Shoot The Flick

Moonstruck (1987)

Well, its starting to get chilly outside. And we're in the mood for some pizza and fresh baked bread. So here comes the Oscar-winning 80s classic, Moonstruck!!! What will Scott and Frankie think of this romantic comedy starring Cher and Nic Cage? Tune in to find out as we SHOOT THE FLICK!!! Also...do you believe in a life after love?!?

Duration:: 1h 2m
Broadcast on:: 21 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

(upbeat music) - Hey there, welcome to Shoot the Flick. I'm Frankie Sparks. - And I'm Scott Eisenberg. - And we are a married couple who like to shoot the shit about movies. - That we do, that we do, end. When the moon hits your eye. - Oh no. - Like a big piece of pie. - That's a moray. - That's a moray. - So yeah, guys, hi. This is the last one we were doing before Thanksgiving break. It's a movie that I wanted to show Scott for a long, long time. It's a classic, it's beloved. I'm excited to talk about it. It's very lovey-dovey and very wintery as well. It's starting to get a little colder out, kids. Okay, we gotta get the vibe going. - We have to get the vibe. We have to feel the love of the end of the year. - Okay, enjoy ourselves. - By the way, I asked Scott to listen to Christmas music in the car yesterday and he wanted to kill himself. So I don't know what he's talking about. That's a moray. - Is it? - That's a moray, you know. So we're watching "Moonstruck," released in 1987. I love this movie. Watching this again though, really was like a little warm, little blanket for me. I don't know about you, Scott, but just like, it reminded me of home. - It did. - Just for anybody that's new to the show, Scott and I both live in North Carolina now, but we lived our entire lives in New York. This story takes place in Brooklyn with a very Italian family. We both have Italian families. So yeah, I related to this movie a lot and it just gave me nice, more memories. Yeah, I can tell you, I knew some of these people. - Indeed, same. - There is no- - And related to some of these people. - That is also true. - Ah, so yeah. So like, what did you know about "Moonstruck" going in? 'Cause it seemed like you weren't 100% sure of the plot, which I was surprised about. 'Cause I knew you'd seen certain things just from pop culture. - Indeed, I knew I lost my hand. I lost my pride. Johnny has his hand. Johnny has his pride. It's not pride, it's pride. - Well, same difference. I keep doing this. - That's what he said when we were watching that scene. 'Cause I feel like that's probably the most well-known scene that even if you haven't seen the movie, you know that scene where Nick Cage is a very young Nick Cage which we'll talk about Nick Cage in this movie, but he's holding up his hand which is a prosthetic hand and he's like, ah, and doing a whole big thing. This movie is very much a romance in pretty much every sense of the word. It sort of hammers it in very harshly that this is a romance. This is about love. - I knew Cher, I knew Nicholas Cage. Yeah, it's basically it. - Did you think that Nick Cage and Cher had chemistry together? - I think they do, but I feel like I'm maybe a little biased. - They do. - Okay, but did you say that questionably? - In all honesty, if these two were to be together, it's a little off. I don't know if that's just because this all takes place over like a week. - I mean, yeah, it's very quick. The reason I asked that is because I don't know exactly how long ago, but pretty recently there was a clip that was flying around on the internet of like, I think it was Amy Poehler on one of the late night shows and for some reason they were talking about Moonstruck. And Amy Poehler, I think said, oh, they're both so hot, but they have no chemistry. And I was like, what? I thought they had chemistry, but I mean, I mean, maybe it's subjective, I guess, chemistry, but. - I wouldn't say it's in the upper echelon of chemistry. - Okay. - For romantic movies, but I definitely won't say there's no chemistry. Like when you compare to like movies we watched just on the show, I'm not talking about all movies in general, but like-- - Sure, sure. - What you do like things like when Harry Met Sally. - Yes. - They have fucking off the first chemistry. - Right, of course. - But like, even if we talk about Cher in general, let's talk about mermaids. - Which is a movie we also talked about on this show, but she had a romantic interest with Bob Hoskins in that movie, yeah. - And I think they have a better chemistry than Cher and the Cage. - I don't know. - I think, I mean, maybe it's just because in mermaids, their romance isn't as much of a central point, so it's hard to compare maybe, but I like their chemistry. - Oh, I don't think it's bad. I just don't think it's when you go like, what's the best chemistry in a movie for like a romantic movie? I don't think this would be the first one anyone would come up with. - Sure, I think that's fair. I think that's fair. But yeah, this is like such an iconic movie, and I'm so excited to talk about it. I was really happy to rewatch it, but would you say you really enjoyed it overall, Scott? - I think it's a fun movie. I think Cher's fun. I think Nicholas Cage is being Nicholas Cage, like the main speech. Like he has a-- - There's quite a few good speeches I think in the movie. - There's quite a few good speeches, but the main speech you can kind of see like, oh, there's some of the Cage in there. There's some of that crazy in the Cage we know. But like, I think he does a pretty good job. He has a weird cadence. - Yeah, we're gonna talk about the Cage. I feel like we have to devote quite a bit of time to talk about Nick Cage and Cher. I think they're both very worthy of conversation and dissection in their performances, so we'll get there. So this movie was directed and co-produced by a man named Norman Jewison. He was behind such movies as In The Heat of the Night. That was the whole 20 years before this movie. He also did Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, a whole bunch of things. He actually sadly passed away in January of this year, but the script was written by John Patrick Shanley. He was also behind another movie that I really liked. It's on my list for Scott, Joe versus The Volcano. And that was like three years after this. So the film was nominated for six Oscars and one three of them. Now it won for lead actress, for Cher. Of course, you know, the queen supporting actress for Olympia Dukakis who played Cher's mother and for original screenplay for John Patrick Shanley. He also won the WGA and all three of the people that I just mentioned also won Golden Globes as well. But the movie was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. Why are you laughing at Best Picture? - Because it shows you how-- - How dare you. - How? - It just shows you how different the 80s are to today. - I don't think that's fair to say. - It just came out today. - Now bitch, I'm looking up all the best picture now. - It just came out today. - Okay. - There is zero chance. - I don't think that's true at all. - Zero. - Past lives was in Best Picture. - Zero. - Past lives was in Best Picture last year. - Zero. - Get out of here. - There was zero chance this even sniffs any nominee. - I-- - I don't even think Cher gets nominated. - I disagree. - I think Nick Cage should have been nominated. Nick Cage's performance. Fuck, okay, we keep gassing it up. We're gonna talk about it. Wait, now you're making me want to look up 1988 Best Picture nominees. See what you got me doing? (laughs) - Yes, it's all my fault. - It is 'cause you're saying that this doesn't deserve to be in Best Picture. - No, I'm not saying that. - Oh, that sounds like what you're saying. - No, I'm saying that the 80s, you could get a feel-good romantic movie like this. - In Best Picture. - Past lives. - Past lives is also a very small romantic fucked up movie. - It was, and it got nominated. - Yes. - Very small, romantic movie. - It got nominated. It had zero chance of winning. - Now see, you say that, but you don't know. - I do know, did it win? - No, but I'm saying win, what won? - Not past lives. - What won last year? - What didn't win last year? - Oppenheimer. - Oppenheimer, that's right, so war. - And what was the other movie that people were saying was like the biggest movie of the year last year? - Barbie. - Right. A little girly bullshit movie, okay? - That's fine, I'm just saying. - So I'm just saying, don't say that this, you know, could be won. - I really liked the movie. I don't think any of these nominations would have happened if this movie came out in 2024. The 80s was like, cool, we liked this movie. We can nominate it. That's what the 80s was. - Okay, so the movie, Moonstruck, lost both Best Picture and Best Director to Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which I've never seen, but sounds pretty oscary to me. And the only other Best Picture nominee that I recognize in this lot that I've seen is Fatal Attraction. - So Fatal Attraction was nominated for Best Picture. The one where Glenn Close boils a bunny. That one, that's what happens in the movie. Why are you laughing? It's what happens in the movie. - It's just the idea. I've never seen the movie. - Glenn Close boils a bunny. Not in real, I'm assuming it wasn't a real bunny. - I'm sorry. - I mean, one can only hold, it wasn't a real bunny. But was she nominated for Best Actress? That would be, she was, she was nominated for Best Actress for being a psycho ex-girlfriend that boiled a bunny. - My God, in heaven. Anyway, sorry, we got off on a tangent. But the movie was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the guy that played the father in the movie, Vincent Gardenia. And he lost to Sean Connery in The Untouchables. - Yeah, it makes sense. - Which I've also seen and I don't like his performance in it, but that's not really my business. - Again, that's fine. I just don't think he did. - Do you think Nikesh should have got in there? Just for reference, Michael Douglas won that year for Wall Street. - Okay, yeah, he wasn't gonna meet Michael Douglas. - So, it is what it is. So, Scotty. - Yes. - Are you ready to get into the nitty and the gritty? - I am ready. I have my pasta sitting over here. - Okay. - The pizza sitting over there. - I know when the moon hits dry like a big pizza pie. - That's Amore. - Yeah. - Yeah. - La Luna. - There's a lot of talk about Italian things and the moon. Get ready. So, the movie starts out with our main female lead, played by Cher, of course, the Retta Castorini. She is an Italian-American widow who lives in Brooklyn Heights. She's a bookkeeper. She lives with her folks and her grandpa and his five fucking dogs. - Her husband was final destination. - He, so God. So, for those of you that don't know, when you are an Italian woman, okay, especially at that time, back in, you know, in the olden times of the 1980s. - The 1980s. - You know what I'm saying though. Well, back in the day, he was very expected of you to, as an Italian woman, especially get married young, pop out babies, all that good stuff, right? Cher didn't do that in this movie. She sort of waited for love, as she said. She held out for love. She got married like 26, 27, 28, something like that. For that, that's old apparently, but whatever. She waited, got married, had a quickie wedding in like a city hall 'cause she loved him and she just got married and like, you know. - Her husband stepped in front of a bus. - She died, he got hit by a bus and died. And then you can tell just based on how she conducts herself in her life, she's very closed off. She does have a boyfriend who will introduce in a second, but it's not a very passionate love affair, as we'll soon find out. - Some might say, Cher doesn't believe in a life after love. ♪ Do you believe in life after love ♪ - Ah, it's so funny, but just to give you context of where Cher was in her career at this time, we did mention mermaids. Mermaids was like three years after this. And that's a great, great fucking movie, but she also had a killer year, this particular year. In 1987, not only did this movie come out, Moonstruck, which got her Oscar of course, but also Witches of Eastwick was this year. And she did another movie, like a legal drama called Suspect with, oh God, what was his name? - The guy from-- - The guy from the movie? - No, the guy from substance, the substance from this year. He plays a creepy guy, Dennis Quay. - Yes. - He's in that, and yeah, so she's really kind of being taken seriously as an actress at this point in her career, which is great. And her boyfriend is a fella by the name of Johnny Camarieri. She's Loretta Castorini, and he's Johnny Camarieri, so in case you didn't realize that these were Italian people, now you know. - And in case you accidentally mixed up their last names, that's fine too. - It's fine, it's not a big deal. So Johnny is played by Danny Iello. He's been in a bunch of things as well, do the right thing, he got nominated for that, like two years after this excellent fucking movie, Hudson Hawk, he's been in, I know Scott wants to show me that fucking movie, but more importantly, Leon the Professional, just something about its anniversary, 30 years. - It did. - He was in that movie as well. I think the most recent movie he was in before he passed away in 2019 was Little Italy. - Oh geez. - Which, if you don't know what that is, I've never seen it, and I don't want to, but it's a love, it's a rom-com of sorts. - With the Italian actor. - He's hating Christians and doing a terrible New York accent. And he makes pizza, and he falls in love with another girl who's Italian apparently, I think she's played by Emma Roberts. - Also Italian. - Also supposedly Italian and makes pizza, just a match made in pizza heaven. But Johnny is sort of a, how would you describe Johnny as a character, Scott? - Johnny is a pushover to the match. - A mush. Yeah, he's a mush. - Yeah, Johnny's kind of just like malleable to the extreme. - A pussy, as some might call me. - Yeah, he's a little bit of that. - His running gag throughout the movie is that he's super forgetful and just kind of a dope. But like, you know, he's not a bad spirited dope. He's just a dope. - No, he's not bad spirited. He's just kind of the road block. - Yeah, he's also a mama's boy, which will come up. So Loretta is dating Johnny. They're having dinner at this Italian restaurant, of course, right? And Johnny is about to leave for Sicily to tend to his dying mother. But before he leaves, he decides he's gonna propose to Loretta. It kind of made me laugh personally watching this whole proposal scene because just a little personal story. My mom always used to tell this story about when my dad reposed to her. They were in a restaurant and he was gonna propose but he kept getting nervous. So he kept putting it off and like, oh, let's get dessert. Oh, let's do this. And my mom was like, I don't want dessert. So it kind of reminded me of this. And then of course, despite his nerves, he, of course, proposed and it was a very lovely moment. But it just reminded me of this scene in the movie. I never understood, 'cause like, when Scotty proposed to me, you know, he was also very nervous. And I'm like, but you knew I was gonna say yes when you proposed. You know, you might have an idea. Oh. You might have an idea. Oh, stop it. But you never fully know. You knew. No, you don't. What did you really think I was gonna say no? There is, oh, as the guy who has proposed. Uh-huh. There, as much as you like. Yeah, she's gonna say yes. There's that little voice in the back of her head. She could say no. She could, she could, she could just, she could, you could have one of those moments where you say, well, you marry me. And she says nothing. And then you're like, oh God. I certainly didn't say nothing. No, you did not. There are all these little ideas. You could run the scenario 10,000 times. I mean, I guess. And it would have been pretty bad. You proposed to me on stage. I did, people. Like a bunch of people. I did. You must have been pretty confident. I was, how confident were you? Let's put a number on it. How confident were you that I was gonna say yes? Like 95. 95? Yes. That's low. What do you mean? That's low. That's low if you're gonna put yourself out there to that degree. I mean, I would mean 99.9% certainty. And you're telling me, first of all, you really thought there was a 5% chance. No, but there, no. I didn't think it was a 5% chance. So, well 95 plus 5 equals 100. I don't know if you know this. Thank you, dear. I do know math. So I was 95% sure. Uh-huh. It was like maybe a 2% chance you thought I was gonna what? Like, no. And then the run. And then the 3% was that I said no. There was like the 1% of like, maybe the roof collapses on me. Oh. Cheers. But again, you play out the bunch of different scenarios. Yes. So, okay. So, back to the movie we're talking about. Johnny proposes to Loretta. Loretta says yes. But she makes it clear, like, she wants to go by the book. Because her first marriage, they flew by the sealer pants somewhat. Um... She's got bad luck. And she thinks, yes. She thinks that that caused the bad luck that ultimately led to her husband dying prematurely in such a horrible accident. So she's like, I wanna make sure that everything's by the book, church wedding, all the traditions, big reception, all that stuff, so that everything goes smoothly and we have good luck. And Johnny's like, cool. I'm gonna go to Sicily and tend to my dying mother, and when I come back, we'll get married. Yes. And they're good, like, for people who just got engaged. She looks at him like she's expecting him to like, you know, either say I love you or like... Yeah, they never say I love you. It's just kind of like, yeah, you're there. Yeah. There's sort of an agreement, it seems there, an arrangement of sorts. They're both a little older. They both are, you know, just looking to get married, just to have that sort of, the sort of status that comes with being shared has one married. One little patch of gray hair that's not really fooling anybody. No, that's true. I mean, she's also, she's supposed to be 37 in this, but in the eyes of womanhood, especially Italian married women, she's about 107. She might as well have been the old lady cursing the plane. Oh, yes. That was five forgot about that. So Johnny goes on the plane. They have a very like, tepid goodbye. She gives him a little kiss, and he just kind of like walks off. Sure, you're kissing Cher. Really? Like, get in there, man, but no. So she's watching the plane go and there's this little old Sicilian lady that's like, I put a curse on that plane. My sister's on that plane, and I hate her. She stole a man for me in 1942, it's like Jesus Christ, make it stop. So also, before Johnny gets on the plane, he gives Loretta his younger brother, Ronnie's number, Johnny and Ronnie, how funny that is, but they haven't talked in five years. She didn't even know about him, and he's like, can you call him and invite him to the wedding? Yes. She's like, sure. She goes home to her parents abode and tells her parents that she's going to get married. First she tells her father, Cosmo played by Vincent Gardenia. He was Mr. Mushnick in Little Shop of Horrors, the year before this. Unfortunately, he did pass about five years after this movie came out, but yeah, he makes a pretty horrible comment. She tells him she's getting married, and he's like, again, it didn't work out so well for you the first time. He shares the guy died, what do you want me to do? He's like, yeah, I've been married to your mother 56 years, nobody died. You marry once and he dies in two years, it doesn't work too well for you Loretta. I'm going to do this obnoxious Italian accent the whole time, because it just makes me feel good. I like doing it. Leave me alone. It's even funnier because so Cosmo, he's got a little bit of charm, and he likes to hear himself talk. At one point, because we find out he's a plumber. Yeah, he's got money, he's got money, because plumbers in New York City, they make money, they make money. And he goes, I love the way he tells these people, he goes, you got free choices, you got the garbage you have right now. Oh yeah, when he's working your job, like a plumbing job at someone's house, you have the basic plumbing, which we'll break down on you and you'll be back into the situation sooner than rather than later, and then he got copper, copper, copper, which might cost you some money. That's because it saves you money. Yeah, and then later on, he's like, ah, the woman, she's cheap. The man knows what he's talking about, the woman. She's cheap. I was like, you fucker. Anyway, then Loretta also tells her mother Rose, who was played by Olympia Dukakis. I love Olympia Dukakis. For some reason, I assumed because she is Greek, I assume she wasn't big fat Greek wedding, she's not. I was like, will you prime to be? I'm like, is she not in big fat Greek wedding? No, but she was in steel magnolias two years after this amazing fucking movie. I'll probably never make Scott watch it. It's much too girly, girl powery. We don't want him to explode. She unfortunately also passed away in 2021, but I just, I love her so much and she kills it in this role as well. She earned her Oscar. She literally says to Loretta, she's like, do you love him Loretta? And Loretta is like, no, good. When you love them, they try to be crazy because they know they can. It's like, yes, yes, queen. Oh, don't look at me like that, Scott. You know it's correct. I know nothing. Well, well, we don't want to, that's low hanging fruit, I won't make that joke. So the next day, literally the next day, kids, Loretta goes to see Ronnie, the Johnny's little brother, at his bakery, camaraderie's bakery. Well, that's after she calls him at first and he hangs up on her. Oh, yes, he does, but he's, he's tortured. He's a tortured soul as we'll find out in a minute. We're about to introduce Dick Cage to the story, guys, and Nick Cage. He brings a certain Jenna Sequah to the movie. It's hard to pin down much like a lot of Nick Cage's roles to be quite frank, but she goes to the bakery to see Ronnie. Ronnie is played by Nicholas Cage. Yes. This is right in between Raising Arizona, which was the same year as this. And vampires kiss. It might be on my list for you. I don't know, though. I don't know if it's, that's kind of dark to put on the, if it's on the list, I'm probably going to take it off. I don't think it is. Anyway, vampires kiss is crazy and so is Nicholas Cage. So Nicholas Cage, as we all know, if you, if you've watched the movie, there's always something odd about any role Nicholas Cage does. Yes, this is pretty early in his career. But this in Raising Arizona are both in '87. Yeah. But he's so good in Raising Arizona. He is really good in Raising Arizona. I think he's good in this too, but there, there is a sort of like uncanny valley element to his performance almost where it's like, it's not like Tommy was so, but it's, it's kind of like if Tommy was so was a legitimate actor. Kind of, but I also think it's because Cher is very dry. Yes. And I think he tries to match Cher. I don't think that's. A little bit on her dries and it's just, I don't think he's trying to be dry. I think he's just like, so, especially in this scene in the bakery scene, he's so over dramatic. He's over dramatic, but in other scenes he's not. But even, I think it's also the accent too. Like there's just a weird concoction of shit in his performance, but it's still somehow really good and just like, raw and you feel like the sincerity of it. Yeah. I do. It's weird. It's weird. It's weird, but it's good. I like it. So, okay. So just to give you guys some background, he did audition for the movie. The screen test did not go well. The studio was not impressed, but Cher, the queen. After seeing Nicholas Cage already in Peggy Sue Got Married, she was so gung home about him being in this movie that she threatened to quit if they'd admired a cage. So she went to bat for him for this movie. That's insane. And he was snubbed, some might say, for the Oscar nomination. However, he did get a Golden Globe nomination for his role in this film, but lost to Robin Williams for Good Morning Vietnam. Yeah, that makes sense. Which does make sense. I'm trying to figure out like, okay, you have late 80s. I don't know who else could have done this. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, there were a lot of kind of, there were a lot of gruff men of the 80s. Yeah, but gruff men who could play Italians, like, could you see De Niro doing this? No. Yeah. Well, De Niro is a De Niro. No. Well, yes, but I can't see him in this row. I can't see him bouncing over Cher. Well, I mean, to be fair, De Niro wasn't, you know, looked to as like the romantic lead. A lot of the time now. So, I mean, there, you can find a, you could have found somebody else, but I, I think that ultimately it worked out. I, I'm glad for this performance. I laughed. I. Oh, it's terrible. I, you know, because the thing is the script is so good and just the highs of the highs and the lows of the lows, he's all over the place, but in the best way, like the only Nikage can be, because you know, he can pull out a good performance. He's done it a million times. He's also pulled out fucking crazy performances and done that a million times. I feel like this is a combination of those vibes for him. Yeah. Like this speech that he gives in the bakery, first of all, he starts, as soon as he realizes she's there on behalf of his brother, Johnny, he immediately goes to one of the lurkers and yells at her and it's like, Chrissy, give me the big knife, I'm going to kill myself. And then he goes into the story about why he has bad blood with Johnny, which is essentially, he was engaged to some woman and his brother, Johnny came into the bakery to get bread and they're having a conversation and Nick Cage's Ronnie gets his hand caught in the bread slicer and because he was distracted by Johnny talking to him, he sliced his hand in the hand slicer maiming his hand and he shows this like wooden prosthetic. It's not good. It's not great. I mean, it's, it seems pretty clear that it's like a glove essentially that Nick Cage put his hand into to emulate a fucked up hand that like half his hand is maimed or whatever. But it's fine. It does the job and shares like, well, that's not really Johnny's fault. Oh, because the, the, his fiance left him for another man after he, after his accident. So he blames Johnny for this and shares just like, well, that's kind of stupid. That's not Johnny's fault and Nick Cage just explodes. I ain't no freaking monument to justice. I lost my hand, I lost my bride, Johnny has his hand, Johnny has his bride. You want me to take my heartbreak, put her away and forget it's fucking. Great. And all while he's doing this, share like kind of follows him because he walks off into a deep part of the bakery and then we cut to like, oh my god, this poor girl, they just got yelled at by Nick Cage. She's like, I love this man. He's the most tortured soul I've ever known. Like he's the fan of the opera. It's so funny because as you're saying that, I'm imagining Linda Belcher, just the way you say it. Oh, Bobby, oh, I love that Bobby. He's a tortured soul. Bobby, he's a tortured soul now and with good childhoods don't stand like kids. Can someone just pay them to do this scene as share? Oh, like, and Bob's like the cage Linda, Linda's Linda's share, that'd be pretty funny. So what I find interesting though, is that she does follow him, like everyone's sort of stunned silent after his whole tirade, you know, but share, she kind of sees a kinship with him. She sees something in him that reflects what she's been through also with her history with love and her lack of luck, so I might say, with love, her closed offness to love. Her life after love. So there's a rule of three in comedy, so you can only make that joke one more time. I'm holding it. I would save it as long as you can, because share, share is the star of this movie. So it's going to be hard not to make another believe joke. So she goes up to Nick Cage after his whole tirade, and he almost seems surprised that she's approaching him after all that, but she goes, can we just talk? So he lives in the apartment upstairs above the bakery. So they go upstairs into his apartment, she cooks him some food, it was kind of funny. She makes a mistake and he's like, I like it well done. And she's like, you'll eat it bloody and like it, basically, it's really funny. Yeah, they eat, they drink, they talk. She basically tells him about his fucking life, because he says something along the lines of, oh, she was right to leave me, meaning his fiance. And she's like, you don't really, you're an idiot, like you are stupid. Here's, here's the real tea, okay. You are a wolf. I was like, I'm a wolf. You're a wolf. You were trapped in the situation with this shitty relationship, and you literally shoot off your own hand to escape the trap. And then he just, he's like, what are you doing? What are you doing? And she's like, I'm just telling you about your life and he's like, yeah, well, why are you burying Johnny? He's a fool. I looked the wrong way and he made me lose my hand. You look the wrong way and you can lose your head. And she's like, I'm just trying to be a bride, okay. That's what I want. And that's what I'm going to be. And she's like a bride without a head and she goes, a wolf without a foot. And then now, let me just say, when we were in the Johnny and Loretta era of this movie in the very beginning, Scott was like, well, how's this going to go wrong? So I was like, clearly you don't know the whole plot of the movie, despite its, you know, inundation in pop culture. You don't know everything because literally, okay, just this moment. Just fucking flips the table like Teresa Judas. Yeah. Goddamn. Do you know that reference? Yes. I know that reference. Oh, I love you for knowing that. Flips the table like Teresa Judas and grabs share and just makes out with her. And she's like, wait a minute, hold up. And then she makes out with it again. And then they just, they just, they just fuck. They make sweet, passionate love. He literally picks her ass up and she's like, where are you taking me to the bed? That's like his delivery is to the bed. Like he's, it's a little insane, it's a lot, it's so much, but like they're just unleashing long locked away passions upon each other. What do you want me to say, they literally ravage each other. What do you want from me? Oh, God. They're like moaning on the fucking movie. Like, I'm just reporting the news. Okay. I'm reporting the news. Hashtag real news. Release the passions on each other. Listen here, sir. How would you fucking phrase it? No. Right. So shut up. It's fun. Shut up over there. Oh, God. Okay. Now listen, ladies, Nick Cage in this movie, I, I'm trying to discern if I'm like attracted to him in this movie. I'm not not attracted, but like it's a lot, you know what I mean? It's a lot, ladies. Cher is hot. We don't need to discuss that. It's obvious. She's hot. Well, yeah. Cher is Nick Cage attractive in this movie. The jury's out, I think. I don't know. I would say yes. He's certainly not conventionally attractive, but I think that's the point because in the movie, they, like Scott was saying, they, you know, spray paint fucking Cher's hair gray. Like, you know, we're supposed to think she's some like old maid or whatever and like team her not as attractive. You know, if we put Cher's hair up in the bun and gave her some glasses and then put her in some overalls, yeah, just, you know, she's all that and a bag of pepperoni. That was terrible, but it's okay. So they fuck all night, all night long. Now meanwhile, whilst the fucking is occurring back at the castorini family abode, there is a family dinner happening with Rose and Cosmo and Grandpa, along with Rose's brother Ray and his wife Rita. And Uncle Ray and Aunt Rita are just adorable throughout the entirety of the film. Yeah, they're cute. They own a deli and we find out later that Cher also does the books for the deli. Cher, there's the books for quite a few people. She does. She's very relied upon in this town, you know, everybody knows Loretta, but they have this like really sweet scene where they're talking about how Cosmo was first courting Rose and like Ray says like, oh, when Cosmo was first courting Rose, there's a big, bright, beautiful moon. I've never seen the moon that big before. It was so beautiful and then let that let that and it's really cute because it's a similar moon that very night and Ray notices it and poor Rita when they're in bed. They're like, oh, you know, when that light you look about 25 years old and then Uncle Ray gets this like cute little look on his face, it goes into the bed and they're laughing and it's so cute and like Uncle Ray gets fucking laid and it's just so cute. But what's fucked up about it also, we'll talk more about it as we go through the plot, but we also find out that Cosmo is having an affair while all this is going on. So when Uncle Ray is making that whole speech about the moon and stuff and Cosmo and Rose and their big love, it's a little undercut by the fact that Cosmo is having an affair. Now, there are things though about this movie, so Cher does some really good acting choices where she gets some of Cosmo's mannerisms and takes it on herself and she does it throughout the movie. There's just little things that the two of them do similarly that Cher had to make a conscious choice to do to emphasize that she's Cosmo's daughter and it's just like little things like that, just the way they get angry or like they want to like emphasize points, they smack the table. Yeah, they will use their hands very frequently like, you know, let's typical Italians do, you know, I can attest to that, I do that all the time. Yes. All right, I have to agree so readily there. I do too. All right. That's the thing about movies like this, because like really this movie is just a great vehicle to just smear your acting chops all over the screen, really for everybody, because it's just a script that's full of great little speeches and great little lines and great little conversations. So it's a great opportunity to just like whip out your acting chops. Is that what they call them? Sure. So the next morning after Loretta and Ronnie's little Trist, Loretta is feeling really guilty and you know, she's like currently putting on her clothes and she's like, we gotta forget this ever happened and Ronnie's like, well, I can't do that. I'm in love with you and it's a great scene. She just slaps the shit out of it snap out of it. You're in love with her like and she's like, no, no, no, I'm marrying Johnny. You're not coming to the wedding anymore. I'm done with this. I'm marrying Johnny. Done. Because she's just, she's scared, you know, she found this guy and she actually really had a real experience, a real emotional connection and she's a little freaked out. But Ronnie is sort of immediately all in, which is also a little scary, like, hey, okay, fine. I'll leave you alone, but I'll leave you alone after you come to the opera with me tonight. Yes. I love two things in this world. I love you when I love the opera and it's like, all right, shit. For some reason, him being like in love with the opera is almost just so weird for me. It is. But the whole character is fucking weird, Scott. I know. But it's just a strange character. But okay. So this leads the share of course, cleaning herself up. Yes. We get like the typical like makeover scene. She actually goes to Uncle Ray and Aunt Rita's deli and does the books for them and takes, I guess, their like money from the till for like the week or whatever to go put in their account and she puts it in her bag and she, the next thing she does is walk into a salon and Scott's like, oh, is she going to use the money to like doll herself up and get shit because later on we see her like getting ready for this date at the opera and she's got like all these dresses and shoes and like she dyed her hair and did her nails and all this crazy shit. So there's sort of that little darkish cloud hanging over the whole thing, but we don't focus too much on it right now because, you know, we're going into the date and they have this little scene where they meet at the fountain by the Met and they, you know, lock eyes and it's very romantic and beautiful and the music swelling and it's just really nice. They, they, they doll themselves up so nicely and then Nicholas Cage shaved. Yeah. Eventually they do go to the opera, the two of them. She is clearly very moved by the opera. There's a scene where she's crying and he's holding her hand and it's, it's very sweet. Later on though, after we leave the opera, Cher and Ronnie both run into none other than Cosmo with his date, his mistress named Mona and it's a very awkward encounter. She's like pissed at him. She's like, what are you doing? You're also because earlier on like Olympia Dukakis was suspicious of him and she tells Cher that and she's like, no, no, dad wouldn't do that, he's too old. So Cher confronts the dad and he's pissed. He actually calls Cher a putana, which is like, you fucking asshole. She's like, I won't have you out here acting like a putana. You're engaged and she's like, you're my father and you're married to my mother. What the fuck are you doing? So he's just like, we didn't see each other and she's like, I don't know what the fuck I just saw that he just leaves and she's upset. So Cher walks home, or she thinks she's walking home with the cage. She actually walks them to his place and he's trying to basically convince her like, give into the connection that they have and it's not wrong, like they just want to be together and he has this great speech about what love really is and like, love ruins everything. It's messy. We ruin ourselves and we love and we die and all the story books are bullshit and that's what love really is the love songs lie to us. None of them are true. The most recent one I can think of is Maroon 5. I think that the song about love be love songs being bullshit. Maroon 5. I think that was one of the most recent ones, right? Maroon 5? Yes. Or Adam Lee. Honey, you're showing your age now. But when's Maroon 5, when's the last time they came out with a song? I don't know. Oh, he's been a minute. It's been a minute. That's fine. That's part of the reason why I really like this movie, that was because I'm all about a love story with some misfits, right? And like, share and Nick Cage and this movie both seem in their own way like a couple of misfits. Frank, you just like misfits. I do like misfits. I'm a misfit. You're a misfit. We're all misfits. We're all misfits. We're all misfits. This island of misfit toys tells her, get to bed. Oh my God. He literally is like, just get in my bed. Like, what are we doing here? It's freezing out. I'm in the cold. It smells like snow out here. Let's get inside and go to bed. And he holds out his wooden hand to her, which I think is symbolic in a way. And she takes it, and they go in the house and they, you know. At least on each other again, presumably only shot each other once again. Leave me alone with my fucking terminology. God damn it. I'm leaving a story here. You're over there laughing and talking about Maroon 5. Maroon 5, Jesus Christ. The movie opens with a Dean Martin song and you're talking about fucking Maroon 5 over there. I open with singing about pizza pie and the more I open talking about pizza pies. So anyway, meanwhile, let me do caucus is having dinner. Yes, she has dinner by herself in a restaurant, and she sees this professor guy named Perry, who's played by John Mahoney. He most famously, I would say, plays Phraser's dad on the show, Phraser, which started like five or six years after this movie. But earlier in the film, when Loretta is getting proposed to by Johnny, he's there with a clearly younger woman, one of his students, presumably, and she gets pissed off at him and she throws a drink in his face because he's a jerk and leaves. And the same thing happens this night when Olympia Dukakis is in the restaurant. Young girl throws a drink on him, leaves, and instead of like, you know, calling him a pig or just leaving him to his own devices, Olympia Dukakis decides to invite him to join her for dinner. And he does, and they talk, they talk about why he chases after younger women, why men chase after women period, you know, just basically just some more great dialogue and just picking apart what is love and what makes it, what makes the lovers tick, you see? Ah, yes. You know? So they have this whole conversation and it actually endears this sort of one-dimensional character who you think is sort of like a one-off gag, you know, or a two-off gag, I suppose. But it endears him and kind of gives him a little dimension, which is fun. Yeah, it gets him to send a dimension that gives Olympia Dukakis like a thing to play off of. Yeah. And he walks her home at the end of the night and they kiss each other on the cheek, but she kind of puts the wall up and is like, I'm not going to invite you in because I'm a married woman and that's not who I am. And I really love that for her character because she knows in her mind that her husband's having an affair. And it's not exactly like it would make you right, but you know, in another movie, it would just make sense, even Scott was saying, as their interaction was happening, he's like, oh, everybody's going to cheat on everybody. And I feel like in another movie, that's what would have happened. Yeah. The only thing that bothers me about this whole bit, I feel like it kind of goes nowhere. As she's walking home with this guy, she runs into the grandfather. Yeah, he's walking his 27 dogs. Exactly. They see each other. They acknowledge that they see each other. He keeps walking. She turns the corner and nothing really happens with that, except the grandfather goes like Scoffs. Winnie. But I thought I thought they kind of alluded to it during the breakfast scene the next day after this, which we'll talk about because when the grandpa comes in, he immediately starts talking to Cosmo and says, I have to tell you something and you sort of think, I think you're supposed to think that he's going to tell Cosmo that. Yeah, you think he's going to tell Cosmo that, but he also at one point earlier in the movie, he's talking to his old friends in the cemetery going, I have to tell Cosmo he's got to do this thing and he's got to pay for his daughter's wedding. Yes. Because obviously Cosmo's like, I don't like this guy you marry and I'm not paying for it. So that's what it ultimately ends up being. But I do like that they gave the character of Rose that, and I also like because after she gets home surprisingly, Johnny has returned from Sicily and he has a little gag as he makes his way to the house to see Loretta, who is out banging his brother, but they don't know that. He keeps forgetting his suitcases everywhere he goes because he's just so funny little Johnny. He knows that Lee, but he shows up at the house and he also has a conversation with Rose and basically, she's trying to figure out why Cosmo is having this affair. Because she's like, I've been a good wife, I've been a loyal wife. Why are you chasing after other women? And he basically suggests that it's a fear of death, essentially a midlife crisis of sorts. That's how I took it. Cosmo. What? I just want you to know, no matter what you do, you're going to die. Just like everybody else. Thank you Rose. You're welcome. So the next day, mind you like three days of past basically, like three maybe four, let's be generous. Yeah, not really, but okay. Four days, four dates. Let's go. Oh God. Okay. So Johnny has returned, but he's not there at the house right now. Loretta comes home the next day in the morning and she's very smitten clearly, she's got a love bite on her neck. According to her mother, I have been there mom, mom, remember, that was fun for you. Um, anyway, so Loretta comes home, the mom's like Johnny's back. So you're going to have to deal with this. Apparently his mother miraculously has recovered, miracles, miracles, miracle. This kitchen scene in that next morning is chaos. It's so chaotic. The mom and dad are there, the grandpa's there, Loretta's there, Ronnie shows up, he's there. The aunt and uncle come, and ultimately Johnny comes, but we're going to talk about all of that in just a second because I do want to stress how pivotal this scene is in the movie. Now Norman Jewison, who is the director, had stated that this scene was the most difficult scene he ever shot in his entire career. The crew were actually dismissed and he rehearsed with the cast that filled this scene, which is pretty much everybody in the movie, like all the principal players. Apparently, Jewison rehearsed with the cast so much for this one scene that he actually received a fine from the actors union, for not allowing them to go on lunch until they perfected the scene. So yeah, it is pretty pivotal to the story. It's where all these branching relationships and plots come together and sort of implode into one big mushroom cloud of love. What a statement. Was mushroom cloud of love better than unleashing their passions on each other? Is that better or worse? Anyway, can someone write a song called mushroom cloud of love? Oh, no, it grows. It sounds like something fucking like mama cast would erode or something. For some reason, I'm imagining like Paul McCartney. But definitely better than any Maroon 5 song I know. Well, yeah. So Loretta and her mama arguing a little bit about it, she's like, you better cover that love bite up with makeup before Johnny gets here. And then sure enough, Ronnie shows up to meet the family. I'm like, Ronnie, this is not the best for this. Ronnie, not the best time, but mom offers him. Oh my God. Yeah. Let's go. He's like, I would love some oatmeal. Yes. Loretta is like, no, get the fuck out of here. There's also a point. Loretta every time she's like awkward, like jumps into closets. Oh, yeah. She's like, I'm hiding the closet. So then the grandpa gets there. And like I said before, you think he's going to out rose for her little, little walk home with the professor. But really, he's like, I demand as her father that you pay for Loretta's wedding. And Cosmo's like, all right, fine. Sit down, pop. Well, it's just also a moment because Cosmo looks at Ronnie, because they know about the other night. And he's like, it's Ronnie going to say something like is this where my cover is blowed? And Ronnie says nothing about it. Yeah. Ronnie is a real one. He's just like, I'm not getting involved with this because right after that interaction rose has like a great moment where she just calmly sits down and she's like to Cosmo, have I been a good wife? And he's like, yeah. And there's just a silence, a beat. She goes, I want you to stop seeing her. And it's just like you could hear a pin drop and then Cosmo gets up, slams his hand on the table and there's another beat and then he sits back down, he's like, OK. And then he has this bullshit fucking line. I wanted to punch him in the face. He's like, that comes a time when a man finds out his life is built on nothing. And that is a sad day. And his wife is sitting there crying. She's like, your life isn't built on nothing. I love you. Piece of shit. Like shut the fuck. And he's like, we have two kids, you fucking piece of shit, like, what are you talking? Stop fucking around on your wife. God damn it Cosmo. What would Wanda think? What would Wanda say? It's a girl that gold. That's what she'd say Christ anyway, the aunt and uncle come over. And now that's a whole thing because this you completely forgot to go. Oh, I was in my purse and you're like, oh, OK, that actually went nowhere too. Well, no, that was meant. What do you mean? You fell into a hook line and sink and you're like, oh, she stole their money. And then when they showed up and they're like, there's something you want to tell us to read it. And you were like, oh shit. Well, yeah, you're like, oh shit, but like, you're also like, well, it's a red herring, Scott. How did you see in Scooby Doo? This isn't the mystery movie. Anyway, what else we got here? Johnny finally comes into the mix here and this is so funny. OK, so he says that his mom miraculously recovered and he's like, Loretta turns out I can't marry you because if I do, it'll be bad luck and my mother will die. And he's like, one day you'll understand this was for the best and Loretta is one of my favorite lives. She's like, yeah, and one day I'll come to your funeral in a red dress. Oh my god. And I'm like, yes, bitch. And fucking Ronnie say they're like Loretta, what are you doing right now? What's wrong with you? So she gives Johnny back his fucking pinkie ring and then Johnny's like the engagement off and then basically proposes immediately. She throws the ring of Johnny and then immediately Ronnie's like Loretta, will you marry me? And Johnny's saying like, what? And then she's like, where's the ring? He takes Johnny's picky ring. Yeah, bitch. Yeah, he does. He proposes with Johnny's picky ring. And then Olympia Dukakis says the, you know, she repeats the iconic back and forth between her and Cher from the beginning. I love him Loretta. Well, I love him awful. Oh God, that's too bad. Oh, that's too bad. I'm tired, it's so good. And then they start celebrating and Daddy, I'll just stays there. Yeah. He's so confused. The grandpa has to go over to it. One point. He's like, you're part of the family now. Come here. Come on. Have some food. Well, even the grandpa. Oh, he starts crying. He's like, I'm confused. What's going on? What the fuck? Who was she marrying? What just happened? It's so good. I just, I love it so much. I love the vibes of the movie. Like for me personally, it's just, it is really like a warm blanket. It gives me such nostalgic vibes for being a, you know, a young gal in New York growing up with my family, my crazy family. Yeah. Granted, they're not full Italian. It's pretty much like Italian Irish, but basically the same thing. We know how to eat. We know how to drink. I got the. We know how to fight. It's basically all the same. We know pasta's involved somewhere. Yeah. So pasta and alcohol, maybe some marinara sauce, you know, a little sprinkled in there, you know. So some parmesan. Yeah. Some regout. I have to say it like that. I can't say ricotta. I'll fucking be excommunicated. Ricotta. People say ricotta. And I'm like, oh no, I'm not doing that. We're cold. I can't do that. So that was munch truck. Yes, it was. So fun. So chaotic. Yeah. I love this so much. It was just so fun. I had it as a four out of five stars before I kept it there. It's a great time. So many good speeches, just about love and life. And yeah, it was just really, really fun. A screenplay Oscar well earned, so well written and so batshit. And I love both of those things. Scott, what did you write this movie? I also rated it a four out of five. It's chaos incarnate. It's very Italian, very like you feel the Italian this like, I remember the fights, the family just yelling at each other with love sometimes. This time, 75, 25 sure. You know what this movie really is? This is a movie that if you were just scrolling through channels and it was on, you could sit there and watch it at any point and be fine. I think so. Yeah. And that I think is the essence of a great movie where you can just kind of, oh, cool. It's on. Let me watch it. I think because of our experience with the Italian New York heritage, like it sort of, it speaks to us in a particular way. But I think even if you're not from New York or not Italian, like you, this movie really kind of gives you warm and fuzzies indeed. And I really love that. It is a great movie to watch around this time of year because it's not like a, it's not a Christmas movie, but it is, it does take place around like wintertime and it's, you know, it's, it's getting to that time. It is. Speaking of getting to that time, next week is Thanksgiving guys. Oh God. So we are obviously not going to come out with a new episode. We are going to enjoy the holiday with our own family and friends and it's, it's going to be lovely. But after Thanksgiving week, we will come back and we will just, we will only have three more episodes. Oh God. For the season. Yeah, we're going to come out with three December episodes. It's going to be interesting. I think the, the choices that we've made, none of them are distinctly Christmas movies I think. No. But they're like Christmas adjacent. Indeed. They definitely give you feels. What kind of feels the sort of all over the board? Yeah. There's definitely enough feels to get you in the mood for, I think, the holiday season. When we give you a like push, you have to take it the rest of the life. Yeah. I think that's, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm excited about that. I'm really excited about Thanksgiving. I want to eat, drink and be married. Yes. So until the great month of December, AKA real Christmas time, this has been Shoot the Flick. I'm Frankie Sparks. And I'm Scott Eisenberg. Make sure you check us out on Instagram and Twitter at Shoot the Flick and check out all of our episodes on iTunes, Spotify and iHeartReady when pretty much anywhere else you can find a podcast and make sure you come back in two weeks for our, um, hilarious, if I do say so myself, Christmas adjacent, holiday adjacent, but not really sort of insanely. How did we make this connection? I don't know, movie adventure. Frankie, I have one question for you. I don't know what. Do you believe in the life after love? Yay. That was three. How many gold. Good night, everyone. Da, da, da, da, da. So do you believe in life after love? I can feel something inside me, say. I really don't think it's true. I can feel something inside me, say. I'm really don't think it's true. I can feel something inside me, say. I can feel something inside me, say. I can feel something inside me, say. I really don't think it's true. I can feel something inside me, say. I can feel something inside me, say. I really don't think it's true.