Paul Feig (IN STUDIO) Suits Up & Ditches Stand Up For Directing

21:00Nice. The big hitters. Yeah, so I wanted to be an actor. That was my goal. I wanted to be Steve Martin.

21:09Dana Carvey:As a little kid. As a little kid. Oh, yeah. Like five years old. I got laughs in front of a school play and was like, hooked. Addicted. Yeah. And so I started doing stand-up when I was 15 years old in Detroit. It was terrible, obviously. Was there a big scene? Why was it terrible? Because I was terrible. We were all terrible. I know. I was doing like Johnny Carson jokes and stuff like that. I did not know that. There we go. Thank you. You gave me an opening. There you go. I apologize. People were pressing the podcast on. Sure subject. No, it was big because the show Make Me Laugh was big. Howie Mandel.

21:46Yeah. Yeah, Bruce Baum. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mike Binder. And Mike Binder was a Detroit guy. And so all these comedy clubs sprung up because of Make Me Laugh. All these open mic nights. You know, what was that, Baby Man Bomb? Yeah, yeah.

22:00Dana Carvey:There's Baby Man Bomb. Yeah, and he put the thing up and then he's in the club and then he takes off. Gary Mule Deer. Remember Gary Mule Deer? I love the assortment pack of the weird, eccentric, you know, how comedians were so different. In those days, not everybody had his elbow on the mic saying he masturbated in front of his cat. I'm a jazz cane or Denny Johnson. Like every time I got an opening or I'm different watching these guys. And we always say they would rarely change their act. That was a new. That was the old way. Oh, no. It was like vaudeville. You travel with that fucking thing. I think Denny Johnson got it.

22:33Dana Carvey:folklore says you got this great 20 minutes that killed every time in like one night, almost a fever dream, and then just kept it for 40 years. But that was that old vaudeville thing, remember? Yeah. The movies killed vaudeville because a guy had an act for 20 years, and they put it on film. Okay, what else you got? So what was in stand-up your best bit? My best bit. You must have had a bit that worked. I did. I had two killer bits. Okay. Killer bits. One was Willard Schmidt, the woodshop teacher. So I had these glasses, and he's a stand-up comedian. Okay, that's funny. So I was kind of like a very energetic comedian, but then I would do that.

23:14He's just completely flat. All his jokes are about like, you know, I had a kid in class, and I told him to stop fooling around. He continued to fool around, and he got his arm cut off. Then I'd go and tell a joke about something, and then I'd go back to another horrible story about something. Very flat. So it would kill. It would just kill.

23:31Dana Carvey:So the teacher actually cut the arm off? Was that the idea? No, no, because the kid was fooling around. He didn't listen to the teacher. Oh, I see. So he got an accident. Exactly. And then my other bit was, my big closer was the Thurston Howell Blues, which had my harmonica. And I would do this, oh, yes, I can't even recall. From Gilligan's Island. From Gilligan's Island. Yes, exactly. And then the killer line, I don't know if I can get it right, but it was like. No pressure. Now that professor, he's really quite daft. He can make a coconut lie detector, but he can't build a goddamn raft. Yeah, yeah.

24:05And that would kill. So there you go. That's very true, though. Thank you. But this was back in the 80s. I can't believe it. Let me tell you my closer. Yeah, let's hear it. This killed. Dueling closer. This killed every time. This fucking Dana. Destruction. It's sort of like as an extra B.

24:20Dana Carvey:One of my very good ones to follow. This has a boom, boom at the end. Watch this. Watch this, Paul. Okay, here we go. So I talk about Skinamax, and I talk about all these shows I watch late at night, all these R-rated shows. And then I said, HBO has a new show called, new back then, Autopsy. We go into a coroner's office and film a live autopsy. Let me tell you something, HBO. I can't whack off to autopsy. Or can I? Bam. Yep. Whack off, gets a laugh. Whack off, music up, good night, people fly out of their chairs. That was a tough one. I had them cut, give them a red light. I have a Gilligan's Island joke that I did on SNL.

25:00Dana Carvey:So we're doing Jerry Seinfeld. And my line was, okay, it was like a game show, right? And it was like, if the professor can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix the boat? There you go. See? I can't believe it. I like when someone goes, I saw Gilligan's Island. It was the one where Mrs. Howell didn't know what to wear to the rescue. Oh, yes. Which was every episode. There you go. Oh, what should I wear to the rescue? Love it. Oh, love it. I got lauded. Funny, I got lauded back then because this was 85 when I was doing this. Yeah. And everybody was still doing, hilariously, this sounds so old, jokes about the 60s.

25:39And so all these comedians come up and go like, you're the first guy who's made fun of the 70s. So I was, there you go. Oh, I was in my peak in 1985. I know.

25:48Dana Carvey:I used to do Cary Grant. I'd do Jimmy Stewart. You know, all those were good. Did you do Jack? Oh, yeah. No, I didn't do the hair back. but I did Jack leave a message, you know, whatever. I did all that stuff. Kills, but yeah, now I'm, I don't do Cary Grant anymore. I'd love to. When we work the retirement home. But I have a new bit now that I'm doing that when I'm talking to Comcast and there's someone who doesn't know, I just use Cary Grant's voice. I turned it on and off, but I still have no reception. And they don't respond or say, are you? They're like, who are you? I can't believe it. I thought that was a big game.

26:25Dana Carvey:So anyway, so back to you. You are a stand-up, you're killing, and then you're directing hit movies. What's this timeline and what happened? I was full-time stand-up from 85 to 90. I got on a thing called the Paramount Comedy Theater, which was the first home video videotape comedians special. I don't know if I remember it then. No, but it was only in video stores. Was it kind of like the HBO? Howie was the host. And we shot it down at the Hermosa Beach, you know, the comedy magic club. The greatest, yeah. And when Jimmy Miller used to manage it. Jimmy Miller, the Jimmy Miller. Christ's sakes, no one makes popcorn like my little brother.

27:11Dana Carvey:It's Dennis' brother, everybody. And he's exactly the same accent. But so I did it. And then so the guy that produced it, I went, did my act. It killed. It went great. And it was really successful. My first success is the stand-up. I had lunch with the producer a few weeks afterwards, and he said, you know, they did not want you on this show. Howie's managers hated your act from your tape so much, they threatened to pull Howie off of the special if you did it. And this guy was kind of a fighter, so he just fought to get me on there. And the hilarious thing was, after my set killed, his managers wanted to sign me.

27:53They signed me. And this all comes back to when you said SNL, because they said, what do you want? I said, my dream in life is to be a regular in SNL. They're like, we can make that happen. Done. First of all, you should always run for the hills. Yeah, of course. And yeah, then of course, it never happened. They sent my tape to Lauren. He's like, I don't see you. What year? What year? This was 86.

28:14Dana Carvey:That's when I got the show. Oh. I knew it. And I remember, would you take a look at Paul Frigg's tape date and see if you think anything's there? No, I don't see it. Any glimmers? No, I didn't see it. I didn't see your take. I probably would have said, that man's going to make a hit movie. No, I don't know. Keep behind the camera. It's very interesting how many people were stand-ups and ended up movie actors or impressionists. Anthony Hopkins, just a very impressionist. Well, a lot of guys who were stand-ups when I was coming up all became writers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty well-known writers. That's the smoothest transition.

28:46Well, because they would have killer jokes, but they didn't necessarily have the greatest stage presence. Or you get tired of the grind of traveling. that's why that's what drove me out because i you know i my whole those five years was like working towards becoming a headliner minute i became a headliner i didn't like it yeah because it was lonely being a headliner is lonely like when you're the middle or the or the opener you know the guys are back you come off stage everybody's like yeah that was so great when you're the headliner you come off everybody's gone to dinner yeah and you're like nobody's here

29:12Dana Carvey:i know a guy larry bubbles brown from san francisco got to a level in san francisco he's headlining Yeah. He's great. Said, nope. After about a couple times, said, no, it's the pressure. The end just stayed a middle. I get it. And the road. I hated the road. I hated the road, too. Did you play Spellbinders in Houston? What are the places? I was mostly West Coast. So it was all up and down the West Coast. I was just T-Feathers. Yeah, yeah. The Bay Area. I could stay in the Bay Area pretty much, you know, and not have just drive to Santa Cruz. Cobbs. Oh, God. Punchline. God, it's funny. We almost crossed paths.

29:45Dana Carvey:I know. It's crazy. It was the comedy condo that drove me out of the business. Oh, staying with the... Okay, give us a comedy condo store for people who don't know. No, they would buy this condo and have three bedrooms. Three bedrooms. One was the shitty one for the opener. One was the slightly less shitty one. Yes. And then the beautiful one for the headliner. The master bedroom or the primary bedroom. You live with three people. And in like one week, it's the greatest thing ever. Everybody's great. the next week you're stuck with some fucking guy who is the worst. And they're all like trying to bring cocktail waitresses home.

30:19And I'm just like, I want out of this scene. I don't want anything to do with this.

30:22Dana Carvey:You're saying sex happened in the comedian's condo? Believe it or not. For certain guys. There were certain guys that were just total hounds. Did you ever share a condo with a ventriloquist? I wish. Because I did. Oh, I did with a magician who had doves. Oh, you did? Yeah. Oh, yeah. And they would just hear, whoo, whoo, whoo. Can they stay in your room? No, I don't. This was a Twilight Zone. He really believed that Chuck, Chuck Wood, was real. And he said, don't look at Chuck. Don't bother Chuck. Don't touch Chuck. Wow. Chuck had that writer in his contract. You can get in contact with Chuck. Do you remember Emo?

30:53I stayed with Emo. Emo Phillips. I think San Diego Improv. And he was like, you know, I was going to breakfast early. I go, oh, we're doing this off camera? I was going to say, like in real life, he's just like, yeah, so anyway. But he was very nice. He would put, but he put all his joke cards out on fire. I think Dennis does this. Writes them all out. and I was like, am I supposed to do this? It was so organized. And then Dennis, they memorize him and I'm like, no fucking chance. Even back in the early days with Dennis, he'd do that? I know you've seen him with the cards, right? I don't know.

31:23The other day we were talking about Louis C.K.

31:25Dana Carvey:and just about great stand-ups and I just thought, Dennis, look at Dennis' best special. Yeah, he's very up there. So how do you, so what happens next? Your stand-up is not, you tire the road. You tire the road, so I go into acting and did that for like 15 years. It was like a regular on five different TV series. I would be like the fifth or sixth lead, you know, on Dirty Dancing, the TV series. It was my first big one. I was a character that was added on, who was not in the movie. Norman, the bellhop who wanted to be a stand-up comedian. So there you go. Yeah, exactly. Remember when they used to do the cartoons of like, you know, the Brady Bunch or the Partridge family and they'd add like a magical bird like I was the magical bird on the show basically Or the dancing pandas you kind of do have a timeless look like I could see you on the Beverly Hillbillies as the banker Or you know what I mean?

32:21Dana Carvey:I would love a lot of parts. Yeah, I would I mean That's all the parts I used to get but yeah, but yeah, I was on the the the Tom Arnold, you know Oh, yeah, what Tom Arnold did you get? I had good time. Oh, was he good? Yeah I'm friends with Tom, and I know he had some rough times there. No, Tom was great, but still he and Roseanne. But it lasted two or three seasons, right? No, only one season. It's the first show, I think, in history to get canceled in the top 20. Oh, wow. Because they kind of pulled the plug because they wanted to go over to do this Thomas and— I forget those producers, but they were CBS.

32:57And so they pulled him over there. I think we were ABC. Oh, Whit Thomas, maybe? No, it was Thomason. They worked with the Clintons a lot, I remember. Anyway, look it up, everybody.

33:08Dana Carvey:I did not know that. Impression number two. Well done. There you go. Was Farley on Jackie Thomason? Yeah, he did that one episode. Oh, yeah. And we finished the episode. I don't know if I should say this. We finished the episode, and the minute we were done, Tom and Roseanne had him taken away to rehab. Oh. Yeah. Got that episode out of him, though. Yeah. But he was the loveliest guy. I loved him. How sweet. Brilliant, sweet. The sweetest guy. Last time I saw him, Joel Madison and I went to the Rose Bowl, and he was there with his mom, and he's like, hey, Paul. He's just the sweetest guy. Yeah, his mom is a doll.

33:45Dana Carvey:Very Midwestern. I mean, salt of the earth and probably the funniest person. Well, we haven't seen another. No, I mean, not like that. It's been a while now. Where's Chris Farley, the new Chris Farley? I'll just look for clips online. By the way, anybody over 180 is in danger of being, are you the next Chris Farley? You're a little heavy. You have manic energy. We were just saying this morning, he wasn't that big during some earlier movies. It was really toward the end. I was so skinny, and I was probably 135 in the movie, so he looked big, but I'll show you something on the way out, where it's like, oh, he wasn't.

34:21I think he gained almost 100 pounds at the very end.

34:23Dana Carvey:At some point, but Jackie Gleason was sort of heavy. He'd go, no way, we go. and he would move gracefully. But Chris was still an athlete as a big guy. But all those guys, they're like sumo wrestlers, like Belushi, who wasn't that big. Belushi was his hero. Belushi was even, I think, skinnier, and he was known as a fat guy. He was just a little roly-poly. Well, it's like, you know, Zach's, all Zach's on his show. He's always, I'm not fat. He's like, Zach's just like a normal-looking guy. Either fat or not fat. He's kind of a fat guy. He always has them make fat jokes about him, and then he's like, I'm not that fat.

34:56Yeah, he's like, you have a beard. It's not that. Yeah, I like when he's on his show and everyone shits on him.

35:01Dana Carvey:Did you all this time, because we know where your story's going, were you a big, big movie fan? A lot of comedians, I would, whenever I could, just go watch a matinee in a theater on the day of a show. So you had this lane of being a huge. Oh, yeah. That's all I wanted to do was do movies. Oh, the whole time? Yeah, yeah. My goal was to be, back then, Woody Allen. I was going to write, direct, and star in all my movies. That was the goal. I did it once, the very first movie ever made, which has never been released, called Life Sold Separately. And I wrote, directed, and starred in it. And it was myself.

35:34And Penn Jillette was in it, actually. Oh, really? And then some friends of mine, Steve Bannis and Dave Gruber-Allen, who are all actors now, and Carrie Coleman.

35:41Dana Carvey:Was it the sensibility of Woody? Obviously, you're not doing a Woody impression, but it was just his whole. It was, no, it was about, I only had like$30 ,000 to make it. So I had to like make it all in one field during the day on one day. So it was about four people who get some. The whole thing. Yeah, totally. Oh, yeah. You save on wardrobe, save on lighting. Exactly. It was four people who all get a message in their head that a UFO is going to come to this one place and pick them up and take them away from their lives because they're all unhappy with their lives. I like that. Yeah, it's kind of cool.

36:16And so everybody shows up and they don't know why each other's there and they find out they have this common thing and then it all kind of turns. Then you go into writing. How do you get writing jobs? I never actually got a writing job. What were you on Freaks and Geeks? I created it. Yeah, I created the show and then I co-ran. Oh, because Judd swore to me that you had nothing to work in. I knew it. Oh, man. Judd hit me up this morning. I haven't heard me in a while. Well, just make sure you bring it. Let it go to Largo?

36:41Dana Carvey:Hey, I'm not Judd Apatow. I don't have a Judd Apatow, but that's just something. He's a depression. Hey, I think Freaks and Geeks was mine. It's kind of like Judd Apatow. It's not just like him. I thought he was sitting here for a second. It's a bookmarked impression. Hi, Judd, if you're watching. But yeah, that was your creation. Yeah. And you shepherded it, and it kind of has a cult following now. Yeah. It's become a thing. Which is nice. I mean, it's kind of stood the test of time, which you always hope. That's sort of. So you were in on casting a lot of people that blew up. Yeah, yeah. That was all Judd and I.

37:13Well, who was on there? Just for the people at home? Just for the people. Seth Rogen, who he discovered at 16 years old in Vancouver.

37:21Dana Carvey:God, that guy's struggling. for a long time. I know, poor guy. Linda Cardellini, Jason Segel, James Franco, Busy Phillips, Sam Levine, and of course, John Francis Daly, who is now a big time director, writer, director. So they all have succeeded. All blew up, yeah. So since this isn't a two-parter, when did you start your first movie you directed for a studio? For the studio, it was the thing called Unaccompanied Minors, I think I referenced earlier. Yes. When they fired my DP for wanting to shoot HD. Oh, okay. Yeah, I got that. Well, no, no. Actually, no, it was a movie called I Am David that I did right after Freaks and Geeks.

38:05It was like a drama. And that was the moment when I'm like, oh, this will be my Oscar movie. And I learned a valuable lesson. Like, don't ever try to make movies to win an Oscar. Yeah. Well, what are you learning at this point?

38:16Dana Carvey:What are the basic things? You do Freaks and Geeks and you're directing there and then you're going here. We know where you go where you become this great comedy director. So you're learning stuff all along, right? Well, then I go heavily into TV directing because I wanted to direct on Freaks and Geeks and they wouldn't let me because I didn't have enough experience or whatever. Finally, they let me do the very last episode that I wrote and directed and it came out really well. So then... They go, oh, he knows how to do it. He actually knows what he's doing and believe it or not. But then our line producer from Freaks and Geeks went on to do Arrested Development.

38:51And so he called me up and said, hey, they'd like you to do Arrested Development. So I ended up doing like six Arrested Developments. Which is probably, no, it's not harder. That's still, it's not a sitcom. No. Did you ever do a sitcom? No, no, not three camera, no. Yeah, it's way harder what you're doing. Yeah, well, I don't know. It's closer to movies. Yeah, but the three camera seems hard to me, you know, like what Jim Burrows and all those guys do. Three camera, yeah, just a different muscle probably.

39:13Dana Carvey:You're definitely relying. Yeah, you got that audience right there. Yeah, I like having something happen, like getting it right once and never doing it again. That's why I love movies and single-camera stuff. You just get magic once. Yeah. When you get it right in a comedy, it's so hard. Yeah. From the idea and the pitch to the script doesn't get right, and you've got to get that right. Then you've got the editing and the casting and finishing it and then the marketing and the poster. Let's go fuck if it all works. Everyone can agree what's dramatic, what's sad, what's scary, what's thrilling.

39:50Nobody can really agree on what's funny. So comedies are so divisive because some people love them and some people hate them. And trailers are really like lightning rods. I mean, we put the trailer out for Bridesmaids. people are enraged and angry and like, you know, either like, oh, clearly all the best jokes are in the, in the trailer. And then they were mad that they thought they knew that we were going to be making fun of Melissa McCarthy's character. And it's like, no, she's actually the coolest character. But people, there's a hostility I find. Cause I think maybe it's, was that people have gotten burned by a lot of comedies over the years, you know?

40:30And so they came in. Afraid to go into the theater. Not, not by yours, my friend. You've been some of the greatest comedies of all time. Thank you. It's true. Tommy boy. But, you know, it's just, yeah, there's a weird thing. And now there's not a lot of comedies, straight-up comedies.

40:45Dana Carvey:Yeah, what's your thoughts on that? Where are they? I think comedy, straight comedy feels too frivolous for audiences in the last 10 years. You know what I mean? They want higher stakes. And I think, you know, it's the difference between, like, a movie that's about, like, spies or cops. but like the villain is like bumbling and so it's like oh so it's all comedy so there's no stakes there versus i always go back to that movie 48 hours which you know oh eddie murphy this is gonna be hilarious first thing there's like a guy gets like executed in a hallway you're like oh shit it's cool alter hill but then it yeah but then you're like oh cool so now when eddie murphy goes into that cowboy bar i'm kind of worried he's gonna get shot or something bad's gonna happen it's not just goofy comedy yeah people at stake so that's why now so much comedy is in the form of horror movies.

41:37I mean, do you see Weapons? I saw it twice. It's hilarious. Yeah, I mean, it becomes hilarious. And Megan and those things, you know, so it's interesting. Is Weapons too scary for me? No, no, no, it's not. Is Megan too scary for me? No, no. You'll be okay. I would tell you, I saw some blurb on you, that I would love, when I watched Megan, I watched it like Mystery Science. I just talked the whole time and was making myself laugh, and I'm like, why can't Dane and I just do this? Where you just watch something and there's so many funny things to say. Yeah. And Megan was funny in that way, but I see why it worked also.

42:13Yeah. Well, because you're still, you know, you're invested. Yeah. I used to get really mad at this film, like if it's doing exactly when they use the word stakes. Yeah. Because I always felt like, did they know what that means or not? But now... Do they even know what it means? Sometimes people just repeat words. I know exactly. But you realize audiences have to feel that they're invested and worried.

42:37Dana Carvey:Naked Gun, the new one that came out. Hilarious. I watched it. Yeah. But it was that. There was no stakes. It's old school, yeah. It's old school. So you really have to. It's very tricky. Well, I was really rooting for that, too. Me, too. And I think it did pretty well. Yeah, it did pretty well. Because that kind of breaks the mold of what I'm saying. But look, comedy, we say this is how it is. Then something comes out and it changes everything. So, you know, the biggest thing in comedy, and we all know this, is if you're inflexible in comedy, you're dead. You know, if you're like, I know what's funny and don't tell me what's funny.

43:08If you don't evolve along with the scene, you know, keep your voice. But just, you know, don't be making dad jokes.

43:15Dana Carvey:The ones that stick out to me are Tropic Thunder, Hangover. Yeah. Some of Will Ferrell movies. Yeah. They just hold up. And then they sort of, it sort of changed or it stopped. I don't know if it's political recklessness or whatever the studios want or the audience wants. I just think it's what the audience wants. Audiences are very fickle. Yeah, exactly. But the audience, because we've done a lot of research in my company of this, you know, about like, why do sequels a lot of times not work anymore? Right. You know, because it used to be like a sequel. Good question to ask. Yeah, exactly. Because you think all people just show up.

43:50But the big question audiences are asking now, because they've got so much stuff available to them, is why? Why do I need to see this? I really like the first one. Why do I need to see, what's gonna be different about this? Am I just gonna see the same thing again? And it's a valid question. Everything's expensive. There's something about discovering a movie too. And you just don't discover it in the sequel. You found all your answers. Yeah, and that's why sequels are so hard to do because you're not discovering. Yeah, the discovery isn't, everybody thinks they want Bridesmaids 2. And I'm like, yeah, it could be funny, but the reason Bride Mates works is because Kristen Wiig, you meet this person who's just a complete disaster and she has to build herself back up and by the end she doesn't show happy.

44:33So you don't want to go like that. Is she a disaster again? Yeah, it's like where do you start? Yeah, right. Oh, she's messed up again. I don't want to watch this. We talked about that. There's one we did called The Wrong Missy on Netflix and we wind up getting married and the girl's crazy and she's very funny. She's the whole movie. She goes bananas. But how do you do it where she kind of got her shit together and then there's different pitches, but you go, God, that's a tough one because you almost want to leave it alone, but there's such a feel for like, well, maybe do one. People think they want it, yeah.

45:02Dana Carvey:They pay you more, it makes less. I know. Oh yeah, that's the answer. You know, you've worked with, this sounds like some social statement, you've presented a lot of women into comic films. Bridesmaids, obviously. And then you love Melissa McCarthy, as we all do. so when you you directed her in Bridesmaids and then you guys connected again I would just speak to that I mean did you just sort of we know her I mean she's so charming and whatever but did you see Lightning in her biology because there's more here yeah well we just hit it off I mean after because yeah we did Bridesmaids and we did The Heat then Spy and then Ghostbusters yeah so no controversy in Ghostbusters by the way well yeah I was out of town did people talk about it I loved the first one no well you You know, like with Farley and people you've worked with, if you're in sync with somebody comedically, that's like gold because it's so hard to find that, where it's across the board you agree.

46:01She's a scorer.

46:02Dana Carvey:Well, I think for the performer from that side of the fence, if you have a director like you who's affable, who gets them, who's smart, and wants to capture them, is not resentful of them or competitive with them. I mean, there's a lot of types of directors out there, and so that obviously just, you capture her. Yeah, well, I mean, that's my, I always say, my biggest job on the set is to create a safe environment where everybody feels they can try anything. Trying stuff is easy. Because I used to, when I was an actor, I'd get yelled at by certain directors. Sure. Like, what are you doing? Stop that.

46:30Oh, yeah. And then you just, you clench up. Humiliated. Or you go off script. Yeah.

46:34Dana Carvey:And then I'd try something and it goes, that's what you wanted? Oh, no, no. Yeah, really? That was terrible. Those are quotes. That happens. So that's what you wanted to do. That's why you get tight. This is in front of the whole crew. So why would you sabotage the person in the movie? It's so awful. I mean, I love my fellow GGA, and yet sometimes I just go, you guys, come on. Well, sometimes they're speeding it up. They want to keep moving. And also, if you just go at the end, can I try one? But if it's someone like you, and you're, like, excited to see it, like, hey, if we can make it better.

47:04And then, like you said, you stumble into something else that works. That's the fun. I think she can do that. I think she trusts you. Because I saw The Heat, and that was with Sandra Bullock. Yeah. Great. And then after that was Spy. Spy? Yeah. It was Spy and Rose again. Yeah. Physical comedy.

47:20Dana Carvey:Always a nonverbal comedy with Melissa is always great. She does that. Well, she'll surprise you with jokes. Sometimes she'll be in the middle of a really mean thing. And she'll be like, I can't say that. I'm like, Melissa, finish it. It's going to be the funniest thing you say all day. At least for the outtakes. Give us something. Yeah, totally. Because some of those movies she goes off. And then she can be very, you feel for her. Yeah, well, that's the thing. And that's, you know, I, you know, because when we did The Heat, there was a lot of, not backlash, but I heard like certain like entertainment reporters like, well, she only does one thing.

47:54She's always just mean all the time. So that's why I did Spy because I was like, no, I want to show that she's actually really sweet. Yeah. You know, in real life. But then she gets to become a tiger. She has to be a tiger, but then she is affected by it. Zootopia 2 has come home to Disney+.

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49:34Dana Carvey:So you actually read reviews that are actionable on them. Oh, I see that. now I'm gonna make a whole giant 30 million dollar movie to prove you motherfuckers wrong I do everything out of revenge just wait a minute you'll see her range and then she was in a simple favor or was that Blake Lively what's going on with Blake Lively she's a great actor are you going to jail I have no idea what's going on I'm team Blake do you have any final we'll put it to rest here do you have any final thing to say about Ghostbusters I'm glad I made it. I'm very proud of it. Okay. The people that had a problem with it, I'm sorry.

50:14Younger people really like it.

50:16Dana Carvey:It was a lot of mostly older guys who saw him when they were kids, and they got really mad that I would touch him. It was with me going, I'm exactly your demo. Old, cranky. Cranky, I judge everything. I don't like anything to change. Why? That's not him. Wait a minute. I don't even like Dan Aykroyd being older now. I'm like, I want him the way I saw him. and so when I see that I literally go in and I go I gotta be fair about this I love Ghostbusters but I think these girls are funny so what do we do so I go in and I go it is funny now that's just one opinion but I paid I went and saw it I saw it too I thought it was great thank you you go well those four people are just it's different there's different jokes it's not Leslie Jones it's not the exact frame by frame recreation no because I didn't want to do that but it was just I thought it would be fun what I didn't realize it wasn't going to be fun I know It was one of the worst experiences of my life.

51:09Not making it was fantastic, but all the shit around it. I mean, Donald Trump came out against us. Oh, he did? Oh, there's a video. What are you doing?

51:17Dana Carvey:There was a video of him going, we don't like it. We want it, Dan Acquist. We got to have the other guys. The ladies can do their movies. The men do their movies. Well, here's the exact quote. You can find it online. It's on tape. Oh, really? It's on video. He goes, and now the Ghostbusters are women. What's going on? What is going on? It's the end of the world as we know it. It's not good. And let me tell you, I've seen it many times. There's ghosts and they're busting them. I know what they do and they need Dan Aykroyd. They've got to have Aykroyd. So let's talk about your current movie, which I like these kind of movies.

51:50Dana Carvey:I saw the teaser trailer, which I thought was kind of brilliant because it's just, you know. And so it's called Housemaid. The Housemaid, yeah. With someone who I think is sort of out there now a lot. I think she's got a future. Sydney Sweeney. Oh, Sydney Sweeney. You've heard of her. And Amanda Seyfried. And so tell us about this movie that's coming out in December. Yes. I'm very excited about it. It's more of a straight-up thriller, but it's still in my own inimitable way. It's going to be funny at times. It gets nutty, yeah. It gets, you know, in the weapons economy. But it's based on a best-selling book that's been on the best-seller list for a year and a half called The Housemaid by Frieda McBadden.

52:31And Brandon Sklenar is also in it, who's fantastic. And Michaela Maroney, who was in another Simple Favor movie that I did last. And it's just a really fun, twisty thriller. You think you know where it's going, and you completely don't know where it's going, and then it twists again. I love it. Yeah. I love thrillers. That's kind of all I watch. Well, it's good for Sidney Sweeney, too. You know what? Yeah. You know what? I do, too. She's a huge star.

52:52Dana Carvey:I really like thrillers. Yeah. You know what it is? I find I don't watch much comedy. Oh, I don't watch it at all. I know how the rabbit gets out of the hat. Yeah. So it has to be something really different. Yeah, no, totally. I did just watch Friendship the other night, and that really made me laugh. How is that? Friendship? Yeah. You know, Tim is just so funny. If you like Tim. Oh, those two guys, yeah. If you love Tim, you'll love this movie. Sure. There's some of the funniest. There's a couple of sequences that are so funny. He's got some of the best clips. Yeah. You know, like everything is clips now, but it's a way to introduce you.

53:24It's like a little nugget. And then if I see it enough, it starts showing up, and I'm like, obviously I'm watching it because it keeps telling me, oh, you like this. Yeah, no, totally. You're going to look at it again and then keep surprising me. It's very hard. Yeah, no, it's true. So I don't watch it like it. But yeah, thrillers and crime shows and all that, I love all that stuff.

53:42Dana Carvey:Yeah, I watch them with my wife and they're just fun. I do like true crime too. Did you say it's The Housemaid, is it what it's called? The Housemaid, yeah. And did you say a little bit of what it was about or you don't want to say? Oh, I guess I should do the plug. Yeah, it's about this young woman who's kind of living out of her car, a little down on her luck, who goes and gets an interview to be a housemaid in this rich family's house and gets the job. And the woman who hires her seems like the greatest boss ever. And then things start to turn and get weird. I'm in. Thanks. That's all I need.

54:17Excellent. Living in car. You're going to love it. Exactly. And it's a sexy thriller, too. I'll say that. It's kind of nice. I mean, I just watched... Everything for Eden was like, these two girls are going to hook up. Eden was just like, I thought it was literally two girls hooking up. That was the pitch. It was like, watch these two big. Really? It was kind of a soft core porn movie done by Ron Howard. Is this taking you back to your Skinamax days? It was, and I was like, oh, there's other people in there. Wait, there's sand? Actually, that sounded like an interesting movie because it was weird.

54:49Well, it was a true story.

54:52Dana Carvey:How do you fight this idea that we all know. I was in and out. Oh, Eden was a true story. No, I like it. No, I did like it. And Jude Law. I love Good was in it. Jude, I love Jude. So when will it be on my machine, Eden? Well, it's going to be in theaters. Eden still hasn't been released yet. Oh, I'm sorry, Eden. I'm sorry. Oh, yeah, I switched over here. We know about Housemate. Oh, no, no. Sorry, let's go back. Because Housemate opens December 19th. But I mean, that is sort of the thing. It's in theaters. Yeah. And then you have to want, compel people to the theater thinking that, Well, it'll be on Amazon Prime in a month.

55:24Dana Carvey:So is there a strategy about that? It'll be on the machine soon, I bet. And is it always, always, I guess it's always on something else later. It used to be DVD. It used to be VHS. But now, like F1, I saw it, and it goes, it's going to be on Apple. I'm like, oh. Yeah. I didn't want to wait. But, you know, it's like, oh, okay. But there's a window. It's shorter. It's longer. I love it. The big screen is good. I'll tell you this. What I've discovered, this is because of this connectivity. Yes. it's either church or a movie theater turn it off for two hours it goes pitch dark the sound's really great you're in a stadium there's almost no one there it's fantastic I mean the world just quiets down it's a way bigger deal than it was to me in the 90s oh no totally now it's like I'm gonna turn it off well at home when I watch a movie I look at my phone and I got when I go to the theater you're also disturbing people so it's one more reason to go just fucking for a little bit even though you get itchy you go Oh, no, totally.

56:21Or when you hear it buzz, you're like, I wonder what it was. It's that.

56:26Dana Carvey:Let me ask you a question about the summer blockbusters and which one that you might have enjoyed the most. I was in my own head because I did see all three in the theater because Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, and Superman. Those three all did really well and got a lot of people in the theater, which is great for the movie industry. Do you have a favorite? You're going to love this. You don't have to say. I didn't see any. What? I didn't see any of those. Fantastic Four? No. I hate to say I'm not a superhero guy. Okay, what's your favorite movie in the last few years? What's the movie that's really floated your boat besides Dunkirk?

57:03Dana Carvey:I'm just throwing stuff out. There you go, exactly. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I enjoyed that very much. I really liked that. I mean, I have to say, I think, well, there's a movie called Abigail that I loved. It was this vampire movie, but that's a straight-up comedy because it's so bananas. You gotta watch it. That's on the machine. No, exactly. Yeah, that's on the machine. You can definitely get on the machine. I've heard of that. Megan, I thought Megan was great. I'm okay. The first Megan. I didn't see the second one yet. I got you. Is Alison Williams in Megan? Yes. She's the mom? Yeah, she's the...

57:36It starts like a tragic beginning, right? Oh, no, totally. Well, it's actually a really funny beginning because it starts with the ad for the dolls, for this other dolls they're trying to sell. I gotta see that. That's why I go like, okay. It's so smart. They mix it. You've got to set the tone right at the beginning of a movie. Yeah, you said open. Did you say that? You've got to get something right away. It's almost like a TikTok. We just got to let people know how to watch the movie. Right. Oh, okay.

57:59Dana Carvey:Horror films are the highest money makers per budget. At the moment. At the moment. Yeah. I was just curious, just before we let you go, it's just like, what movies do you love? Just off the top of your head. You don't have to say your favorite. Oh, just of all time. You can go way back. Of all time. I mean, my favorite movie of all time is It's a Wonderful Life. And not that I think it's the greatest movie ever made, but I think it accomplishes everything a movie is supposed to accomplish. It makes you cry. It makes you happy. It makes you sad. It takes you through dramatic things, and it's uplifting at the end.

58:28So I always love that one.

58:31Dana Carvey:I concur. I literally, it's a thing. My wife just laughs because if I talk about that movie with people, and I don't know if it'll get me now, but it's like a trigger. You get emotional. When the people come to the end and they say, we heard, no, I'm already feeling it. We heard George, but sorry. Yeah. Bailey was in trouble. I don't know why. That gets me every time. It's fantastic. And you know, the backstory on that movie is it literally bankrupted the studio that created it. Yeah. It was Capra and some other guys started the studio, Liberty Studios, I think it was called. And it was so poorly received and so destroyed by the critics.

59:09Capricorn. Yes, Capricorn. Exactly. Cornball. But it was only because when TV came around and it was something that they could put on for free or for like no money. So they just started playing it over and over again at Christmas time. That's how it became this big one. Oh, boy. I kind of like those stories. I like those stories, too, because when the critics shit all over your movies, maybe there's a second chance.

59:30Dana Carvey:So what else is on your list off the top of your head? Dr. Strangelove, one of my favorites of all time. Bringing Up Baby, one of my favorite movies of all time. That was with Hepburn. Yeah. Stuart. And you're the guy that nobody knows that you do anymore. Cary Grant. Cary Grant. Yeah, Cary Grant. In one of his funniest roles ever. He plays a nerd, and it's hilarious. I like to bring up babies. There's something about the babies that I just love. It's a fun voice to do. It's the weirdest voice in film. Yeah, totally. It's fantastic. Do you like 2001 A Space Odyssey? I do. I love it. You like that?

1:00:05I love that movie. Okay. It's so funny. When I was in film school, I had a friend, and he was like, oh, man, if they made that movie today, the sound would be so much better. And I go, no, the reason that movie's great is because there's no sound. Like, when they're in space, it's just silent. Yeah. And it's so creepy. It's weird. You know, when that guy's trying to get back in and they're trying to grab him, I'm like, oh, it's so harrowing. And then he goes, drift. I never got over. For years, it took me, I kept thinking about that guy who drifted off into space.

1:00:29Dana Carvey:And the greatest death scene in a movie. Yeah, totally. I can feel it, Dave. Yeah, exactly. I can feel it. Daisy. Yep. And now here we are in the world of AI. Well, Paul, that's the scary part. And in three years, I can make a movie with my computer, like Apocalypse Now, right? I refuse to believe that's going to happen. Garbage. Your movie's garbage. Apocalypse Now is garbage? No, I mean, if you're going to go make it on your computer with AI. I know, exactly. You still need human experience. So, any final thoughts, David? I'll say, you've been on the David Spade podcast. I want to know if you would think I could handle The Conjuring.

1:01:04Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I love The Conjuring movies. But would you enjoy it? No, I won't. I'll be tense. I mean. That's based on if it's as any real, if there's any devil, I can't take it. Go to see Weapons. Weapons is a good. Okay. You and Dana both like it. You will enjoy it.

1:01:21Dana Carvey:It's mostly funny and it's filmed. I thought the beginning, the first act is so interestingly. Yeah. The first act, you'll go like, oh, this is going to be really scary. And then it, because it jumps around different POVs of the different characters. and then I'll just say Amy Madigan is brilliant in the movie. I didn't know it until I was going, who is this? I didn't know until the end credits. You're going to get pop-outs, you know, and you know when they're coming and the camera's in tight. What I do is I sort of squint. There's not too many of those because I don't like jump scares either.

1:01:50Dana Carvey:There's only like three of those kind of like, you know, just squint during those. I'm in my late mid-40s. Take a beta blocker. I'll take a beta blocker and go. All right. Thank you, Paul. And I will be housemaid. We will go December 19th. December 19th and theaters only. Theaters only. I'm going to see it and then I'm going to hit you up after. You bet. I can't wait. Perfect. All right. Bye, guys. Bye, guys. Bye, everybody. Thanks, everybody. Goodbye, everybody. Goodbye. See ya.

1:02:21Hey, guys. If you're loving this podcast, which you are, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app. Give us a review, five-star rating, and maybe even share an episode that you've loved with a friend. If you're watching this episode on YouTube, please subscribe. We're on video now. Fly on the Wall is presented by Odyssey, an executive produced by Danny Carvey and David Spade, Heather Santoro and Greg Holtzman, Maddie Sprung-Kaiser, and Leah Reese-Dennis of Odyssey.

1:02:48Dana Carvey:Our senior producer is Greg Holtzman, and the show is produced and edited by Phil Sweetech. Booking by Cultivated Entertainment. Special thanks to Patrick Fogarty, Evan Cox, Maura Curran, Melissa Wester, Hilary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Colin Gaynor, Sean Cherry, Kurt Courtney, and Lauren Vieira. Reach out with us. Any questions to be asked and answered on the show, you can email us at flyonthewallatodyssey.com. That's A-U-D-A-C-Y dot com.