C (3:11)

Okay, let's hear it. I need to hear it.

B (3:13)

So the one I almost walked out on was Slumdog Millionaire.

C (3:17)

Oh, interesting.

B (3:19)

Slumdog Millionaire, Oscar winner, best picture. Had been billed to the world. I was not seeing it for work. Had been billed to the world as a colorful, dynamic romp full of magical dance routines and bright joy. And the first 45 minutes are children being tortured.

C (3:39)

Okay, yes, I vaguely remember that aspect of it.

B (3:42)

Yeah. Not my favorite. Not my favorite thing to sit through. I was like, did I walk into the wrong movie? What are people talking about? And eventually it kind of pivots to the game show, and then it's fun and fine, but there is so much scene setting of children being exploited and tortured. And the person I was with at the theater and I were like, should we leave? This is excruciating. And we stuck it out. Stayed ultimately was like, okay, I see what people are talking about. But, boy, those first 45 minutes are pretty rough. The mov I did walk out on, and I will say I was, like, 18 or 19 at the time. I was on a date. The movie I walked out on was A Clockwork Orange. It was a campus screening of A Clockwork Orange at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in, like, 1990 or 91. Like, campus film society was showing it. I'm like, oh, I've heard good things about this. A Clockwork Orange didn't know anything about it.

C (4:44)

You never had to read the book in school?

A (4:46)

No.

B (4:47)

Oh, Aisha, If I could get out of reading a book, I will find a way. And so I was like, well, you know, there were posters of it up in people's dorm rooms. It was, like, a cool thing. And I was, like, kind of trying to catch up on stuff I'd missed. And what I didn't know and didn't realize was, of course, very early in that movie, there is a giant crime spree which includes a brutal sexual assault and my date and I did not want to watch that and walked out on the movie. And and you know, I feel like a very, very bad cinephile for admitting that, you know, because obviously not only is it a classic movie, but it's a classic movie that is endlessly referenced in other culture. It is. It's an embarrassing movie to say you walked out on. And I wouldn't admit it if I weren't specifically tasked with the assignment of telling our pop culture happy hour plus subscribers what movie I've walked out on. But that is and remains the only movie I've ever walked out on.

D (5:48)

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C (7:50)

Wow. Okay. So Slumdog Millionaire I have not seen since it came out. I do remember liking it, although the soundtrack slaps.

B (7:58)

Love the soundtrack soundtrack. It's great. Totally slaps.

C (8:00)

Have listened to that many times and a clockwork Orange. I feel like you have a good reason for that, because it is a difficult watch. I love that movie. I actually recently rewatched it again when I was in Amsterdam and a local theater was showing, and I was like, oh, I haven't seen this in forever. I want to go see it. And I think it still holds up. I think you should give it another chance, Stephen.

B (8:21)

I'm not sitting here folding my arms like that movie's bad.

C (8:24)

No, I know, but, like, I don't know, it just feels very relevant. I mean, even then it did, but it's. It's so good. Anyway, I am with you, Steven, on the whole, I'm a dead ender. I'm the same exact way about bathroom breaks. If it's the first time I'm seeing a movie, I will. No matter how bad my stomach might be kicking me, I will sit there. The one exception I had most recently was when I saw the Mission Impossible.

B (8:53)

Which episode knows, I assume there are, like, 20 words and six colons.

C (8:58)

Basically, that movie's, like, so, so long. And I knew it was gonna be long, and I had to go. And I was like, you know what? Nothing is happening in this movie, so I'm probably not gonna miss anything by going for five seconds. The one time I've walked out. Was Avatar the Way of Water.

E (9:15)

Yes.

C (9:15)

Wow. Okay, So I hated the first Avatar.

B (9:18)

You never learned the way of Water.

C (9:20)

Well, no, hold on there. I did. I have to Avatar the Way of Water. And. And I didn't go to a press screening beforehand. And it was Christmas Day. My partner and I were just like, so why don't we just go to a movie? There's not much to do. Like, let's just go to the movie. Oh, and they're showing it in 40x near us. I was like, if I'm gonna see this movie, at least it'll be an experience. Go there. Had our drinks, sitting in the seat, and did not realize this is my first 40x experience. Did not think about the consequences of having a drink while sitting in seats that move. And it was like, the most miserable experience. Plus, the movie was boring. And about an hour in, I was like, this is not fun. Let's go. I wanna spend my Christmas doing anything but this. So we left, and it was great. We got some Indian food afterward. It was lovely. Of course, I did wind up having to see it later because as listeners.

B (10:14)

Were nominated for Best Picture. And it's the Pop Culture Happy Hour law.

C (10:17)

Yes. Yes. So our law here at Pop Culture Happy Hour is if it's nominated for Best Picture, we do have to watch it. And so I wound up watching it at home. I got a press screener of it later on. I mean, it had a lot to do with not actually liking the movie, but it also had to do with all these other factors. And I think that's, like, where I come down to, which is why the two that I came so close to walking out of, they really kind of proved my point of, like, I will sit through pretty much anything, no matter what. And I will also do this at home, too. Like, once I start a movie at home, I also, for the most part, will not stop it, Mother. Exclamation point.

B (10:51)

Oh, man. I saw that in a theater.

C (10:53)

Yes. I saw that in 2017. This is, of course, the Darren Aronofsky movie. Aronofsky doing his, like, take on Rosemary's Baby with Jennifer Lawrence.

B (11:03)

I couldn't quite spot the metaphor in that movie.

C (11:07)

Yeah. I will never forget, though, my partner and I were visiting London at the time, staying in an Airbnb that was right across the street from this historic movie theater in Brixton. It's called the Ritzy Picture House. And I was like, anytime I'm traveling outside the country, I try to go to a movie theater to just, like, get that experience. And so Mother was playing. I went into it, you know, having heard about it. I was, I think, 45 minutes in, we both looked at each other, and we're like, oh, my God, what are we doing? But we stayed through the whole thing. Also, Terrence Malick's the Tree of Life. I almost walked out of. I hate that movie. I have such a hard time with Le Era Malick. Honestly, you could replace Tree of Life with also Knight of Cups song to song. Like, I almost walked out of all of them in a theater.

B (11:53)

I mean, the Tree of Life is not speedily.

C (11:55)

No. Well, once we got to the dinosaurs, I was like, oh, my God, what is happening? And again, it comes down to both of those movies are kind of experimental. They're. Well, in Terrence Malick's case, they're very slow. And in Mother's case, it's just like.

B (12:10)

That movie's not so.

C (12:11)

It's just like, chaos, chaos, chaos, violence, violence, violence, and just a lot of screaming and awful things happening. And that's not a pleasant experience for me. But at the same time, I kind of want to see what's gonna happen, like, where this is gonna lead. And I am a completist, and so I will finish. I will finish those movies. And I don't know how you feel about this, Stephen, but, like, I'm less. I'm absolutely less dogmatic about this when it comes to TV shows. Like, I will.

B (12:39)

Oh, Aisha, it's different. I will drop out of a TV show at the slightest provocation.

C (12:45)

Unless recovering from work.

B (12:46)

That's the exception again, unless we're covering it for work. But very often a show that I will watch, you know, super diligently right up to when we tape the episode, the frequency with which I have never gone back is really, really high. I do think it's interesting, Aisha, that when we're talking about movies we walked out on, or came very close to walking out on, we're talking about films by some enormously acclaimed and accomplished filmmakers. I walked out on Kubrick and almost walked out on Danny Boyle. You walked out on James Cameron and almost walked out on Darren Aronofsky and Terrence Malick. And I just think it's just interesting that it's like you sat there arms folded through the entirety of baby geniuses. But, you know.

C (13:34)

Well, I think I just have a lower tolerance for, like, directors who are quote unquote, auteurs, who film bros especially love to salivate over, and who, to me, make things that are either completely inscrutable and. Or are just really kind of boring and slow. And I hate to, like, be that person. But, like, also, these movies, especially Avatar and from what I remember of Tree of Life, they are two plus hours long. So it's like you are asking.

B (14:03)

Oh, yeah, Both Avatar and Tree of Life are very long. Right.

C (14:05)

So you're demanding a lot of my attention. And I see them because I feel like I have to, because they are the quote, unquote auteurs. But I really should have known going into Mother at least that that was just not gonna be my joke. Cause I have never been an Aronofsky person. Like, Black Swan is fine. That is what I do think I need to revisit. But, like, everything else he's done has just not been for me and Terrence Malick post. I don't know really post the 80s, I've just kind of struggled with. So I'm curious if other people have the same sort of measurement or if they have standards. Cause you and I don't really have any, like, standards rules about how we do it. Well, it's just like. It just feels like you. If you pay the money or if, like.

B (14:53)

Yeah, there's an element of sunk costs.

C (14:55)

Absolutely. Sunk cost theory. Yeah.

B (14:57)

Yeah. With movies where it's like, if I got up and, like, parked and, like, cleared the time in my schedule, I think the factors that would be the likeliest to cause me to walk out of a movie that thankfully have never happened, at least so far as of this taping, are things like if I got a text with a family emergency, if I suddenly had some sort of crisis, you know, if I somehow, very foolishly. I have pretty strict rules about not going into movies, having had drinks. Certainly anything I'm seeing for work, I'm gonna go into with a clear head. Right. But if I. Yeah, if I'd had a few drinks and the seat was shaking the way that it sounds like it was for Avatar, I could see situations where I felt I had to walk out. But I think I'm pretty big into the whole sunk cost thing.

C (15:44)

Sun cause. And the last thing I'll say about this is, for me, can I judge something? If I haven't seen the whole thing of it, and if I want to say that this movie is bad for whatever reason, then I feel like I have to have seen it all the way through and seen how it ends and how the director carried it through.

B (16:04)

Well, if it's a bad movie, I want to be able to talk smack about it.

C (16:07)

Yeah, exactly.

B (16:08)

I don't want somebody to be like, the last 10 minutes of Cats are amazing. Like, if that's, you know, I don't want to miss a thing.

C (16:15)

Yeah. In the words of Aerosmith, you don't want to miss a thing. Well, those are the movies we walked out on and almost walked out on. And if you have any more questions for us, you can bring us your best cultural debate or ask us something you've always wanted to know about the show. Write us@pchhpr.org and we may answer your question in a future bonus episode. Again, our email is pch. That brings us to the end of our show. Stephen, thanks so much for being here.

B (16:48)

Thank you.

C (16:49)

And thank you again for being A plus supporter. It truly, absolutely does make a difference for us. This episode is produced by Chow2 and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello. Come in. Provides our theme music. Thanks so much for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Aisha Harris, and we'll be back with another bonus episode next month.

A (17:14)

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An NCIDQ certified interior designer must complete a minimum of six years of specialized education and work experience and pass the three part NCIDQ exam. All three exams emphasize and focus on health, safety and welfare of the occupants. It's really about the implementation of design. Good design is never just about aesthetics. It's about intention, safety and impact. We take the responsibility of protecting the public seriously. The space needs to be functional, safe and accessible.

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To learn more about NCIDQ certification or to hire a Certified designer, visit CIDQ.org NPR this message comes from Carvana. Buy a car 100% online@carvana.com with financing to fit your budget. Enjoy seven days to return. If it's not a fit, limitations and exclusions may apply. See return policy@carvana.com this message comes from NPR sponsor Shopify. Start selling with Shopify today. Whether you're a garage entrepreneur or IPO ready, Shopify is the only tool you need to start, run and grow your business without the struggle. Go to shopify.com npr.