L.A. in the ’80s & The Terminator (1984)

Summary

**Podcast Summary: Dear Movies, I Love You
Episode: L.A. in the ’80s & The Terminator (1984)
Release Date: February 18, 2025
Hosts: Millie De Chirico & Casey O'Brien

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Introduction

In this episode of Dear Movies, I Love You, hosts Millie De Chirico and Casey O'Brien delve into the vibrant movie culture of Los Angeles during the 1980s, using James Cameron's iconic film The Terminator (1984) as a focal point. They explore how The Terminator not only shaped their perceptions of LA but also reflects the city's unique character and evolution through cinema.

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Main Discussion: Los Angeles in the 1980s & The Terminator

Personal Connections to Los Angeles

Millie and Casey share their personal experiences with Los Angeles, highlighting how living in the city deeply influenced their love for its cinematic portrayal. Millie recounts her time residing in West Hollywood and how walking through the city felt like being part of a live-action movie:

• Millie (04:20): “...we just wanted to let you know that we recorded that prior to the fires... We love Los Angeles... It was a really great conversation. It’s a celebration of Los Angeles.”

The Terminator and Its Impact

The discussion pivots to The Terminator and its sequel, exploring their significance in the hosts' lives and their portrayal of LA:

• Millie (03:01): “...for our movie this week, we're going to talk about the OG, the original Terminator from 1984.”

Casey provides a succinct synopsis of the original film, emphasizing its role as a foundational piece in the franchise:

• Casey (25:02): “...this movie is about Sarah Kanna, a young woman living and working in Los Angeles. She's visited by a robot man from the future, the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is there to kill her because she is the mother of John Connor...”

Millie reminisces about her first encounter with the film and how the sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became her all-time favorite:

• Millie (29:39): “...Terminator 2, Judgment Day came out at a time almost like the perfect moment for me... it completely radicalized me because, number one, it was a blockbuster. I watched it in the theater. But then I also watched it on VHS with my friend Karen after school. We watched it, like, maybe 20 times.”

Visual and Thematic Analysis

The hosts delve into the visual enhancements brought by the 4K restoration of The Terminator, appreciating the added details and improved clarity:

• Millie (33:07): “...the greatest thing about 4Ks and new restorations... you get to see so much of the background now... like weird little characters that you're like, oh, I didn’t even know that character was back there doing a little dance.”

They also discuss the transformation of Arnold Schwarzenegger's character from the antagonist in the first film to a paternal figure in the sequel, highlighting the shift in narrative and character development:

• Millie (34:02): “...the Terminator is a bad guy in the first one, and he's a good guy in the second one.”

• Casey (38:25): “...when you’re looking at him, when you’re like, your eyes are feasting upon him in the movie, and then it cuts to a scene with Kyle Reese, you're kind of like, oh, him deflated.”

Cinematic Representation of Los Angeles

The conversation extends to how The Terminator and other 1980s films portray Los Angeles, capturing its diverse neighborhoods and unique urban landscape:

• Millie (44:15): “...there’s this entire chunk of 80s films that I love that all sort of take place in LA, roughly the same kind of neighborhood.”

• Casey (46:07): “...Predator 2 is a very like, wild LA movie. I think it's the 80s when that came out. But that’s like, that’s a really, really crazy representation of LA as like this wasteland.”

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Film Diary: Recent Movie Watchings

Millie’s Picks

Millie discusses her recent immersion in classic documentaries by Les Blank and her viewing of the new restoration of Rolling Thunder (1977):

• Millie (12:12): “...I watched a poem as a naked person. I watched God Respects Us When We Work But Loves Us When We Dance...”

• Millie (15:27): “...the new restoration of Rolling Thunder is amazing. It’s dark as shit...”

She provides an insightful analysis of Rolling Thunder, highlighting its portrayal of a Vietnam veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life:

• Millie (16:30): “...He’s like a guy that is home from Vietnam. He was a POW... there's this dance between... he wears aviators all the time. It’s a classic 70s movie about anti-heroes, violence, and crime.”

Casey’s Picks

Casey shares his recent watch of Eli Roth's Thanksgiving and David Mamet's House of Games:

• Casey (18:57): “...Thanksgiving was fun... the script could have used another pass. Some elements were kind of confusing, which isn't always a good thing in a slasher movie.”

He also recommends House of Games, commending its blend of crime and sexiness:

• Casey (21:52): “...House of Games is fun. It’s a good kind of crime. Sexy Joe Montana.”

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Film Gripe: Assigned Seating at Movie Theaters

The hosts express their frustration with the prevalent practice of assigned seating in modern movie theaters, recounting personal experiences and societal tensions surrounding the issue:

• Casey (60:23): “There is a war going on between older generations and younger generations. A lot of people my parents' age hate the assigned seating.”

• Casey (62:01): “...there was a guy in our seats and he refused to move even after showing him the tickets. It was a disaster.”

• Millie (61:57): “Gripe accepted... I think you and I see very much eye to eye on the assigned seat thing... We like rules and organization.”

They discuss the practicality of assigned seating in enhancing movie-going experiences by reducing confusion and conflicts over seats:

• Millie (60:35): “I actually kind of like it because I feel like the biggest issue was the organization of seating was always so weird... It takes out the awkwardness of trying to figure out how to sit with strangers.”

• Casey (62:10): “You can buy the tickets ahead of time and reserve your seats, making the experience more efficient.”

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Employee Picks: Movie Recommendations

Casey’s Recommendation: The Civil Dead (2022)

Casey recommends the low-budget LA film The Civil Dead, highlighting its blend of comedy and horror set in Silver Lake:

• Casey (68:26): “The Civil Dead is a fun LA movie about a ghost and haunting. It’s a low-budget slacker buddy comedy with heart and some scary elements...”

He notes its portrayal of LA neighborhoods and the authentic depiction of slacker culture:

• Casey (70:17): “You get to see all the apartments of Los Feliz and it made me miss Los Angeles.”

Millie’s Recommendation: Swingers

Millie endorses the classic LA movie Swingers, emphasizing its authentic representation of the city and its influence on her understanding of LA culture:

• Millie (70:34): “Swingers is a great LA movie that educated me about living in LA before I moved there. It showcases the unique apartment designs and the vibrant social scene.”

She reflects on the film’s humorous take on LA car culture and nightlife:

• Millie (71:41): “The scene where five friends drive separately to a party and park next to each other, then turn on the club is a funny commentary on LA car culture.”

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Conclusion

Millie and Casey wrap up the episode by encouraging listeners to engage with their content and share their own movie-related questions and gripes. They reiterate their love for cinema and invite audience interaction through email and social media platforms.

• Millie (75:42): “If you want to get answers to your burning film questions... write us at dear [e-mail]…”

• Casey (75:24): “I hope we are not visited by a futuristic robot sex God... I don't want you killed by a robot.”

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Notable Quotes

• Millie (03:30): “LA in the 80s on film is one of my favorite little pockets of moviness.”

• Casey (34:25): “LA is unlike any other city. It has this unique blend of urban decay and pockets of weirdness that you only find in Los Angeles.”

• Millie (37:27): “Arnold Schwarzenegger is probably the only Republican that I really love.”

• Casey (63:41): “There’s a war going on out there.”

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Key Takeaways

• Cinematic Influence on Perception: The Terminator and other 1980s LA films significantly shaped the hosts' perceptions of Los Angeles, highlighting its unique urban landscape and cultural nuances.

• Assigned Seating Benefits: The shift to assigned seating in movie theaters brings organization and efficiency, reducing conflicts and enhancing the overall viewing experience.

• Personal Movie Experiences: Hosts share how revisiting classic films and new restorations deepens their appreciation for cinema and its portrayal of real-life locations.

• Community Engagement: Dear Movies, I Love You fosters a community of film enthusiasts who can share their own experiences, recommendations, and critiques, enhancing the collective appreciation of movie culture.

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Follow Us

Stay connected with Dear Movies, I Love You on Instagram @dearmoviesiloveyou and join the conversation on Facebook. For recommendations, questions, or to share your own film gripes, email us at [e-mail] or follow our Letterboxd profiles: Casey Lee O'Brien and Decherico.

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This summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting the deep connection between 1980s Los Angeles cinema and its lasting impact on the hosts, while also addressing contemporary movie-going practices and recommendations.

Transcript

[Millie de Chirico]

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[Casey O'Brien]

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[Millie de Chirico]

Easy.

[Casey O'Brien]

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Hi Millie.

[Millie de Chirico]

Hola kumusta. Anyong.

[Ad Voiceover]

Oh, muy bien itu. Yo puedo abrarquito porque yo travaje nun acostina por cuatro anos pero that's no mine. No, no, nothing right now.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh my God, dude, you just blew my Mind, I literally did not know you spoke that amount of Spanish.

[Ad Voiceover]

I don't really speak Spanish that well, but I worked in a kitchen for a long time and I took Spanish in high school. And, yeah, I need. I'm. I need to get better. I would love to be, like, completely fluent in Spanish. But anyways, that's not. We're not here for that today. We're not here to talk about my language abilities.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Ad Voiceover]

Well, we have a very exciting show today. As usual, we're going to open up our film diary, bare our souls and talk about the movies we watched most recently in the past week or so.

[Millie de Chirico]

And, you know, for our movie this week, we're going to talk about the OG the original Terminator from 1984. You know it. You love it. And we're also gonna talk about one of my favorite time and places in history, and that is Los angeles in the 1980s. And more specifically, la in the 80s on film. That is one of my favorite little pockets of moviness.

[Ad Voiceover]

Hell, yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

And most importantly, I have a film gripe that is going to rock this podcast. Just you wait. But we wanted to also say before we get started in today's episode, so the bulk of the main discussion about LA in the 1980s and in regards to Terminator this all. We recorded that before the fires in Los Angeles. So if it seems sort of strange that we're not going into detail about that in the bulk of this episode, that's why. Because obviously that's very much on our minds when it comes to Los Angeles. And as we get into it, it's a place we both lived and really love. And so we just wanted to let you know that that is not going to be covered in this episode because we recorded that prior to it.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. And I, you know, there was a. We talked about even. Whether or not we should even release it, you know, because it, you know, we're talking about LA so specifically, and we're also talking about Los Angeles and sort of this, like, 1980s doomsday, apocalyptic perspective. So we just wanted to let y'all know we're not omitting the discussion about the wildfires. We just had recorded this before.

[Ad Voiceover]

That's right. And yeah, just to reiterate, we love Los Angeles. We are, you know, as you'll. We. We talk about how much we love this city. So much. And it's been like, pretty heartbreaking to watch what has happened to a city I lived in for 17 years and still consider, like, my home and so many friends and loved ones who are affected by this fire. It's very painful. So like Millie said, we were, like, we were wondering, should we even release this episode? But it's a really great conversation. It's really fun, and it really is a celebration of Los Angeles. That's why we did this whole episode. We want people to hear that.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes. All of this and a lot more on this episode of Dear Movies, I love you. Dear Movies, I love you.

[Ad Voiceover]

And I've got to know if you love me too. Yes or no. Check the box below.

[Millie de Chirico]

Hello, and welcome to. To Dear Movies. I love you. This is the podcast for people who are in a romantic relationship with movies. My name is Millie de Cherico.

[Ad Voiceover]

And my name is Casey O'Brien.

[Millie de Chirico]

How's it going this week?

[Ad Voiceover]

Oh, just dandy.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

I'm feeling fresh and attractive, and I just feel really good right now, especially because we're recording an episode of our lovely little podcast, Dear Movies. I love you.

[Millie de Chirico]

Mm. Don't you love that beautiful theme song?

[Ad Voiceover]

Gorgeous. The softies, they're just. Not only are they great musicians, they're great people. Did you know that?

[Millie de Chirico]

I knew that before you knew that. Actually, it's true. You want to go to get down to brass tacks about things. What's the weather like? Because we're, like, in the throes of winter, and you're in Minnesota.

[Ad Voiceover]

I'm in Minnesota. It was 18 degrees this morning.

[Millie de Chirico]

What?

[Ad Voiceover]

And, you know, I suited up properly, and because I had to go get donuts for my family for them to survive. And I went to my local bakery, a baker's wife is what it's called. And I walk in, I am bundled head to toe. I look like William H. Macy and Fargo, basically. And there's a man in there who's buying a dozen donuts. He's in a hoodie sweatshirt. He's wearing gym shorts, and he's wearing Adidas flip flops, no socks. And it was 18 degrees out. Isn't that awful? Isn't that crazy?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. I mean, there are people that do wild things in really, really cold conditions that I'm just like. Is that sort of a. Like, I just had to run in real quick and I don't care what I look like? Or is that, like, standard operating procedure for you? Are you, like, the guy that's like, I don't give a fuck about no frostbite. I wear my flip flops, no socks.

[Ad Voiceover]

There's this weird pressure in Minnesota to dress, like, just warm enough for the weather. Like, you get kind of, like, mocked if you're, like, overdressed for how cold it is, and I think everyone has sort of a fear of that, whereas I am like, I'm just gonna get so insanely bundled up that I just. I refuse to be cold, basically. And so if I look like a frigging dork, then so be it. Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

There's no. There's no shame about preserving your body temperature.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Sort of related to that story that you just told. How. Just out of curiosity, how much is a dozen donuts at your favorite donut place?

[Ad Voiceover]

Oh, God, I don't even know. It's probably.

[Millie de Chirico]

Is it over 10 bucks? Is it double digits?

[Ad Voiceover]

Uh, the place I. For a baker's wife, I would say it's probably like 20 bucks. I would say.

[Millie de Chirico]

Jesus Christ.

[Ad Voiceover]

For a dozen.

[Millie de Chirico]

A dozen donuts is over 20 bucks. Okay, so if you've listened to episodes of my former podcast, I saw what you did. You may have figured out that I used to work in donuts in high school.

[Ad Voiceover]

The donut industry.

[Millie de Chirico]

I was in the donut industry in high school. Not only was I a donut sales lady, but I actually made donuts at one point.

[Ad Voiceover]

Oh, you did?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. For a very, very, very popular donut chain. Wow. Which is very closely affiliated with the old podcast that I did. And this was 94. 95, perhaps. Maybe. Maybe 96. A dozen donuts was $4.99.

[Ad Voiceover]

Wow. That's amazing. I wonder. I. So the place I went to is a little bit more, I would say, elevated. It's like kind of a nicer bakery.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Ad Voiceover]

Than a donut shop, I would say.

[Millie de Chirico]

Sure.

[Ad Voiceover]

Uh, so it would be interesting to go to, like, my local, I don't know, hole in the wall donut place to see how much one of, like, a dozen would cost there.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, I mean, and this is probably going to come up, perhaps, when we talk about la, because LA is, like, completely filled with.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Little shitball donut places on every corner, which is, like, one of the things I love about la. But even in those instances, like, in the shit ball places, I'm. I'm telling you, a dozen donuts is over 10 bucks.

[Ad Voiceover]

Oh, yeah, definitely.

[Millie de Chirico]

And my gripe. I have a donut gripe, I guess, maybe this week, which is that I feel like even if we were having an elevated donut experience, I still don't think it's that much money. Because the base.

[Ad Voiceover]

I agree.

[Millie de Chirico]

The. The blueprint, the base level of a donut is so inexpensive to make because you're just. It's fried dough. It's literal fried dough. And I remember my manager back at said donut chain was like, the UPS charge in donuts. Like, the. The production cost of a donut to what they charge. The gap is so huge.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

That if you wanted to be a millionaire easily, you just make donuts interesting. Because people will overpay for donuts and they don't really know how little it costs to make them.

[Ad Voiceover]

I've heard that same thing about, like, pizza slice places because it's like, just, like, dough essential, you know, it's like, it's so cheap to make, like, a cheap slice of pizza in the same way that it's like, the. The upcharge is, like, crazy. That's why those, like, places survive, you know?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. So I. But that is. I think the thing that annoys me about modern donuts is the communication to the consumer is, well, you're getting, like, a very elevated donut. So that's why we're charging, like, $6 per donut. And I'm just like, fuck that.

[Ad Voiceover]

Like, yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

Just because you put a crumbled Oreo on top of it doesn't make it $6, because I know it costs you, like, 25 cents to make it.

[Ad Voiceover]

And because, like, the disparity between, like, the difference between one of those, like, elevated donuts and, like, what did you say? Shit ball donuts. That could be the name of a donut store we open up.

[Millie de Chirico]

Let's start one.

[Ad Voiceover]

What? The ball donuts, it. The difference in, like, enjoyment is so small. Like, and sometimes the elevated ones aren't as good as the ball donuts, you know?

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, man. Sometimes a ball donut is the only way.

[Ad Voiceover]

The only way. Yeah. Anyway, I would love to talk more about shitball donuts when we get into our LA conversation, because LA is secretly like, the donut capital of the world. Like, I don't think people realize that, but it is.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. For. For good and for bad, to be honest.

[Ad Voiceover]

For good and for bad. Truly. Well, Millie, we got to get into our diary, and I would just really love to hear which movies you watched this past week.

[Millie de Chirico]

My shit is real chaotic this week. I'll just let you know. I didn't watch a ton, but I sort of watched a couple by the same director and then a movie that's so radically different from all of those things. Okay. So right now I'm like, I've mentioned this before. I'm finishing up my master's degree. It's taken me, like, 2,000 years to finish this damn thing. And, you know, I was in A production class where I was making my own movies. And I had not been in a production class in many, many, many years. I mean, the last time I was in a production class we were shooting with like 16 millimeter Bolex cameras. Like, there wasn't even digital video at the time.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

So now that I've been reacquainted with all of the little, you know, modern bells and whistles of movie making, I'm like, yo, I'm inspired. I want to run out and start making a bunch of weird, you know, shorts and documentaries and stuff.

[Ad Voiceover]

Oh, Millie, I love this. I think you should totally do this. I think a lot of people get in their own way of being like, oh, this isn't the, this isn't the most professional. I need it, it needs to be super high end. Like I can't just make something with my phone or like a small camera, but. No, you can. It can still be good. Yes, I, I love this. Your inspiration is inspiring me.

[Millie de Chirico]

Thank you. I'm glad to, you know, that we co. Inspire each other because here's the thing that I realized about myself. So when I've been out here making these like little mini docs, doing all my little weird art. Okay. I realized that I'm very, very much influenced by like the old school way of making documentaries. And when I see myself as a person who could potentially make my own documentaries, I see myself as literally like a picture of that guy, Nick Broomfield, where he's like, he's got his like, can headphones and his boom pole and his like little, you know, porta bag. Like, he's just like a one man operation.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

And I love that. And I'm a huge fan of documentaries. And you know, I love Penelope Spheres, of course, but I'm also a big fan of like the Maisels and like, you know, just like old classic documentarians. Errol Morris, you know, like the whole kid. Right. So I decided that I wanted to go back and sort of do a little like light research about my favorite ones. And I. So I started watching all those less blank documentaries.

[Ad Voiceover]

Great.

[Millie de Chirico]

So Les Blanc was a very famous and influential documentarian. So he did documentaries about blues artists, most notably the Lightning Hopkins one that he made. But he also talked a lot about like sort of polka music and sort of Appalachian music and Cajun and creole music and things of like the kind of traditional American, primarily southern musical tradition. So anyway, his work is incredible. He also did a lot about, I don't know what you would call them sort of these like pockets of, like, Americana, you know, like Mardi Gras. Kind of like a slice of life Americana, kind of documentarian.

[Ad Voiceover]

Cool.

[Millie de Chirico]

I mean, I watched several. I watched a poem as naked person. I watched God respects us when we work but loves us when we dance. I, you know, watch the one on Lightning Hopkins. So I just was like, basically on Criterion Channel. Re watching less blank documentaries. And it was lovely.

[Ad Voiceover]

Amazing.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

I have only seen Burden of Dreams, the one about.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, yeah, Classic.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes, the Werner Herzog. It's about the making of Fitzcarraldo. Fitzcarraldo, which is. I mean, the documentary is almost. Is like more insane than the movie itself.

[Millie de Chirico]

So it almost became its own genre. Like documentaries that are about making of really ambitious big swing movies that are kind of crazy.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

And the only reason why I didn't rewatch that one, because I just recently watched that one. So I was like, I can skip Burden of Dreams even though it's fudgeing. Fantastic. Everybody should watch it. But, yeah, so I just was watching kind of the shorter stuff. So, having said that, the other movie that I watched this week, which, again, very different, is that I watched the new restoration of rolling thunder from 1977.

[Ad Voiceover]

I have never seen it. It's on my watch list.

[Millie de Chirico]

It is amazing. It's dark as shit.

[Ad Voiceover]

What is it? Give a quick. A brief synopsis.

[Millie de Chirico]

So it's essentially a movie. You know, it was like, originally written and conceived by Paul Schrader and it was kind of around the time of Taxi Driver, so it was like, you know, basically he was sort of writing about disgruntled Vietnam veterans that were coming home and sort of like, assessing their world. And of course, this is the 70s, late 70s, where America was grimy as fuck and, like, really dark. So it's basically William Devane, he is probably what makes the movie for me because he's not an obvious choice in terms of, like, the lead of a movie like this. Like, I would think, oh, De niro, Pacino, like, whoever, 70s actors like George C. Scott, like people that appear in these types of movies. In the 70s, William Devane, I feel like, was mostly famous for. He was like, on Knots Landing, he was like a TV guy. And if you see him, you'll definitely know he is because he's been in a lot of other movies too, before and since. But his portrayal of this character, of this, you know, basically, he's like a guy that's home from Vietnam. He was a POW in the war. Him and Tommy Lee Jones, who's also in the movie, a Bunch of, you know, POWs from Vietnam come home and they're just trying to get readjusted to like their normal lives. And there's tragedy that happens at some point with his family and he just like goes fucking berserk. So there's this mo. This kind of death wish ish element to it, but it's also like again, it's kind of a character study because William Devane in Rolling Thunder is a cool customer and he's cool because a, he's a cool actor but also like it's trauma. Basically the reason why he's so buttoned up and non emotional is because he was, you know, captured. And there's this dance between. You're like, man, this is the coolest dude to ever live or he's going to explode and just take out everyone. So you're waiting. You're just kind of waiting in that moment. And he wears a really cool pair of like aviators. And he wears them all the time. I don't know. It's like one of those classic 70s movies that is about like kind of like anti heroes and it's violent and you know, it's crime related. So anyway, I recommend you watch it immediately.

[Ad Voiceover]

Fabulous. Yeah, fabulous.

[Millie de Chirico]

What about you?

[Ad Voiceover]

I had a bit of a light week this week. We watched a movie, the latest Eli Roth film called Thanksgiving.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

If you ever saw the movie Grindhouse, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. There was a bunch of fake movie trailers and a bunch of those have been made into movies now, including Machete and now Thanksgiving. And it stars, you know, McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey. And it was. I thought it was fun. It was a fun time. I think the script could have used another pass. There were some elements that I found kind of like confusing, which isn't always a good. That's not a good thing. I don't feel like when you're like confused in a slasher movie. So that was fine. I would say.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, cool. Well, I always wanted Edgar Wright to make Don't.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Do you remember that?

[Ad Voiceover]

But I think that's the last one that had. That's the only one that hasn't been made.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, that'd be fun.

[Ad Voiceover]

That would be fun. I would love that. You know, the Thanksgiving movie in general is there. There aren't that many good ones. I feel like I like the. What is it? The day trippers. Of course.

[Millie de Chirico]

Of course.

[Ad Voiceover]

Home for the holidays. But I don't know, Thanksgiving movies. There aren't like that many planes, trains and automobiles. I feel like, there could be more good ones, so.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, there could be. If there were more, would you make it a big tradition to watch them every year?

[Ad Voiceover]

That's interesting. I have to say, Thanksgiving is, like, one of my least favorite holidays, so I don't really like to, like, sit in that space. So I don't. You know, maybe that's why there aren't that many good Thanksgiving movies.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

Cause Thanksgiving can be kind of a bummer.

[Millie de Chirico]

I've advocated that it get canceled in the past. Have you? No, because I feel like Halloween is such a strong holiday and Christmas is such a strong holiday that why not just cut out the middleman? Literally just cut it out. I feel like Christmas in terms of food has pretty much become Thanksgiving.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah. It's like the same stuff.

[Millie de Chirico]

Like, people serve turkey and ham on Christmas.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

Why do we do Thanksgiving? Plus there's all this, like, you know, loaded political stuff with it, with the actual holiday.

[Ad Voiceover]

Very loaded. I think Christmas and Halloween have enough, you know, juice. They have enough juice where maybe we could just sort of meet in the middle, you know, it's like, yeah, add another 15 days of the. The Christmas season. Add another 15 days to Halloween season. We can kind of bridge the gap there.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, they've already added 15 days, babe. Like, they've added 15 days to Halloween. I swear to go. Halloween is at least a week now.

[Ad Voiceover]

At least after the 31st.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, before and after. It depends on when Halloween is. Like, if it's midweek, people are celebrating before and after. If it's on a Saturday, it's the week before. They've extended Halloween.

[Ad Voiceover]

They've extended it. So, yeah, Thanksgiving, it's very brown. It's like, the ugliest time of year. There's like, no snow.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Ad Voiceover]

Anyways, then I also watched House of Games. Have you seen this movie?

[Millie de Chirico]

David Mamet, right? No, haven't seen it.

[Ad Voiceover]

It's fun. It's a good kind of, like, crime. Sexy Joe Montana.

[Millie de Chirico]

Is that a Criterion House of Games?

[Ad Voiceover]

I think it might be.

[Millie de Chirico]

Okay.

[Ad Voiceover]

It was good. And yeah, that was my last entry in my film diary.

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[Casey O'Brien]

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[Ad Voiceover]

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[Millie de Chirico]

All right, so what you want to talk about? LA, Los Angeles?

[Ad Voiceover]

Let's do it.

[Millie de Chirico]

When I talk to you about hey, what are we going to talk about this week? I had just come off of seeing the new 4K Blu Ray of the original Terminator movie from 1984.

[Ad Voiceover]

Great.

[Millie de Chirico]

So Casey, okay, maybe for the people who have never seen the original Terminator. I don't know how that's possible. It's only the best movie of all time. Could you like tell the people who haven't Seen it a little bit about what it's about.

[Ad Voiceover]

Absolutely. You know, I feel like it's pretty common for people to have seen T2 and not seen T1. I don't think that's insane.

[Millie de Chirico]

I don't think it is either.

[Ad Voiceover]

So I'm happy. I'm happy to relay some information. So basically, this movie is about Sarah Kanna. She is a young woman living and working in Los Angeles. She rides around a little moped, and one day she's visited by a robot man from the future, the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is there to kill her because she is the mother of John Connor, the future mother of. She's not a mother at this point in the movie, but she eventually becomes the mother of John Connor, who is like the rebel leader against the robots in the future. War against robots. So Arnold's there to kill her. She's confused. And then this other guy shows up. What's his name?

[Millie de Chirico]

Kyle.

[Ad Voiceover]

Kyle.

[Millie de Chirico]

Kyle.

[Ad Voiceover]

Kyle. Kyle shows up to protect her from the Terminator. And that is essentially the plot of T1. And since I already mentioned T2, they're inextricably linked. Can you just give a quick synopsis of T2? Millie?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, I mean. I mean, this is all insane. Oh, yeah, Kyle Reese.

[Ad Voiceover]

I forgot.

[Millie de Chirico]

I was like, what's his last name again?

[Ad Voiceover]

And then Kyle came back. Kyle came back.

[Millie de Chirico]

So essentially, Terminator 2 is the scenario where Sarah Connor has been sent to a mental facility because she's crazy, because she has these like, robot visions and is telling people about how the future is so fucked. And like, her teenage son John Connor is now in foster care running the streets. Here's the thing. The T800 who was Arnold in the first movie has been reprogrammed. And now he comes back to help Sarah and John against this brand spanking new robot, the T1000, who's played by Robert Patrick. That's the liquid metal cop. If you. If you know. If you've heard about this before. So anyway, it's kind of now Arnold, who was bad in the first movie, is actually now the good guy, and he's kind of a father figure to John Connor. Very interesting stuff.

[Ad Voiceover]

Did you know that Robert Patrick is the older brother of the lead singer of Filter?

[Millie de Chirico]

What are you nuts? You think I didn't grow up in the 90s listening to alternative music?

[Ad Voiceover]

God.

[Millie de Chirico]

I mean, who do you think I am? I knew that. Also, did you know that Robert Patrick is from my hometown?

[Ad Voiceover]

Didn't know that.

[Millie de Chirico]

And probably his brother too, right? Because they're they're related.

[Ad Voiceover]

Hey, man, nice shot.

[Millie de Chirico]

What is your history with Terminator? Did you watch it as a child? Like, I think I saw.

[Ad Voiceover]

I saw both T1 and T2 very late. I would say I've saw them in the last, like, seven years for the first time. Some of those movies, if you just don't see them at the right time, you have to seek them out on your own. And you don't necessarily do that, you know. And so I just sort of missed them. And so I don't have much of a relationship with these movies at all. I have somewhat of a relationship with James Cameron. I like some of his films a lot, and I find him to be a very interesting person. But I would say I'm more like. I was, like, more of a fan of, like, Aliens than I was of the Terminator.

[Millie de Chirico]

Okay. Okay. Good to know.

[Ad Voiceover]

What about you, Millie?

[Millie de Chirico]

My history with Terminator is that I remember seeing the first Terminator at some point in my early childhood. Like in the 80s, right. I. It was probably on TV because I carried a knowledge of, you know, certainly of, like, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator at some point. Like, I was maybe when in elementary school. And I remember people saying, like, I'll be back. And I'm like, oh, I know what that's from. Even though I don't really specifically remember a lot of things about the first Terminator as a child, it wasn't until T2 came out. Now, Terminator 2, Judgment Day came out at a time almost kind of the perfect moment for me for it to become my not only my favorite movie, but, like, one of my favorite movies still of all time.

[Ad Voiceover]

Wow.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes. Because there was several things happening with Terminator 2 when it came out that completely radicalized me because, number one, it was a blockbuster. I mean, it was such a huge film. I watched it in the theater. But then I also watched it on VHS with my friend Karen after school. We watched it, like, maybe 20 times.

[Ad Voiceover]

Wow.

[Millie de Chirico]

So it was exciting. And there was other things about it, too. But the biggest things for me, the things that really grabbed me, number one, Guns N Roses on the soundtrack.

[Ad Voiceover]

Sure.

[Millie de Chirico]

Cause they were my favorite band in this era. Wow. And they did a song called you'd Could Be Mine. And that video used to play on MTV all the time. And it contained clips from Terminator 2 and was like, oh, my God, Guns N Roses is the best band ever. So there was that. But then, really, the biggest, I have to say, Edward Furlong, huge crush. Huge. I mean, like, you don't even understand, like, how big of a crush I had on Edward furlong when Terminator 2 came out.

[Ad Voiceover]

You know what it was? I spoke of this with River Phoenix. He's got that beautiful, cascading 90s hair that just, like little wisps are, like, dangling in front of his eyes. He's kind of, you know, and he's just got this beautiful straight hair that I would have. I. As I said in a previous episode, I would have killed a person to have that hair, so.

[Millie de Chirico]

Absolutely. And Edward Furlong is my age. He might be like a year or two older. And typically, I have to say, typically, I was never. I never liked the boys of my era for the most part. Like, you know, I talked about this on. I saw what you did with Leonardo DiCaprio. Like, I just for some reason was like, I don't like him. He seems like he's a guy that goes to my high school and he's an asshole. Like, I'm just not. I was always liking guys who were, like, slightly older than me.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

But Edward Furlong was literally like the guy that was my age. And I could not stand how cute he was. And I was like, all about those, like, sensitive, dark haired, teen heartthrob guys.

[Ad Voiceover]

He seemed kind of like a bad boy. Even, like, as a little kid, he kind of had, like, a mystery to him, you know, what's going on there.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, yeah. With his, like, little thievery in. In the movie where he's like, stealing out of ATMs and riding his dirt bike with Bobby Butnick from Salute your shorts.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes. Yeah, yeah. Salute your shirts has come up in a previous episode.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes, we've mentioned Bobby Butnik at least twice on this podcast. So I was like, obsessed with this movie and essentially it informed my vision of Los Angeles before I knew what Los Angeles was. Before I lived there, certainly.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

I mean, it basically told me that there's this LA river basin that never has water in it that you could drive cars through and, like dirt bikes and shoot guns and stuff.

[Ad Voiceover]

I feel like it never does have water in it and it is there.

[Millie de Chirico]

That's so exciting. Like, as a person who's from the South, I was like, oh, my God, that looks so cool. But anyway, point being is that Terminator 2 was my everything. And it really is now my favorite of any of the Terminator properties.

[Ad Voiceover]

Sure.

[Millie de Chirico]

And will be forever. It just came out during my childhood. It was a flashpoint moment for me. So when I watched the first Terminator again, It's on again. Blu Ray 4K looks fantastic, by the way. I have to say, part of the greatest thing about 4Ks and new restorations and that kind of stuff is that you get to see so much of the background now of things.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah, totally.

[Millie de Chirico]

That you never notice, like handwritten notes and like weird little fucking characters that you're like, oh, I watched this on a 4 by 3 black and white television on a fucking VHS. Like, I didn't even know that that character was back there doing a little dance.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

But anyway, so yeah. Re watching the first Terminator movie again, I was. My first instinct was like, I like this. Obviously it's the origin story for everything else and certainly my favorite Terminator movie. But I still like Terminator 2 better. I still do.

[Ad Voiceover]

To me, they're like different species almost.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, they really are.

[Ad Voiceover]

T2 feels like so much more modern.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

And like the Terminator feels like an old movie and they only came out like six years apart. But T2 feels like a hundred years more advanced and more cinematic and bigger and shinier.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right. And the biggest distinction, I think, which is. Is probably pretty obvious, is that the Terminator is a bad guy in the first one and he's a good guy in the second one.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah. You know, another 4K restoration, I feel you get to see Arnold's dick a little bit better than you might have in. In the old, you know, the old VHS version.

[Millie de Chirico]

So glad you brought that up.

[Ad Voiceover]

Okay.

[Millie de Chirico]

That's the other thing about 4K's Blu Rays especially, is that you could really drill down into the visuals of moments like this where we did. I mean, I watched it with two gay dudes, so of course we were gonna like, hey, what are we looking at here?

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

And it was kind of. Kind of incredible because you are like, wow, you can see a lot of detail on this thing we never saw before.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

But having said that, I mean, the whole idea of Arnold and this is, I think part of the special features that we watched, but I had always heard this, was that Arnold really did not want the Terminator to be a good guy.

[Ad Voiceover]

Interesting.

[Millie de Chirico]

He was like. He wanted it to be a bad guy. And basically James Cameron, when they made Terminator 2, he was like, there's no way you can be a bad guy again. You're like America's sweetheart.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes. I mean, he was a huge movie star at that point. Like the Terminator. He is kind of not the lead guy.

[Millie de Chirico]

No.

[Ad Voiceover]

You know, Kyle Reese is the lead guy.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right.

[Ad Voiceover]

Sort of. And if you do T2, it has to be Arnold, obviously.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well. And like, to that point, I forget about Kyle Reese. Like, I unfortunately feel like even though he is the main character, he is overshadowed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first Terminator.

[Ad Voiceover]

A hundred percent. I do like that actor, though. Michael Bean. I mean, he's, like, a really hot guy, too.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

But, I mean, we. We don't get to see his dick outline like we do with Arnold, and we don't get to see his butt like we do with Arnold, and that overshadows him entirely.

[Millie de Chirico]

But it's also, like, not. I mean, it's kind of not his fault because it's almost like he's the good guy. He's the one that is, you know, essentially, like, he needs to impregnate Sarah Connor to. To, you know, continue the fucking human race. But it's almost like that task is super boring.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

When it comes back to, oh, well, we have this other character that is supposed to kill that guy and kill that woman, and so why. Why do we even care about his mission?

[Ad Voiceover]

Totally.

[Millie de Chirico]

So he was kind of set up to fail in that way. And I feel bad that I don't remember him.

[Ad Voiceover]

But, like, Arnold is so. Just visually seeing him on screen next to other regular humans, he's so imposing and so, like, beautiful as just sort of like this, like, statue, the sculpture of a human being that it's just. You can't take your eyes off him. He really just look. He looks incredible on the screen, just walking down a hallway. You're totally captivated by his presence. And so when. Just, like, looking at him, when you're, like, your eyes are feasting upon him in the movie, and then it cuts to a scene with Kyle Reese, you're kind of like, oh, him deflated.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

I mean, it's like. Like just from a visual excitement. You know what I mean?

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, of course. And I'll say this on Mike, Arnold Schwarzenegger is probably the only Republican that I really love.

[Ad Voiceover]

Of course. He's, like, a fake Republican, too.

[Millie de Chirico]

I know. I mean, he's an. He doesn't want to be an economic girly man. I get it. But he's also not, like, indoctrinated into the whole, like, craziness of modern Republican Party bullshit. Right?

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

And it's a slippery slope. I understand it, of course, But I was introduced to him. You know, he was commando and things of that nature. It was weird for me, I think, when I realized that he was, like, the governor of California and he was just like, a Republican guy, like, making, you know, conservative politics happen. But I agree I don't think he's like a terrible. But still, I still really fond of him. And so when, yeah, he's a bad guy in Terminator and he's scary as shit, but he's also like, to be admired, gorgeous, like, you know, Greek statue guy. And so when the second one came around, he had refined his look. I mean, he honestly looked fucking amazing in Terminator 2.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

With the leather jacket and the wraparound sunglasses and he's like pumping those like, double barrel shotguns and shit. I'm like, this is so erotic almost. But his whole character in the movie, in the second movie was that he was like a dad. He was like a dad. And I responded to that so much that I was like watching the first Terminator going, I don't accept him as a bad guy. I love him as like a robot dad and a hot one at that. So.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes. You know, that's interesting. Yeah. I will say it's hard to go back.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

After you've seen T2, it's hard to go back to the Terminator in the same way. I'm sure. It's kind of like when, you know, you go like after, like a band's breakthrough album that's like a masterpiece, it's kind of hard to go back to their older stuff where they haven't quite figured it out. I still love to listen to like Princess Dirty Mind and stuff, but, like, after you've listened to Purple Rain, it's kind of like, this is such a cuter version. It's not a. Yeah, everything before that is cute compared to what. What he eventually did. You know what I mean?

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, yeah. No, I think a comp for me would be like the Beatles or something. Not that we need any more Beatles fan discourse at all in culture.

[Ad Voiceover]

Sure.

[Millie de Chirico]

But I'm going to say, obviously my Beatles era are like Rubber Soul Revolver.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

To the degree which now if I hear fucking like, Love Me do and all that shit. It sounds so corny.

[Ad Voiceover]

Totally.

[Millie de Chirico]

And such like, weird oldies radio station boober nostalgia shit that I'm just like, yeah, I can't even listen to, like, old Beatles. Like, I want to hold your hand. I hate that shit.

[Ad Voiceover]

It's like you kind of like cross a artistic threshold where it, like, makes everything before it moot. Kind of like, you know, I don't know if you're a Radiohead fan, but like, after you listen to like, okay, Computer and Kid A, it's really hard to listen to the Bends, I feel like. Or it's like there's Good songs on there. But it's like, I felt like they just. Yeah. Passed sort of a threshold, you know, where it's hard to go backwards.

[Millie de Chirico]

I hear you. I might disagree slightly because I absolutely love the Bends.

[Ad Voiceover]

Okay.

[Millie de Chirico]

And I actually love Pablo Honey, too. I don't know. But I do. I do agree that, like, normally time creates this sort of, I don't know, like, artistic difference between, like, early work and later work. Sometimes that makes early work seem very distracting when you've realized, oh, the newer stuff is a little bit more complex, a little bit more my speed. So, yeah, that's how I felt about watching the first Terminator again. Even though the minute I started playing it, it made me super nostalgic for la.

[Ad Voiceover]

Interesting. Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

And I've been gone from LA for, like, May. A couple years now.

[Ad Voiceover]

How long did you live there?

[Millie de Chirico]

Five years.

[Ad Voiceover]

Okay.

[Millie de Chirico]

Which is not very long.

[Ad Voiceover]

That's a chunk.

[Millie de Chirico]

That's a chunk. And I. Speaking of Republicans, I was actually there during the entire first Trump administration, so I felt like I was. I really loved being there for that.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

But to me, I had visited LA so much for work prior to moving there that I kind of. If I actually kind of remember when it was that I moved, I was like, oh, it felt like I had moved there a lot earlier than I actually did.

[Ad Voiceover]

I see.

[Millie de Chirico]

Because I was there a lot. But anyway, I don't know how you feel, because you've been back, you've let. You left la, like, way later than I did.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah. I live. I moved to Minneapolis a year and a half ago.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, wow.

[Ad Voiceover]

And I lived in LA for 17 years.

[Millie de Chirico]

Wow.

[Ad Voiceover]

So I love Los Angeles. I spent a lot of, like, my later teen years and all of my 20s and a good chunk, most of my 30s there. So, like, I did a lot of growing up in that city and I still feel very connected to it. I don't miss it, really, because I feel like it's a part of me, if that makes sense.

[Millie de Chirico]

Makes sense.

[Ad Voiceover]

I go back with some frequency. There are things I miss about it, but, like, yeah, I. I don't feel that pull quite as much just because I was there for so long. And I sort of feel like LA is so weird. I was talking about this with Trisha, my wife. It's like all these little cities crammed together and you'll live in one area of Los Angeles and not go to a certain area for years. And so for me, it sort of feels like right now I moved to a different neighborhood in Los Angeles and I just haven't visited those other neighborhoods, even though I'm in Minneapolis right now.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right.

[Ad Voiceover]

So. But I have a deep fondness for la. I feel like I have to defend it weirdly because everybody likes to on Los Angeles, but it is fun watching old 80s at LA and just seeing what that world is like, part of my.

[Millie de Chirico]

And like, this isn't anything new. I mean, there's this fantastic documentary called Los Angeles Plays Itself.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Which if you haven't seen it, good luck because I don't know where it is. No, I don't.

[Ad Voiceover]

I. I feel, I think it's streaming somewhere.

[Millie de Chirico]

Is that really?

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah, because there's a lot of rights issues with that movie.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right. Because it's basically like a video essay. It was made by a man, Tom Anderson, who's like a, you know, he's like a professor, he's like a video essayist, he's a documentarian. And it came out in 2003, but it. Oh, it's on canopy. I think it's on canopy. There you go. So get it through your library. But you know, the reason why I think it's. It's probably legally kind of in a gray area is because it uses a lot of clips from other movies that sort of shape this argument about how like movies have informed our view of Los Angeles as the town. Right.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

And it's great. Like I watched it before I lived there and then I rewatched it when I moved and I just had like a. Such a much deeper understanding of the way that movie culture has informed my view of the town that I was living in. There seems to be like this entire chunk of 80s films that I love that all sort of take place in la, roughly the same kind of neighborhood. So sort of like, I'm thinking of stuff like Miracle Mile, which I know takes place in the Miracle Mile neighborhood.

[Ad Voiceover]

But that's like Hollywood. Kind of like it's near Hollywood. Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

But then you have like things that are taking place in like clearly downtown Los Angeles, which to me is a great place for a post apocalyptic vibe.

[Ad Voiceover]

Holy hell.

[Millie de Chirico]

Apocalyptic vibe.

[Ad Voiceover]

The downtown area feels nothing like the rest of the city and does feel kind of post apocalyptic. I mean, down there it is. Oh, it's a scene, man.

[Millie de Chirico]

It's a scene. But then there are, you know, of course, other sort of general, not like more 80s comedies and romances that take place in the Valley. So there's whole. This whole other tradition of, you know, 80s LA movies. But I think specifically because I rewatched Terminator, I was like, oh, like what are some other movies that are kind of in that vein that are filmed in Los Angeles in like, kind of the same part of town, Right?

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I, you know, I think we had discussed this before, but there's like Night of the Comet is a really fun kind of like post nuclear teen zombie movie that a lot of it shot in the Beverly Center. Yes, in la. And there's a lot of shots in downtown as well. But that's like, that's a really fun movie that's near this time too. And then another movie that came to mind for me, which isn't post apocalypse, but Predator 2.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

Is a very like, wild LA movie. I think it's the 80s when that came out. But that's like a really, a really crazy representation of LA as like this wasteland.

[Millie de Chirico]

One of my favorite movies ever is To Live and Die in LA by William Friedkin.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

Which also is shot in the emptied basin.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

A lot of downtown stuff, a lot of like warehouses. You know, it's like that feeling of like people who are committing crimes and housing their, you know, counterfeit money in warehouses. A lot of dumpsters.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

A lot of trash on the street. A lot of, you know, sort of like grimy, sort of thriller noir elements with like the LAPD and you know, like weird bars and weird apartments, like that kind of stuff. Like, I love. Yeah, it's just such a vibe and I feel like it's this very specific vibe that, you know, is sort of like, yeah, time and place for sure. But then it also, I think, is what makes me like the movie more like I kept thinking, okay, if like Terminator was shot in Minneapolis, sure would I like it as much if interesting, like if Terminator 2 was shot in Minneapolis or Atlanta, where I'm at right now. I mean, I don't think I'd like Terminator 2 without, you know, just like the LA elements. The river basin, the desert stuff. I mean, the desert stuff is like, obviously like they move to go get their guns, you know, for the, the war, the upcoming Robots vs Humans war. I mean, that feels very California. That is an LA adjacent thing that has to happen.

[Ad Voiceover]

Well, I, I, I think the Terminator has to exist in Los Angeles because, you know, it is, is LA is kind of like on the edge of the desert. So it feels like it's sort of creeping towards the like apocalyptic wasteland a little bit like sort of gradually. And then also there's just like, with la, there's a lot of like, and I like this about the city there's sort of like a lot of nothing space within the city itself. There's like a lot of cement. There's like a lot of, like, pockets of like, weirdness that it doesn't feel like a cohesive city, but it is urban at the same time. You know, it's like, almost got like small town elements within the city itself, because it's just kind of like these neighborhoods that are sort of band dated together and it covers like a huge. A vast amount of space. So there's like a lot of movement, like the Terminator and Terminator 2. It's like there's a lot of movement across the city, across spaces, and that type of environment you really only find in Los Angeles. And it reflects itself in the movie itself. You know, it's a lot of, like, urban decay. But I don't know, it's. It's. LA is a strange place. It's unlike any other city. And so when a movie set there, it has to, like, it does have an effect on the movie itself.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah. And I think too, you know, part of living there finally, after being informed by these movies about this location for so long. I don't know if you felt this. I. You know, again, I am such a romantic when it comes to cinema, of course.

[Ad Voiceover]

Oh, me too. Of course. The name of our damn podcast is called Dear Movies. I love you, Millie. Come on.

[Millie de Chirico]

Exactly. We have very amorous feelings towards this industry of ours. But when I was living there, I could not help but get caught up in just the feeling of being in the movies. Like, I was sitting there, like, I lived in West Hollywood and I lived in kind of like the Russian part of West Hollywood, by the way. Like, there's like, the fancy part that's nearer Beverly Hills, and then there's my part that was closer to actual Hollywood, Right. And there would be times where I'd be, like, walking the dog and I would be like, oh, this is where, like, Sal Mineo got stabbed or something, you know, or like. Or this is where, like, Eve Babbitts used to live. Like, it's just like, you're literally just out walking the dog picking up poop, and you're just like, oh, there's just history happening all around you. And it's all about this, like, thing that I really love. And it's just wild. It's such a wild feeling. And then you would drive, like, when I would drive down Fairfax, you know, and you would see, like, the coffee shop that's in Miracle Mile.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah, Johnny's right.

[Millie de Chirico]

And you're just like, holy fucking shit. I'm just going to the gym. And there's Johnny's right there where, you know, half of the movie Miracle Mile was shot. It's my. One of my favorite movies of all time.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah, No, I think that's really interesting. And something I. You know, something that has been a little bit of a relief since moving from there is kind of like when you're in Los Angeles, you do feel like you're in the movies. And in a way, it feels like there's a camera lens on you. In a weird way, it feels like you're the center of something in a way that you can't escape. And so when I moved there, back to Minneapolis, it sort of felt like I felt sort of a relief to be out of the center of everyone's eyeballs in a way. And I know that's sort of a philosophical, existential idea, but there's kind of an oppressiveness to that too, when you're there.

[Millie de Chirico]

Sure.

[Ad Voiceover]

You know.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes, yes. Well, listen, thanks for chatting with me about this because I. I just was wanting to discuss it with someone who also used to live in la, which, you know, I mean, I think that's really important when you're wanting to, like, you know, really parse out these feelings about watching the original Terminator and, you know, basically, like, driving cars through shopping centers in downtown la. You're like, who could I talk to about that? Oh, my friend who lived there three times as long as I did, so.

[Ad Voiceover]

Absolutely. I have a few other just Terminator notes real quick.

[Millie de Chirico]

Ooh, let's go.

[Ad Voiceover]

So watching it this time, I couldn't help but think it was sort of funny that Rhys went back in time to fuck his best friend's mom.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right.

[Ad Voiceover]

And did John Connor know that that was his father? That part of the movie I kind of was like, I forgot about. And it was sort of like, oh, that's right, and he's a virgin. That was made clear, too. And I don't know, it was just like there was. That was sort of an odd thing.

[Millie de Chirico]

Gotta be honest, a little slapped together.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

And. And I understand you just had a lot of story about the other thing happening again. It's like justice for Kyle, I suppose, but it's like that feeling of like, okay, like they could have given us a little bit more thought.

[Ad Voiceover]

Did you. Have you noticed this? I'm not the first person to make this observation, but James Cameron's movies always end either in the water or in a factory.

[Millie de Chirico]

Wow, that's interesting. Yeah. Huh.

[Ad Voiceover]

I don't know if that's true across every single movie, but a lot of them do, including the last Avatar film, kind of ends in a factory or kind of a factory setting, I should say. Yeah, Industrial factory type place.

[Millie de Chirico]

I mean, listen, I remember seeing the first Avatar in IMAX when it came out. I remember nothing about it. I remember there were blue people. I remember there were people like maybe like leaping from tree to tree with some kind of satchel across their body. But I don't remember anything about Avatar.

[Ad Voiceover]

I mean, we can keep this very brief, but what do you feel about James Cameron in general? General. Are you a fan? I mean, I mean T2 is in your. Sounds like one of your favorite movies of all time, but top five. How do you feel about him as a filmmaker? Beyond T2, I mean.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, now having seen Titanic, because remember I was a huge Titanic holdout. Huge.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

I only saw Titanic in the past year for the very first time. Yes, I sort of appreciate him a tiny bit more, but generally, like it's that kind of thing where I think maybe I do think the opposite of what we just talked about, which is that I like the earlier James Cameron stuff more early period stuff, but then the later stuff. I'm kind of like, huh, like the whole Avatar thing. Honestly missed me with all of that. I am not a fan. I don't really feel good about the mythology really. Like, I mean, it's fine. The mythology is fine. I just don't. I'm not interested, I suppose.

[Ad Voiceover]

Sure.

[Millie de Chirico]

But I mean, the abyss, Terminators, I'll even, maybe even throw Titanic in there. I'm good with.

[Ad Voiceover]

Okay, but you know, like Aliens.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes. True Lies. I don't know, he's sort of like. I guess he kind of feel. Doesn't feel like super exciting to me as a director even though he makes huge movies. But like, yeah, even though I do think it's really interesting that he's like this oceanographer y guy now. Like he's like the number one guy we go to to find things that have gone missing in the ocean.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah, I find him interesting as an artist and a person. I like his approach to movies because like, it seems like he really follows his passions and is passionate about film and some of his passions are sort of odd. Like are not odd, but just not maybe necessarily commercial or mainstream. Like the latest Avatar movie, there's like, like I feel like there's like a 45 minute sequence in the middle where they're just swimming in the water and there's like no dialogue and it doesn't really move the plot forward. You know, it's like I appreciate that about him because in a normal blockbuster they would have just cut that out.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

But it's like he's passionate about these. I keep saying the word passion, but I do like that he is a passionate filmmaker and cares deeply and obsessively about his films. And they just happen to be like, like generally mainstream ideas. But sure, it's almost like his approach is non mainstream, if that makes sense.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, makes sense to me. Interesting.

[Ad Voiceover]

So, yeah, I kind of. I. I enjoy him also. I just want to say one last thing about the Terminator. When I was five years old, I really wanted this Terminator 2 toy, the bio Flesh Regenerator, which is basically, you get the toy skeleton, metallic skeleton of, you know, like at the end of the Terminator that's like just. The skeleton is running after Sarah Connor.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

You get that toy and then you put it in this device and you pour like goo and it hardens around it so it looks like a naked Arnold. But you can like rip this gooey flesh off of this metal skeleton toy. And so you can kind of reenact the Terminator, I guess. And I had that toy and it was thrilling. Wow.

[Millie de Chirico]

What do you think it's going for now? Probably like $700.

[Ad Voiceover]

The bio flesh Regenerator.

[Millie de Chirico]

More.

[Ad Voiceover]

I wonder. Let me see. It looks like about a hundred bucks.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, okay.

[Ad Voiceover]

That's not bad. I don't want one. Don't buy one for me, but buy one for me. If y'all are listening right now, a bioflesh regenerator.

[Millie de Chirico]

Shoot a message in our socials. I'll give you my PO Box address and we can make. Make that gift possible.

[Ad Voiceover]

Very good.

[Millie de Chirico]

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Well, moving on Millie, to our next section, which I've teased a little bit and you don't know what it is. But something we discussed when we started this podcast was bringing up film gripes. And this is a pretty broad genre of segments because it can be about, you know, things that are happening in movies. Sort of like trends. Trends? Yeah, trends in movies or the theater going experience other people in the theaters a lot of times. So it's kind of a broad, you know, genre. But I wanted to talk about something today and I'm curious to hear your thoughts about it. What do you think about assigned seating at the movie theater? Because this is a relatively new thing, I would say in the last 10 to 15 years now it feels like almost every movie theater is assigned seating.

[Millie de Chirico]

Sure.

[Ad Voiceover]

Especially n newer theaters. Yeah. But what are your thoughts about that? Okay, I Do you have any thoughts? I haven't checked this with you?

[Millie de Chirico]

No, no, no. Right off the dome. I actually kind of like it because I feel like the biggest issue that I always had about everything being all willy nilly was that the organization of seating was always so weird. Right?

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

So there was this whole, like, you know, when you go into a movie theater and it's like, half full or something, obviously people were congregating towards, I wouldn't know, the middle, slightly back or something. And it felt like there was no rhyme or reason to things a lot of times. And there would be, like, entire rows that would be, like, you know, empty. But then there would be, like, two, three people squished into this one thing. And then I'm like, should I. I sit in that row or should I. I don't know. To me, it feels like it takes out the, like, awkwardness of trying to figure out how to sit with strangers, which is that.

[Ad Voiceover]

Sure.

[Millie de Chirico]

And then it does sort of help to organize things with friends a little bit better. But it also, like. Yeah. Cuts down the weird, like, saving of seats and saving of rows. Like, you can't, like, do that because sometimes, like, people would, like, save seats for their friends, and then, like, those friends didn't show up. And so all of a sudden there's two amazing seats, 100 that go unused. So anyway, I think I like it because I like organization, I guess.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes. It's much more efficient. Here's why I like it. Because in the olden days, you'd have to get to the movie theater if it was like, let's say it's like a popular movie. You have to get to the movie early to get one a ticket.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

But you also have to get there early, two to go get a seat.

[Millie de Chirico]

Right.

[Ad Voiceover]

And so you, like, sometimes you get to a movie, like a popular blockbuster movie, like, I don't know, 45 minutes, an hour before the movie starts, just so you could get a seat.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

Now you can buy the tickets ahead of time. A lot of times. You don't have to waste all this time. You don't have to get there early twice, essentially. You know, you don't have to get there early to get the ticket and to go get a seat. You can just get a ticket ahead of time and then show up when the movie's starting. Essentially.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

But. But I have found that there is, like, a war going on between older generations and younger generations. And I feel like a lot of people my parents age hate the assigned seating.

[Millie de Chirico]

Okay.

[Ad Voiceover]

And I have gotten into altercations with people who Are sitting in my seat that I bought the ticket for. Whoa. And it's not just old people. I'm not just ragging on old people. It's other people too, where it's like, you're in my seat. And they'll be like, no one's here. Can't you sit somewhere else?

[Millie de Chirico]

Ew.

[Ad Voiceover]

And it's like. Like. But I have the ticket for that seat, so that has happened to me.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

But also, one time, Trisha and I were gonna see a movie. Admittedly, we got there right as the movie was started.

[Millie de Chirico]

Sure.

[Ad Voiceover]

Which I'm against. I like to be there on time.

[Millie de Chirico]

Good.

[Ad Voiceover]

So the theater is dark. It's dark. I think this was at the arc Light in Hollywood. And I go to the. You know, the guy who worked there, and I was like, these are our tickets. And he was like, okay, your seats are up there. But I can see that there are people sitting in your seats, so you're gonna have to ask them to move. And I'm like, oh, man.

[Millie de Chirico]

Isn't that your job, sir?

[Ad Voiceover]

That's what I should have said. But this kid was, like, 15, and I'm a grown man, so make a.

[Millie de Chirico]

Man out of him, man.

[Ad Voiceover]

Like, yes, exactly.

[Millie de Chirico]

You're gonna have to confront.

[Ad Voiceover]

So basically, this older couple, one of them is seated in our seats. They both needed to move one seat to their right. There's a free seat on both sides, but. But Trish and my seats are together, so we have to scooch them over. The movie has started. This is like a 10am screening. There's a lot of older people in the theater.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

So I go up and I'm like, hi, sir. You're seated in our seat. And he goes, what? I go, hey, you're in our seats. I paid for these seats. No, this seat is mine. And those two. Do you guys just have to move over? And then his wife goes, what's going on?

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, God.

[Ad Voiceover]

And I go, you're in our seats. And she goes, we paid for these seats. I go, I know you did you just move over one seat? And then the people behind us, because we're standing up while the movie is going on, the people behind us goes, why are these people standing in the film? And I'm like, oh, my God, It's a disaster. I'm finally like, move over one seat. This is my seat. That seat next to you is yours. Just both of you scoot over. And they're like, oh. And I sit down next to this guy, and I'm like, I thought he Was, like, embarrassed because he had messed up because he should have been humiliated and embarrassed by his ridiculous behavior.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

I go, sorry for that. And he just goes. He just grunts at me like it was my fault.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah.

[Ad Voiceover]

So anyways, wow. That's a film. Film gripe of mine that people don't always follow the seat assignment that they. They bought for the seated seats, you know, in the theater.

[Millie de Chirico]

That is so bold of somebody to be like, why can't you just move? I don't know. Is that wrong of me? Like, that's crazy.

[Ad Voiceover]

100%. My dear aunt Nancy recently had a problem with this as well. Now, this isn't my story, but I'm telling her story. She went in, there was a guy in her seat. She lives in Fargo. Show Morehead, actually. And she went to the theater, and the guy, she's like, you're in our seats. And he's like, no one's here. Go find another seat.

[Millie de Chirico]

Oh, my God.

[Ad Voiceover]

And so she's like, okay. She sits down. Other people come in and they go to her and they're like, you're in our seat. And she's like, okay. She moves again. Other people come in. Hey, you're in our seat, lady. She gets up and walks back to her seat, and the old guy goes, looks like you're not having any luck today. And she goes, get out of my seat.

[Millie de Chirico]

I would have kicked him in the nuts. What the.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah.

[Millie de Chirico]

That is so bold.

[Ad Voiceover]

There's a war going on out there, Millie. Anyways, that's my film gripe.

[Millie de Chirico]

Gripe accepted. That is. I. I mean, I think you and I see very much eye to eye on the assigned seat thing, which makes sense because I think. I feel like you and I are both very, like. We're both kind of methodical. We like a little organization. We like a little bit of rules. Like. Like some light rules, you know, we like.

[Ad Voiceover]

We like laws and order. I don't think that's like, an insane thing. We don't like all these, like, independently minded people going ham, you know, in our theaters. I know you mean well.

[Millie de Chirico]

It's really more. I don't even want to call it a law because I'm punk rock. I don't really like all laws.

[Ad Voiceover]

Me too. I'm punk rock, too.

[Millie de Chirico]

I like a little bit of infrastructure and what. I think it's just an organizational tool, an infrastructure to just create a little bit of order when it comes to, like, public things and, you know, strangers. Because if you're out here with no fucking rules in movie theaters, Again, like, this is what will happen is that people are just gonna be like, well, I'm gonna save five seats. Cause I wanna lay down and put all my snacks on. All my snacks. Get one seat.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

And you're gonna have to sit in the front row. You know, so I like the assigned seat thing, but honestly, like, people are going outside of that.

[Ad Voiceover]

That.

[Millie de Chirico]

And I don't appreciate it. That's wild.

[Ad Voiceover]

I don't like it at a baseball game either because that's happened before where I've gotten to my seats at a baseball game and people are in my seats and I'm like, oh, these are our seats. And they're kind of like, can't you go somewhere else? It's like, no, but those are our seats. Get out of that.

[Millie de Chirico]

It's like this place created the rule of the assigned seats. So you have to abide by them too. Like, come on.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

Like jerks. Wow.

[Ad Voiceover]

Anyways, I like that you accepted my gripe. Maybe that can be a part of this segment where gripe accepted.

[Millie de Chirico]

Gripe accepted. Ding, ding, ding. All right, Casey, well, listen, I had a blast talking with you today about the Terminator and the Terminators and kicking old men in the balls in the movie theater. All right, so let's move on to a section that we lovingly call Employee Picks. And this is where we recommend a film based on what we've talked about today. So what do you have, Kasey?

[Ad Voiceover]

This is not necessarily an apocalyptic movie, but it's kind of a fun LA movie that is very low budget and it is about a ghost and a haunting and it kind of. I like Los Angeles because there's sort of like. And I like movies set in Los Angeles. I like slacker type movies set in Los Angeles. Cause it's like a fun place to just sort of bum around and walk around. And there's a lot of slackers there. It's a very easy place to. To live. Weather wise. You don't need much. The movie I'm recommending is called the Civil Dead. It came out in 2022. It's co written and directed by Clay Tatum. The comedian Whitmer Thomas is in it and Whitmer Thomas plays a ghost that only Clay Tatum can see. And it becomes really annoying. It's all kind of set in the Silver Lake, Los Feliz area. And it's a good kind of slacker buddy comedy with heart. But it also kind of has some scary elements too. And they made it for like, I want to say like 15, $20,000. It's really great. Yeah, you can stream it in the usual places on, you know, prime, rented on Apple tv. It's on Hoopla. If anyone has access to that app, that's another library card app, Hoopla. But yeah, it's a really fun movie that I really enjoyed and I always enjoy, you know, super low budget films and this, this movie, when I watched it did make me miss Los Angeles. It's, you get to see all the apartments of Los Feliz and stuff and it's, it's, it's a fun movie. I, I really enjoyed it.

[Millie de Chirico]

Okay, well that's a great recommendation. I'm gonna have to check that out. Plus that's, it's very topical to our theme. That is. You know, I was thinking about what's an LA movie. Like I was like, oh, I should go like really obscure, you know, something like that. But I don't think I want to.

[Ad Voiceover]

Don't do it.

[Millie de Chirico]

I think I want to go real broad, which is that I am going to recommend a movie called Swingers.

[Ad Voiceover]

I love Swingers. That's a great LA movie.

[Millie de Chirico]

A great LA movie. And also was another film that educated me about what it would be like to be living in LA before I moved to la.

[Ad Voiceover]

I actually think that's a good representation and somewhat accurate representation of just like living out in la, bumming around in your friends apartments, kind of just hanging out at the usual places, driving around the city. I think that's. I love that movie. I need to re watch it.

[Millie de Chirico]

I do too. I like how the Jon Favreau apartment has those like weird built in bookshelves that are like usually like in between the kitchen and like the rest of the living space. That was like something that I found in like every old LA apartment. And I was like, ah, I'm so fond of those built in little bookshelves. But the one thing about that movie that I actually, you know, part of there's a section of the movie where basically like they're going up to the hills to go to like a party, right?

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

And there's five guys and their little group of friends and they all. The joke is that they all drive separately to go to this one party, right. And then they all like drive really close to each other and then they all park their cars next to each other and then they all put the club on.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yes.

[Millie de Chirico]

And part of the ridiculousness I think of that is that like why would like the five people who are going into the same place not carpool? And it just kind of I think is a joke about LA car culture and sort of that kind of thing.

[Ad Voiceover]

Sure.

[Millie de Chirico]

And at the time, I was like, that is so funny and weird. But now, as I've gotten older, I kind of am like, no, that's actually how I want to do things, too. When I go to a party and I know that I'm going with friends, we should all drive separately. And the reason why is because I want to leave when I want to leave, but I don't want to go alone to the party. I still want to go with my friends.

[Ad Voiceover]

Totally.

[Millie de Chirico]

But I think we should all drive separately.

[Ad Voiceover]

You don't want to be beholden to their schedule, their leaving schedule.

[Millie de Chirico]

Of course, there's that huge issue, which is that I like, when I want to leave, I'm leaving. And it's gotten to the point now where I want to drive myself. For the most part, if I don't get trashed or something, I want to drive myself. Because actually waiting on an Uber to leave a party is one of the most awkward things in the entire universe.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah. You're kind of hanging out near the doorway. You've removed yourself from the party. You're not present there as a human being. You're just sort of like, in this transition dimension.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yes.

[Ad Voiceover]

Waiting for the Uber.

[Millie de Chirico]

And then if, like, God forbid, like, if you're alone or somebody standing there and you're, like, sitting here looking at your phone, and the only conversation you're having is like, where is this guy? This is 12 minutes away. I don't know. He's going in the wrong direction. It's like that weird dance of like, a waiting on an Uber.

[Ad Voiceover]

He must be at a stoplight or something.

[Millie de Chirico]

Yeah, yeah. And then you're just talking to strangers about your fucking Uber.

[Ad Voiceover]

Yeah. Sucks.

[Millie de Chirico]

And I'm like, why am I doing that? Because it's awkward. We both left the same party, but now we transition out of party mode into being weird about Uber mode. I don't know. I fucking hate it. So Bottom Line Swaggers is my film recommendation. It's on, like, every platform. You can watch it on Pluto for free. You've probably already seen it already, but I'm recommending it anyway, so.

[Ad Voiceover]

Great soundtrack, too. We owned that soundtrack on CD in the 90s, and it was on repeat in our house growing up.

[Millie de Chirico]

Would you see Big Bad voodoo daddy in 2025?

[Ad Voiceover]

Are they still a band? Sure, why not? Did you ever go to the Dresden when you're in LA where they go too frequently?

[Millie de Chirico]

Hell, yeah, boy.

[Ad Voiceover]

Of course I did love that place. Love that place.

[Millie de Chirico]

Well, well, well. That is the end of another episode of Dear Movies. I love you. So, speaking of the future, if you want to, you know, get a couple answers to some of your burning film questions, like if you. You need a recommendation from us. If you have a question about a director's filmography and you want to know more, or if you just have a film gripe and you need two film gripe judges in your corner, you can write us. Our email address is dear [e-mail] and.

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You can also ask for advice via voicemail, which would be just fabulous if we could hear your voices on the show. Just record a voicemail on your phone in a quiet place, please. Keep it under a minute, please. And you just email it to [e-mail] that's right.

[Millie de Chirico]

And you can follow us on our social media accounts. We are earmovies. I love you on Instagram and Facebook.

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Our Letterboxd handles Areceylee O'Brien and Decherico. Check us out.

[Millie de Chirico]

That's right. Well, Casey, as always, I had a really good time doing this podcast with you and I can't wait to do it next week.

[Ad Voiceover]

Me too. I hope we are not visited by a futuristic robot sex God. And, well, yeah, I don't know. I hope that doesn't happen to us in between this recording and the next because I want to keep doing the show and I don't want you killed by a robot.

[Millie de Chirico]

Thank you.

[Ad Voiceover]

Anyways, that's us. Bye, everybody.

[Millie de Chirico]

Goodbye. This has been an exactly right production. Hosted by me, Millie de Chirico, and produced by my co host, Casey O'Brien.

[Ad Voiceover]

This episode was mixed by Tom Breifogel. Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain, our guest booker is Patrick Cotner, and our artwork is by Vanessa Lilac.

[Millie de Chirico]

Our incredible theme music is by the best band in the entire world, the Softies.

[Ad Voiceover]

Thank you to our executive producers, Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark, Daniel Kramer and Millie Detroit. Jericho, we love you. Goodbye. Be kind.

[Millie de Chirico]

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