Q: The Winged Serpent LIVE!
01:17:43 Share

Talking Pictures, the podcast from TCM and Max, is back with a new season.

Here hosts Ben Mankiewicz in intimate conversations with the people who live to make us laugh. Carol Burnett, Bill Murray, Paul Scheer, Henry Winkler, and more all join Ben to talk about the movies that made them. Talking Pictures isn't just about film. It's about the powerful role movies play in our lives. It's about where you were, who you were with, and what you were feeling. Listen to Talking Pictures on Max or wherever you get your podcasts.

At U.S. Bank, when we say we're in it with you, we mean it. Not just for the good stuff, the grand openings and celebrations, although those are pretty great, but for all the hard work it took to get there. The fine-tuning of goals, the managing of cash and workflows, and decision-making. We're in to help you through all of it, because together we're proving day in and day out that there is nothing as powerful as the power of us. Visit usbank.com to get started today. Equalization.

Equal Housing Lender. Member FDIC. Copyright 2024, U.S. Bank.

Find a fresh, healthy take on grocery shopping at your new neighborhood Sprouts Farmer's Market, now open in Leesburg on Edwards Ferry Road Northeast and Route 15. Discover the season's freshest produce, unique products around every corner, high-quality meats, an assortment of vitamins and supplements, and so much more. Sprouts makes it easy to find your healthy with our huge assortment of plant-based, gluten-free, organic, and keto-friendly products. Head over to your newest Sprouts, now open in Leesburg.

In the immortal words of the Wu-Tang Clan, protect your neck. Little did we know they were talking about Quetzalcoatl. We saw Q, the winged serpent. So you know what that means. And it's gonna be the end of the story. I didn't do a selling rock and roll, snow vest rock, whipping Justin to Kelly. I made you see a burlesque show with Nick Crowe. And take a boat with speed to hit the group's control. Jamie, gonna take you from the cool brother.

We are live at Largo, our LA home, talking about Q, the winged serpent.

The year 1982. And what is this movie about? A lot. It's about two detectives who work homicide and robbery who are trying to find out who this killer is who's doing some pretty evil shit. But meanwhile, it's also about a petty thief, a driver, if you will, who gets caught up

In A Robbery Gone Wrong, oh, yeah, and the big thing is there's a giant fucking flying lizard in New York that are eating people's heads right off. That's about all the things that you need to know. And I'll tell you this much. This movie is worth it in every single way possible.

David Carradine, Richard Roundtree. Oh, the list goes on and on. A-plus acting. Academy Award-winning performances here. As the title of the movie says, you won't even have time to scream. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to break down this entire movie for you. But first, let me introduce my co-host. Please welcome Jason Manzoukas. What's up, jerks? That's right. That's right. Here we go, Largo! Yeah!

Oh, boy. Wow. I wish they could all be this good. I wish I could spend every afternoon before a show just basking in the glory of a movie like Q, the winged. Oh, yes. I would say Q, the winged. Got it. I would, but I don't know. Well, you know, look, they don't say it in the film. Oh, they don't. Uh.

They don't. And it was like, yeah, we'll get into it. I wouldn't even know if I would call him a serpent. Yes. Oh, no, this is a dinosaur. This movie, let me be clear, this movie has a dinosaur in it, but it is much more focused on interrogating the absolutely unhinged performance by Michael Moriarty.

Who is stone cold out of his mind from top to bottom, T2B nuts. Not only that, sounds just like Bill Burr the whole time. That's it. So right before we came here,

Right before we came here, I was like, I know that voice. What is that voice? And I couldn't put it... It's Bill Burr the whole time. You're right. And I know it. You're right. I know it because I walked away and I wasn't watching it, but I was listening to it for a minute. I was like, oh shit, that's Bill Burr. So much so that I looked up, is it possible they're from the same place? No. Wow.

Well, we'll play you a clip of Michael Moriarty, who does give an A-plus performance in this film. But before we do, let's bring out my other co-host. Please welcome June Diane Raphael. How are you, June? I'm okay. Well, I'm glad to hear that. I'm happy to be here. I'm so happy to be here.

I'm so happy to be here. Well, another tagline of Q is, Q is here. So you're here, Q is here. By the way, when you first played the trailer, I thought, oh no, I didn't watch a movie called Q. I watched the wrong movie. I didn't. I watched this movie.

I watched this movie, but I never heard him referred to as Q. No, of course not. Oh, they don't. They don't ever call him Q. Yeah, I feel like this probably was made under the title of the name of the winged serpent. Quetzalcoatl. Yes, the winged serpent. I think it was probably Quetzalcoatl, and then they were like, you can't really use a movie called Quetzalcoatl. How about Q the winged serpent?

One of the wildest parts, I mean, we're going to get into it, but one of the wildest parts of this movie is the fact that we don't meet the man responsible for it all until the last four minutes? Yep. Maybe three. And he is so brutally dispatched. I have never seen a more brutal killing. I just couldn't understand why...

Arguably, he has the most interesting story. We should be obsessed with him. Obsessed with him! We should be obsessed with him. We need a monologue. We need something. Everything he's up to. And instead, the movie is following a two-bit crook. Yes. Who has no information on Cue the Winged Serpent except for pure happenstance. Yep. I mean, this movie is all over the place, but Jason, I wanted to respect you

and ask how was it to watch a movie all about eggs? Boy, oh boy. I'll be honest. I didn't like it at all. Jason might be allergic to this movie. I did get hives. I did break out into hives during that section where he goes, that's a big omelet. I absolutely am certain 90% of this movie was improvised. Absolutely. When David Carradine said, I'm going to take my birth control, I was like, what?

What is that line? What's that mean? I wrote that down. What's that mean? I wrote that down, too, and I was like, all this is is a slight insight on how David Carradine flirts and fucks. Yes. And I didn't like it. What does that mean? What does it mean? What? I'm hung up on it. What does it mean? I'm going to take my birth control pill. I'm sorry. I wrote it down.

At one point I was like, did he take Viagra? And is that sort of the funny joke he's making? Does he think this is how the pill works? The guy takes it? I don't know. I think he was just being...

Like, I think sometimes when you get to be very famous, people laugh at everything that you do and then you don't realize, like, what's funny or what's not. And he's like, I said there's plenty of women and they thought it was hilarious. I do think, I do think, because we would have people come on the league who were, like, bigger actors who weren't comfortable with improvisation and then they would get excited to do improv with us and then they would say insane shit. Yeah. That had the cadence of a joke.

Something like, I'm going to go take my birth control pill, flippantly said as you leave the table. And it's like, you know, and then... Here's the thing, though. He's not on camera for that line. It's a line. It's an ADR. Yeah, so that's what I... Again, I know the filmmakers thought about it. I know that they...

They slept on it. They watched many cuts and thought, that's what this moment needs. A little levity. I feel like what they were like was, you know what? Because of the edit now, there's a bit of like a... Dead air. We need to cover this moment. And we need a button for this scene now. And David Caron, he was like, I got just the thing, man. Roll the tape. Roll the tape.

I'll drop it right in. I'm going to go take my birth control pill. All right, I'll see you guys later. Wait, what? But doesn't he also come back in and then just like nuzzle her? He does. Oh, yeah. And so it wasn't even the button. It's sort of like a mid-scene everything moment. They ADR'd it because nothing's happening. He just leaves Freeman and then comes back. And so, yeah, they snuck that line in, but why?

There's so many instances where I feel like he's doing shit like that where he's not giving them opportunities to not use it. Like when he's drawing the picture of the bird in the board meeting. I've heard that.

By the way, they didn't get any coverage where he's not drawing the bird. He made them use it. And you know what? I have worked with actors who do that. What? I always tip my hat. I always tip my hat. Unreal move. It truly is. I was like, this is a fucking insane move. To handicap a film that way. Boom.

It is like a terrorist negotiating. Oh, there's no lines for this scene? Okay, I'll just do this. But here is the joke of it. His drawing looks better than the actual winged serpent. Yeah, what our eyes have seen. Yes, we have seen this claymation fucking dinosaur. I mean, this movie has ripped off Godzilla 19, whatever it was with Matthew Broderick. I mean, it's the same plot, but this is just a dinosaur movie and he drew...

I would say a pretty fair representation of Q. You know what's interesting about the Q the winged serpent? Boy, would I love it if because of this episode, Q the winged serpent became the most searched for Q in existence. Well, I felt very bad. Our producer Molly said that now her internet is fucked because all she was doing was typing in Q. Well, here's the interesting thing though. The sequel is called Q Drains the Swamp. The interesting thing about Q is that

The cue, the winged serpent from the swamp. Only, I think, attacks...

When people are on high rises or hanging off of them. Like, I don't know why Q the winged serpent can't swoop down to ground level. Because he's trying to be invisible. Wait, what? Yes. Q's whole... No, first of all, I don't believe that. I know the characters give us that justification that Q is trying to stay within the sun's rays perfectly so that people can't see him. But other people can. Oh, okay.

There's... Cue anybody. Anybody. Yeah, give it up.

Anybody above floor 30 can see Cue the Winged Serpent right there. You can see anything in the city alleyway. That's the indictment of this movie. Yes, we work in the high rises, but we don't pay attention. Look right outside our window. We're on the phone. Eat the rich. I mean, this is it. Thank God Al Qaeda didn't get hold of Cue the Winged Serpents.

Talking Pictures, the podcast from TCM and Max, is back with a new season.

Here hosts Ben Mankiewicz in intimate conversations with the people who live to make us laugh. Carol Burnett, Bill Murray, Paul Scheer, Henry Winkler, and more all join Ben to talk about the movies that made them. Talking Pictures isn't just about film. It's about the powerful role movies play in our lives. It's about where you were, who you were with, and what you were feeling. Listen to Talking Pictures on Max or wherever you get your podcasts.

Find a fresh, healthy take on grocery shopping at your new neighborhood Sprouts Farmer's Market, now open in Leesburg on Edwards Ferry Road Northeast and Route 15. Discover the season's freshest produce, unique products around every corner, high-quality meats, an assortment of vitamins and supplements, and so much more. Sprouts makes it easy to find your healthy with our huge assortment of plant-based, gluten-free, organic, and keto-friendly products. Head over to your newest Sprouts, now open in Leesburg.

Have you ever wondered about the safety of your home and family? Well, we all do. And there's really no better way to protect your entire family than with SimpliSafe. Now, right now, my listeners can get 60% off a SimpliSafe home security system just by visiting simplisafe.com slash bonkers. SimpliSafe's new active guard outdoor protection changes the game by stopping intruders before they break into your home, preventing the crime before it

That's pretty crazy.

Cool. Now, SimpliSafe is offering my listeners exclusive early access to their Black Friday sale. This week only, you can get 60% off any new system with a select professional monitoring plan. This is their best offer of the year. Head to simplisafe.com slash bonkers. That's simplisafe.com slash bonkers. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. There, I mean, the opening, the opening scene of this movie is,

is one of my favorite scenes of all time. It's a window washer who is sexually harassing a woman who I guess works in shoe manufacturing. I don't know, but... I wish the whole movie was about her and her job in fashion. And the way that he's like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, gorgeous.

And she's like, oh, he's cleaning the window again? As if he... Like, by the way, he's not cleaning that window. And he's going, you love me. You love me. And she's like, oh, this fucking creep. It's like the opening of Grease. You know? Just bouncing back and forth. But why are those windows, like, completely soundproof? Yes. They are both... They're soundproof. I think they are experiencing... Because...

Because you would be able to hear something. It would be muted. Oh, he's like, what? What? What? What? Oh, yeah, she complains about the squeaking. She can hear the squeaking, but it seems like they can't hear each other speak. Well, because she's ignoring him like a normal, sane human being. She's like, oh, this guy, he's still washing the windows. You're like, hi. And it seems like he's just lowering to her floor, and the amount of soap he's put on there...

He's never making any headway. It's just more and more soap. He's never doing the other side of the squeegee. It's just the soapy side. Well, today's his job review, and cue the winged serpent says, you're fired because...

His head gets chomped. Now, fun fact. Yeah. Real Empire State Building squeegee man. Oh, wow. Wow. They got a real guy to act out that part and they killed him. Now...

I would love it if you were like, they hired an actor, but he just couldn't do it correctly. They needed the authenticity of that guy. Well, they definitely had... I mean, look, there's something about this movie that I found fascinating, which was they had access to a lot of places I've never seen in New York.

mainly a lot of these up top of building pools and outdoor spaces. I lived in New York for a long time. No one ever invited me in here. Never seen a pool. This movie has access to and shows us how to get to more rooftops in midtown Manhattan than I was ever on in 13 years of living there. It was not an option. The rooftops I was on was like... There was no door that opened up into a rooftop.

I don't think I ever climbed a ladder on floor 86 in New York City in my life. Now, here's the thing that pissed me off about this movie. The first killing is this squeegee man who gets his head...

And by the way, if you're a bird, take the whole body. The head is not going to be fulfilling enough. That's like eight M&M. Here's the thing. If he's doing this, right? And listen, Q is a winged serpent, and I'm certain, and is seemingly immortal. I'm not sure. I'm going to find out what a serpent is. To have the ability to swoop in, like having that much momentum. Wingspan, too. Yes, that much momentum, that much weight to come in, bite just his head off.

Make no impression on the building. She doesn't see, there's no shadow cast on her. She sees nothing. It's just, it is so delicate. It is so delicate. Cue the winged serpent isn't interested in eating your whole body. Although there are times where he'll just pick a motherfucker up and fly away. I was so excited when he finally grabbed somebody in his claw. I'm like, you got the

claws. Use them. Oh, it's the guy in the pool. It's the guy in the pool I think is the first claw grab. Well, I will say this. So these detectives are investigating a murder at the Empire State Building. Now, what's the other main building? The one that looks identical to the Empire State? I was like, is this? I was like, this is not the Empire State. It's the Chrysler Building. But it's like

You can't have an inciting incident at the building that looks just like the other building. You can't have two things like 10 blocks away from each other like this. This is too much. I just thought visually I was so confused. Like, oh, wait, is he in there? Because he goes, I got to go see my lawyer. Then he ran in. I think they showed the exterior of the Empire State Building, but then he's in the crowd. I think the whole movie also is stolen.

You know what I mean? Like, they don't have permits to be on anything. I think most of the shots where blood is dripping on people, real people, real shots. Yeah.

Okay, can I give you... Well, I mean, the first scene when Richard Roundtree and David Carradine are out talking about what they just saw, the man with the head being bitten off, they've roped off the bystanders who are just watching two actors act in a movie. Because the ambulance is pulled away and they're just like...

I wonder what they're saying. What are they talking about? They're staring at them and smiling like, look at this. It's a movie. It's a movie. Hey, Kung Fu. Hey, Kung Fu. Hey. But the other issue I had with that ambulance like hurrying away, like that man is so, that man has no head.

Okay. That man has no head and they don't know where the head is. And they throw, they wheel him out and put him in there and the sirens go on. It's like, what are you? They're outside the building like this. It's like, what are you doing? Looking for the head. And then David Carradine says at one point, well, I mean, it's going to show up somewhere. As though they always do. I just want to, I want to underline it, June, even if they did have the head, that ambience has no reason to run away. No.

No one's getting their head reattached. Once that's off, you're done. I would have loved it if there was a tag at the very end of that scene where the ambulance is pulling away and the woman is like, I did always love him. You just get a little insight to like, it would have been love. One thing I really didn't ever get to the bottom of, you know, our gentleman at the very end, again, we saw the last three minutes of the movie, the man who caused all of this. Yes.

He has convinced a number of people to... Men. A number of men to sacrifice their bodies. By the way, they're awake for their own skinning. Yes. The way that they skin... Oh, it's so upsetting. Can I show a clip of it? No, no, no. I would love it if you did. We've been through too much. We've been through too much. I would love it if you did. When we first meet the first skinned person...

Let's not eat meat. Okay, yes. When we are first introduced to the first skin person, they're on white bedding. There's no blood anywhere in the room. And every piece of skin is... Okay, all right. It's enough. But it's enough, Paul. But I...

I was fascinated by the people who wanted to do, who are those people? This guy. Why? Oh yeah. This man who gets on the table and says, it's cold.

Don't worry. You'll get heated up in a second when I start peeling your flesh off your body. Now, normally, a movie like this would have two opposing forces. The people who are trying to bring about Cue the Winged Serpent, their god, right? Who's going to whatever, whatever. And the person who realizes this plan and is like, I must stop them from doing this. I must stop the Nazis from opening the Ark of the Covenant or whatever, right? Which came out the same year as this movie.

But in this movie, we are following none of the people that are involved with the interesting thing that's happening. So those people are off maybe making a better movie somewhere. Well, it's true because what I kept on wondering about the gentleman who was making all this happen is like what an interesting position he's in where he doesn't have to get skinned. Yeah. He just gets to...

see his God alive and well and other people have to sacrifice themselves. What about the guy that makes those hats? The Cue the Winged Serpent hat. He's wearing a big headdress.

I also want to know about that. Wait a minute, sorry. Yeah. I also want to know why the altar for the sacrifices is in the storage room of like somebody's lawyer's office. Like the stone altar is in a room covered in shelves and document boxes. And I also wanted to know where was his lawyer? Yes.

Why wasn't he working? Well, his lawyer did eventually come in. At the very end with no explanation of where he was. Well, sometimes he takes a lunch break. You know, he's a successful lawyer. The idea that these cops are not good cops. And I want to make sure that I'm on record that because when they do find that first belayed person, they're like, oh, gross, gross. And then one of the cops just picks up a pillow and throws it.

On the body, a.k.a. the evidence. You're right, Paul. I noticed that too. And it's not, for those of you who haven't seen the movie, it's not like, oh, I'm going to cover their face for their own dignity. It is not respect. It's the way that you throw a pillow at someone like, oh, you scared me, you son of a bitch. It's like that. If you're playing How Did This Get Made Bingo, that was a pillow.

That was a full-throated pillow. How do you pronounce it? Pillow? Yeah. We're both from Long Island. We both say that word. It's hard. The police are, I agree, very bad in this. So much so that when they find the guys actively performing the...

where the man is cut open, right? And then the cops come in. The naked guy jumps off the table, comes out, and the cop shoots him immediately and then looks around and is like, he was coming for me. He was coming for me.

I have. I love that moment. I love that moment. This movie, I wouldn't have been surprised if this movie followed an internal affairs investigation. That's how tertiary to important events the characters in this movie are. Well, because also, why is that police department so threatened by this report on this human sacrifice? Wigs? They seem to all have crazy wigs, I feel like.

Do you think the actors have wigs or the characters just are wearing wigs? Now that's interesting. I didn't notice the wigs as much as I noticed that all of them, if you told me they were part-time strippers and part-time cops because they all had like slightly unbuttoned blue shirts and

Hair was wild. And at one point, the guy before he's going to kill this winged serpent, he's just chugging a beer. Like, I'm like, these are... Oh, this police department, the NYPD, when their major sting at the end to get the winged, to get, cue the winged serpent, there are police officers just sitting outside in baskets. Yeah. Hanging from the building. In baskets. With machine guns. Yes. Brrrah, brrrah.

Nobody is like, you know what? This did not work for King Kong. Why are we doing this? Paul, can I ask you just a super quick question? Do you have any evidence available that Michael Moriarty plays the piano? Yes, I have. I can blow your mind with three quick facts. Michael Moriarty was not written to play the piano. But when the director found out that he did, he's like, let's make it a whole subplot.

So that is to the improvised part of it. I also want to speak to this part of it too, which is, yes, there were actors on the top of the Chrysler building firing machine guns that were unloading blanks that were falling on New York City citizens. Wow.

Thankfully, there is a net that protects, like, debris from falling, so it didn't hit anyone. And the director's response to that was, "We were upset 'cause we wanted to see people reacting to getting hot shell casings dropping on their heads."

Incredible stuff. And because of this movie, you are not allowed to fire live rounds. Really? On the top of buildings like that anymore. That's good. If the movie did anything...

It's so funny because the scene, that bar scene, I'll never stop thinking about that bar scene. Can I play it? Holy shit. For the rest of my days. It was haunting. This is, and I really mean this when I say this movie is in our pantheon of movies, fantastic. For just such scenes as this. Go away, evil dreamer.

I couldn't understand that. I couldn't understand that. Okay. Hey, yeah.

I will just say as I pause it for a second, some people seem into it. Some people seem out of it. I don't know what the movie is trying to tell me. I couldn't tell if people loved it. I couldn't tell if people hate it. I couldn't tell if we were supposed to like it. I couldn't tell if we were supposed to hate it. I couldn't understand what he was trying to do full stop.

He walks into the bar where his girlfriend works. He says to the owner. But we don't know at that point. Well, we know. We know they had that eye contact. He's making a meaningful eye contact with her. But regardless. I thought he was flirting. No, the bartender's like, how did you know we had an opening for a piano player? And he's like, uh. And she's like. Well, but to me it seemed like the guy, the owner, did not want a musician.

That's what I was confounded by. And so Michael Moriarty, to me, it felt like he was staking out a place to rob or this was part of the job. Because also David Carradine shows up in this scene truly inexplicable.

David Carradine likes a beverage. David Carradine likes a beverage. Multiple times we see him when he's off duty, he's just getting a drink. Coffee, beer, whatever it may be. This is top to bottom, like absolute nuts. And the crazy part about this scene is I think that this scene is supposed to endear us.

to Michael Moriarty's character. I think we are supposed to root for him. At one point, he thinks we're supposed to. Okay, he is a racist. He's also admitted to kicking the shit out of his girlfriend. No, he hasn't. She hasn't. She's like, well, at least you didn't punch me this time. He's an alcoholic. I'm like, this man is so... And he's not well...

Oh, no, there were periods where I was like, is his performance meant to be, like, really nuts? He's a nervous eater who... I'm afraid of everything, but I'm not afraid of heights. When he says...

When he says, when he goes, when he comes back from the attic full of skeletons to his girlfriend, and he's like, I just, I want to cry. I haven't cried since I was a little kid, but I just want to cry what I saw. He's doing so much. He's doing the most. And this is like what this scene is to me. What's so odd about it is,

It starts off, I'm like, okay. Oh, no, I'm so sorry. I just want to cry, but I'm supposed to be a man. When he says, when he sits down at this piano, there's a, this is, I'll just give you my point of view of the emotions that I went through. Yeah, please, please. I was like, okay, we're going to now see that this criminal has actually got a real talent. A wonderful pianist. That's going to be great. Then he starts playing, and I'm like, okay. Hmm.

Maybe this is like kind of that moment in Back to the Future where Marty McFly and his band is playing and then Huey Lewis is like, I'm afraid you're just too darn loud. I'm like, okay, maybe he's like, they're not ready for that. And then he's playing in such an aggressive way. I'm like, is he in here because he wants to start a fight with the bartender because the bartender's been hitting on his girlfriend and he wants to be like...

fuck you. Like, you know, it's like the way he's playing. First of all, clearly, because in many instances you can see his fingers. So he is clearly playing. He can play the piano. Sort of. That being said, I mean, it's not barely, barely playing. But what he's doing is not anything that would get him a job.

Let me be clear. Or anything that anyone would listen to. So that makes me feel like, again, he mustn't want this. This must not be real. He's here for some other reason. Do you think that he was going in there to impress his girlfriend? I think the movie logic is he wants to be a piano guy instead of being a crook.

crook and now he's got this is his chance he doesn't get it so now he has to take wow so because he doesn't get this job he has to take the job robbing the diamond store wow that's what the movie was i don't think it's successful but i think that's the plot as i'm hearing it it makes sense because there were so many looks and so many weird i couldn't but just play a normal fucking song if you want yes play a song and i'm gonna say this

I'm okay with all of this until I hear how he learned to play this song at the end, which is the weirdest racist rant I've ever heard. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where I'm like, ooh, I'm like, this is making me uncomfortable. Like, I'm like, you shouldn't be sharing this. And then what I've come to realize is that that man who taught him hated him. Yeah. And...

And knew he was a racist. Like, yeah, I'll show you how to play piano. This is what we call jazz. And then he's like, thanks, buddy. And then he's gone on his entire life. Like, don't worry. This famous guy taught me this. And it was a giant fuck you. So that's my movie logic is that he has been an asshole his entire life. And this guy has sabotaged him. What an unpleasant man. At this point, I have to think his girlfriend is a fool.

Because she should be like, uh, I gotta dump this guy. She should have dumped him a long time ago. I mean, he is a garbage person. Yeah. But makes this movie one of the best films I've ever seen. Now, when he's up in this robbery, I rewound this scene a handful of times because it's a robbery in which we don't see the interior of the place that they're robbing. They walk in and then very mutedly we hear...

Hey, put it down. Who are those guys? And then he's running out. I'm like, what happened? I don't know. And I'm like, did I miss it? He does have a gun. It looks like someone has been shot. He's got a bag full of diamonds. He gets hit by a cab. The diamonds go flying. He has no response to go get them.

He takes off running. Nobody's chasing him for a long time. Not at all. He's gotten away with it. He's running to a phone booth to call his lawyer to say, I'm going to be in there in a second. But

But also, like, don't tell anyone. Just walk off into the night. Nobody saw you. Nothing's happening. Nobody's after you. Oh, yeah. Here's what you don't need to do. Go get the diamonds. You don't need to... Get the diamonds. Get the diamonds and or go home. You don't need to climb into the roof of the Chrysler building. Okay. That journey. I want to get

I want to get to that in a second. I want to get to how he ends up there. And the Foley work in this is nuts. When he's climbing the ladder, it sounds like he's farting every step of the way. We've all got a thing. For me, it's vintage furniture.

And now talking about how I found it on eBay is like my whole personality. Even at 2 a.m., when I can't get 19th century sofas off my mind, I'm on eBay for sure, scrolling my favorite seller's storefront, setting search alerts and building the watch list of my literal dreams. I know antique lamps aren't everybody's thing, but the best part about eBay is it doesn't matter what you're into. Fashion, car parts, trading cards, it's all there. So go find the thing that keeps you up at night. eBay. Things. People. Love.

You hear that, America? The mountain is calling. Calling you on this epic Thursday evening with a very important message. Get off your ass. So grab a nice cold Mountain Dew, some friends, and do something you'll enjoy even more than the punchlines you're laughing at. The mountain is calling. Answer. Do the Dew.

The thing that's so...

that's so crazy about this robbery is there's so much made of the fact that he's just a driver. He doesn't go in and do the dirty work and he's not risking of himself to do the dirty work, which is so fascinating knowing what happens to him later on. Like, I think the movie wants us to believe that this is a guy initially who is not like willing to take major risks in his life and

But then at the end, he's willing to let people die so that he can make $2 million off the city. The amount of...

focus that's given to his negotiating what he wants. By the way. Which is, I believe, all improvised. I want a fleet of helicopters. What? Okay. When he starts talking about how he's going to own the copyright to all photographs, I was like, I want him in the room at the next WGA strike. Holy shit. This guy knows what's up.

Send him to the DNC immediately. I need this motherfucker choosing what's up. Because he was, by the way, he was right. I want a million dollars. I want to have no, for whatever crimes I do commit in the future, you can't get me on that either. He was my record in the past and the future, Minority Report style.

which would mean that he could go off on a killing spree, he could be a robber. Like, he's not saying I won't commit any more crimes. He's like, now you've given me carte blanche. But, Paul, what... Okay, so this is what I don't understand about the other criminals that he's with. If he doesn't want to go in there, I don't know why they give him a gun, but I believe...

Someone died in there. I think two people got shot. Who are those guys? Here's my question, though. In that moment, does Michael Moriarty decide, I see shit's going down. I'm going to grab the diamonds? How do you know that? I think he's a piece of shit.

Okay. I think he saw an opportunity, grabbed the diamonds, and left. Wow. But then he doesn't even seem like he wants those diamonds. No. And then there's also no one who finds it. Like a little kid should have been like, hey, look, diamonds. I thought the serpent was going to get them. I thought Q was going to get them. Wait, did you audition for that? Hey, look, diamonds. Let's ADR that. Can somebody ADR that into the movie? Hey, look, diamonds. I like the control. Okay.

I was loving it with David Garrity. I'm going to go take my birth control pill and just pop the diamond into his mouth. By the way, also in that scene with David Garrity and again with the birth control, I forgot the best part. In a kimono. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Oh, incredible stuff. Reading about the cue, the winged serpent. But let's just go back to how we end up in the nest. Oh yeah, please. In the top of the Chrysler building. So he goes in that building to meet with his lawyer to confess to a crime that nobody has seen him do. Nobody knows.

Seems like everyone's dead. And then the security guard for the building, having no concept that Michael Moriarty is related to a crime that has just happened, just is like, hey. And he's like, uh-oh. And Moriarty starts ascending to the rafters.

And no one's chasing him. Again, no one's chasing him. He's always acting suspicious. He's never not suspicious. At a certain point, though, didn't you get the feeling that he's not even worried about the security guard watching him or coming after him? He's just continuing to walk up, up, up. Do you feel like also that maybe these were just Michael Moriarty choices and the director was like, Mike, I don't think we can follow you up there.

Well, come on, get a camera up here. Come on, come on. All right. So here's my again, if we're going to go backwards and reinvent the script, the very easy fix would be he runs out of the jewelry store with the diamonds. I don't know where to hide these. Knock, knock, knock on my lawyer's door. Hey, can I put these in the safe? He's not there. Shit. Love it. I'll hide it up in the top of the building. Great. I go up there. Up a nest.

And then maybe he goes, oh, they'll never see it here. And he hides it there. Whatever it is, that at least gives me... That's great, Paul. That's great. Thank you. By the way, you know how else that helps? You know what else helps there? Is if then he is to the guys, I know where the diamonds are. And he does bring them to the nest because in fact, the diamonds are there. The diamonds are there.

We don't know where the diamonds are! The fact that he goes up there unprompted with nothing to hide for no reason, and when the reason was so easy, he had the bag in his pocket.

in his hands. Why does he have to lose the diamonds? Why? I don't know. And then also, it's very confusing why those two other thugs are willing to go on that ladder, are willing to ascend it in front of him. Yes. By the way, the cops do the same thing. It's really... Hey, man, there's a giant winged serpent up there. Let's all go up on the ladder because we'll have more power. Yeah, you guys go first.

like basically dominoes. Also, chomp, chomp, chomp. It's like Pac-Man. Remember when the cops were like, I don't want you to go in there unarmed and try and give him a gun? They do give him a gun. And he's like, I don't think so, man.

What? Don't trust me. What are we doing? Don't trust me. I'm a scumbag. It's so crazy. Everybody wants to give him a gun. I loved, I genuinely loved, again, I know a lot of the stuff I'm saying is repetitive just because I do feel like Michael Moriarty is improvising a lot. I can see it, and it's really funny to me what he's choosing to fixate on, one of which is the giant canvas tent on top of the Chrysler building. Yeah.

He says, you're not listening to me. You got to get the big canvas tent. He says it, I'm going to say 30 times in the course of seven minutes. You can tell it's an idea he's obsessed with and they had to put it in. Again, they had to put it in. But he's also like, he's seen, I think multiple dead bodies up there and remains. Can I just say the other thing that he says in this scene, you're talking about his improv.

When he comes back, and we'll play a clip of this scene with his girlfriend, he's upset. She's worried. Where have you been? And he says, he fell asleep under a staircase. And my thought was, when? Yeah. Up in the chrysler, in the nest? Did he fall asleep in the nest area? I don't know, but that wouldn't... Here's a question that's never answered, or if it was, I missed it. But...

At one point he says, cue the winged serpent hasn't attacked him and he's been up there twice. Yeah. Why? Yes. Why? Why? It's so much so that I was like, I hadn't thought of it until then. Is he part serpent? He brings up an interesting choice. And I thought to myself, is it possible he is cue the winged serpent? I had the same thought. Is he turning into cue the winged serpent? And I was like, cool move. Nope. Nope.

Nope, never answered. I want to just talk about the one thing that you'll never see because it was in the original theatrical print. Is this not that? Is what I watched on Peacock not that? It is. They said it was not on any of the other airings, just the original. At the end of the movie, we see, you know, the other egg. Sorry, Jason. We see the other egg...

And it cuts right to credits. Get me my EpiPen. It cuts right to credits. But in the original theatrical movie, you see the other egg, it cracks open, and then a title card comes up. It says, Michael Moriarty's character did sue the city and got a million dollars tax-free. This is the kind of thing that I would believe if... I would believe if you told me, actually, the writing and directing names are fake. Michael Moriarty made this whole movie.

Including all the miniatures of Q the Winged Scrappy. I was going to say this for the end, but I'll just say it to you now. So the director of this movie, he's known for films like Maniac Cop. He's done a lot of schlocky movies, started off doing black exploitation movies and kind of moved into cop movies. He was fired off of a very big budget film. And he was like, fuck it. I already have this hotel room for a couple more days.

wrote the script in seven days and kept the cast from the other movie and just pushed them into this. And whoever could do it, did it. And that was it. And they called in all of it. Like, well, maybe I should say this. I don't know if it's the same cast. He just basically wrote the movie in seven days. He's like, I've already been location scouting. Let's go.

And then shot the movie. Well, that makes sense. That actually now helps me understand what the fuck this was. Yeah. This was a cocaine nightmare. There is a point. I just want to point out one crowd scene. I don't know if anyone else saw this, but I can't remember if it's when Q is sort of falling off the building or if it's when, you know, people are bleeding on people. But...

There's one crowd scene where it's like, oh, New York City streets, ma'am. Like people don't know where to go and don't know where to hide. And there's one man who simply is in the middle of the street. It's almost like seeing a carpet rolled up. He just rolls. Nothing has happened. There's no danger nearby. He just rolled across the street at night.

I was crying laughing. Oh. So it did feel like, there are certain moments in this film where it's just like, everybody's on drugs. Like, everybody. What they're trying to tell us, what the movie's trying to tell me is a normal thing, is for like four hot-bodied young people to be on the rooftop pool of a high-rise in midtown Manhattan, and

So that one of the women can do 60 push-ups while everybody else just watches. And the guy's like, so wait, you just called me over here to watch this? Okay. And they're just like, 56, 57, 58.

What the... And they're like, yeah, like normal New Yorkers. Hey! Just a regular Wednesday. So I had so many questions about that scene. And again, I'll never stop thinking about it. Because I do think, you know, the movie, it's located at a time where women are... You know, the opening scene, that woman is not a secretary.

She is some sort of high-powered CEO in running her own business in that moment. And then, so I clocked that based on when the movie's made, and then that scene on the rooftop, I really am trying to contextualize and frame in terms of just like, what's happening with women? Yeah, he thought he was coming over to fuck three women. Okay.

But she did call him. She did call him. And said, get over here. And watched me work out. And then he was like, and then she did 60 pushups, kept going. He was like, is this why you called me over here? This is so much bullshit. He was like, fine, I'll just get in the pool. Cue the winged serpent.

grabs him, takes him and chucks him off the wing. Boom! Now here's the thing about this winged serpent. Normally in movies like this you see people behaving badly and they're the ones who get killed. So the first guy, he's a flirt but he's not that bad. No, he's a creep. He's not a flirt. What are you talking about? He's a flirt? This is a predator. Hey, hey lady! Hey lady! Hey lady! So yes, okay, you're right.

He's hanging outside her window. Well, that's his job. And he was, he's like a... To be fair, that is his job. He has nothing to clean there. Didn't she say that he'd done it three days in a row? Like, the window is clean, my guy. That's what people say about the Empire State Building. The cleanest windows in New York. So, all right. First person creep.

Second person, just a woman sunbathing with things over her eyes. She can't see the winged serpent yet screams as if she looks right in his face.

All right, so she's innocent. Well, no, she's not innocent because she has her boobs out. Yes, she has the sin of titties. She has the sin of titties. Yes, in the world of this movie, she needs to be punished. Okay, all right, all right. Well, then let's... Well, now my theory is falling apart, but then let's go to... But you know who doesn't die?

The creep on the rooftop adjacent. That's what I'm talking about. Who seems to be the creep. Who you think is looking. He's looking at her through a telescope, except it's not. It's like a surveyor's equipment. He's looking at her through a sextant. I'm pretty sure it's a sextant. It's so funny. Adam Driver's character uses a megalopolis.

So much is happening on the rooftops. It's like where all the singles go. Oh my God. It's a whole other New York. But this is what I'm going to say. So, all right. So, okay. Someday there, she gets killed.

construction worker he seems like they're abusing him because at first he's like hey where'd my sandwich go you guys steal my sandwich and you think oh cue the winged serpent stole a sandwich oh yeah yeah that was no those guys actually did steal a sandwich oh yeah and the one guy's like his wife does make a good sandwich i might have to pay her a visit soon and tell her so because i'm a fucking rapist what i didn't know what those guys why would

that those guys live but this poor hungry man who's just trying to do a job and married to a beautiful woman who makes a great sandwich i truly did not understand again this is the whole experience of watching this movie i was like i don't get people yeah i don't get the wrong people win all the time well i mean and then you have why did why were they taking a sandwich you seem like a nice

They'd seen that they were friends. And then you have the best death in the entire film. This is my favorite one, which is our other cop. We haven't really mentioned him that much, but Richard Roundtree, who's up on the roof looking for someone with his partner, a mime. Okay. Okay. This... Okay. This was nuts. So, before you play this part, I just want to talk about that mime first. I had to stop the movie. I had to...

stop the movie and really make sure what I was seeing was correct, which is that the NYPD has placed an undercover cop out in the streets in front of the museum to see the comings and goings and that they have disguised him. His cover is... A mime and an Amadeus shirt. Not the movie, but the Broadway production. So this mime...

He's also bucking conventional trends by wearing a patterned shirt. He's not wearing a traditional mime shirt. Well, there's also when they're done and they're like, oh, we got to go to the next location. They all bundle into the car and he says to them, how did I do? Okay, I heard that.

Oh, no, no. Someone says to him, how did you do money-wise? And he says, oh, not that good. Yeah, that's right. Like, it's up for grabs whether he was a good mime or not. Well, and it made me wonder, like, again, another movie in this movie that I'd like to watch, just like, do all the undercover cops have to list their talents or interests? Special skills. Special skills. I'm going to ask you a question because I think I know the answer, but I want to see if I'm right.

What was he doing? As a mime? Yeah. What was he watching for? I thought he was watching for... The two people who were going to perform the ceremony. How would you ever...

find those two people. That's like saying, I saw two people in New York City. That must be them. Like, there's no, they have no clue about this man. for most of the movie, no one has seen Cue the Winged Serpent. For most of the movie, only an hour and ten minutes in, does the police chief say, 70 people have seen The Winged Serpent. No.

Only just now have we gotten reports in that people have seen the winged circus. But no one has ever seen this man. So you're just saying, hey, you hang out in front of the museum and wait to see two men talking. Chances are, it's them. It's so wild. So this is my favorite scene. So Richard Roundtree looking around. Oh, the mime. Mime with a gun. Listen to this.

Who is still moving like a mime? Or maybe it's impossible to stop moving like a mime when you are dressed like a mime. I don't know. By the way, look at the smog of New York City. All ADR. June? June, pause. June, are you okay? Okay.

June just got jump scared by the movie she's already seen. June! And this is why, this is why I, what is, I can walk in and out of a room in our house and June will have the same jump scare.

I'm really on edge these days. I'm really on edge. I'm going to say this has nothing to do with anything. I forgot it was a kite, wasn't it? It was a kite. Holy shit, that's funny. I want people to understand. So in the movie, Richard Rountree is on the rooftop and there's a tense moment. We think, cue the winged serpent might arrive. And instead, a kite flies into his head. When the kite flew into his head, June hit the deck.

As if the kite had hit her head. It really was... It was a sympathetic reaction. I jumped on your head. Something is happening.

June grabbed her own head like, I need to, there must be more. There must be more kites coming. There's, like, all of a sudden this show became a 3D show where, like, then the kites will hit you in the audience as well. I'm so embarrassed. That's actually, this is very vulnerable what just happened. I really just showed myself. I showed my whole ass. That's how good this movie is. Oh, my gosh. And that's why.

I can't stop scaring her. And in our wedding vows, I had to promise her I would never put her on scare tactics. Thank you. All right, here we go.

The mime sees the winged serpent and does not at first say anything, like a mime. Oh, yeah. Oh, no. And his reactions are gigantic. His facial reactions are gigantic. And they're smiling, laughing. He's excited. But he does, I will say, what I thought was very smart was the only reason the winged serpent doesn't get him is because he is in a box.

Oh, that's smart. He is in a protective box. See ya. Now the winged serpent there seems to just... Drop him. Drop him. There are times, there are a couple times in the movie, like yes, he does pick up... Look at that winged serpent, by the way. Oh, in all of its glory. I really don't like seeing that big muscle over there. It looks like, I'll be honest, a thin dick.

I was going to say it looks like someone, the winged serpent looks like someone who ate a Tootsie Roll and then tried to make it like a dick. And it's like, but it's like, I wish you were a little bit more talented. You may have been able to do, oh, it's so upsetting. Its neck is way too long.

There's so much to get into here. I want to go to the crowd before it gets too late here. So if you have a question, if you have a question about this, if you know anything about history, if you know anything about working on top of tall buildings, do they give you any protection from Quetzalcoatls? Let us know. All right, yes, okay. Hi, how are you? What's your name? Alex. Alex, okay. Alex, what's your question? So first of all, I'd like to say that I was born two months before the first episode. Whoa. Whoa.

Of this show? Hal, have I ever talked to you before? No. Okay. What the fuck? 14 years. 14 years. 14 years? Get fucked. Are you serious? Yes.

Unfortunately. God damn it. Amazing. Amazing. Okay, you might be the youngest person we've ever had here. I mean, the youngest person, well, I don't know what it is. It's something. It's good. And I'm not going to take it away from you. All right. So in the first construction scene, the construction worker says to the other guys, I'm going to shove the thermos up your asses one at a time. Oh, yeah. I remember this.

Does that mean he's going to shove the thermos up their ass? Take it out. Take it out. Go to the next guy in line. Get him to bend over and shove it up his ass. Alex, I don't like that we're having this conversation. I wish we weren't having this conversation, but we are. And you know what? And we're in agreement. Jason and a 14-year-old are talking about how to shove...

Thermoses up, construction workers out. I'm so sorry. I'm just distracted. I'm just so sorry. The FBI is here? What's that? Yes, okay, your name? Tim. Tim, hey Art. Hi Tim. How you doing, Tim? What's your question?

So a bunch of people in this movie have access to secret information until the end. David Carradine says, when those guys were trying to get to your apartment, you didn't even use your gun. And his girlfriend's saying, you killed those two guys. The cops are saying you killed those guys on purpose. And then the crooks say, the diamond company told the insurance company that a guy left with a bag and it was worth $77,000. Right, and the-

Right, and then also, the reason why they arrest Michael Moriarty is because those two gangsters went to the cops and said, hey, by the way, go to this, like, this, like, they... They ratted him out. He got them killed by Q. Right, so before they went to go kill him, they're like, were they, like, a lot of maneuvering around.

So everyone knows everything until this scene. And David Carradine says, well, I mean, you know, I just kind of figured that the Quetzalcoatl sacrificer would locate you and get you to confess all of your sins for forgiveness. And then he goes, canvassed every Fleabag motel in the city for hours. Which is... Every Fleabag. Every Fleabag motel we've...

Guys, check every room of every hotel. It should take you about 35 minutes and we'll figure it out. By the way, I thought the whole thing with the sacrifice was that it had to be, like you had to consent to it. Well, that's what he won't say the prayer. Yeah. Right. I think you're right. But even if you force someone to say the prayer. But David Carradine doesn't know that. No, I know David Carradine doesn't know that. I'm just saying in the world of the movie, would that even work for the winged creature? No.

Here's the other thing. It's a serpent, not a creature, June. But that's the other thing. But here's my genuine question. They keep on saying that these sacrifices will bring Q, the winged serpent, to life. He's to life. Oh, yeah. He's risen. That's what I told you. He is risen. He is risen. Here's my thought. I'll let you post that, Nasty. I think it makes eggs. Hang on. Wait.

Hear me out. Oh, so you're saying the eggs have a reason? Every sacrifice creates an egg. How do you know that? I love this. I love this as an idea. Right? So we know that there are at least three sacrifices, which would be three. We have the dino and the two eggs. I only saw one egg. The end, the final. Oh, that final egg. Oh, by the way, great little fact about that.

They couldn't put the egg in the Chrysler building because it was too narrow in the top. So they put it in a regular building. And then they forgot to take it away. And then all these scientists found this nest. And they're like, oh, my God, we found this crazy nest. Wait, is this real? This is real. What? No. How long after, do you know? Like years after the movie was made. That's great.

Because they did it in an abandoned police precinct. And they're like, whoa, look at this nest. It's gigantic. What could it have possibly have been? And it was in the papers that all these ornithologists and scientists were studying this nest.

All right, yeah, what's your name? What's your question? David, so the robbery takes place at Neil Diamond's, and it's a flying creature. Is this just a sequel to Jonathan Living Seagull? Is it really called Neil Diamond's? Yes, it is. I didn't see that. That's fucking great. That's hilarious. Incredible. I was going to say it's a sequel to the jazz singer. All right, so because we got him playing jazz, we got Neil Diamond's. There it is. All right.

Oh, yes, yes, hi. My name's Nikita. So I saw that one of the people that designed Q went on to design on aliens. Do you think having this on his CV is like what got him that job? Like they were so impressed with his work. They're like, wow, that does look otherworldly. No creature we've ever seen. Yes, when I look at Q the winged serpent, I'm like, oh, that's a face hugger.

You know, this movie was actually kind of successful. As a matter of fact, the movie that this guy was fired off of that then he decided to write this script in six days, it outgrossed that movie. So this movie was a hit. This movie was a hit and it's a scary movie and we learned a lot. I do want, I know, I just want to like just get a moment of Michael Moriarty's acting just for the hell of it. And if you want to take a moment, close your eyes and think, is this Bill Burr?

Why do I stay with a dumb ex-junkie? I don't know why. I think there's a lot of good in you somewhere. Yeah, where? I'm looking. I'm looking.

I get all this evil dream, you know, evil dream go away. I walk upside up top of this building and I see dead things and a nest, you know. A rat's nest. No, well, no, it couldn't have been a rat's nest. It was bigger than that. It was big and there was something in it that looked like an egg, but it couldn't have been an egg. There aren't any eggs in a lake that big.

And then there's a hole in the roof so it can get in and get out. So it can get in and out. I just want to sleep. There you go. There you go. Are we supposed to be rooting for them? I don't know. Are we supposed to be like, I hope these kids work it out? I don't believe she went back to him at the end. It was very distressing. I would love to know who has those diamonds.

Me. Yeah. Like, wouldn't it have been great if there was a post-credit scene where there was like a quick scene about who picked up those diamonds and what they did with 70 some odd thousand dollars worth of diamonds. Or if like in one shot the winged creature's just like wearing chains and earrings. I love it. I love it. Is that the Met Gala? What are you wearing? Just something from Neil Diamonds. What's the story of what you're wearing, Q, the winged serpent?

I found it under a truck. All right. So obviously we had opinions about this, but there are people out there with a different opinion. It is now time for second opinions. Hi. My name is a daisy.

♪ I know Jimmy's just a driver ♪ ♪ He won't carry a gun ♪ ♪ And he sings random jazz songs ♪ ♪ But I heard that there's an Aztec monster ♪ ♪ Who's flying around the towers ♪ ♪ And chomping all the people ♪

This film's a fever dream with David Carradine. And Shaft is also there, but he's killed pointlessly. Yes, there's an ancient beast that only gets two scenes. I want to love this film, but it just makes me scream. Oh, what have you done? You're a winged serpent, killing all at random. Oh, Q. Oh!

Oh, you're just having fun. And now so am I. So I'm giving it five stars. It's called winged serpent. Hard to follow story. It's a winged serpent. Getting kind of gory. It's a winged serpent. At least it has a story.

boobies it's the winged serpent wow wow wow yes great job 488 total reviews all of them 5 stars 73% 5 stars and I'm gonna do one that's a little bit different than normal but I'll read you this first one from Darcy Drink Wine Darcy

In 2013, Darcy Drinkwine writes, all in caps, by the way, I've always liked creature movies ever since I was little. They are my number one favorite right next to stalker movies. And...

Movies in the woods. Oh, P.S., I live in Johnstown, Vermont, 05656. No, don't say this. And I had cable in the USA Network, and that's where I saw this for the first time when I was only 11 years old, and I fell in love with the USA Saturday Night Nightmares every Saturday night at 8 p.m. Five stars. So, wow. So most of the review was in the P.S. Yeah, the P. The P.S. had most of it.

Belle, in 2021, titles her review. Wait, the Disney princess? I think so. Scary and Terrific Plot is her title. Also, all in caps. Main character is dishonest, but courageous. If you love creepy monsters, this movie's for you. Five stars.

Now, like, do you think they're saying that that Michael Moriarty is courageous or cue the winged serpent? Who's the main character? It's a hard one to say. I would say that it's I think that you don't leave thinking Michael Moriarty is courageous. Well, I do think he's supposed to be the protagonist of the movie, but he should have been killed. That's crazy. Absolutely. A hundred percent. He should have met a grisly end.

I am going to read this review, which is a little longer than normal because I can't make heads or tails of it. All right? Do you want to do it in a spotlight? No, I don't think we have that. Okay, then don't. AG writes in 2015, the title of the review is The Most Life-Affirming Monster Movie Ever Made. There you go.

The most life-affirming monster movie ever made, Coen understands his characters as people, not cannon fodder. And so his focus is on their amusingly mundane foibles, which evoke a sense of actual life that renders irrelevant the B-movie's special effects and implausibility of the premise. It's a wonderfully funny and deceptively complex analysis of crisis as the catalyst to a deeper engagement with community.

It never happens.

His rebirth as a decent person is representative of our better instincts prevailing when matters of life and death jar us from abstraction. Cohen stuffs the film full of unpretentious, tossed-off human details that read as both specifically New York and totally universal. The cop furtively sipping a Budweiser before resuming his crisis post.

The amiable pervert cheering as the girl takes off her top. The waitress shifting from smile to irritation the second the customer isn't looking. It reminds us we're watching human beings, however stylized in their story, is of us all who toil anonymously until fate intervenes to test our mettle, showing us a 9-11 aftermath

Mentality a decade before 9-11. Two decades, as a matter of fact. Cohen reminds us that even in our worst circumstances, yes, even in a movie, we can tap into our reservoir of goodwill without losing the idiosyncrasies that make us uniquely prickly humans. Five stars. Wow.

That is a real, like, Mike, I read your honors thesis and we're not going to pass you. I read your honors thesis about cue the winged serpent and you're going to have to, we're going to fail you. I'm going to do a rare third opinion because this is great. This is from Siskel and Ebert when they reviewed the film and it's a worthy discussion.

Why am I laughing at crunch, crunch? I didn't recommend this movie, but it's far from being the worst flying lizard movie I've ever seen. In fact, there are a lot of moments in Q that I kind of enjoyed, especially when the people are sunbathing on a rooftop and the lizard suddenly swoops down and grabs them. It serves you right for sunbathing in Manhattan.

but you have to admit it's a rather elementary level of entertainment in a movie q is a goofy movie maybe the makes a mistake by trying for good performances from michael moriarty another good actors like david carotene so i voted thumbs down on q because i thought the movie was too ambitious for its own good it's going to be trash it has to be willing to be great trash instead of having pretensions well i don't think there was any thing pretentious about michael moriarty what is pretentious if you will about the dialogue

Eat 'em! Eat 'em! I would love to meet on the set. No, no, but you're not being fair because you're forgetting some of the other scenes where we get kind of the method acting introspection and he's thinking about why he's a loser and so forth. Oh, I thought that was a lot of fun and joy in his performance. I think it's one of the unexpected good performances. I think it makes this just from being trash

to good trash really do well don't you think though that sometimes a movie like this actually needs to have scenes in it that we can laugh at in terms of its awkwardness because isn't there a strange juxtaposition between a good performance and really weird kind of special effects like that then let's put it this way you saw a performance that was surprising to you and you thought it hurt the movie i saw a movie that was surprisingly good and i thought it elevated it and made it well there's a surprise there nonetheless

Wow. Is that us? Is that what we're doing currently? I just love that they were able to get into Michael. He's like, yeah, Michael Moriarty sucks. I think Michael Moriarty is a mess. It's like, agree to disagree. Also, I don't remember them. Why are they sitting so close to each other like that? Oh, and they appear to be getting closer and closer as it goes. The next cut, Siskel is on Ebert's lap.

Ebert, a little pervy. Like, I like the topless lady in the movie. Oh my God. Serves you right for sunbathing in Manhattan. This came out the same year as E.T., as I mentioned, Razor to the Lost Ark, and Rocky III. It also came out the same year as Megaforce, Halloween III, Grease II, and yes, Georgio. When first announced, they said Q would star James Coburn and Yafikoto. Then they fell out.

Then, for the part of Michael Moriarty, Eddie Murphy was the director's choice. But the investors didn't think an unknown would do well overseas. So not Eddie Murphy. Then it went to a young actor named Bruce Willis to play the David Carradine part. So this could have been Bruce Willis and Eddie Murphy. Yeah.

Wow. And cue the winged serpent. And we would still be covering it on this show. But yeah, they both, but basically Bruce Willis and Eddie Murphy were not well-known overseas, so they cut them out, and that's how it became David Carradine and Richard Rountree, which are people that he worked with in the past. As a matter of fact, Larry Cohen and David Carradine served in the Army together. Wow. Yeah, so...

I mean, they were old friends. They were part of the army transportation. So Eddie Murphy was supposed to play the Richard Roundtree part? No, Eddie Murphy was supposed to play the Michael Moriarty part. Okay. So Richard Roundtree, unknown. I guess it was originally James Coburn and Yafit Kodo. They dropped out. Then it went to Bruce Willis. And then it went to David Carradine. Michael Moriarty, it was originally just supposed to be Eddie Murphy. I believe wholeheartedly that anybody else could have landed, I'm going to go take my birth control pill.

I think anybody could have landed that plane successfully. Carradine struggled. Would you recommend this film? Fuck yeah. Definitely. Yeah. This is one of those rare, great... This was fine. I wish they could all... Like I said at the beginning, I wish they could all be this good. This was a delight. True delight. Really, really fun. Never once did I press the button to pause to look at how much longer is left. I was soaking it in.

It really just gets you and keeps on going. I highly recommend everybody watch Cue the Winged. Do you all agree? Yeah. There it is. Any final thoughts? I guess my only thought to close with is there are roughly 15 other movies within this movie that I'd also like to see. Yes. I would love to see the Cue the Winged Serpent Universe. Yes. All I want to see is this scene, which is the...

The maid showing up at the Fleabag Motel to find a man shot so many times. Well, I did feel like that was another improvised line that we saw when he said, like, this guy just won't die or whatever. Like, it feels like all of this is, this guy does not die easily is what it is. Yeah, but like NYPD, you don't want to collect any evidence. You don't want to take that guy's wallet. Oh, yeah.

You don't call it in and be like, great, get crime scene investigations over here. That's why when the movie ends with one of the eggs cracking and another winged serpent arriving, I'm like, well, yeah, they didn't do any follow-up. Do you think that that baby is R, the winged serpent? Oh. Oh. Thank you, everybody. Good night.

Oh, I could have talked about Winged Serpent all night long. What a great show. Great to be back at Largo. What a crowd. Thank you to everybody who showed up to our live shows. We got more live shows coming. That's right. We're going to go on a big spring tour. But if you're listening right now, November 15th,

tomorrow, November 16th. We will be in Philadelphia, so get your tickets for that. We also have a virtual live show that anyone can watch anywhere in the world. That's right. Anywhere in the world. Get your tickets now before the price goes up because it goes up a little bit on the day of the show, which is 12-12.

and you can watch this show for seven days after we do it live. It's great. You can get all this and more and information about all the shows that we have coming up, including Jason and I traveling all around the country doing our dinosaur improv with great guests like Edie Patterson from The Righteous Gemstones and, of course, Lisa Gilroy from Interior Chinatown and Jerry Doody and Rob Hubel from Human Giant and a How Did This Get Made All-Star. So get tickets at hdtgm.com.

But if you're still stuck with the winged serpent, so are we. We got a great shirt coming out of this one. That's right. We have a winged serpent with the title The Winged Serpent underneath it because we need to get the word out. People didn't see this winged serpent in the actual film. We need to have people out there spotting this creature. So what a great stocking stuffer for the Q-worshipping fanbase.

We also have great new coffee mugs in the store called How Did This Coffee Get Made? But definitely check out PodSwag, where we have all new Christmas merch. I'm talking about Team Sanity tumblers that are great. We've been using them here in our house. Plus, I have hand-signed a bunch of books. You'll get random How Did This Get Made messages in my book.

my book. But if you want something a little bit more personal, go to my website and I'll be signing and personalizing books for you through Chevaliers. Just click on a link, paulshear.com. We got so much stuff coming, but I know that you probably want to say, Paul, what about my opinions on Cue the Winged Serpent? Well, don't worry. You'll get plenty of time to voice those. If you log on to our discord at discord.gg slash HDTGM, you write it up. We read the best ones on last looks, but if you're like, Paul, I don't want to do that.

then give us a call at 619-P-A-U-L-A-S-K. Plus, Jason and I are going to talk about music, especially Star Wars jizz music. Yes, that's what they call music in the Star Wars world, or I guess jazz music, jizz, and it's canonical, so don't

Don't question me on this. Jason and I will break it all down next week on Last Looks. A big Last Looks coming up for you. So, people, we got Christmas gifts, we got shows, and we got you. That's right. We have so many fun shows coming up. I can't wait for this next month or so. Until then, bye for now. I'm just gonna be your hero

You hear that, America? The mountain is calling. Calling you on this epic Thursday evening with a very important message. Get off your ass. So grab a nice cold Mountain Dew, some friends, and do something you'll enjoy even more than the punchlines you're laughing at. The mountain is calling. Answer. Do the Dew.

Tackle the NFL action on FanDuel. Get started with $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. FanDuel, an official Sportsbook partner of the NFL. 21 plus and present in Virginia. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.