dives and two directors and their filmographies I am your host Eli Price and we are here on episode 91 of the podcast I am joined again by Dave Lester We talked about Spielberg's Munich last week Really awesome discussion about a really awesome movie

Yeah, I really enjoyed the discussion. feel inspired to make strong political statements for the world to see. but Dave joined me last week. It was great to have Dave on and it's great to have him on again. And yeah.

Dave Lester (00:39.16)
Hahaha

Dave Lester (00:43.277)
Yeah.

Eli (00:54.205)
Me and Dave have had some fun movie drafts in the past. The last one we did was a car chase movie draft. That was really fun. I got a lot of fun out of that one. But this...

Dave Lester (01:08.174)
think I introduced you to Ronan, right? You hadn't heard of that one before?

Eli (01:11.471)
I hadn't and I still haven't seen it. It is on a list somewhere of the thousands of movies that I need to see. yeah, I do remember that. And it'll forever be on the Car Chase movie draft list. So there you go. But this week, guess sort of inspired by

talking about Munich, was thinking about hostages and kidnappings in movies and I was like, why don't we do a movie draft around hostage or kidnapping situations? I guess like hostages and kidnapping aren't fun, but some of the movies that are kind of options for this would

Dave Lester (02:00.749)
Not at all.

Eli (02:05.959)
could kind of be considered fun in certain ways. But yeah, I thought this would be a fun movie draft. Maybe some interesting movies will come up. There might be potential interesting ways that we talk about what movies are hostage movies. So I have a few on my list that I don't know if I'll pick necessarily, but.

are kind of like out of the box ideas for what's considered as a being a hostage movie.

Dave Lester (02:42.102)
If I disagree, do I give you like a big X like, eh, or is that just up to the audience to say, you're listed isn't that great.

Eli (02:44.765)
Yeah, I think the sound effect is good. I think I always enjoy... I've vetoed picks before and I've had a pick that someone probably should have vetoed but they were nice because they were a guest and didn't. But yeah, there's been ones before where I'm like, that doesn't really fit. I see where you're coming from but...

So feel free if I come up with one and you're like, no, you're totally wrong. Just be like, no, we're not allowing that.

Dave Lester (03:24.204)
Or I might just hope the audience just thinks my list is better once they see that pic. So maybe I will say nothing.

Eli (03:29.147)
Yeah, they'll they'll vote for you because I can't believe Eli tried to make this a hostage movie voting for Dave So yeah might work in your advantage to let me just take a dumb pick. So But yeah, we didn't really do any deliberating on What's what the parameters are here? I think it kind of speaks for itself for the most part it's a movie any movie where people are taken hostage or people are kidnapped

Dave Lester (03:57.134)
There's a kidnapping or something. Okay. Yeah. All right.

Eli (03:58.705)
Yeah, yeah, so there's, I was surprised by how many films I started looking up bliss and I was like, actually there's a lot of options out there for this, I guess kidnappings and.

Dave Lester (04:11.631)
There's more. Yeah, there's more than what someone would think for sure.

Eli (04:15.781)
Yeah, I guess it makes for a good movie. Hostages and kidnappings. So I did not actually look and see which one of us had the first pick the last time we drafted. So I'm just going to default and let you as the guest pick first, because I can't remember.

Dave Lester (04:33.274)
that's very kind of you. So for my first pick, I'm going to go with a movie I probably saw entirely too young. And that introduced me to Bruce Willis as an actor, the very first Die Hard.

Eli (04:47.613)
Mmm Yeah, yeah, I had that I had that on the list for sure as a as a potential pick I mean you can't go wrong with diehard Yeah, it's what's what's funny about diehard is like technically he's kind of a hostage but but a but a

Dave Lester (05:00.045)
Not at all.

Dave Lester (05:09.25)
Kind of.

But how does he say he's like a fly in the ointment or.

Eli (05:14.971)
Yeah, yeah, yeah something like that. Yeah And you I guess yeah you do get like you don't really see a whole lot from the hostages in that except for like his wife and she does some like deliberating and the I don't remember the character or actor's name, but the the kind of guy that like almost screws it all up, you know that guy Yeah

Dave Lester (05:40.62)
Yeah, Ellis.

Eli (05:45.159)
But yeah, you get some action from the hostages in that one for sure. Okay, so Die Hard, I mean, it's hard to follow up Die Hard. That's one of those that's like, it's gonna itch like the popular opinion, but also rightly so because it's such a great movie. Yeah.

Dave Lester (06:11.617)
Yeah, an American classic. Yeah, for sure.

Eli (06:15.037)
So where the question is where do you go after that? How do I counteract? Die hard. This is tough. so you went with a kind of thrilling action movie I'm gonna follow I'm gonna follow suit a little bit and go with like a big like you've got a big star And a thrilling movie

And I'm gonna go with, I don't know if this would be my first pick necessarily, like what I would put first, but to kind of counteract Die Hard, I'm gonna go with Spike Lee's Inside Man, with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, Jodie Foster. Great cast, great, it's a good movie, it's just a really good movie. Entertaining.

Dave Lester (07:08.782)
It's a very, very good movie.

Eli (07:13.861)
Yeah, it's, it's a really along the same lines of like, of diehard, just like a very satisfying watch. It's like, it doesn't say a whole lot about like hostage situations and like the emotions and all that of that, but just like a thrilling watch. Like you, the movie, the credits roll and you're like, that was awesome. You know? so yeah, I think inside man is a good like,

Dave Lester (07:38.83)
Totally.

Eli (07:42.663)
counter movie to die hard I think. We'll see.

Dave Lester (07:45.068)
I think of that as the one and only movie that Spike Lee has ever sold out on as far as like a big studio movie, but it is great. Like if anybody is gonna sell out, make a movie like that.

Eli (07:52.911)
Yeah, yeah, but it's good.

Yeah. Well, I think, I think Spike Lee, what that movie proved, like I can make these movies. I just don't want to most of the time. So.

Dave Lester (08:06.06)
Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it too. I mean, maybe, maybe old boy remake, which I don't even get why he did that necessarily. I think Spike Lee is great, but yeah, Inside Man, great movie.

Eli (08:09.873)
Just proving he can, you know.

Eli (08:19.175)
Yeah. All right. You're up.

Dave Lester (08:22.038)
Number two is going to be my favorite filmmakers of all time. And this is arguably their best movie, but I mean, that's debatable because they've made so many good ones. We're going with Fargo by the Cohen brothers.

Eli (08:27.485)
Hmm, I know where you're Yeah

Eli (08:36.219)
Yeah, yeah, great movie. Re-watched this one recently, because I was thinking about like, what movies do I need to re-watch if we potentially do a hostage draft? So yeah, I don't know. I don't even know what to say about that movie. It's disturbing. And it's anxiety inducing and very funny. Yeah.

Dave Lester (08:59.724)
Yes it is, and it's also very funny.

Yeah. You talk about like a mixture of I'm laughing, I'm horrified, and it's just all like perfectly blended together. It's yeah, it's amazing.

Eli (09:15.579)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's man, I'm really falling behind in this draft already. Fargo, maybe I should have went Fargo first. Now that I think about it, I should have like gotten to the psyche of Dave and known that he was, of course he's going to take Fargo because

Dave Lester (09:32.78)
Hehehe

Dave Lester (09:36.578)
I knocked you off your game with Die Hard. That was just, you know, that's like the cinematic nuclear bomb right there.

Eli (09:39.985)
Did I was trying to counteract it? Yeah, I was trying to like hide inside the bank Like Clive Owen and inside I think I just spoiled it but hey, it's been out for a long time now, Almost 20 years ago. So Okay What? Yeah, you went with Fargo. I'm gonna go with hostage classic and go back

Dave Lester (09:55.798)
No excuses.

Eli (10:09.805)
the 70s and I'm gonna go with Sydney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino.

Dave Lester (10:15.246)
If you if you would not have chosen that one that would be my next one

Eli (10:19.825)
Yeah, phenomenal movie, You could put Dog Day Afternoon would be probably in the top five of like, top five sweatiest movies, because those people are sweating so much in movie.

Dave Lester (10:37.634)
Yeah.

Eli (10:39.793)
The hostages are sweating Al Pacino is sweating John Kazal is sweating You know, it's hot. It's hot in those offices when they cut the AC off, you know But also like It's like to me. It's like Pacino at his best also so it's got that going for it and also it's just like it's one of those movies where you know in the

Dave Lester (10:42.139)
yeah.

Dave Lester (10:52.138)
yeah, yes it is.

Eli (11:08.773)
If you've never seen it, Pacino's character Sonny is like him and John Cazale's Sal, Sonny and Sal. They are taking some hostages in this bank. And you kind of, it's one of those movies where his character really like unravels. It's like peeling layers of the onion off throughout the movie. Like you think one thing about them and then like you peel another layer off and you're like, you.

get deeper and deeper into like what's going on with him inside of his mind and his emotions. So just like, yeah, it's a great movie, Dog Day Afternoon. So, all right, yeah. Your third pick, where are you gonna go?

Dave Lester (11:50.894)
Yep, a classic.

Dave Lester (11:56.696)
This is a tough one, because.

Eli (12:03.909)
It is tough.

Dave Lester (12:03.97)
I'm going go with another action movie with big stars. We'll go with speed. Die Hard on a bus. So Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock. Yeah, Hossages on a bus. You got to keep it above, what was it, 50 miles an hour driving around the city or the bomb's going to go off. Just an absolute thrill ride. A lot of fun.

Eli (12:07.335)
Okay?

Eli (12:13.295)
Okay, I've never seen speed.

Eli (12:23.762)
Yeah.

Eli (12:29.853)
Hmm. Yeah, I've never seen that. Yeah, I don't have anything. mean, it's definitely like a high concept, a very interesting high concept movie for sure. Like, gotta keep the bus going or else.

Dave Lester (12:47.008)
Yeah, it's just big, buttery popcorn type movie, for sure.

Eli (12:51.833)
yeah. Yeah. okay. So, man, this is the thing about these drafts is like, have movies that I want to take, but also like, I've got to compete because there's, there's a really good movie to like, kind of like, spiritually go with go opposite of speed. That would be fun to take, but I don't.

Dave Lester (13:06.392)
You gotta compete too.

Eli (13:20.913)
I don't know how many people these days have seen that movie. I only caught up with it recently. I don't want to mention it, because you might want to take it. There's also a classic, just, you know, masterpiece movie that I don't think would get any votes.

Dave Lester (13:33.966)
Don't give me ideas.

Eli (13:49.975)
I have to take it with the last pick if you don't take it just because it deserves to be taken. Man. Okay. I'm going to do this. I'm trying to get back in. I'm trying to get some votes back with this one. And this is one that I think would be probably the most, it could be controversial to say that this is a hostage movie, but I think.

Dave Lester (14:17.981)
here we go.

Eli (14:19.197)
I think it absolutely is. And I'm gonna go, it's not conventional, but I'm gonna go with Jordan Pills' Get Out. I think he's in a hostage situation. He's being held against his will, both physically and emotionally and spiritually. Throughout a lot of the...

Dave Lester (14:30.958)
Dave Lester (14:43.982)
But it's not most of the film though, right? It's only, I mean, I guess he is toward the, it's been a little while since I've seen it, toward the back half of the movie, right?

Eli (14:54.523)
Yeah, so like he, so I would argue like he's being, you you have those scenes kind of like, there's kind of these like very emotionally and, what would you say? Kind of culturally manipulative scenes that kind of like keep him there at the, but, but then when he starts catching on, the more he starts catching on, the more they have to like,

actually take him hostage. And so yeah, I don't know. You could you can give me the X if you want to. Okay.

Dave Lester (15:34.656)
I'll allow it. mean, but you know, it's a popular movie, rightfully so. It's a really good movie.

Eli (15:38.813)
He is, he, and he is like, he is eventually like physically taken hostage towards the end of the movie. So I don't know. I think it's a hostage movie. think, cause I think that the, I think thematically it's what it's trying to portray the whole time is like how, you know, obviously you can feel.

taken hostage by a society that, you know, wants to tell you who you are and what you have to be and, you know, degrade. Like, it's like a very, even if he wasn't actually taken hostage at the end, it's still kind of like spiritually about that, about being a hostage in your own, in your own like country, in your own space.

You can't actually be who you're supposed to be because you're being held back by the society that you live in. then it's like, that's what you have for a lot of the movie. And then it turns into an actual, he's taken hostage, to really lay it on, that theme.

Dave Lester (16:41.304)
Yeah, for sure.

Dave Lester (16:51.694)
passage right.

Dave Lester (16:57.324)
Nice, well that makes sense.

Eli (16:59.153)
Yeah. But, okay. That was, that was my one that I'll stretch and I'm, I'll try to be more traditional from here. Hold out.

Dave Lester (17:09.817)
You know, it makes sense. can't argue with that. So this will be number four for me. This one's going to be the 1991 best picture winner, The Silence of the Lambs. Yeah.

Eli (17:24.061)
okay.

So yeah, cause you have, what's his face, Bill. Yeah.

Dave Lester (17:31.922)
Buffalo Bill or whatever his name is and holding them hostage. It's kind of like a well situation and then Jodie Foster has to go in and and do the rescue I mean most of the movie is a the psychological game between her and Hannibal Lecter Clary Starling Right But there there is a hostage kidnapping or a multiple kidnappings. Yes

Eli (17:37.265)
Mm-hmm.

Eli (17:42.053)
Yeah.

Eli (17:46.683)
Right. That's why I didn't really think about it. it is, it is. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what he's trying to help her figure out too. So it's like, it's all wrapped up in that. Right.

Dave Lester (18:02.988)
Solve the case, exactly. Yeah, most of us trying to solve the case, yeah.

Eli (18:07.377)
Yeah, for sure. mean, Anthony Hopkins like top notch creep creepster performance in that one.

Dave Lester (18:15.296)
Yeah, one of the one of the great villain performances. I mean, you got Heath Ledger as a Joker, you got Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. Yeah, it's a it's a great, great movie. Disturbing.

Eli (18:20.089)
man, yeah.

Eli (18:25.776)
Mm-hmm.

Eli (18:31.067)
Yep. All right. So let's see.

Man okay. I have a few movies that I would love to get in but alas I only have two more picks Okay Man this is great podcasting everyone listening to me painfully try to figure out what I'm gonna take Okay, I have one movie I have a few movies that I'm trying to choose from with this pick

Dave Lester (18:59.662)
I got him stumped, folks. I got him on the ropes.

Eli (19:10.077)
One is one that I already mentioned would have been a good counterpart to Speed, a fun counterpart to Speed, an older movie. One is actually a comedy that is, know, unequivocally a hostage movie also. And one is an animated movie that

Dave Lester (19:38.862)
Eli (19:39.645)
could help me get some votes. That is a really good movie also. And so I think I'm gonna do that so that I can take the masterpiece movie that's gonna give me no votes for my last pick. And I'm gonna pick 101 Dalmatians.

Dave Lester (20:04.065)
wow.

Eli (20:06.461)
Because what's worse than stealing puppies, you know?

Dave Lester (20:07.244)
thrown out the Disney card

Dave Lester (20:13.838)
Gorilla De Vil, yeah, talk about classic villains, yes.

Eli (20:18.107)
Yeah, but it's undeniably a kidnapping hostage movie. So, but just let it be known. I'm taking that so that I can take a movie that's going to give me no votes with this last pick, if Dave doesn't take it with his last pick, but let's see.

Dave Lester (20:22.868)
no doubt. No doubt.

Dave Lester (20:35.95)
you

Okay, well, now that you said that, for my last pick, I'm not gonna take your classic movie. I'll go more wild card since you're thinking about this classic movie for yourself. This one, it's a Mad Mel movie. So we're going Mad Mel Gibson. And a filmmaker that I usually don't like his stuff.

Eli (21:01.414)
Okay.

Eli (21:06.832)
Okay.

Dave Lester (21:08.534)
Ron Howard, I'm sure he's a really nice guy. Most of his movies are just kinda eh to me, know, and some of them are bad. But I'm gonna go with Ransom, which came out in like the mid to late 90s. And if you haven't seen it, it's actually a really fun, you know, we're not talking about a masterpiece, we're just talking about popcorn, a fun movie. And I don't think I'll give it away. The way the twists in this movie,

which are not like corny twists, it's actually kind of a logical extension of what is going on is really interesting. it, you know, there's something that happens kind of in the middle that changes the entire dynamic of the, you know, the ransom situation. And I think it's just super entertaining. Gary Sinise is in it. I'm trying to think of anybody else. I think, you know, it's just Mel Gibson and Gary Sinise. It was when Mel Gibson was a

a huge star like in the the 90s. You know if there's a fault to it really it you know it does have some faults at the tail end it kind of turns into I think Mel had gotten done with his lethal weapon or maybe they were going to make number four still at the time this came out and the tail end kind of feels like lethal weapon a little bit and if they would have found another way to kind of end it it

Eli (22:11.09)
Yeah.

Dave Lester (22:33.902)
probably would have been a lot better, but it's still, if people out there have not seen it, if you just feel like a good entertaining movie, it's not, you know, there's not really politics or anything to it. It's just kind of a, you know, an action movie. There you go. Ransom by Ron Howard.

Eli (22:46.681)
Mm-hmm Yeah, yeah, I see I see Delroy Lindo is in it too Anytime anytime he pops up I love him like even if it if he were to pop up in a bad movie I would still really probably love whatever he does in it. That's he's just that kind of actor Yeah, mm-hmm. Yep

Dave Lester (22:52.758)
Yeah, he's great. Yes, that's right. That's yeah. How could I forget?

Dave Lester (23:04.896)
Yeah, he's worked a lot with Spike Lee, speaking of Spike Lee earlier. think he's been in lot of Spike Lee movies. Yeah, he is kind of the... Bill Gibson is a wealthy, I think he's an airline guy. His son gets kidnapped and Delroy Lindo is the cop trying to consult Bill Gibson and trying to help him figure out where his son is and how to get him back. Yeah, very good.

Eli (23:17.276)
Mm-hmm.

Eli (23:25.415)
Gotcha. Yeah, cool.

Alright, that's your last pick. My last pick, I'm gonna go with something that, unless like you're a huge cinephile and try to watch as many like classic masterpieces as you can, you probably have never seen or heard of this movie. It is supposed to be getting an American remake soon, from what I hear, but I'm gonna take Akira Kurosawa's High and Low.

Is this the movie you thought I was gonna take?

Dave Lester (24:03.424)
No, I actually have not seen that one. I've heard of it, but I have not seen it.

Eli (24:06.967)
man, it's phenomenal. Akira Kurosawa, obviously of seven samurai, Rashomon, a master Japanese filmmaker. It's basically there's this guy that's top of his company and he's in the process of trying to basically buy up stock to be able to take over the company.

but then this kidnapper kidnaps apparently his son and is demanding a ransom that would prevent him from, you know, taking over the company would probably lead to him like losing his job because of the other like heads of the company. And so, but the problem is they kidnapped the wrong kid. They kidnapped his chauffeur's kid instead. And so, yeah.

Dave Lester (25:05.263)
no.

Eli (25:06.875)
So, but if you know anything about Japanese culture, you know, you have classes and so in Japanese culture, like He wouldn't really be looked down on all that much from society if he decided not to pay the ransom for his chauffeur's kid There's this like honor dynamic going on and It's Toshiro Mifune plays the main character who if you know anything about Akira Kurosawa movies, he's like

his go-to lead actor, just really, really phenomenal. it, so the first half of the movie is dealing with like the kidnapping and is he going to pay the ransom? And you know, there's the back and forth, like, you know, calling with the kidnapper and he's kind of thought, thought through all the, potential like ways he could get caught. And, you know, that sort of, it's, it's sort of like both thrilling and interesting, but also like

very like emotional dilemma sort of thing and then the second half of the movie is trying them trying to find the kidnapper and find out who it was and so and that's very like thrilling and interesting as well and yeah just a really really great movie definitely like you know most would consider it just like an all-time

Masterpiece classic that I've seen it so and it's hard to disagree so Yeah, like most of his movies Yeah, yeah, it's definitely one of those that like Even this this draft aside. It's just one of those movies that like yeah That's one you have to check off, you know off the list before you die sort of sort of movie

Dave Lester (26:39.086)
Like most of the Kira Salas movies, to be honest. Great, great filmmaker, yeah. I'll have to check it out.

Dave Lester (27:01.4)
Yeah.

Eli (27:03.549)
But yeah, you have any honorable mentions you wanted to call out?

Dave Lester (27:04.174)
You'll be seeing me before you do.

Dave Lester (27:10.414)
I think, yeah, the other ones I had on my list, I had Oldboy, which I kind of mentioned, Spike Lee remade that, and that's kind of all about kidnapping. I mean, and that one is, you know, I've seen it one time, it's kind of an acquired taste. It's really intense, we'll say. But it is well-made and considered, you know, a classic. So I have that one there. I'm pull my list back up.

Eli (27:14.065)
Okay.

Eli (27:24.07)
I've never seen it.

Dave Lester (27:38.866)
you know, I mean, there's so many kind of 90s sort of, you can go Air Force One, which technically is the Harrison Ford movie. but again, it was weird because Die Hard was such a huge hit. And so everybody have, you know, like Die Hard on a bus, Speed, Die Hard on a plane, Air Force One, Die Hard on a boat, Under Siege, Under Siege is another one. I had, Prisoners was kind of on my list. That's

Eli (27:46.651)
Mm-hmm.

Eli (27:56.465)
Yeah. huh.

Eli (28:04.069)
huh.

Dave Lester (28:08.6)
That's a good movie.

Eli (28:09.669)
Yeah, it's not my favorite of his, yeah.

Dave Lester (28:13.578)
certainly. Yeah, he's gone on to bigger and better things. You know, I had Saw, which I'm not a fan of that franchise, but that is kind of a I think a kidnapping one. You know, there's one that I saw in early 90s that's not, you know, not not a great movie by any stretch, but The Vanishing with Kiefer Sutherland, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges, which is super interesting. It's a kidnapping of.

Eli (28:22.951)
Yeah, mm-hmm. Yep, for sure.

Eli (28:38.0)
Okay, to finishing.

Dave Lester (28:40.95)
Sandra Bullock and Kiefer Sutherland's her boyfriend trying to figure out what happened. Like she just vanishes out of thin air.

Eli (28:46.597)
Okay, I know of this movie, but I've never seen it, yeah.

Dave Lester (28:51.318)
Yeah, it has some flaws for sure. Bridges is amazing in it. And you know from early on that he is the kidnapper. The reasons for why he did it, which I won't get into, that's kind of the weird kind of eccentric intrigue of it. But yeah, was an interesting, it's a remake of a foreign movie, international movie, and that movie is better, think for sure. Spore Loose, I think it's called.

Eli (29:08.669)
Mm-hmm.

Dave Lester (29:20.93)
But yeah, both of those are interesting takes as well.

Eli (29:24.733)
Yeah, for sure. Um, yeah, I have, I definitely have some honorable mentions before I did. I was going to, um, say I, I thought this in my head, but I wanted to double check. Um, I had mentioned that high and low is going to get an American remake and you mentioned old boy. Well, guess who's going to do a remake of high and low it's Spike Lee. He is. And listen to this cast Denzel Washington, ASAP Rocky, Jeffrey Wright.

Dave Lester (29:46.4)
No way, Spike Lee is?

Eli (29:54.189)
ice spice apparently. So yeah, so you got, So hey, yeah, and Ice Up Rocky is a rap artist. So he's been in some movies, apparently, but yeah, interesting. It's gonna be called Highest to Lowest.

Dave Lester (29:57.57)
Wait, what? Like from the Spice Girls? Okay, all right.

Well, Denzel and Jeffrey Wright, I'm in.

Dave Lester (30:12.345)
yeah, okay.

Eli (30:25.405)
So yeah, I don't know. People didn't really like, love his last American remake of a foreign film, an old boy, from what I understand. I've never seen either of them, but.

Dave Lester (30:27.158)
Okay, well, go Spike.

Dave Lester (30:38.67)
It was like a why. I mean, you know, we love Spike Lee as a filmmaker, but why? It's like Gus Van Sant remade Psycho, shot for shot, in the 1990s. Why? Just so can be in color? Don't do that. Don't go there.

Eli (30:42.875)
Yeah. So.

Eli (30:48.593)
Yeah.

Eli (30:53.533)
Yeah. Why? Yeah, why?

Yeah, I could see I could see high and low being a move like if he figures out a way to like transfer it culturally I could see how it could be interesting as an American remake But

Dave Lester (31:19.468)
Yeah, I'm not, this stuff kind of stuff happens all the time. Yeah, Martin Scorsese's The Departed was an American remake. I mean, there's tons of stuff you can think of. I think you just have to do something different with it. I think that's what's really honoring. We'll just copy it. Yeah, yeah, that's another good example.

Eli (31:32.293)
Yeah, Nolan Nolan's insomnia, which you joined me for Yeah, I just remembered I was like, yeah, you were on with me for insomnia. So yeah

Dave Lester (31:45.078)
Yeah, just do something unique with it. For sure.

Eli (31:49.021)
yeah. Yeah, so some of my honorable mentions now. The one that I was thinking of as a counterpart to Speed was the taking of Pelham 123. Have you seen that?

Dave Lester (32:03.7)
I have seen the Denzel one, but not the... I need to the original.

Eli (32:07.927)
Okay, I've never seen the Denzel one so The I saw the original one actually recently and it's a really good time. It's really a really fun movie. It's It's it's like that classic like really noisy 70s movie especially like when you go like when you go into the like the control room because it's a subway it's a New York City sub car that's been

Dave Lester (32:25.42)
Okay.

Dave Lester (32:35.224)
Yeah.

Eli (32:36.285)
taken hostage with the people on it. And when you go into like the offices, it's like everyone's like yelling over each other and you've got Walter, Walter Mathow was great in it. Just it ends on this shot. The shot that it ends on made me laugh. It's like this like very like wink at the camera kind of.

Dave Lester (32:51.348)
cool.

Dave Lester (32:58.699)
Hahaha.

Eli (33:05.693)
shot that it ends on Walter Mathau's face, that's great. A lot of you know, quippy lines, but also like, so it goes, like, there's a lot of like jumping from that to like the seriousness of the situation to when you move back to the car, like these guys are like really like, you know, I don't know, they're really doing something dangerous. So,

Dave Lester (33:30.638)
They mean business. Yeah, the Denzel one is okay. I imagine the original is probably way better. Denzel's great, but...

Eli (33:39.355)
Yeah, it's a good mix of like taking it serious when it needs to, but also like having a lot of fun at the same time. Yeah, I could see some people like that being a turn off, the kind of like differences in tone, but I enjoyed it. I enjoy jumping back and forth in tone sometimes.

Dave Lester (33:48.067)
Mm-hmm.

Dave Lester (33:57.39)
Mm-hmm.

Dave Lester (34:01.804)
Yeah, totally. It's all how it works.

Eli (34:03.855)
Yeah, and it's a very like if you ever watch it you're like, yeah, this is a very 70s movie So that was one The comedy I was talking about earlier was a game night With jason bateman and rachel mcadams, which I love

Dave Lester (34:19.18)
yeah!

Dave Lester (34:23.56)
yeah, it's wonderful. Yeah.

Eli (34:25.851)
Yeah, one of the last great like just comedies I think Yeah Yeah, so Game night. I was trying to see if I could fit it on the list and didn't didn't happen I just don't know how many people have seen that I was thinking about taking it instead of 101 dalmatians, but I don't think it's like super widely seen unfortunately, but

Dave Lester (34:29.634)
Laugh out loud, absurdist, yeah. It's great.

Dave Lester (34:51.382)
Yeah, I guess, I guess not. Maybe just among movie lovers. But even then, I don't I mean, it didn't have any super big stars. It is so funny. man. I think people like board games have seen it. They all like it.

Eli (35:00.305)
Yeah. Yeah. yeah, yeah, for sure. we've, we've mentioned Denzel a few times, but man on fire, man on fire is a good, good kind of revenge kidnap movie. and then, which I haven't seen in a long time. So I don't know if my opinion would change if I watched it now, but I really liked it when I saw it a long time ago. what was the other?

Dave Lester (35:10.989)
Yeah.

Eli (35:30.337)
This this was one that I was thinking about that would have been a bit of a stretch but it's technically Michael Jordan is taken hostage in Space Jam by the Looney Tunes. I just figured I'd. Yeah, I mean it's technically he's taken hostage, you know he does. He does like willingly stay at one point I think, but.

Dave Lester (35:47.222)
That would be one where I would just allow you to take it. I think it would hurt you.

Dave Lester (35:55.388)
man.

Eli (36:00.893)
At first he's kidnapped, you know, by old bugs and the crew. I mean, Argo is definitely, I mean, at one best picture. I guess it can get a shout out. And then one, I guess I should also mention Taken.

Dave Lester (36:23.5)
Yeah, I saw that on some of the lists. Yeah.

Eli (36:26.041)
Yeah, you've got to I guess got to mention it and then i'll do There's there's some other ones a lot of other ones I can mention but one that I just want to give a shout out to is there was a movie a couple years ago, a few years ago actually at this point by Michael sarnowski starring the one and only nicholas cage called pig where his truffle hunting pig is kidnapped

Dave Lester (36:54.122)
yeah.

Eli (36:55.853)
And he goes on a revenge rage to get his pet pig back. It rocks. It's awesome.

Dave Lester (37:02.52)
That movie is great. That was my number one movie of that whatever year that came out. It's so good. yeah, yeah.

Eli (37:09.477)
Really? And it is. His pig is kidnapped, so it fits the criteria.

Dave Lester (37:15.434)
It works. yeah, that is such a, such a great movie.

Eli (37:19.887)
I loved that movie, yeah. I got to see it in theaters and it's so rare in my city for like a movie like that to get a theater run. So I was so happy.

Dave Lester (37:29.896)
Well, Cage, I think he lives down there in New Orleans, right? Or he has a play stone.

Eli (37:34.885)
He might, yeah. Yeah, he might.

Dave Lester (37:37.334)
He probably has a place in a lot of places, I guess, but.

Eli (37:40.369)
Yeah, I think I heard at one point that he owned like a plot in a graveyard in New Orleans. That sounds like something that Cage would do, so.

Dave Lester (37:53.294)
Maybe he wants to be buried there, I don't know.

Eli (37:55.491)
Maybe, I don't know. but yeah, there's a lot of other ones, obviously that the list goes on and on. There's a, there's actually a lot of like probably good ones that people are, if you get mad at us, cause we didn't mention the one that you wish we would have, then you can, you know, you can send a voicemail on the website at establishing shot pod.com. Yeah. Call us out on social media.

Dave Lester (38:19.566)
Comment on social media, come after us.

Eli (38:24.765)
Any press is good press, right? That's what they say But before we wrap up let me read back our lists Dave ended up with Die Hard Fargo Speed Silence of the Lambs and Ransom the Ron Howard movie because that sounds like a title where there might be other ones And I ended up with Inside Man, Dog Day Afternoon, Get Out

Dave Lester (38:27.787)
Yeah, that's the spirit.

Eli (38:54.365)
101 Dalmatians and high and low And I For all the listeners out there. I'm really expecting those puppies to really carry their weight There's 101 of them. I would think even though they're small they can carry a lot of because Going against diehard and Fargo is a tall task. I think so So I'm counting on you puppies

But yeah, yeah, that was a fun that was a fun draft like I thought it would be so Yeah, well, thanks again Dave for coming on I'll make sure to put those links for veterans of culture war and Does the Bible say that and the episode description so people can find you there? I know you mentioned you're on blue sky. I'll make sure to link to that these days

Dave Lester (39:30.722)
Yeah, I a good time.

Eli (39:54.001)
but I know you're also on Letterboxd and I enjoy reading your reviews. So, yeah, so I'll link that to you for sure. But yeah, that's all we have for this week. We're gonna be getting into Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull next week. Dave, are you anti-Crystal Skull guy?

Dave Lester (39:56.856)
Yeah.

Cool, yeah, come find me on there, for sure.

Dave Lester (40:18.606)
I'm not a fan of Crystal Skull. I have probably seen that movie three or four times and each time I watch it, I am trying to like it, if that makes sense. I'm trying to say, okay, I'm gonna watch this again. Because every once in while you run into somebody that's like, oh, I liked it. It's not great, but I liked it. But I can't get there. Every time I'm just like, no, no, no, yeah.

Eli (40:21.532)
Fair.

Eli (40:26.327)
wow.

Eli (40:30.15)
No it does.

Eli (40:38.875)
Right. Yeah.

That's fun. Yeah, so we'll talk, we'll get into that. I'm not sure if my guest next week likes it or not, but we'll find out. We'll talk about everything from, you know, weird alien ending to Shia LaBeouf swinging from vines. So that'll be next week on the podcast, but that's it.

That's all we have for this week on the pod. for Dave Lester, I've been Eli Price and you've been listening to The Establishing Shot. We'll see you next time.