EP. 327.5 — Last Looks: The First Power

Paul Scheer [00:00:00] A sobering look at why capital punishment is wrong and the negative effect of the death penalty. We saw the First Power. So you know what that means.

Music [00:00:18] [Intro Song]

Paul Scheer [00:01:06] Hello people of Earth, and hello people Boston/Medford. We are live at the Chevalier Theater and we are excited to be here to talk about the 1990 supernatural drama action film, The First Power, starring the Lou Diamond Phillips. Now, if you don’t know anything about the First Power, let me read how the Joblo website describes the movie, because they do a damn good job. They say this. They say a vicious serial killer is tracked down by Detective Russell Logan. Although the maniac is executed in the gas chamber, the murders begin again. A devil worshiper. The killer has the First Power. One of three forces only God or the devil can bestow with supernatural forces behind him. He can now appear in anybody, anywhere at any time. Logan and the beautiful psychic Tess, who is helping the police watch in horror as this unstoppable entity grows stronger with each murder committed. And that is the First Power. All right, so we’re going to break down all the powers. One of the powers, I think, is the ability to power a ceiling fan. Think that’s power number five. I’d like to see a whole movie about that. Let’s get into it right away. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome. Massachusetts’ own Jason Mantzoukas.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:02:55] What’s up, jerks!? What’s up, Boston? How we doing? Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about.

Paul Scheer [00:03:09] Jason. The First Power is a movie.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:03:12] Jesus Christ. You’re welcome, Boston.

Paul Scheer [00:03:18] Where I really wanted it to be.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:03:23] Good?

Paul Scheer [00:03:23] Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:03:25] It’s amazing. 12 years in, you still have hope?

Paul Scheer [00:03:30] I do.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:03:31] That has been wrung out of me. I was like, fuuuuuck. No. What is this? Lou Diamond Phillips. Poor LDP is just trying his best in this turkey, and I couldn’t make heads or tails out of it.

Paul Scheer [00:03:48] I have some things to say about LDP. Let’s bring out our next co-host. She has a lot to say about Satan and hairstyles and so much more. Please welcome June Diane Raphael. Welcome, June.

June Diane Raphael [00:04:20] Hi, Paul. How are you?

Paul Scheer [00:04:21] I’m well, thank you so much for asking. How are you?

June Diane Raphael [00:04:24] I’m okay. I’m okay. I have I similarly. Well, I don’t know that I had hope, but when I watched this movie, I thought, wow, there’s still more work for us to do out there. That’s true. You know, because. Yeah, I don’t know how we haven’t done this movie yet. I had never seen it in the video stores. So this was a I was coming to this with very fresh eyes.

Paul Scheer [00:04:51] Again, this movie is 1990.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:04:54] I’m shocked, first of all. Yes. If you had told me this was 1983, I would have been. Absolutely. Yes.

Paul Scheer [00:05:00] It feels like a mid eighties, like a real weird mid eighties. But this came out in the theater. This movie not only came out in the theater, but tested so well.

June Diane Raphael [00:05:12] What?

Paul Scheer [00:05:13] It tested, they brought it to audiences and it tested so well. Apparently right after this happened, right outside of Boston, they brought it to a theater in Medford, and it tested so well that producers spent millions of dollars to add a brand new ending because they’re like, you know what? Oh, people love this.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:05:39] Like the cliffhanger ending?

Paul Scheer [00:05:41] That cliffhanger and the entire water sequence at the end was all added because they’re like, We this movie deserves this more money.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:05:52] Hang on. This movie used to end not at the water treatment plant?

June Diane Raphael [00:05:55] No I think it used yeah, I think it probably and I guess it ended in that room before. Well, that wasn’t the.

Paul Scheer [00:06:05] It ended originally in a warehouse. There are pictures and yet another warehouse.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:06:10] This movie loves warehouses and underground water, industrial facilities.

Paul Scheer [00:06:17] This movie takes place so much around where we live that I found myself pausing it just to be like, Oh, is that where I live? Is that where I get my haircut?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:06:25] I’ve been like, Oh, I’ve walked by that reservoir.

June Diane Raphael [00:06:28] Now this did we I mean, I, I grew up Catholic, recovering now, obviously, but I, you know, I don’t remember these powers.

Paul Scheer [00:06:39] Well, I was going to I mean.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:06:40] I’m glad you said that because I also did not know anything about the powers being described in the movie, nor does it seem any of the characters in the movie know. It’s not until the an undercover agent arrives. Yes. And she is the one who explains it. She arrives easily at the end of Act two.

June Diane Raphael [00:07:01] Well, she’s at the beginning of the movie. At the very beginning of the movie, she shows up to a bunch of priests and maybe a cardinal.

Paul Scheer [00:07:09] Yes.

June Diane Raphael [00:07:10] And says that she knows something’s afoot.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:07:15] A bunch of priests and maybe a cardinal. I think that is a I think there was a whole scandal in Boston based around that exact set up of gentlemen. Michael Keaton starred in the movie adaptation. He brought them down.

June Diane Raphael [00:07:30] And she certainly is. She says something’s going on and it’s time. And we have to and we need to bring out the big guns or that special cross. And nobody listens to her.

Paul Scheer [00:07:41] Well, they say, if we’re to talk about Satanism, we’re going to end up on Geraldo or something like that. They say, although.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:07:48] Is that at the beginning or they do say Geraldo. Is that the beginning?

June Diane Raphael [00:07:53] That’s her.

Paul Scheer [00:07:53] But these powers, immortality is power one. Power two is knowing the future. Power three is the ability to take over people’s bodies. He has power. Three But I’m like, did God, also have these powers? Because they go.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:08:08] Only Jesus Christ, she says, an undercover agent at the end when she produces the crucifix knife. Right. Bad ass, by the way, have that in the whole movie. Lou Diamond Phillips, unfortunately in the movie has to spend the entirety of it being like, I don’t believe this, I don’t I don’t agree with this. This isn’t happening. And so that makes the movie feel really difficult to go through because he’s being dumb. Well, and whe she produces the thing with the crucifix and crucified Jesus, she says he’s the only person who had all three of the powers.

Paul Scheer [00:08:43] But is that something as somebody who went to Catholic school, I am confused. I never remember the stories of Jesus possessing people’s bodies or Jesus knowing the future. He wasn’t like, No water will turn into wine. Just give me a sec. You know, like there wasn’t like those were the things that we learned that.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:09:02] He did say to Lazarus before Lazarus died. I’ll see you in a bit.

Paul Scheer [00:09:06] I’ll see you in hell. I will say this, that this movie does work in a world in which everyone has amnesia about the scene right before. That’s because.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:09:23] The evidence and evidence that’s gathered is not important to Lou Diamond Phillips at all.

June Diane Raphael [00:09:30] It’s so hard. He has a tough job because he even though he’s cracked, I think the last three serial killers.

Paul Scheer [00:09:40] Five, June.

June Diane Raphael [00:09:41] I’m sorry, five serial killers.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:09:44] By killing them all, I believe.

June Diane Raphael [00:09:45] Or capturing them all with within three years. I wrote that statistic down because I was like, okay, wait. There’s there have been multiple, I guess, five active serial killers in Los Angeles?

Paul Scheer [00:09:59] It’s L.A., baby.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:00] Yeah, it is. That part of the part of the movie that I believed the most. I was like, Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I’m sure this is true. For right now.

June Diane Raphael [00:10:10] He has such a tough job because he has to sort of buddy cop up with this wealthy psychic and we’ll get into the I want I want to reserve about an hour’s time to talk about her business.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:23] Oh I wish this movie was about Tess more than anybody else.

June Diane Raphael [00:10:27] I want to talk about the digital platform.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:31] Yeah. For doing star chats and star signs and charts.

June Diane Raphael [00:10:37] There’s sports. There’s Wall Street.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:39] Oh, my God.

June Diane Raphael [00:10:40] So she’s weighing in. Is this sort of like it’s a 360 type of, you know, psychic network, But so I want to I truly want to reserve an hour.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:50] And she also lives in an iconic modern and she lives in like the stallhouse, which is like a famous it’s one of the case study houses. It’s an insane the idea that she would own that house means she must be the biggest psychic in the world.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:06] But Jason, the biggest psychic in the world right now working today is, I don’t know.

Paul Scheer [00:11:12] Tyler Henry.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:13] Yeah.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:17] That came so quick. And it’s. And it’s a name I’ve never heard.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:22] He’s. He’s wonderful, Paul and I love him.

Paul Scheer [00:11:25] We saw him live.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:26] We saw the live show. Yeah, we love him.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:29] You saw a live show? No shade. Because you fucking morons came to this. You saw a live show of a psychic? Does he do like the hits?

June Diane Raphael [00:11:40] He does do live readings.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:42] Oh, wow.

Paul Scheer [00:11:43] Yeah, It was impressive.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:44] It was wonderful.

Paul Scheer [00:11:48] I want to get to the psychic, too, but I want to just step back and just embrace LDP because he has a tough job and that might explain why he does not look comfortable smoking a cigarette at any point in this movie because he holds a cigarette like a child would hold. Like he’s holding it like daintily. Like it should have a little.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:12] So it doesn’t burn him.

Paul Scheer [00:12:13] Yes. And he’s always smoking it. It’s like it you yet put all the fingers up like he’s drinking a glass of tea and and it’s always hanging it. The cigarette work here is magnificent.

June Diane Raphael [00:12:27] But I did think to myself because I also thought he looked so young. He looks like he’s just a babe, a newborn fawn. And I think the cigaret

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:37] He’s 17.

June Diane Raphael [00:12:38] I do think he was like, I, I got to have my cigarettes. I got to have my long coat. I got to have my cigarets because if I don’t have those, I’m not going to be able to I’m not going to seem like an established detective who’s captured or killed five serial killers.

Paul Scheer [00:12:56] He doesn’t seem hardened at all.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:57] No, he should be like he basically should be Raylan Givens from Justified or or Bosch, you know, I mean, like.

Paul Scheer [00:13:04] I knew you’re going to bring Bosch up.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:13:05] Of course I’m going to bring Bosch up.

June Diane Raphael [00:13:07] Only a matter of time.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:13:08] You can’t talk about a Hollywood homicide without talking about Bosch. Great. Everybody, the rest of the show, we’re talking Bosch.

June Diane Raphael [00:13:16] And the tough job he has, though, is that he is uncovered. He’s working with this psychic and this very wealthy psychic. And he’s so mad at her. He’s so mad.

Paul Scheer [00:13:30] But he’s mad and mad. He’s mad at her for experiencing the same things that he is going through. He sees crazy shit.

June Diane Raphael [00:13:41] I guess that’s maybe why he’s mad.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:13:43] He thinks I mean, and I understand why he at first would think she’s a part of it she’s been calling him and telling him information that has actually led to actionable, you know, catching the guy or almost getting all this stuff. So he knows she knows something. But he for I’m going to say, 54 minutes, he spends the time shaking her violently. Yes. And threatening her when he himself is having hallucinations. Yes. He this I mean.

Paul Scheer [00:14:13] He makes fun of her hallucinations. Like there’s no one there, dummy. But wait in the scene before you experienced the same fucking thing.

June Diane Raphael [00:14:23] Oh, he’s like, Oh, well, we’re going to go to his house where he grew up? I’m like, buddy.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:14:30] Why wouldn’t they have done that to begin with?

June Diane Raphael [00:14:32] That should have been where they started.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:14:35] There are terrible police officers and at one point he especially LDP, he is struggling throughout and at one point Tess does a great job of calling him out on it and is like, what do you want to just pull your gun out? This all he does is pull, put his gun on anybody anywhere.

Paul Scheer [00:14:51] At every point, at point blank range, he misses people at point blank range 90% of the time.

June Diane Raphael [00:15:00] Does he ever get a shot off?

Paul Scheer [00:15:01] No.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:15:04] He does. He does, but it’s unsuccessful. Boy do. And I love Jeff Corbett, who’s the main baddie.

Paul Scheer [00:15:11] Yes.

June Diane Raphael [00:15:11] He’s amazing.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:15:13] And like one of the great villain faces of Cinema.

Paul Scheer [00:15:16] Why do they need to put him in a mask? Because when he took off that mask I’m like, is that a mask of his own face?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:15:23] I thought that, too. Which, by the way, I love.

Paul Scheer [00:15:26] I thought it was it just felt too similar. Like it was too like at least somebody should’ve been like, Hey, we bought this mask before we cast him. And I feel like now it’s not working.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:15:38] We should make masks of our faces. I thought that I thought that in the opening scene or not the opening scene, but one of the early scenes where he takes the mask off himself and puts it on the woman on the ground. Chilling.

June Diane Raphael [00:15:53] One of the creepier things I’ve ever seen.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:15:53] But my favorite character beyond all was the homeless woman who, you know, jumping up. And that’s the only person that Lou Diamond Phillips successfully shoots.

Paul Scheer [00:16:07] Well, by the way, that woman is amazing. Great. I call her Carol Kane. And I want to play that moment where Lou Diamond Phillips and the second woman are about to go to the.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:16:19] I want the whole movie to be her as the bad guy.

Paul Scheer [00:16:21] And when when she pops up, take a look at this.

June Diane Raphael [00:16:24] One of our best.

Paul Scheer [00:16:27] This is what the movie’s been building to this romantic kiss. We finally get it. And then. What is it?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:16:44] But like they go back to kissing, though he should. At this point in the movie, any noise off screen is the murderer.

Paul Scheer [00:16:56] Why does he have to leave?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:00]  I think he’s going to go investigate the noise, isn’t he? Maybe it’s his cat that never came back?

June Diane Raphael [00:17:05] He thinks it’s an old refrigerator.

Paul Scheer [00:17:07] The cat with the pearl necklace?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:09] Dun, dun, dun.

June Diane Raphael [00:17:19] Why did she go back down?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:20] This looks like you. Yeah. Uh oh.

Paul Scheer [00:17:30] This is a classic moment.

Movie Audio [00:17:31] She was outside the window.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:33] And he doesn’t believe it.

Paul Scheer [00:17:36] His gun is out, by the way.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:37] Always. His gun is always out.

June Diane Raphael [00:17:40] Even when he thought it was the refrigerator, he took it out.

Movie Audio [00:17:43] There’s nothing out there. Don’t you think I look pretty Logan?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:18:00] Incredible. The movie comes alive.

Paul Scheer [00:18:04] It’s like for me, it’s like Carol Kane meets the Wicked Witch of the West.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:18:09] But dressed as Robin Williams from The Fisher King.

Paul Scheer [00:18:13] And I have to say that this movie’s stunts are amazing. We’ll talk about those. But, June, I want to just pull out what you just said. He pulled out his gun to check on an old refrigerator. Like, he’s like, Oh, I guess I’m gonna have to shoot that refrigerator. And I’m going to bet that if he made it to the kitchen, he would miss at point blank range.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:18:32] And again, I will say he has a cat named Jack. Wouldn’t you be like, Oh, it’s my cat. My cat knocked something over. The cat never comes back by the way.

Paul Scheer [00:18:45] The cat comes back a couple of times, but I don’t like the introduction to LDP.

June Diane Raphael [00:18:51] Me neither.

Paul Scheer [00:18:52] Is We’re watching a cat gnaw at pizza.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:18:56] No, I didn’t like it either.

Paul Scheer [00:18:57] And I’m like, Oh, this is the serial killer’s apartment. And then I’m like, Oh, it’s our heroes apartment?

June Diane Raphael [00:19:05] I didn’t know what we were supposed to make of that because I was like, Oh, is he taking care of that cat? And I don’t even like cats. And I was like, the whole movie. I was worried about that cat and that that cat wasn’t being fed and that cat wasn’t being taken care of. And then I’m also like, Why is he so messy?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:19:26] And he even apologizes. When they go to the apartment, he apologizes because it’s so messy. And it is it’s disgusting. His whole apartment situation did not mesh with his reputation as the best the best homicide detective in Las Angeles at 27 years old.

Paul Scheer [00:19:45] I’m going to go one step further and say this. I like Lou Diamond Phillips, but there’s no personality to this cop. Like, I don’t know who the fuck. Was he funny? Is he angry?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:19:59] Paull, he smokes.

June Diane Raphael [00:20:01] Yeah.

Paul Scheer [00:20:03] Like I can’t put a finger on it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:06] He has no defining traits. No, no. None of the people in the movie have, like, a personality or have a have characteristics that make them unique. They are all like, just truly.

Paul Scheer [00:20:15] Man. Woman.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:17] Yes. Scene.

Paul Scheer [00:20:21] Literally. Like the guy who works in the water treatment plant has just as much character development as.

June Diane Raphael [00:20:29] I think the person who and this is so fucking crazy and this is what’s wrong with the movie is like the person who had in some ways the most humanity was the serial killer. Where I was like, Oh, you’ve experienced this childhood trauma. You are this way. I hope you get healed. And I am I am connected to his journey way more than I am to our billionaire psychic.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:56] I’ll say. I’ll say this. I wanted him to get away with it.

Paul Scheer [00:21:01] He did! That’s the end of the movie. He did get away with it. There’s a sequel. Potentially. But that’s the problem with this movie. I don’t understand what it is. Right, he catches the serial killer. Don’t put him on death row. They put him on death row. Then he’s able to jump around. But it makes no sense because sometimes he jumps into people’s bodies and he doesn’t, like, control their bodies. Yeah, he just becomes them.

June Diane Raphael [00:21:26] But then he doesn’t jump into the bag lady’s body. And I don’t know if he was like, she’s. She’s got to work on her own. You know, she’s so good that I got to send her out there on her own.

Paul Scheer [00:21:40] But then the bag lady is in the apartment, but then immediately in the backseat of the car. And even if she jumped out that window, I think they would have seen her sneak into the backseat.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:51] He appears to be able to whether as his own corporeal form or when he has possessed another person, he seems to be able to teleport willy nilly. And forgive me, this might be in there and I just didn’t clock it. But it seemed very clear to me at the very beginning that Lou Diamond Phillips had been like possessed or part of the killer’s spirit had gone over to him. They have a moment where they close in on both of their eyes. Right. And there’s a moment where there’s a music cue. And I was like, oh, for the rest of the movie, Lou Diamond Phillips is going to be in a fugue state committing the murders that he himself that he himself is now investigating. But he doesn’t know. Right. Did other people think that? But it’s not what the movie’s about, is it? No, no. Better movie, though.

Paul Scheer [00:22:42] Now, here’s what I’ll I’ll say to you. If the serial killer wanted to get captured, wanted to be put on death row or be killed. And I don’t know if I don’t know if he needed to be killed and whatever. It happened very quickly. But if he wanted to be killed, why is he then avenging his death with the cops, just go off and start killing other people like they helped you out.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:14] It would have made more sense if the first act of the movie established a rivalry ala Dr. Richard Kimble and Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, where they are cat and mousing each other. And finally, Lou Diamond Phillips gets him so that now he’s being haunted for the rest of the movie or tortured and that the killer is making it personal. Right?

Paul Scheer [00:23:38] Right.

June Diane Raphael [00:23:38] That’s what’s missing. I mean, I think that, you know.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:40] There’s a lot missing.

June Diane Raphael [00:23:41] The connective. That’s the only thing I can see. That connective tissue between the killers story. Like I thought, Oh, it would be great if Lou Diamond’s father, who had been killed in a bar, randomly, had been a cop who, like, turned the other way and didn’t, you know, investigate what we knew was going on in our killer’s family or something, anything. But we are those stories are just so disparate. And it just there there’s some major holes.

Paul Scheer [00:24:16] Wait. But also, the psychic does something we don’t really see until she goes to the house to go to his bedroom with the creepy clown portraits. She is the voice of him. The killer in the room?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:24:35] Well, no. She’s the voice of the killer’s mother.

Paul Scheer [00:24:38] No, no, no.

June Diane Raphael [00:24:40] And him.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:24:40] I’m sorry.

Paul Scheer [00:24:41] He’s like grandpa, no.

June Diane Raphael [00:24:42] Don’t say that again, Paul.

Paul Scheer [00:24:45] That’s the shirt.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:24:48] By the way, that is the shirt with a creepy clown on it. Just like the clown that used to drive around in a van and kidnap kids. You guys get it. You’re the only people that get it.

June Diane Raphael [00:25:01] Here’s what I couldn’t understand, though, to your earlier point is why our nun, Sister Margaret, says that. And also the psychic. They don’t want the killer to be on death row, and they don’t want the state to be responsible for killing him. And I guess my question is why?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:24] I think this is my conjecture. I think that the movie want I don’t think they do a good job setting this up. But I think the movie wants you to believe that by killing him, you will be giving him the third power.

Paul Scheer [00:25:37] Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:37] Right. Or the first first power. Well, the First Power. Resurrection.

Paul Scheer [00:25:41] The third power is taking over. So that would be.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:48] He’s already doing that.

Paul Scheer [00:25:50] No, no. The gas chamber gives him the third power. And then if he kills the psychic, he get the second power. I don’t know if he just adopts power.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:59] But wait, does he ever have all three powers?

Paul Scheer [00:26:01] No. They’re trying to get him to stop him before he gets the first power.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:04] Okay, so in the Bible, in the Book of Powers.

Paul Scheer [00:26:06] Yes. That’s the great Stars theory of powers.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:11] As a religion major from Middlebury College. When Lou Diamond Phillips wakes up from his dream. Right? Correct me if I’m wrong. There are roses beside him in the bed.

June Diane Raphael [00:26:25] Yeah, I didn’t see that.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:26] Why? What’s that story? That’s exactly the kind of detail that’s in the movie that I’m like, something interesting is happening here, But the movie’s like nah, who cares? There are three rose three roses on the pillow next to him.

Paul Scheer [00:26:44] I believe that those roses are placed there by the person who held the cat off screen and on action threw it at Lou Diamond Philips. Because where is that cat jumping from? It’s a pretty open floor plan. There’s no shelving anywhere near him.

June Diane Raphael [00:27:01] Okay. So are we are we to understand that you can only get power two and power three. After you have power one or do you start off with power three?

Paul Scheer [00:27:11] This is what the psychic says. Yeah. All right, here we go. Sexy psychic phone call.

Movie Audio [00:27:17] Listen, lady.

Movie Audio [00:27:18] The marks are always exactly six inches in diameter. The wound is always at the center.

Movie Audio [00:27:24] Keep going.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:25] Oh, this is sexy actually. Keep going.

Movie Audio [00:27:31] Okay, ladies, swear it. You got it. What’s her name? There’s Sunset Boulevard. The south entrance to Elysian Park. When? Soon. Don’t forget your promise, Logan.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:56] Oh, amazing. Oh, this is so funny. By the way, when he tries to draw it.

Paul Scheer [00:28:05] There are so many killings. There are like, that is a road trip. That is 16 killings.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:28:16] Uh oh, right into lens. Right down the barrel.

Paul Scheer [00:28:22] I believe that he is such a disciple of Satan that he knows if he is killed, he will immediately get the third power because he’s a good little devil boy. And I don’t know how he’ll get the other ones, but he will.

June Diane Raphael [00:28:34] Wow. I didn’t understand that from watching the movie that we were trying to collect powers.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:28:39] It’s clearly what’s at stake here. That’s why he is it joyfully taunting them into giving him the death penalty and like the courthouse down the way.

Paul Scheer [00:28:51] And that’s why he kidnaps a psychic, I think, to take her power, suck them out.

June Diane Raphael [00:28:55] That’s hard, though, because he’s also killing so many other people.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:00] Huh.

Paul Scheer [00:29:00] He’s getting revenge. Oh, let me tell you something else, too.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:03] Who’s he getting revenge on?

Paul Scheer [00:29:04] All the cops that gave him what he wanted. Because the other part of this is, as somebody who grew up with horses, let me tell you this.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:15] Here we go. Oh, you think you’re better than us with your horses?

Paul Scheer [00:29:20] Do not fire a gun in the proximity of a horse if you want them to calm down. Like when the horse is stomping on that detective. With those hooves. Don’t fire a gun. That’s only going to intensify the stomping.

June Diane Raphael [00:29:39] Now, I know you were in a horse accident. Did you shoot at a horse when that happened?

Paul Scheer [00:29:44] We did have guns and we did have horses.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:47] Did you grow up Cowboys style? Were you, Long Island, Yellowstone?

Paul Scheer [00:29:53] We had a ranch. The Dutton Ranch.

June Diane Raphael [00:29:57] Okay. So I was very disturbed by that horse scene. So. And I guess this is what I couldn’t tell. Did our killer possess the horse? Okay, well, so not the rider?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:13] I think it was the rider, because then he jumps out of the thing, runs up the steps, and Lou Diamond Phillips chases him, the driver of the carriage, and he’s saying, come on.

June Diane Raphael [00:30:25] I know. But there were times when we were close up on that horse. There was a striking resemblance.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:30:34] Well if I’m the killer, I’m fucking porting myself straight into Jack the cat and I’m fucking slicing and dicing LDP’s neck.

Paul Scheer [00:30:41] I will say that, June, you probably are confused cause that horse is wearing blinders but blinders is technically not a mask. The horse takes off his blinders and puts it on the cop. Now, here’s and here’s the thing about that scene. He jumps into somebody else. Lou Diamond Phillips. They chase. They chase. They do this amazing story, jumps off the building and then runs away. But if he’s possessing someone’s body, just kill that person, splat.

June Diane Raphael [00:31:13] That’s what’s so hard. That’s what’s so tough about it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:16] Because he does he has to have like a really it was a cool stunt, by the way. Totally great on great stunt. Loved it.

Paul Scheer [00:31:23] All done in camera.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:24] And then he gets to have like a cheeky moment where he waves goodbye, like, see you soon. Ooh, Imagine, if the whole movie instead of him, it was the bag lady.

Paul Scheer [00:31:37] Carol Kane from Scrooged.

June Diane Raphael [00:31:41] What a performance. Just to go back to her for a second. What a performance.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:46] Oh, yeah. Incredible.

June Diane Raphael [00:31:49] She really left it all on the stage.

Paul Scheer [00:31:56] Why was the nun in like, nun jail? They go to visit the nun who looks like they live in the Rock’s house. It’s like, Hold on. We’ll buzz you into the nunnery and, like, a gate opens and they pull up like a driveway that, like, the dude from Entourage would live at. And they pull in. Oh, the nun. She’s down here in this little room, and they talk through like a sliding like a sliding door prison.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:26] Again, so much of this this is a real because we haven’t said it yet. Like, to me, this is a real a movie that is genuinely part of like the Satanic panic era of like, yeah, give it up for satanic panic, everybody. Yeah. The idea of it, like our kids were being indoctrinated into the into devil worship by heavy metal music and so forth. And yeah. Boston fucking animals. But but there’s this whole idea that like, oh, somehow this person, the upside down pentagram, the devil, all this stuff. Lou Diamond Phillips is so oblivious that even when he goes to church because first he goes to church before they go to the nunnery, he goes to church, goes into the confession booth, and has a whole conversation with a priest who turns out to be the killer. Yes. And then when he goes around, it’s just empty and nowhere. And even when they try and go to the nunnery, no, they seem genuinely disinterested in engaging seemingly the only people who can treat this scourge, which is the nuns, the priests and their special crucifix daggers. The movie should be about them.

Paul Scheer [00:33:40] Well, they seem to be the keeper of the special crucifix dagger.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:45] So everything Tess and Lou Diamond Phillips are doing are moot until these people get involved.

June Diane Raphael [00:33:52] Yeah, because Tess is. Is. Yeah. She has no real. She has powers to sort of intuit what’s going on, but she can’t do anything about it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:02] No, it’s the curse.

Paul Scheer [00:34:03] Well, her powers are suspect because.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:06] You think?

Paul Scheer [00:34:08] Well, she does say that thing. Well, she’s able to figure out a cop tailing her, but she doesn’t know why the cop is telling her. So if she was psychic, she’d be like you’re telling me because Lou Diamond Phillips told you to tail me. She’s like, I don’t know why you’re following me, but you go on online dating.

June Diane Raphael [00:34:24] Paul, you’ve seen you’ve seen Tyler Henry’s work. He just gets hits and he gets symbols. And then. Right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:33] I don’t believe that’s a real person.

Paul Scheer [00:34:35] Tyler Henry’s a gifted young man.

June Diane Raphael [00:34:37] Wonderful. Paul and I love him. But the other thing that I will agree, the thing that is suspect about her is that she has no idea that two cops are in her home rifling through her belongings and her answering machine.

Paul Scheer [00:34:51] She walks in shocked.

June Diane Raphael [00:34:52] She was stunned. And I did think, huh, you should have gotten some sort of a message about this.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:59] Especially especially on the walk up to your apartment when there’s a police car parked out front and the house is top to bottom glass. And they’re just in there. You can see them from the gate. It’s like Bosch’s house, actually.

Paul Scheer [00:35:17] But at the same time, at the same time, again, I just want to break down what this guy can do because he leaves a message on her answering machine, which he can rewind. Then it’s not there, which I get but I also, do I get it?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:36] Well, this is this is part of the movie’s problem, which is Lou Diamond Phillips is collecting scene after scene experiences that are truly unexplainable that must key him into something supernatural is happening. And he refuses to even consider that that’s what’s happened. Well, at that point, he’s still a little like, suspect of everything. But so much has happened. His partner. Oh, no, his partner hasn’t been trampled. Oh, yeah. He has been trampled by now.

June Diane Raphael [00:36:08] No, his partner has.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:09] Not trampled yet? Okay.

Paul Scheer [00:36:11] Why don’t we just do this. What if I’m like, All right, so I’m Mykelti Williamson, and I’m just like, next to Lou Diamond Phillips. I’m like, Hey, [gunshot sound] just blow off my own head and I possess my own body. That would be it. Like, why does he go out of the way to possess the horse? Why can’t he just possess Mykelti Williamson? Make Mykelti Williamson to pick up a gun, shoot himself in the head and be done with it?

June Diane Raphael [00:36:30] I don’t know that he can possess dead bodies.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:34] Wait, what do you mean? I think Paul, when he’s alive. Get him to kill himself, not get him to kill LDP.

Paul Scheer [00:36:41] Why? Why all the pomp and circumstance? Just have him. It’s not one of.

June Diane Raphael [00:36:47] I see what you’re saying.

Paul Scheer [00:36:48] Well, the person that I was waiting to get jumped into was the hotdog vendor.

June Diane Raphael [00:36:54] Okay, Another remarkable performance. I laughed out loud. What was the line? He said, Oh, she’s just come out of a mental hospital. And he said.

Paul Scheer [00:37:04] Maybe you should go back.

June Diane Raphael [00:37:07] I had a genuine lol.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:09] That’s how I felt when the killer. Well, you mentioned it earlier, Paul, pulls the ceiling fan out of the ceiling and then uses it as a chopping weapon. But it felt like a Freddy Krueger move that he was going to be like, I’m a big fan, bitch.

June Diane Raphael [00:37:33] The movie does go for a couple comedic beats and I do think they land the plane like there’s the beat with the hotdog vendor. And then there’s also the beat in the hotel, the hotel of misfits, where where.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:50] I have this bolded and underlined.

June Diane Raphael [00:37:54] They busted through a hotel room and the killer’s after them. And then they move the bed close to the door to stop him from coming in. And there’s a gentleman asleep in it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:38:07] And he does not wake and they do not attempt to save him. But you don’t attempt to save this poor man living in a flophouse in downtown L.A..

June Diane Raphael [00:38:20] And Lou Diamond Phillips is a cop. Like to serve and protect. And he does not make any attempt.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:38:27] I wrote here, LDP is so dumb, question mark and afraid, and it’s making him a bad cop.

Paul Scheer [00:38:35] Okay, a question about LDP. And this is a serious question I want to ask the audience, too. Okay. Is this serial killer possessing the body and then making LDP see his face on their body. So. Okay, so. Okay, so if I was walking by, I would see LDP fighting the police chief? Okay.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:03] Okay. Don’t act like you knew that, and we didn’t. You guys are getting real fucking bullshit on us.

June Diane Raphael [00:39:13] But then why does that man in the hotel lobby seem to also be, the one that’s sitting there in the lobby?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:23] I auditioned for that part.

Paul Scheer [00:39:25] He saw. He saw a priest run up those stairs because a priest jumped out the window. Everyone’s jumping out of windows in this movie.

June Diane Raphael [00:39:36] Fastest way to get out.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:37] This movie is 98% about defenistration.

Paul Scheer [00:39:42] I guess I just want to go back to whose body he jumps in at what point because.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:48] Whose body? Lou’s body!

Paul Scheer [00:39:52] When the when he jumps out, when he jumps out the window and lands on the car and Lou Diamond Phillips gets in the car with that man.

June Diane Raphael [00:40:05] Okay. That man just, sorry Paul. So what that man says, I rewound, I watched I watched ten times in a row. That man is so shocked that LDP jumps in the car with the psychic and says, Hey, hey, hey, I’m not I’m not anti-cop. Right. And I’ll help you find the creep.

Paul Scheer [00:40:29] And LDP, not in police clothes.

June Diane Raphael [00:40:31] Why does he.

Paul Scheer [00:40:33] Or knowing what’s going on in the city.

June Diane Raphael [00:40:37] Why would he tell him he’s not anti-cop?

Paul Scheer [00:40:40] Because I think he didn’t want to be like, Hey, look, you can take Mike. I don’t want you to take my car. But it’s not because I’m anti-cop. I just got it cleaned or whatever, cause you have.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:49] And then they proceed to demolish his car like they’re in a demolition derby.

Paul Scheer [00:40:55] They drive it through a dumpster with a side hatch. Like, I have a dumpster that has, like, a.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:03] While the bad guy is hanging on to the car, like, throughout. They’re trying to knock him off?

Paul Scheer [00:41:09] But the bad guy. This is what I’m talking about. The bad guy should just jump in the anti-cop guy.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:14] I agree. Well, the bad guy at any point could exact his complete revenge by jumping into Lou Diamond Phillips or Tess. Yeah, there are. The movie doesn’t add up because I don’t know ultimately what the bad guy wants. Full stop. I don’t know what his plan is, nor does the end shine any light on it. I’m okay in the movie to be like, I’m not sure what he’s up to, but I bet it’s bad because he’s doing a bunch of bad stuff. And then at the end it’s like, Oh, okay, he was trying to unlock this thing and blah, blah, blah. Maybe, I don’t know.

Paul Scheer [00:41:50] But like, maybe his thought was, I got to kill Tess, and if I give them enough clues, they’ll eventually get to Marguerite. Marguerite will have that knife, and I will get that. It is a long road.

June Diane Raphael [00:42:01] Such a long road.

Paul Scheer [00:42:03] I mean, because he should go to the nuns house, brother.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:07] I kept feeling like I also, for a while thought is the nun related somehow? Is the nun his mother? Is that. I thought that for a while. I was trying so hard to make sense of the movie. Like all the characters are such that they were in relation to each other, somehow lined up eventually. And so that’s not what the movie’s interested in.

June Diane Raphael [00:42:30] Amazing performance by the killer’s mother. Grandmother rather.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:34] Oh my God.

June Diane Raphael [00:42:34] Grandmother, rather.

Paul Scheer [00:42:36] Sorry, it’s dark in here. My eyes.

June Diane Raphael [00:42:39] What a wonderful performance. I was. I was very confused because for most of the movie, I thought that that phone call and those sexy lips were and I’m. I’m scared to even say this, but I’m going to be brave right now and admit that I thought that those sexy lips and sexy phone call were from Sister Margarite. So I was like, And then I was like, trying to remember what Sister Margarite looked like. And I was like, Is that the psychic? Because we didn’t see her face. We didn’t see her hair. And I thought, they’re going to save the reveal of that shock of red hair for later on.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:43:23] That would have been so cool. I would have really enjoyed that. But it is Tess who says, you know, I’ve heard about somebody. Where? Where did Tess hear about? Tess is a psychic. Just be like, I’m getting a feeling we should go there. Like, why we’re in. What did Tyler Henry be like? You know, there’s a nun.

June Diane Raphael [00:43:46] Well, Jason, first of all. Yes, Tyler. Henry has been a part of some difficult cases and has had hits.

Paul Scheer [00:43:55] And by the way, Moby didn’t believe in any of that sort of stuff, and Tyler Henry convinced him. So here’s the thing. I’ll say this.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:44:01] Moby?

Paul Scheer [00:44:02] Moby.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:44:04] I’m double out now.

Paul Scheer [00:44:06] So now and then sometimes Tyler Henry will show up to something be like I don’t have anything. And they’re like, Okay, cool. Thanks.

June Diane Raphael [00:44:13] That’s why I really believe him. He’s not afraid to be like, I got nothing for you.

Paul Scheer [00:44:18] Just like Jeff Probst. So, Boston Rob.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:44:31] That did not go as well I feel like as you wanted it to. Boston’s not gonna give it up for that.

Paul Scheer [00:44:36] I have not watched Survivor, June and I now. June and I just started watching Survivor, the TV show and its 45th season and we have gone backwards and now all we do is watch Survivor with our kids. And I feel Boston Rob is just alive as he I mean, he’s alive. He’s very much alive. I follow my Instagram, but

Jason Mantzoukas [00:45:03] That sounds like that sounds like a threat.

Paul Scheer [00:45:07] We oh, you were talking about the humor of this movie. And I think Tess is just too low key because there’s a she delivers a lot of jokes without any spin because at one point he’s like, Well, you’re psychic. How’d you know my number? She’s like, I had a friend of the phone company and that was a funny like, like she’s like, well, she delivers it with no, like, it’s like I had a friend of the phone company. They like it like, I don’t know.

June Diane Raphael [00:45:35] You’re unfortunately giving it more comedy than it had that movie.

Paul Scheer [00:45:40] But I also think, like, LDP’s like, Hey, the cops will pay for that. I’m like, Is that a joke? You’re saying in a way that I’m like, Are the cops going to pay for that? He’s like, Actually, the detective. The lieutenant will pay for it. I’m like, Oh, is that it again? Is this a joke?

June Diane Raphael [00:45:55] I don’t think so. So I actually thought about that for a while. The fact that he pinned he because he not only says Lieutenant Grimes is going to pay for it, but he’s going to he’s going to personally for it. And then like this lieutenant, like he just was put on this case.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:12] Spoiler alert, he’s about to be dead.

June Diane Raphael [00:46:14] That’s right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:15] This guy is never getting that car paid for. He’s calling a guy who’s fucking deadzo.

Paul Scheer [00:46:22] By the way, our enemy, besides a serial killer, is this lieutenant who is very level headed. He’s like, motherfucker, Four more people have died. You’re off the case. It’s not like, You’re crazy. It’s like, No, no, it’s clearly not working.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:37] He’s also like, you broke into the psychic’s house, kidnaped her, brought her to a crime scene. Like he and Lou Diamond Phillips is legitimately not a good he’s not even a good cop who plays by his own rules, Bosch. But he’s a bad cop who doesn’t play by rules at all and is just lost. He’s like, Oh, it’s like they gave a badge to a little kid and we’re like, Go fix it. And he’s just like, Well, my gun is the answer to every problem in this movie.

Paul Scheer [00:47:07] This movie is written by a little kid because the cigarets, the champagne. Because at one point when they go to the bar and she’s like, Listen up, McGuire. There must be a leak in your ceiling because this is watered down scotch. And I love the guy’s like, I’m not Maguire. Like like that to me. Like I feel like she just knew the name of the bar was McGuire’s. And she’s like, Oh, that must be you. Must be the proprietor, Mr. McGuire.

June Diane Raphael [00:47:38] Right. It’s like assuming a salesperson is Macy’s.

Paul Scheer [00:47:42] Macy’s.

June Diane Raphael [00:47:42] But what’s so strange is, like, she’s a psychic.

Paul Scheer [00:47:48] She would know he’s not McGuire. Yeah, She’d also know that that was watered down before she even tasted it. But then she took the bottle with her. Or she took another bottle. But why wouldn’t that one be watered down too?

June Diane Raphael [00:48:02] She was saying, like, they’re all watered down, but at least I’m going to get a bottle’s worth. Like to get the drink I want, I have to drink this entire bottle.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:48:11] I would love it if the movie had an eight minute they’re absolutely wasted a scene. The movie’s not interested in having fun at all. Like zero. If they if the guy was more, if the bad guy was more like Freddy Krueger, he’s already doing incredible work. Let me be clear. But if it was a little bit more if if Lou Diamond Phillips and Tess had it, Tess even was less of a salt may, I don’t know, less of a sultry psychic and more of a kooky psychic that he was saddled with, that that dynamic would be funny. Or if he was capable even remotely, then we’ve got something. But everybody in the movie is not good at the thing. They’re supposed to be the best at.

Paul Scheer [00:48:53] No, but you know what? I am interested in that computer site that she’s building. Let’s go to the audience and chat with them.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:49:00] Why does every water filtration facility have an acid bath? Such that you could create the Joker in it?

June Diane Raphael [00:49:12] Okay, So I thought for sure what they were going to do was create holy water and then throw them in it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:49:19] I love that. I love that. But no, Paul is just rifling through papers over there. Well, I’m going out to the audience because I have a couple of things from our Discord. So I want to make sure that people in the discord might be get a chance to have their voice heard. But you. You had your hand raised, right? Ah, okay. All right. So your name and your question.

Audience Member [00:49:39] My name is Ben. And my big question is, why is anyone running from anything when someone can just transport to another person in front of them? Why run at all?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:49:47] Yeah, there’s a lot there’s so much I would say if you put it all together, maybe we can have Avril do a supercut if you put it all together. I believe there’s 45 minutes of just running.

Paul Scheer [00:49:57] Okay, I will say this. The original title of this movie was Transit.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:50:05] Why?

Paul Scheer [00:50:06] Because he’s transiting or he’s moving around. And then they decided to call it First Power.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:50:13] So you haven’t seen the movie in its initial initial version of it had nothing to do with the power?

Paul Scheer [00:50:21] It did, but it was more about the body moving in transit.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:50:27] Ooof. No, thanks.

June Diane Raphael [00:50:28] I will say I want to say, Paul, just quickly, something positive about the movie. I do think it is always a nice it’s a relief when filmmakers set their movies and stories in L.A. and don’t take on Hollywood. And boy, this movie didn’t. There is no reference to L.A. being an industry town.

Paul Scheer [00:50:54] Uh oh, June, hold up. Because test does say, I’m used to telling people if their pilots get picked up or not.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:51:02] Funny.

Paul Scheer [00:51:02] And I thought that was a great I was like, oh, that would be great person to chat with. When we’re not on strike.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:51:09] Also would have loved it if Lou Diamond Phillips ever called for backup or even had a radio. No radio at all.

Paul Scheer [00:51:17] Oh, the only time the only time the radio is used is when the Satan person calls Lou Diamond Phillips radio to say Lou Diamond Phillips is going to get killed. Yeah. Your name and your question.

Audience Member [00:51:32] My name is John, and I’m in America. The average time between conviction and the death sentence is 12 years. And in California, it’s actually close to 20 years. So are we supposed to believe that LDP is aged very gracefully?

Paul Scheer [00:51:51] I believe this movie posits a world in which it was like the trial was a day. At 5:00, they were like, guilty. By six, he was fried.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:52:02] Absolutely. Yes, you’re right.

June Diane Raphael [00:52:04] Yeah. That’s the way it works when you really want it to happen. It can happen very quickly.

Paul Scheer [00:52:10] And this is why the movie is anti-death penalty. Okay. Your name and your question.

Audience Member [00:52:16] Hi, I’m Cass. So I just wanted to talk about the introduction to Tess in that parking garage. She just cuts off this guy like this very entitled rich psychic would, I guess. So I just wanted to bring.

Paul Scheer [00:52:34] She a terrible person.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:52:37] Is she using her psychic powers to know exactly where the parking spot is going to be so that she can snipe it?

June Diane Raphael [00:52:44] I didn’t know what we were to make of that.

Paul Scheer [00:52:48] Yeah, I think that she’s a dick. I mean, that’s kind of the energy that she’s giving off. Everybody here is very cocky.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:52:59] Boston? I agree.

Paul Scheer [00:53:02] But there’s one point.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:53:04] Look at them cheering for it.

Paul Scheer [00:53:07] There’s one point in the movie where Tess says, I saw you celebrating on TV that he got the death penalty. What interview was that?

June Diane Raphael [00:53:20] It was so strange because in that moment, it felt like she had seen the movie.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:53:24] I was going to say, I think. Yeah, I think she had seen dailies from the scene where they’re celebrating in the police precinct.

Paul Scheer [00:53:33] All right. Your name and your question.

Audience Member [00:53:36] My name is Olivia. And I want to ask about the scene where he’s supposed to be being put to be put to death and when he’s coming out of the glasses. Definitely a stunt double coming out. And it completely changed his face. And we actually had an argument of was intentional or unintentional.

Paul Scheer [00:53:53] Oh, right. Was that a part of the psychic thing? Was he was did he take over somebody?

Audience Member [00:53:59] No, there was someone else that comes out like it’s not.

Paul Scheer [00:54:02] Oh, yeah. Stunt double. Yeah. And you’re saying.

Audience Member [00:54:05] His face is clearly someone else’s face when he comes.

Paul Scheer [00:54:09] A stunt double, yeah.

Audience Member [00:54:10] But it’s so noticeable.

Paul Scheer [00:54:12] Yeah, Like a stunt double. Yes. These are things. That’s a great joke in Spaceballs about it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:16] All right. So I’m so, so we’re to believe that in the making of the movie, a different person jumped out of the glass? Hmm. And the question therein is, is the character inhabiting the body of the stunt double.

June Diane Raphael [00:54:32] That’s power number four.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:35] Power number four? That’s the Tom Cruise power where he just does all of his own stunts until he dies.

Paul Scheer [00:54:43] All right. I was about to leave, but someone showed me they may have the best question because their name is Tess. We can’t pass up someone.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:54] Are they psychic?

Paul Scheer [00:54:55] We’ll see.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:56] I feel like. Like they’re in this. In a room this size. There’s, like, 30 people who think they’re psychic. A little bit

Paul Scheer [00:55:05]  By applause are you psychic? Anyone think, Oh, yeah.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:10] These two over here.

Paul Scheer [00:55:12] She thinks she’s psychic.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:14] Raise your hand if you think you’re a little bit psychic.

Paul Scheer [00:55:16] Jason, to your right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:18] Oh, yeah. To my left. Yes. Okay. There’s a lot of people, this so many people who think they’re a little bit psychic.

Paul Scheer [00:55:24] Okay. Yes. Your question, Tess.

Audience Member [00:55:27] So in the beginning of the movie, when Lou Diamond Phillips is with his partner and his partner doesn’t want to go out, he says, What are you scared of? Some kind of Boogeyman or the Klu Klux Klan? So my question is, in this universe, we already know that the Catholic religion is a little bit different. In this universe, is the Klu Klux Klan a fictional sort of creature?

Paul Scheer [00:55:56] Yeah, they’re put in the same sentence. It’s a great question.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:00] It’s really it’s so upsetting for Mykelti Williamson, because it’s also he’s nervous. He’s like, Hey, what are you doing? We shouldn’t be doing all this blah, blah, blah, all this stuff. And then Tess says to him, You’re in danger. Then Lou Diamond Phillips is like, Shut up. We’re going down to this place. We’re going to go to this church. We’re going down here. Cut to. He gets trampled by the horse, and I desperately wanted his last line to be not “I saw him. It was him.” For him to say. “I told you. You did this. My blood is on your hands.”

June Diane Raphael [00:56:36] See, my question is, why in that, why does Tess keep on pulling out some sort of medallion of the pentagram upside down as though it’s a cross?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:48] Yes. And he’s a vampire.

June Diane Raphael [00:56:51] Right. But it has. No, it does nothing.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:53] In the first time she uses it, it seems to kind of dissuade him from. But just a little bit. Nothing like he’s not like he’s just kind of like, okay, okay.

June Diane Raphael [00:57:05] I thought he was just like, What is this?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:57:06] And then the next time she hold that up, he’s like, You’re holding it upside down. It’s like, Oh, I boy, did I wish she had more Freddy Krueger energy.

Paul Scheer [00:57:16] I will say, I love this theater. People here are lovely, But I ran right down into the lobby. People let me run right into a janitorial closet. I walked by four employees.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:57:32] They do want you to clean up some puke in the balcony.

Paul Scheer [00:57:36] I was like, Hey. Oh, all right. And no one said a word.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:57:40] And everybody in the lobby is like this fucking idiot doesn’t even know the schematics of the chevalier. He wasn’t here for the doughboys. He didn’t see Fraile bot here or Wu-Tang.

Paul Scheer [00:57:53] The the one funny moment of it was I ran out into the lobby and there’s clearly somebody who is here at the show and goes, Oh, you’re the dude from TV. To which, wow, I have a lot of questions.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:58:18] Wow.

Paul Scheer [00:58:20] Clearly an audience member. He was at the bar.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:58:23] Were you in the balcony?

Paul Scheer [00:58:25] I was in the where the liquor was.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:58:26] Because that wouldn’t surprise me from the balcony. These people are fucking morons.

Paul Scheer [00:58:32] I like that I surprised him. He said, you’re the dude from TV.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:58:39] I love that he’s like, What do you been up to lately?

Paul Scheer [00:58:42] Hey, hey, hold that thought. I got to go watch this show with that dude from TV. I know.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:58:45] Yeah, I’m watching this show, sucks.

June Diane Raphael [00:58:49] Is there another show after this one?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:58:51] Can I get two more forties? Tallboys?

Paul Scheer [00:58:59] Well, clearly, we had opinions about this movie, but there are people out there with a different opinion. It is now time for second opinions.

Audience Member [00:59:06] I thought Jesus only could do simple things like walk on water, heal the blind and sick. But then this movie taught me that he possesses too. He can see the future. So can you. Sister Marguerite made me a believer. Not a trace of doubt in my mind. Bag lady spins smooth. I’m a believer. See you later, buddy boy.

Paul Scheer [00:59:53] Tell me your names.

Audience Member [00:59:53] Dan, and she’s Kendall.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:59:57] She’s running away. She fled.

Paul Scheer [00:59:58] You did a great job. That was awesome.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:59:59] Great work, you guys.

Paul Scheer [01:00:01] So, not surprisingly, this movie has very high five star review rating. 78% of the reviews are five star reviews. 78%. Okay. Only 5% are one star. And this first one is from Kim. She writes. “Entertainment. The title. It’s very scary. Five stars.” I like this one from Ivan, who writes this. “Anyone looking for an early nineties action thriller featuring Lou Diamond Phillips will not be disappointed. Five Stars.”

Jason Mantzoukas [01:00:54] How often? How often are you just like flipping through being like, ugh all I want to watch is an early night me thriller with Lou Diamond Phillips.

Paul Scheer [01:01:06] Not wrong. Theresa Johnson titles titles Her review “The First Power” and writes this back in 2001. And it’s all in caps. “I love this movie. As a matter of fact, I just watched it yesterday. Lou is a great actor and I can honestly say that I enjoyed all of his movies I’ve ever seen him in, and this is my first time reviewing a movie, but not my last.” Note, she did not review anything else on Amazon.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:01:43] Yet. Yet.

Paul Scheer [01:01:49] 2023. A couple of interesting things about this. This movie was the favorite film of late rapper Eazy-E. This the the the music for the First Power was all done by Stewart Copeland, the drummer and founding member of The Police. So interesting there. Budget in this movie, ten mil. Okay, Right. GROSS 22.4. It was the hit was a hit, a little hit, but it was.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:21] And it’s got a lot of that’s got there’s a lot of stunts. There’s a lot of, like practical stunt stuff that’s happening when they drive the car off of the other car and it it like, wow, both of them would be evaporated. Both of them would be exploded into dust. And they walk away like, oh, well.

Paul Scheer [01:02:42] By the way, at that point, doesn’t the homeless woman, just vanish?

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:48] She pops up from the backseat.

Paul Scheer [01:02:52] I watch that three times.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:53] She and Tess are gone.

Paul Scheer [01:02:54] But how?

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:56] Magic.

Paul Scheer [01:02:56] Okay.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:58] I think it’s magic and I wish it was more explicitly said so.

Paul Scheer [01:03:01]  I will say this. I didn’t know we’re going to do this, but when we announced that we were doing this movie, I got a text from one of the actors in the film who also said that they would like to show up, and it was from the horse. And the horse said he’s ready to come back for a sequel. Well, yeah, he feels that there’s unfinished business and he had a great time shooting it. And no, those weren’t his those weren’t his hooves. A lot of special effects. Magic. LDP is great. And he had some negative things to say about Jeff Corbett, but. Okay, but so the horse is in. Would you recommend this movie?

June Diane Raphael [01:03:39] Yes, listen as far as these movies go and the work that we do here, I found this movie to be very watchable. I, I did enjoy watching it, of course, as someone was blowing out my hair at about 4 p.m. today and I was watching it with earphones in and I didn’t explain to the stranger why I was watching it and why I was taking, you know, copious notes. But I, I did enjoy it. I found it. I liked it.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:04:16] I agree. I agree. This is a very watchable movie.

June Diane Raphael [01:04:20] And it goes, we are also mentally ill from this podcast.

Paul Scheer [01:04:25] But I’m going to say this. I watch this movie today. I also watched most of tomorrow’s movie, which is Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a movie in which I genuinely was like, I might not survive this viewing because it’s so weird. Well, so this is so fun compared to that. I was like, Thank God this movie is at least having a good time. Now. If I saw this movie in 1990, I would have been furious. I would have been like, How dare you show me this and pretend it’s a movie? Absolutely not. I just I like this movie. I think there was too much potential that wasn’t paid off. It could have been a great movie. I do think a better like cop could I be like Lou Diamond Phillips picked Cigarets and Long coat and that was it.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:05:27] I think. I think the movie’s mistake was making it about the cops. The most interesting story that’s happening is Tess’s.

Paul Scheer [01:05:37] Or undercover.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:05:38] An undercover or an undercover. But the psychic story is really. Interesting because for so much of the movie, she’s not being trusted. She knows truths, she has information. And what part of the problem is that? She’s just along for the ride with this guy who’s not interested in what she has to contribute. And it would be much better if she was the main character and he was even if he had the same M.O., he was reduced in size to just being somebody who.

Paul Scheer [01:06:04] Like honey I shrunk Lou Diamond Philips?

Jason Mantzoukas [01:06:05] Yeah. If he was. Yes. If he was teeny tiny, fit in a backpack. If he arrived at every scene in. (high pitched) Hey, hey, hey. Come on.

Paul Scheer [01:06:16] (High pitched) This is blood!

Jason Mantzoukas [01:06:18] I loved because I loved, too. I also wish we’d gotten more of the villain’s story because we get the scene in the. With the with the grandmother and the. You know, you that cop. Go to hell. Go to hell. Go to hell. I was like, give me give this woman 15 minutes of screen time. Give me more with this insane character. I was like, every moment. That was fun. The religious assassins, all this stuff, they were like, we’re not interested in that.

June Diane Raphael [01:06:48] Bag lady.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:06:48] Yes. The movies not interested in those things. They’re like, get LDP smoking again.

Paul Scheer [01:06:55] But the movie also fails because the sequel is that they didn’t save the day and we don’t know anything else. Like he sits in a hospital room like, All right, buddy boy, let’s go round two.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:07:07] Imagine if the movie had been about Tess. She goes through the whole thing, Lou Diamond Phillips is helping, blah, blah, blah. And we had that scene in them early on with the thing. And we reveal that he’s the killer. He has been possessed, and her only ally is now also trying to kill her way. More interesting.

Paul Scheer [01:07:23] That’s the sequel. All right. You have been fantastic. Now let’s talk about T-shirts. Yeah, go ahead.

Audience Member [01:07:34] LDP PD.

Paul Scheer [01:07:36] LDP PD.

June Diane Raphael [01:07:38] That’s pretty good.

Paul Scheer [01:07:40] Pretty good. Really good.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:07:41] We did it, Boston!

Paul Scheer [01:07:42] Thank you, Jason. Thank you, June. Thank you, Beth.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:07:48] Eat shit, assholes.

Paul Scheer [01:07:49] Thank you for coming out. We love being here. We’ll see you next time. Bye for now.

Paul Scheer [01:07:57] All right. That’s our show. Thank you to the Chevalier Theater, our amazing tour manager, Beth Thomas. And if you want to feel like you were in the audience that night, well, you can get a shirt that that audience designed. That’s right. That audience designed an amazing shirt. It’s a shirt that I like to call the LDP PD, a.k.a Lou Diamond Phillips Police Department with a police badge that says to resurrect, possess, and to see the future. You can snag the shirt at Teepublic.com/stores/HDTGM. You can also buy every shirt made from the summer tour right there as well. You can get them as stickers or mugs or t shirts or hoodies. It’s pretty amazing what you can do on that site. I love it. I bought some stickers the other day. We also designed a brand new shirt. If you’re going to come out and see How Did This Get Made Live. It just says parents’ night out because we know that a lot of parents are coming out to see us and we appreciate it. So now you can have your special parents’ night out shirt. All right. If you have a correction and omission, anything that you would like to add to our discussion about the great First Power, give me a call at 619-PAUL-ASK, that’s 619-PAUL-ASK or go to our discord at discord.gg/HDTGM. Leave your comments, your concerns and we will get to them next week. All right. Also because of the strike, Jason and I can’t really plug all the shows and movies that we love. I will tell you I love Joy Ride, but since I can’t do that, give us a call at 619-PAUL-ASK and ask us for some advice. We probably will give you advice about bags, but we will also talk about more. Plus next week on the Last Looks episode, you’re also going to get a special deleted scene. Oh, my gosh. So much fun. Remember, you can find us everywhere online @HDTGM or you can even go old school. Check out our website at HDTGM.com, where we announce our movies and where we’re going. And we’re going to be live. We’re going to be at Largo in October. I don’t think that show is sold out, but it is announced secretly. Also very important. Just want to let you all know we’re on threads now. Yeah, we’re on threads, so go check us out on threads. Last but not least, thank you to all the listeners who support the show every single week and our entire team there. They’re the best. I’m talking about our producers, Scott Sonne, Molly Reynolds, our movie picking producer, Avril Halley, our engineers Casey Holford and Rich Garcia, and our associate producer Jess Cisneros, who makes our amazing social media videos. That’s all I got. We’ll see you next week on Last Looks. Until then, bye for now.