Most Famous Movie Set In Each State - West (Part 4 of 4) Is Mulan (Disney+) Worth $30? + First Major Movie Returns to Theaters…Will You?

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Speaker 1: Well, hello there, and welcome to movie Mike's Movie Podcast. My name is movie Mike. I'm on Twitter and Instagram at Mike destro and this is the final part of a four part series or I've been trying to find the most famous movie from every single state. We made it everybody. We're talking about all the most famous movies from the West on this episode, and it'll be the last installment, so we're going everything from Wyoming to Arizona and then wrapping it up in California, which was probably the hardest ever to come up with, but we're gonna get into all those a lot of great movies to talk about on this episode. Hopefully you've been enjoying the series, and if you want to go back to listen to all the other ones, they're all available right there wherever you're scrolling through this podcast right now. And then after that, I'm going to get into a review of the new Mulawan movie, which came out on Disney Plus over the weekend, and I will tell you whether or not it was worth the whoppings thirty dollar price tag it was to rent this movie. And then I'll also talk about the biggest blockbuster to come out amid of this pandemic and kind of what I think that is going to me from movies moving forward. And then also an update on the Batman movie. Turns out Robert Pattinson got Corona filming that we'll talk about what that means for that movie moving forward. A lot to get you on this episode. I'm glad you're here. So without any further ado, let's get started. In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge, he's basically like a walking on MTV with glasses. From the Nashville Podcast Network is Movie Movie Podcast. And here we go. All right, we made it to the final part of this series trying to find the most famous movie out of every single state. We've done the Northeast, we've done the Midwest, we've done the South, and now it's time for the West. Getting right into it this week, starting off with Idaho. And not only is this the most famous movie out of Idaho in my opinion, but all so just one of my favorite movies for many reasons. So I want to take a little bit of time just to recognize this movie and talk about this movie a little bit, because when it came out, it kind of changed the way I went into movies, and it kind of gave me a feeling of like, oh, this is something I've never seen before, and really kind of defined the first cult classic I would say of my generation, like one that I grew up with, that this is a movie you either loved and got it or you watched it and hated it and it was not for you. So you're either on one end of the spectrum when it comes to this movie, because it is a polarizing movie and it's a movie that people talk about and know about and would quote relentlessly when this movie came out, But it's also just so kind of its own thing that if you didn't get it when it came out, you never really went back and watched this movie. And the movie I'm talking about, based out of Idaho is Napoleon Dynamite, which came out into two thousand four, and I remember seeing the first trailer for this movie and immediately I was like, I gotta see that movie. Like there's something about the stylistic approach to the trailer, how it looked, and I just knew that that was a movie that I was going to be interested in. And I remember when that movie came out. It was such a low budget indie movie. I think they made it for like four hundred thousand dollars and it went on to make forty four million, which is crazy amount of money. But it wasn't a really well like promoted movie. There was not a whole lot behind it. But just the overall name of the movie kind of got me interested in it, and just the what it was about what I think made so many people kind of gravitate towards this movie. It would be such a cult classic. So when I say that it was a cult classic of my generation, because it's a movie that when it came out, you didn't know any of the actors in it. You just knew the story of Napoleon Dynamite. And what I loved about this movie is that Napoleon Dynamite in the movie, he's a nerd, but he's not the average kind of nerd that's portrayed in movies all the time, like he's not really a smart I it's just the fact that he's so socially awkward and so different, but that he almost doesn't get that he's that different because he's in the way that he's so not like anybody else and has trouble fitting in. He is essentially so confident in himself that he doesn't realize that, like he doesn't see that he's not cool, he doesn't see that people view him differently. He's just this really kind of different kind of nerds that I was able to identify with because I wasn't really the smartest kid growing up, but I was almost not as socially awkward as Napoleon Dynamite, but I had that feeling of like, I'm nerdy in my own way and I don't fit in, but also I'm not this super genius who's gonna go on to find like curious to every disease in the world. I would just socially awkward and nerdy and different and maybe not as confident as Napoleon Dynamite. But I kind of identified with him in that way. And the other thing I loved about this movie is that it is said in Idaho, and you get that feeling when you watch this movie. But other aside from that is you almost don't even know what time period this takes place in because the way the film is shot, it looks kind of indie style and everything from the wardrobe and just the kind of design of this movie, it almost feels like it's taking place that like maybe like the seventies or even like sixties, that it has like a kind of timeless period but also feels like an older movie. And I think that has a little bit to do with the fact that set in Idaho, and it's set in the actual town where this guy grew up. And so the movie was written by a guy named Jared Hess who actually went to college with John Heater, who plays Napoleon Dynamite, and they filmed like this short film in college which ended up turning into Napoleon Dynamite, and they filmed it all in Idaho, in his hometown. You can actually go to this town of Preston and Franklin, Idaho, where they filmed a lot of this movie, and you can go see these locations. And it's a movie that stood the test of time, and they even had like a rebooted animated series. And it's just one from my childhood that just kind of like a stable that I can go back and watch in a movie that eventually someday when I have kids, I'm gonna show him this movie and be like, look, this movie is so great and they won't get it and it'll be amazing. So most famous movie out of Idaho, we're going with Napoleon Dynamite, all right. Moving on now to Montana, which I had to search out your tweets on Twitter to kind of get some ideas for this one, because I had one in mind, but I wanted kind of an idea of people who actually lived in Montana to get a better feel for what you think is the most famous one, because are a whole lot of movies based in Montana, but I think the main one you guys said where a river runs through it and Big Eden all based in Montana. And then another good one with Mark Wahlberg was Shooter, which was a movie I wasn't expecting to like, but endy up really enjoying when that one came out. But the one I'm going with here is a Rival with Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, which, if you don't remember, this movie from a came out a few years ago back in and I feel like this is another one of those movies whether you loved it or hated it. So it's about these gigantic alien spaceships that come down and it comes down to a field in Montana and they're all just stationed there and Amy Adams is the one translating the messages that they are sending down to Earth and it's a really interesting movie. What I liked about this one, While it's a sci fi alien movie, I feel it's also a little bit realistic, Like I could see this actually happening in like today's world, Like a spaceship comes down and it's not just aliens coming in guns a blazing. They're actually trying to like communicate with us and say something to us. It's not a bizarre like Independence Day type movie, and it's a little more in depth. There's a little more to this one than an average sci fi movie, and I really ended up liking it. I feel like Amy Adams is a really underrated actress and all the great movie she's been in, it's amazing to me that she's never won an Oscar and this movie in particular just has some more heavy concepts behind it that I felt she should have won one. For this movie. I thought it was great based in Montana, a lot of great cinematography, kind of showing that in this movie, so famous movie out of Montana, going with a rival. Moving on now to Wyoming, and there's one clear cut winner here that you're gonna know it as soon as I say it. But I'll give a few honorable mentions. First close Encounters of the third kind. You got the movie Flicker, which I know mainly because Tim McGraw is in it. And then you also have a Quentin Tarantino movie called The Hateful Light, which I don't think it is one of his best movies, wasn't one of my favorites, but it does take place in Wyoming. But easily the most famous movie out of Wyoming. We all know it, whether you've seen it or not. You know what it's about, and it's Brokeback Mountain. Came out back in two thousand six, was nominated for Best Picture, didn't win it. But you got Jake Jillen Hall, you got Heat Ledger, you got two cowboys in Wyoming. And not only was it such a big movie when it came out and kind of changed a lot of pop culture, Like it was just such an impactful movie because of what was in it, and what it was about that it's one of the most famous movies from the easily the most famous here. So let's go with Broke Back Mountain. Need I say more? All right, Let's move out now to Nevada. So when I think Nevada, I think in Las Vegas. I remember seeing it in so many movies growing up as a kid and thinking like, someday I want to go there and experience Las Vegas. So I have to go to Las Vegas to find the most famous movie out of Nevada. I think there are a few options here we can work with. So the three I was thinking of are Casino, which was in Martin Scorsese movie You got Robert de Niro, you got Joe Pesci But I don't feel like that was Martin Scorsese's like most famous movie. I mean, it's up there and it's a great movie, but it came out back in and I don't know that it would still be a big movie and most remembered movie now. And although this is a really great one to represent Las Vegas, I'm not landing on this one. And then the other one that came to mind was Spear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which is such a trippy movie and one you really got to sit down in dissect. I just loved how kind of satirical and just funny and weird this movie was. You've got Johnny Depp and Venicio del Toro and just so many kind of iconic images in this one that you've probably seen the movie poster for this without even realizing it. And you have Johnny Depp in that kind of classic costume with the sunglasses and the hat. There's just a lot to love about this movie. But I couldn't really put it as the most famous movie out of Las Vegas or Nevada. But the one I have to go with is the one that made me want to go to Las Vegas for my twenty one birthday, and that movie is The Hangover. I just think it's the most quintessential Las Vegas movie because you have everything in it, from all the casinos of the strip, even when they drive out a little bit more towards the desert. It's just all in this movie. And and this movie came out in two thousand nine and really just changed the way comedies were made after this, because I think everybody tried to find and make their own version of The Hangover, which you have a group of friends all going out and partying and doing ridiculous things. And I think every of comedy that came out after that was trying to be The Hangover but in a different setting. And that's really how you make a staple movie to where the formula works so well, everybody else kind of tries to replicate it. But yeah, this was like the main reason I wanted to go to Las Vegas for my twenty one birthday. So the movie came out in O nine, I turned in and we drove from Texas all the way to Las Vegas, and I felt a little bit more like I was familiar with it because of what I had seen in the movie, like Seeson's palace, like the wedding chapels, like all that stuff inside the movie. I kind of gravitated and remembered that stuff and made it a point to go kind of see some of that stuff, which I know it's just the most famous things on the strip and the most famous things from Las Vegas, but it was that movie that really kind of gave it that appeal to me. And recently on the morning show I worked for the Bobby Bones Show, we were talking about weird smells that you love, and mine just happened to be like that lingering smell of smoke in the Las Vegas casino. There's something about when I went that very first time, and it's that smell of like cigarette, but also how they like, I don't know, they put something in the air to kind of take the smell away, but it just creates like this smell when you walk out into a casino that it kind of takes you and like puts you in that place. Because anytime I go back there and I smell that smell again, it just kind of hits me and reminds me to my twenty one birthday and kind of brings back some good memory. So that will always be my favorite weird smell. It's all because of this movie. It's all because of The Hangover, so we're putting it as the most famous movie out of Las Vegas and Nevada. Going with The Hangover, all right, let's go over now to Utah, which a movie from my childhood. Not a whole lot of people saw, but I had to give an honorable mention to this. One was called SLC Punk, which was all about these group of punk rockers living in Salt Lake City, Utah. And it was a movie that was kind of a staple in my teenage years because I love punk rock music growing up and it was such a music genre for just kind of outcast and it was very little represented in any kind of like pop culture thing at that time, and this was kind of the bible movie for punk rockers. It was either SLC Punk or a slightly more obscure movie called Suburbia, but this was the one I just watched over and over again because it was like, oh, there's like people that dress like I do sometimes, and the music in it and the story behind it, and it was so much about being a misfit living in a place that you were kind of like that so differently for being a punk rocker, which this takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah, but being a punk rocker there was a strange concept. I felt the same way it was when I was growing up and walks at the Texas and I would have spiked or colored hair and looked at like a total weirdo. So I identified a lot with that movie. Again, I don't think it's the most famous. I don't think a whole lot of people have seen it, but it is Matthew Lillard, who's been a bunch of other movies, and it was a movie I courted a lot as a kid and just really loved. But I have to mention that when because it was such a big part of my life growing up. A more recent one was the Netflix movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Viole. I think I got that title right so long, but it's the Ted Bundy movie with Zac Efron portraying Ted Bundy. And I was oddly excited for this movie because I love the Conversations with the Killer that came out before that, which was the whole documentary series on Ted Bundy which he was incarcerated in Utah, and I guess I just wanted to see how his story was going to play out into a movie. And I was oddly disappointed in it, just because I don't I don't know. The acting wasn't that great, the story was a lot better told with like actual news footage and just you know, the audio of him. I just didn't think it really transferred over into a movie. I think they were kind of just kind of milked that a little bit. And it's also weird to be so fascinated with his story and like be entertained by it because he was such a bad, awful dude, and to watch a movie and even if it was really great to be we're just it that I love that movie because it really happened. So if you haven't seen that movie, I don't really recommend it. It's not worth watching. Doesn't really hold up to the actual documentary series, which if you're going to get into that, that's probably a better thing to watch. But the movie I'm going with here is A hundred and twenty seven Hours with James Franco. And what I liked about this style of movie it's, you know, it takes place in Utah. It's this guy who's out hiking by himself in this crazy canyon and he gets stuck in has to chop his arm off to escape. And it was a movie that you're really waiting for one scene the entire time, which is an interesting movie to where you know what's going to happen going into it, and the whole time you're kind of waiting for that one little moment, and that's really what the whole movie is, you know, surrounded around that particular event and when it happens, this movie actually pays off a lot and it's crazy to see. And it's also based on our true story. With adds a little bit of a higher element to this movie. And it's a movie like when you say the title of it, you automatically know what it's about, like, oh, that's the movie where the guy cut his arm off, And that's really all you have to know going into that movie. And it was one that was really fun to watch in theaters with other people because what he is actually going through the process of it. You get to hear other people's reactions and it's pretty gruesome, like it goes in I thought James Frinko was really great. And it takes place in Utah, so we're putting it as the most famous movie based in Utah. One twenty seven hours. All right, we'll do one more state before we take a break here, and we're going over to Colorado. Love Colorado, So let's see what could be the best movie I had a Colorado. You have things like Misery, Black Klansman. Then you have an animated movie here, south Park, Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. I was such a south Park fan growing up whether it be the TV show that I would only watch, I think, very rarely on any kind of occasion because I didn't have satellite. But occasionally I had a friend in my trailer park who had a satellite dish, which was a big deal at a time, and we would go were there sometimes and watch maybe like two minutes of South Park before we're like, oh, no, we gotta we can't watch that because although the cursing in it. But I remember when this movie came out, it was huge for an animated movie, and it's when I even go back now and watch just when I want to watch something really funny and laugh at. And then, of every movie that the creators, Tray Parker and Matt Stone have done, easily the best one easily my favorite, and their notorious for being from Colorado and and known for putting either fictional towns or real sadies from Colorado in their movies and TV shows. So that's a really good one. You also have Dumb and Dumber, which doesn't start out in Colorado, but the whole point of that movie is them taking a road trip to get this briefcase back to Mary Swanson, who lives they believe in Aspen, Colorado, so they end up spending a majority of the movie finally there, and that's a really famous movie that you would know that part of Colorado four. But the one I have to go with here is one where the set is entirely in Colorado. It's an iconic location, it's an iconic movie with a great actor, and it's The Shining with Jack Nicholson. So in the movie, it's called The Overlook Hotel, which it's actually based on the Stephen King book The Shining, and they actually filmed it at the hotel it was inspired for, called the Stanley Hotel, which is in Colorado. And man, this movie scared me a lot as a kid. You got Jack Nicholson in a crazy performance. And the other cool thing about this movie is going back and watching some of the behind the scenes footage where Jack Nicholson is having to put himself into that character, like he had to like psych himself up and almost go crazy and like be deranged to get into that character in this movie. And it's kind of cool to see these scenes where it's such a great actor who takes the role so seriously to where they kind of stay in that role on set and you see some behind the scenes footage where it's like him trying to like stay in that evil tone, and I bet that's just a tough thing to do. And you know, you have everything from the Red Rum, but here's Johnny him running around with the knacks. There's so many great iconic moments in this movie, and it all revolves around the setting of it being in this hotel that's in Colorado. So we're going most famous movie out of Colorado, the Shining All right, gonna take a quick break here and come back and do the rest of the West end close up this four part of series. All right back here with the rest of the West and starting off with Arizona. And I was going through Twitter responses because man, there are a lot of movies out of Arizona, and the ones that are kind of famous are really old school like Western movies. And going through some of these, I found three ten to Yuma, also the movie Tombstone. But the one I found is being the most famous out of Arizona just happens to have the name of the state in the movie. We're going with raising Arizona here. I feel pretty good about that pick. I really like Arizona too, it's a bit of a bomber that there are more famous movies that of Arizona. I was talking earlier about the road trip I took from Texas to Las Vegas for my twenty one birthday, and of stop I remember going on was we stopped in Phoenix, Arizona for gas and I was like, man, this is a really cool city. And I remember getting to go back there and just being like, I have kind of feeling that I would I could see myself living in Arizona. I liked Phoenix a lot, So somebody make a great movie based out of Phoenix, please, all right? Going over now to New Mexico, have some honorable mentions here with the Good, the Bad, and the ugly. You got natural Born Killers and then Little Miss Sunshine, which takes place with them starting out living in New Mexico, and the whole thing is kind of a road trip movie, but a lot of it. It's kind of based in New Mexico to start, but I don't think it shows a whole lot about it aside from the family being from there. So the movie I'm going with is a Marvel movie. And maybe you don't remember this, but in Thor where he lands in the United States. It's in New Mexico, and he finds Natalie Portman, who is a researcher in New Mexico, and he has to find his way back to Ascard. And I would say the First Door movie is one of the most underrated Marvel movies as far as the main Avengers getting their own solo movies. I think it was just the time it came out. It was still early on and kind of the m c U development, and a lot of times people gravitate towards you know, the Iron Man's and the Captain America's, but this first one was super solid, Like there were so many great things about that movie, and I think it's one of the first ones that had kind of like a little more comedy that was a little more like like to my liking, Like so much of Iron Man's humor was based on you know, Robert Downey Jr. Is almost like real life persona. But I like the character of Store and him being so kind of ridiculous and fun at the same time. Now, the second thor wasn't as great, and they really kind of came back with Ragnarok, But this first one I think was my favorite for a long time. I think it's one that I would like consider going back and watching a little more even than Ragnarok. But out of all the movies based in New Mexico, I feel pretty comfortable saying that Thor is the most famous movie and the best one going over now to Alaska, and I feel there's one movie that is the quick essential Alaska movie, and it's Into the Wild, which is a great movie and it's also a really sad movie. If you haven't seen the movie, it's a movie starring Emil Hirsh and it's about him. He's a really successful student. He graduates, he's a great athlete, but instead of going on to have like this really you know, prestigious career, he decides to give everything up, like gets rid of all of them's, his possessions, gives his savings to charity, and just sets out on this journey to Alaska. And it's a movie based on a real book, based on a real story, And his story was made famous because of the book and because of this movie so much so that people would go and visit the bus from the story in the movie in the actual Alaskan wilderness. And actually this year they had to remove it because that kind of stretch of terrain was so dangerous for people to go out there that they were like, this is a problem. We got to move this thing for people to stop coming out there just to see this bus because it's dangerous. So the actual bus was removed and airlifted back in June. So this is a really recent development in this one. But this was a really great movie. And when it came out, I remember I was so into like transcendentalism, which is just about like connecting with nature, and I was like reading a bunch of stuff like from these kind of poets and getting real weird into this. So when this movie came out, I kind of hit me in a different way of like the idea of getting rid of all your possessions and you know, going out and connecting with nature, which maybe even something early on in me kind of got that idea to me, Like even now, I don't like having possessions, I don't like having things. I don't think I could ever do what this guy did when she just abandoned everything and style everything away and go like live in nature and go and travel. But something about seeing this and you know, knowing about his story kind of connected with me so easily. I'll give no other contender to put this as the most famous movie out of Alaska, uh based in Alaska, going with Into the Wild. Moving over now to Washington, which I feel like there are two movies here that it comes down to. You got Sleepless in Seattle with Tom Hanks, which is even arguably one of Tom Hanks's best movies, at least the ones from the nineties. Got a lot of Seattle in that one. You know, when I think of Seattle, I kind of think of the nature aspect to it. I think of all the kind of the wildlife, and and even though from people I know that lived there and say it's not as rainy and dreary as people make it out to be, you kind of still associate that with being Washington, with being Seattle. And when it comes to big movies out of there and franchises out of there, you gotta go with Twilight. Now. I really like the first Twilight. I saw it in theaters back when it came out in two thousand and eight. And when you watch this movie, you don't only get the emo vampires, you also get a lot of Washington. And they made all the sequels based off the books. These movies were huge at the time. You ask anybody on the street who's in Twilight, and they can probably tell you Robert Pattinson at least and Kristin Stewart. So I feel it's pretty easy to say the most famous movies to come out of Washington all the Twilight movies. All right. Going over now to Oregon, I feel there's another clear cut winner here, so I'm just going with it, and it's a movie called stand By Me. Also another really great moving movie, but also a sad movie. And it's something about this style of a movie that I think people find nostalgic because they don't really make movies like this anymore, like movies with a great set of kids who have a kind of chemistry together in a bond together, to where even though it's just I'm kind of hanging out and it's a coming of age movie, there's something that just really makes you remember this. You know, it's these four Oregon boys. You know, they find out that the stranger has been killed near them, and they go to see the dead body. And I just love the journey of this movie. I love the story about it. You got the great cast, just some iconic moments. You got a lot of Oregon in the two and again you got a story written by Stephen King here also directed by Rob Briner. So most famous movie out of Oregon. We're gonna put stand by Me all right, two states left in the West and the entire series here. So let's waste no time and go over to Hawaii, and I'm gonna put one of my favorite Disney movies. If not my favorite, it's really close to being my favorite. And it's lil and Stitch. And again, we're looking for a movie that kind of encompasses the state, and there aren't a whole lot of movies about Hawaii. For me, it was either Lelo and Stitch or Johnny Tsunami, both great movies. But it's something about the story of Lilo and Stitch that has made it one of my favorite Disney movies. So you have Stitch who comes from an experiment gone wrong and he ends up traveling all the way from a distant planet to a small little piece of land that ends up being Hawaii when he lands there, and he's this little alien creature who iranic lands on an island surrounded by water when it's really a water that's the one thing that will kill him. So he's trying to fit in in this place and avoid being captured and sent back to where he came from. And it's that feeling of him being alienated, no pun intended, but trying to fit in and be a part of this family because he comes from nowhere. He feels like he's lost and has nobody really to go home too, because he was just created as an experiment. But in that he finds a family, he finds Lil and he is able to reprogram himself from being just this thing created to destroy and to kill and to be a detriment to society to actually being a lovable member of a family. And there's even though this movie is animated, I feel like the landscape of Hawaii is shown in this movie, from the surfing to the island, to even the people in this movie, because they are shown as being actual people who look like people you would see living in Hawaii. So it's everything from the Hawaiian kind of soundtrack to this with you know, mixed in with the Elvis songs, and just the fact that it's not a completely computer animated Disney movie, which I just kind of love the two D feel of this a little more than kind of the newer style of Disney movies. And then I got to go to Hawaii pretty recently for the first time ever in my life. I've never thought I'd get to go. And we actually stayed on a Disney resort there and there was a Stitch statue out there and I like took a picture with it. I did my Dome Stitch impression that I do all the time, and I loved it so much that when I got back, I've watched this movie again just to take me back to there, and it always does. Like I watched this movie, it makes me think of that time. It makes me happy, it makes me feel good. And there's just one scene in particular that gets me every single time. It's when Stitch gets captured and they're trying to get him to put him on this spaceship and he's like, Hey, I just want to say goodbye to my family, And man, that scene gets me every single time. If I need a good cry, I'll go watch that scene on YouTube. Can still so goodbye? Yes, this is my family. I found it on my own. That's little and broken, but still good. Yeah. Still crooding. Yeah, let's go most famous movie out of Hawaii, Leelo and Stitch. All Right, we've made it to the final state of this entire series, and we saved the biggest state for last. I would say for movies, and it's California. And there are so many movies based in California, even just Los Angeles alone, and rightfully so, because Hollywood is a scene entirely of its own, and Los Angeles is just a like an essential backdrop for any great movie, like for so many kind of big screen blockbusters. You need a city that has a personality of its own, and that city is Los Angeles, I would say, even more so than New York, because it's a little more versatile when it comes to what you can and do in a movie with all the space there is in California, where New York you think just pretty much confined to downtown in the city of New York. But when it comes to l A, it's spread out, you have beaches, you have other scenery, even just surrounding cities. There's just so much California that it was hard to make this list. Like I have like ten movies that could easily be the most famous movie out of California, because you just think of a movie and it's probably set or it has some scene in California. One of the most recent movies to come out that I really loved and it was Once upon a Time in Hollywood. And what I loved about that one is it showed kind of Hollywood back in the day and had like this really kind of old school feel, and it also just showed a lot of l A and how it looked at that time. A really great Quentin Tarantino movie that I feel could easily go in this spot, but I don't think it's the most famous. I mean, there's also comedies like Anchorman and even things like Clueless, which Clueless is just an iconic nineties movie and just so like California, that kind of scene an era of that time, that that could easily go here. Even movies like Five Days of Summer, Top Gun erin Brockovitch, The Pursuit of Happiness, Boys in the Hood, Ladybird, Pretty Woman. There's just so many movies that I tried to get it down to maybe two, and I'm looking at the overall scope of you know, what l A and what California is, and also just how big of a global scale it is. And what I also kind of tried to dive into was like, what are the most iconic locations covered in a movie that you could be like, Okay, I'm gonna go to l A. And I want to see where this scene took place. So when a global scale, I think the most famous movies to come out of Los Angeles and be based in California, where the Fast and Furious movies. There's just so many of those, and that's an action movie and everybody knows those movies and would associate Los Angeles with that. But then you also have a movie like Pulp Fiction, which shows a lot of different parts around l A. And when that movie came out, it was up there with the Best Picture nominees. Again Quentin Tarantino here, I think that's his best movie, and it shows a lot of California. But the movie I'm Gonna go with I just had to kind of go with one that I had a personal connection to, and like I said, it was a movie that made me want to go and visit something that it was showcased in the movie. And I'm going with La La Land. Now. Right away, this movie starts with the most famous thing about l A, which is the traffic. It all starts taking place on a highway that's shut down because traffic is so bad and turns into a musical right off the bat. And I didn't think I was gonna like musicals going into this movie, but even after that first scene, I'm like, I'm all into this one. But easily what the most famous scene of this movie is where they're dancing and they go out to the Griffith Observatory and it's Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, and just those shots of that made me want to go and visit that location. And just the story inside of this movie, how you know she's trying to pursue her career. She lives in a house with all these other people who are living very l A lives, and it's a very artsy, kind of Hollywood type movie. And I think that's why it would did so well with critics, because it was a very kind of industry movie, which is all about what l A is about. So I don't think there's a bad pick for the most famous movie out of California. There's just so many movies, and I know there's other movies where the Griffith Observatory has been featured in, but this is I feel the most iconic and the most memorable to me, and also the most famous movie that it is showcased in, So the most famous movie out of California. I'm saying it here, La La Land and that's it, everybody. That's the entire series. We did it. We did all fifty states of the United States. If you've listened to all four parts of this series and made it to this point, I just want to say a big thank you. If you send in your picks or just followed along, that means a lot to me. This was a really fun series for me to dive into and when I was just excited to do every week because it's just a fun way to research these movies and kind of think about how they're all get defined and just also thinking of what states need to get represented a little bit better. So I really hope you enjoyed it. If you want to go back to listen to any of the other part you missed, just go back for the last three episodes and check them out. All right, let's get into it now. I watched Mulan over the weekend. I've been waiting for this one for a while, mainly because it's the biggest movie to come on demand when I was supposed to be out in theaters a few months ago, and now they're like, Okay, we'll let you have it where we're gonna charge you thirty bucks on top of the money you already pay for Disney Plus. So I have some thoughts on that that I've kind of gathered together, and then I want to talk about the movie overall and how it compared to the original. But before I get into all of that, here's just a little bit of the new Mulan. Every family must trip your fight. If I am blessed with two daughters, I was like, this time it will not return loyal face, all right, So let's get into the key differences first. So basically, what Disney has been doing with these remakes is taking all the movies everybody knows and loves and adapting them into live action movies. And the difference with Mulan is what made that one so great and memorable was that it was cartoony depicting war, but it brought humor out in it, and it also had these songs that paired together felt like a Disney movie, even though it was depicting something a little more serious. I think when you add humor and songs into that, it made it feel like a kid's movie. It made it feel like a Disney movie. And I think that's why people love that movie so much. Mulan has just never been one of my favorite Disney movies going into this, and unlike the other Disney remakes, they decided not to do any of the original songs in this, so you're not gonna see anybody bursting into any kind of song that you know and love from the original movie. And on top of that, you won't even see Eddie Murphy's character Moosho, who was the dragon in that one. That character is completely taken out of this movie. But aside from that, it goes pretty close along to what the original movie was about. It just gets a little more into the fighting and it's a lot more serious. It has kind of a serious tone. The way I kind of felt watching this it was almost like Game of Thrones for kids, where the war was like depicted in a kind of dark way, not so dark that it was scary, but it kind of had that feel. I don't think any kids watching it would be afraid at any point. But it's not your typical Disney movie. It's not your typical remake because when they are depicting and showing war, you don't have that cartoony feel. You don't have those songs, and it feels kind of like a Disney war movie. And the other thing when I was watching this, I felt it's stuck pretty close along to the storyline that it wasn't the original, But visually this movie it was pretty stunning, Like I felt like that was worth it. And the weird thing about it is that you knew watching this movie that it was meant for the big screen because all the scenes are so vibrant, the shots are really amazing, and they filmed this movie in parts of China and New Zealand, and you can tell this movie was made for the big screen. So watching it in my living room felt like a little bit of a disservice to this Disney movie because it needed to have that big screen to take it in a little bit more. All of the like scenery in the landscape. I felt like it was done so well, and that's kind of the angle they were going for, since they weren't able to show everything through animation. They went really vibrant on the set design to costume design and kind of giving it that feel of a real live action Disney movie. And what I actually liked about this one, it's unlike the other Disney remix, I felt like this story gave itself a little more to a live action remake, because when it's showing war and showing these battle and fight scenes, I feel like that transfers a lot more than it is for like The Lion King and even Aladdin. I felt because it wasn't so cartoony, it kind of became a movie of its own. But the bad part about that is I think it takes away what people loved about the original Mulan. That's kind of stripped away. I could watch this movie and not know the story of Mulan and not even think of this as a Disney movie. So I think it doesn't quite have that same charm, and it could almost run and not even be called Mulan at all, because it is so focused on the fighting in the war, and there's no really comic relief aside from a few scenes, and it's not even just overall that funny or humorous. It's almost its own movie, So I think if those were the things you loved about the original, it may be hard to adapt to this version. So I did in enjoyed the movie. If I saw it in movie theaters, I'd be like, Oh, it's great, a solid Disney movie. Probably rank it even a little higher than some of the other remakes because I think I like aspects of it more than I did of the original. But here's the thing. It's on Disney plus the service that if you have it, you're already paying a set amount each month, and then on top of that, you had to pay thirty bucks just to rent this movie, and they did make it a little bit confusing. I had to like go through my email to actually click a link to buy it before I could actually click it on my TV. I think they do that because they're worried that kids would just go on there and click it and pay thirty bucks. And I think that stops that. But I think people were a little split on, you know, that feeling of knowing that you're already paying for a service and having to pay something on top. I didn't feel so bad about it because I think I pay for things like Netflix and Hulu and if I'm gonna pay for a video on demand movie, I'm gonna have to pay on top of that either way. It just so happens that Disney has their own streaming service, so they're just gonna push it out on their service. So really, if you wanted to watch anything of this caliber, you would have to pay for it in some capacity. You'd have to pay a little bit more. So I get what it feels like you're adding an amount on top of what you're already paying. But the level of movie you're getting here I think warrants that. But is it worth the thirty dollars regardless if you're paying for a service or not. I can't really say that it's worth the thirty bucks After watching it at home, I think it's a movie you kind of need that theater experience to get and to feel like you're actually getting your money's worth. I think it was a good movie. I don't think it was a great movie. There were some cool parts that I felt like if I had kids and they were watching it, they would feel kind of a moment of like empowerment and moment of like, oh, like I could do something like that. I could be courageous I think that part of it was kind of cool. So if you have kids, I think it's maybe worth it to watch it as a family, But if you're just going out and trying to find something new to watch, I don't think it's the straight up worth thirty bucks to pay. I think you if you already have Disney Plus, it's worth it just to probably wait until December to win it's streaming for free. Now, if I watched this movie and didn't know it was Mulan, I may have even rated it higher, but I kind of have to hold it to that standard of it being a remake, being a story told in a different way. I don't think it really made any improvements in the story anywhere. And although the visual was really cool and it felt like something very theatrical, at home, I felt it was good, not great. I would give it four out of five swords, and it's right on that borderline. I think anything more than four would warrant paying for thirty bucks to rent this movie. But it's like right at that line of you could probably wait until it's for free to watch this one. Alright, So over the weekend, the first major blockbuster hits theaters and I gotta say I felt like I was in a little bit of a weird spot because I chose to watch the Mulawan movie at home, in the comfort of my own four walls, in my own TV, instead of going out to the movie theater. And I was a little bit surprised to see how many people were willing to go to a movie theater right now amid this pandemic and all the craziness in the world. And you know, even at being Labor Day weekend, I get it people want to go out and do things and kind of get outside, but I didn't feel like I was anywhere close to being ready to go see a movie inside. And with Tennant coming out, which is the new Christopher Nolan movie, it puts me kind of in a weird place because, for the first time ever, a major movie is out that I really wanted to see that I've been excited to see because there's so much kind of mystery around this movie and seeing the early reviews about this just got me curious about it. And to have a movie podcast where I go watch all the latest movies. I don't really see myself at any point soon going to see this movie in theaters and what I'm kind of wondering is to see how it's numbers and ticket sales affect how the movie kind of goes moving forward, because I think a lot of reason why this movie came out in theaters is because of Christopher Nolan's vision of this movie. If you don't know who Christopher Nolan is, he's the one who did all the Dark Knight movies. He did Inception, Interstellar, so all of his movies are really big and cinematic, and even movies like Dunkirk, he wants them to be seen on the big screen, which is something I've seen, you know, other directors say, because they didn't know this pandemic was going to happen when they were making this movie, and they put in all their work in vision into seeing this movie played out on the biggest screens possible. How it's meant to be seen the same way when a like an artist goes into record their music, they wanted to be taken in in a certain kind of way, and when it's not, it kind of feels like their art is taken a step back a little bit. Because if somebody is gonna end up watching this masterpiece on anything from a smaller TV screen to downgrading to a laptop or going even as far down as watching it on a phone. It's like, man, I put so much effort into this and it's not even being seen in its full potential. And not only that, I'm not getting the ticket price, I'm getting the streaming numbers, which let's not act like these movies are cheap. Like last week I rented a movie for twenty bucks to see the New Bill and ted this one was thirty dollars to see Mulan, And I guess it kind of makes a little bit more sense if more people are watching it and you're kind of saving money with not having to drive to a theater, but they're not going to see the same kind of numbers as a global hit if it was actually in theaters. So I think it's not so much that movie theaters needed this movie to kind of say afloat and have like a research And again, I think it's also that this movie needed movie theaters to kind of be seen in its full potential. So I'm don't have any aspirations to go watch this while it's in theaters right now. I've seen some early reviews on it, and they're kind of calling it Christopher Nolan's most confusing movie ever, and basically what the movie is, it's an action movie where they're traveling through time in reverse, so almost like the action sequence and explosions are having in reverse while the main characters are going in forwards time, which sounds pretty interesting to me, like I would want to see that visually. What I've seen from the trailer, it looks amazing. And I've talked to some other people who I saw on Instagram and asked them, you know, what, were there not in the movie, and everybody generally tends to like it, but are also a little bit confused by it. So I think what we're gonna end up seeing happening is maybe at some point, and I'm hoping that they're like, Okay, it's been in theaters for a few weeks now, we're gonna put it on video one demand. It will still probably cost twenty bucks, maybe even thirty bucks for this one, but I think this one is kind of the litmus test of how movies going back to normal will be. So I don't think I'm there yet. I don't think i'll be there at this point. Any movie this year that comes out in theaters, So I'm really hoping it kind of shift to that dynamic of Okay, we put it out for a few weeks and then video on demand. I would love for it to happen both at the same time, because as much as I love going to a movie theater, like, don't get me wrong, like I love that experience, I've always said I would rather watch it in the theater than at home, but just from a safety standpoint and not wanting to be so like rid it out the entire time, I would just rather see it at home. Right now, I've also found a way to enjoy that experience too, so we'll see what happens. And the other crazy story that happened last week was Robert Pattinson as coronavirus and there in the middle of filming The Batman and they just kind of resumed filming not too long ago, and so much so that we had that awesome trailer that came out, which was a lot more than I was expecting to see that movie. And then I saw the first story come out last week where they said that for action was halted because a member of the crew had coronavirus, and then a day later it turns out Robert Pattinson was the one who had coronavirus. So they're kind of investigating how they're going to continue filming this movie, and right now everything is just on pause. I think we know a little bit more about it in the next few weeks. Now they're still scheduled to put this out next year in one Like they haven't said they're delaying the release date yet because of Robert Pattinson. But I also saw that they were saying that they never expected things to go totally smoothly while going back into filming, Like I think they expected stuff like this to happen, to kind of put a pause at some point, and maybe they put that release date knowing that, Okay, if we get backed up here in there, we know that we can still make that release date. I wonder how this will start to play out as far as how they changed the content in movies, because maybe they come back and you know, they're like, Okay, we're gonna have to film some scenes a little more socially distant, We're gonna have to do some things like a little bit different on set. And it's kind of interesting to see some actors who have gone back to work and shown kind of the different restrictions and different things they have on set. It's like they get their own trailer now, but everything they have is like put into bags and they have to throw wardrobe into like their own separate little bins, and a lot of people are like doing their own makeup. It's just crazy to see how movies getting back to filming has changed so much. And while right now we're not really experiencing any major delays and having new things come out, as far as there hasn't really been a gap in like new content, right now is the point where, Okay, the stuff they're trying to film that's coming out over the next year or two could really affect how many movies we get to see, maybe in the next couple of years, so all the movies that have been postponed will eventually come out. But after that, it's like, oh man, can they really kind of keep that schedule of having things coming out one after another? So that'll be interesting to see two all right, But that's gonna do it for this week's episode and that entire four part series. I hope you guys enjoyed listening to that, all right, So I'll be back next week with a whole new topic. And I also think it to my shout out, I didn't get to do it last week. So going over to Twitter this week, it's from at Jackie Nerd, who said she loved the second episode in this series and the only critique she had was the four minute intro. And I have to say, I see tweets come in all the time. Sometimes it's like, hey, your podcast suck? Do you suck? But this is one that was actually like, hey, great episode, However, you talked too much at the very beginning, which I was like, man, Even when I was putting together that episode, I realized the intro was a little long, and I decided to keep it. But after I read this tweet, I was like, you know what, it's actually a really good point. And I made an effort on the next one and this one to keep it shorter in the beginning because I realized it's probably a little annoying. And this is also just proof that I read all of you guys messages and tweets. If there's something you don't like, I'll probably see it and consider it now. But just you saying something mean on the internet, then I'll probably won't pay any attention to it. But this is kind of what we need more of on social media, like actual constructive criticism that's helping people out and sometimes people take it the wrong but I was like, Okay, that's actually something I'm doing. So thanks to Jackie for pointing that out, And here's your shout out. Thanks for listening to the podcast. All right, I will talk to you guys next week here on a brand new episode. Be sure to subscribe wherever you're listening to this right now and until next time later