 Hello, and welcome to Release Date Rewind. My name is Marc J. Parker, and I am a film lover, filmmaker, film celebrator. And normally this is an audio podcast, wherever you get your podcasts on your favorite apps. But thanks to Portland Media Center, you are about to watch the video component of this show where I celebrate movie anniversaries with my friends. Each month I usually talk about two different movies that I love with different friends, and we talk about the making of the movies, trivia, any fun memories associated with them. So I hope you enjoy, because now it's time to rewind. Well, two's company, three's a crowd, but tonight three's company, because I have two friends, one friend that hasn't been on the show in a long time, and one friend that's never been on the show. So I'm very excited to welcome back Jeff Bogayski, who was in my very first episode talking about Psycho in 7. Hello, Jeff. Hello, everybody. And I also want to introduce everybody to, you might already have heard of him. You've heard of his podcast, Fry Gay the 13th, a very cool, very queer, popular podcast. Andrew Huff, welcome to Release Date Rewind. Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to talk about this movie today. I am so thankful that you guys are here. Andrew had responded on Facebook when I put out my list to put out my feelers, and then Jeff commented, and Jeff, I remember a while ago. I rewatched this great, crazy movie five years ago for its 20th anniversary. And I feel like that was when I was working with your husband, Tariq. And I feel like I mentioned that to Tariq. And I feel like you guys watched it, too. And I just remember, like, Tariq and I at our desks were, like, humming this amazing score, right? It's very sultry. So I knew that you love this movie. So I'm glad you're here, too. Because now we have our, we have our threesome. Hey, now in our threesome, who do we want to be? Who's Matt Dillon? Who's Denise? Who's our girl, Neve? Do we have a preference? I do not have the chops being Denise in this. I know she's got, she's got so much going on. And, you know, I forgot Denise is actually an amazing actress in this. Of course, it's very campy. A lot of it's over the top. But I don't know the tears this time we're really working for me. She is quite good, I thought. Her stares are pretty intense, right? Lots of snarls. Lots of staring. Oh my God. So many, yes. Yeah, I will say I did grow up in the country. So I guess I technically qualify as a Susie. Oh, okay. I love that. And you got your, as you told us, you have your craft shirt on. Can you lift it up a little bit more? Oh, yes. You know, it's so funny that you're wearing the craft shirt because on my latest rewatch today, I thought, something tells me Susie's favorite movie is The Craft. Yeah. You know, you just get that vibe. What about you, Jeff? So, okay, if Andrew is Susie, are you Sam Lombardo? Hi, Mr. Lombardo. Or are you Kelly Van Ryan with the smolder, the stares? I don't know. I feel like I'm not, I mean, I am an educator. Yes, you are. So maybe I should be the guidance counselor. Okay. Maybe I should just both hope, you know, bad guy. You totally are. And I mean, it's appropriate. You, yeah, that's you. So then, okay, great. I'm gonna take my top off and I'll be Kelly in my little white socks and my little girl shoes. That's so freaky, by the way. That's like a really weird little detail for me. But anyway, okay. So we're gonna talk about the movie in a minute, but I wanna catch up with you guys quickly. I'm gonna start with you, Andrew. So you have been working on a great podcast called Fragged The Thirteenth for five years now. We were just talking about it. Tell us about the show for anyone out there who isn't sure what Fragged The Thirteenth is. Tell me about it. Sure, yeah. Fragged The Thirteenth, we're a horror podcast. We mix it up a little bit though and we talk about horror in real life and then we match it to a horror in the movies. So if you think about it, we did one time where we did Sorority Row and what was the other movie, but they're both campus movies. So they're both college campus movies and we paired it with kind of what's happening at Notre Dame with the state of like their football program and the rape culture that goes on there and how that's all covered up. And so we kind of like mix it up. We try to take the first half of our show pretty seriously and talk about some, in real life like horrific stuff. And then we try to lighten it up by watching a couple horror movies and really having fun because that's what it's all about at the end of the day is having fun. So, yeah, we've been going strong for a while now. And take us on a ride for sure. There's some high highs and like serious lows. Yeah, but I mean, good for you for going this long and you're just getting more and more popular. It's amazing. What's your secret? Thank you so much. Perseverance. There you go. And having a consistent schedule because as soon as you're off that schedule, then it's like, well, I don't really want to do it anymore or you find a reason not to do it next time or, you know what I mean? I'm gonna throw it over to you, Jeff. Hi, Jeff. Hi. So, okay, fill us in. What are you doing tomorrow? Well, actually tomorrow, I'm just playing husband and dad. Oh, okay. But it's Sunday is the half marathon. Yeah, it's the New York half marathon. Yeah, starting out in Brooklyn, going down Flatbush, heading into the city, taking the Manhattan Bridge and finishing in Central Park. So, oh my gosh. Have you been training for this for a while? Oh, no. I've been training for one second, but I've been training. So if you hear kids, it's just the kids. They know the rules. It's supposed to be in the other room, but... They're big fans of wild things. Big fans. I think that's so awesome. So, okay, your last marathon was, you said four years ago. The last half was four years ago and the last full was in 2014, so. Wow. Impressive. Me, never. Zero for me, but I'm waving from afar and cheering you on. That's amazing. Now, did you, because I know in the New York running scene for marathons and half marathons, did you have to do like a lottery or anything or is this not like that? Yeah, I got lucky. I did the lot. I know like people that are really like gung-ho about it. You know, they do the races and stuff like that. So most people, they do the races, they do the nine plus one and they try to get involved. I was just like, name and a hat, cross my fingers, hope I get in and I got in. So yeah, this is neat inspiration. Good for you. That's great. What a great way to kick off spring. How would you guys classify this movie? I know we can easily look it up, but in your own words, I'll start with you, Andrew. How would you like, is it, we know it's like a thriller. How, what are the words you would use? Sexual thriller, noir. What would you say? I would say that this is, I think this does fall into a noir, but it's like a specific kind of noir. I would classify this as like, almost like sleazy noir, if you will, because it's acted over the top. It's like, it's kind of all over the place with its twists and turns, but it also does have a good narrative about sticking with people and not trusting people. And really when you go into this, I don't think I ever imagined what this movie was actually about going into it the first time because of the way it's set up. So I would call it like a sleazy noir movie. Yeah, I like that. How about you, Jeff? How would you classify it like in your own genre terms? I mean, I guess I've kind of picked you back off, Andrew. It's kind of like, because it's not really a, I mean, it's a thriller, but it's not a who done it, but kind of a who done it. Right. You know, and I remember, you know, I was gonna tell you when I saw the, remember the trailer, well, hold up, so hold up. I have my Wild Things tickets done right here. Oh my God, love it. Oh my gosh. I love it. Who did you go with? Do you remember? You know, I was racking my brain. I'm like, who did I go with? Who would I've gone with this movie? And like, I didn't have a girlfriend, right? Maybe, I think it was like these two guy friends and we were like, okay, this is fun. Okay, interesting. Yeah, two guys from high school. Yeah, it's sleazy. I don't remember being so campy when we sat in the theater. And I think we were like, oh, it's Nef Campbell. Oh, it's this new girl from Starship Troopers or something. And then, you know, Matt Dillon. But yeah, I'm gonna go with Andrew's statement. Yeah. Very long, yeah. Yeah, no, I hear that. I feel like I would call this, yeah, you're right. It's not really a thriller. I mean, it's thrilling, but it's sort of like a, it's not really a mystery, is it? It's sort of like a smutty, sexual, oh, caper? It's not a caper. I don't know, but it's more than just like a, well, it's obviously more than a drama. It's more than a comedy. It's sometimes, sometimes it's meant to be funny. I have to say, Bill Murray is so funny. Even all these years later, he does make me laugh. But, and then times, of course, and it's accidentally funny. And we'll get into that for sure. Welcome to the town of Blue Bay. Hi, Mr. Lombardo. Hi, girls. So where's your house, Mr. Lombardo? Let's rewind, boys. Let's go back to March 1998, March 20th. When this film came out, I'm gonna just briefly set the scene for us, chime in with your thoughts. I'm gonna tell you what was going on in pop culture, and then we are gonna nerd out over our favorite scenes, favorite lines. There are many, I quoted lots of lines in my notes. Okay, on the music side, the top song was getting jiggy with it, which I feel like is appropriate for this movie to come out during that era. Destiny's Child, No, No, No, and Madonna's Frozen were also in the top five songs at the time. On the theater side, since Jeff, I know, oh, look at you with the cocktail. It's St. Patrick's Day, right? Can we say that? It totally is. You're right. I just have seltzer, but I mean. There's rosé in this cup. Oh, good, good, boy. Drink up, drink up. I need champagne to put all over me and you guys. On the theater side, since I know Jeff goes to lots of theater, lots of concerts, guys, it's shocking. He's available tonight. So thank you for being here. But on the theater side, I thought this was cool to say, because this was such an iconic production. On Broadway, the revival of Cabaret, starring Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson had just opened just a couple of days before this. So that was huge, right? On the TV side, Dawson's Creek was airing its first season. If you haven't heard out there, I do a long, very thorough, very fun episode all about Dawson's Creek that was last month. Here's some other shows that maybe you guys know, some of them, they all like really spoke to me. So anyone familiar with Bug Juice on the Disney channel? That was kind of fun, a camp reality show? Anything? I'm gonna say no. Okay. How about you, Andrew? Anything? I was definitely more of a Nickelodeon person growing up than a Disney channel, but that name sounds super familiar. Yeah, Bug Juice was, I believe it was a camp either in New Hampshire or Maine, and it was super fun. It was a short show, but I'm sure it's online somewhere. That had just premiered. What else premiered? On ABC, TGIF, two guys, a girl and a pizza place with Ryan Reynolds, back before he was like super chiseled. That had just premiered. Oh my God, get this, the MTV famous, world famous, docu-series, True Life was about to premiere right after this. It was late March that premiered. And then the Teletubbies were about to premiere on PBS. So there you go. A little bit of something for everyone at this time. You know, two guys, a girl and a pizza place has one of the best Halloween episodes of all time, if you can find it. Yeah, it's very good. Wow, Andrew, you know you're two guys, a girl and a pizza place. Yeah, I was obsessed with that show. Were you? I remember watching it. I loved TGIF back in the day, but I have no memory whatsoever. I just remembered Ryan Reynolds was in that. No memory whatsoever. So okay, the Halloween episode. Good to know, gotta find it. And then last thing is popular movies other than Wild Things. Titanic was still number one. It was, I think this was week 14, it was in theaters. I mean, isn't it crazy? Like, no movie could do that now. Can you imagine any movie being number one in theaters for that long? I think it's pretty much impossible now. People are just interested in things and attention is fleeting and, right? Yeah, it's, I've mentioned this before on our show, but like it is kind of incredible how fast movies come to home theaters now. I mean, I remember when I was a kid, you waited a good six, eight months for a movie to go to VHS. And like, it's just, it's so different now. And a full year, I remember to HBO. Remember, you had to wait like a full year now, it's shorter. What were you gonna say, Jeff? Yeah, no, I mean, I saw Cocaine Bear, which if you haven't seen it, it is spectacular. And also it's available on your TV. Like it came out two weeks ago. Like it's already on Apple. You can rent it for, I think you can buy it for $25 or rent it for 20 or something like that. Right. Other popular movies, The Man in the Iron Mask, also starring Leo, the star of early 1998. Primary colors, hush, such a guilty pleasure with Jessica Lange and Good at the House House. Can we talk about that for a minute? We just watched it recently and I was like, oh my God. Like, what is going on in this movie? Like what, there's like, no, like nothing. I mean, something happens, but like nothing happens at the same time, right? And then it just ends. And Gwyneth and Jessica and Jonathan, Shaq, is that how you say his last name? Shaq, Shaq. Yeah, wow, I just remember that being, so even as a kid watching it for the first time, I was like, this I know already is just such a guilty pleasure. Like you just know from the get go like, okay, this is like pretty low level. She got chewed that scenery up, right? Oh my God, so much chewing. And then The Wedding Singer, that was another popular movie. I just talked about that in my last episode. So that was a big rom-com at this time, but in comes wild things. Where innocence can seduce. He started rubbing my shoulders. Accusations can destroy. I'm innocent. You guys do sex crimes, right? When was this if Sam Lombardo gave you the ride? Did Sam Lombardo rape you? Yeah, okay, he did. He pushed me to the floor. I wanna hear, Jeff, I'll go with you first since you were talking about your movie ticket, Stubb. So do you think, so you saw this in theaters, did you go opening weekend, do you think, or? Yeah, it says March 23rd, March 24th, and I went to a matinee. So then during the, must have been a weekend because I did not cut school for this. Okay. The ticket was $4.25, $4.25 set. So now- Interesting. So I wonder if March 20th was a Friday because if so, then 21, 22, 23, then the 24th would have been a Tuesday and a matinee on a Tuesday. Maybe it was spring break. Ooh, maybe. It is sort of a spring break movie. I just realized that. Yeah, pretty good. Maybe. I don't know, it's just- Wow. That's so funny. So you were in high school. Yeah, that was my senior year of high school. Oh, how iconic. How about you, Andrew? When did you first see this movie? I remember that I blind bought this on VHS from like the, I don't know what it was, probably like a Meyer or like a, you know, a Best Buy or a Suncoast or something. Just because, I mean, this is coming, I mean, this is coming off a scream. Everyone's in love with Nev Campbell. You know, Denise Richards is like fresh on the scene. Everyone's in love with Denise Richards. And so I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna buy it. It was probably like $25 for that stupid VHS, I'm sure. Especially at Suncoast. I loved Suncoast and my mall back home, but oh my God, it was very easy to blow a lot of money on like just a couple of movies. Yes. Wow. Okay, good. So you blind bought it. I love that. You just went for the VHS. You saw the girls staring at you. That poster is iconic, right? They're slicking their hair. I mean, Nev looks down right kind of scary. She's so dark. And then the guys are like, you know, like down below. Oh, love it. Mark, I want to say, I think I had that as a screen saver. Like a screen background on my computer because it was, it was so like sexy and sultry and it's just like, you know, dirty. And yeah, it's so smutty and dirty, but sexy and like intriguing. And I think they're all just so committed like on the poster and also in the film, they're all just giving you looks and they're just serving the smolders. And it's like, yeah, I'm going to go on this ride with you, right? I forget when I first saw this movie. It wasn't in theaters, unfortunately. Although I definitely saw Scream 2 in theaters a couple of times. But I think this was probably like a pay per view like rental on TV. Once it, you know, probably later in 98 fell in love with it. I agree with you, Andrew. I was, they had me hooked on Neve Campbell. I remember playing the trailer a lot on my old computer. It was very pixelated. The sound was tinny. And I was like, ooh, Blue Bay and like Neve with this red hair. And do you guys remember when Scream 1, Scream, the first one won the MTV Movie Award in the summer of 97, Neve was there with her Susie look. She had the red hair and the, like so she was starting the promotion early. And I remember I was like, why does she look like that? What the heck? And then in comes Wild Things. So yeah, I just remember jaw dropped. So crazy. So I'm going to sound like an absolute fool, guys, but I'm going to just tell you this. So I love Neve Campbell so much, still do. She's not in Scream 6, we know, but at least we're talking about her here in Wild Things. Scream 6 is pretty good, by the way, if you haven't seen it. I saw it, I specifically did not go opening weekend to support Neve. I went on a weeknight and it is, it's worth it. But I loved Neve Campbell at this time so much that I want to say maybe a year or two later, after seeing this movie a bunch of times, I had an audition in New York for, I want to say it was As The World Turns, one of the soaps. And the role of this boy was in a courtroom and he was like a witness to something. And I loved this movie so much that I'm like, I'm just going to act just like Neve Campbell does in Wild Things. I don't know what had nothing to do with the character. So- You're gonna sit like her, like- I sat like her, Jeff. I sat like her in the chair with my leg up, my knee up, and I was like really kind of hunching over and like very kind of like nervous and like totally wrong for the character. I did it the first time and I remember the casting director said, okay, put your leg down, right? Remember, you're in a courtroom. And I'm like, and I think I might have said, I was like, well, Neve Campbell has her leg up in Wild Things. And they're like, all right. And like, you want to change your posture, right? Don't hunch over. I'm like, and I just remember I was annoyed. I was like, no, no, that's not how you do it in a courtroom, right? Mark, you must have still been picking your fingers too, right? Yes, yes, I love that she's doing that. She's hunched and she's like, and I was very quiet. I remember she said, you can speak up. And I'm like, no, you don't get it. You don't know courtroom, okay? So that's how much I love this movie. So a little nerdy- Oh my gosh, that's wonderful. Right? Appearances can deceive. Kelly said that we should do this to hurt Mr. Lombardo. She found out that Mr. Lombardo was in love with her mom, and that was it. Scuse me! So let me introduce just our main players. We can talk about them. So starts with the script, right? Writer Steven Peters. He had written some smaller, more obscure things. This was really big for him. He wrote a film called Dead Center. Now, I'm sure you guys saw. The script was a little different. Not too much different, apparently. The director, John McNaughton did say that they pretty much stuck exactly to his script, but they brought in another writer to just fix some dialogue. But there was apparently a gay scene that we didn't get. How do you guys feel about the lack of a gay scene? Are you okay with it? Or do you really wish we got it? Cause I think I would have liked to have seen it. What do you think, Jeff? Yeah, I mean, we had the threesome, right? We had the lesbian, the bisexual threesome. I think that was good. I don't know if we did an extra man on man. I mean, now maybe, but not then. Yeah, well, the financiers apparently just were like, that's way too far. And apparently Matt Dillon was glad that it was not included. But Kevin Bacon, who also produced this film, really liked the idea and wanted to do it. And I say, thank you, Kevin. I am on your side. What about you, Andrew? Are you cool with it not being in there? Or do you wish it like that other twist was in there? You know, I'm good with it not being in there because too many people are already falling in love with Matt Dillon in this movie. Like literally everyone is falling at the heels of Matt Dillon. And to have another person, it's kind of like, yeah, we get it. Like he's a good looking guy, but it's not, it's not this. Is there no other attractive people in South Florida? Like what's happening? In Blue Bay, in Blue Bay, yes. Oh, I love that Blue Bay. It also sounds like, because later in the year was Disturbing Behavior, which I feel like is this movie's like cousin. And Disturbing Behavior was set in like another bay, not in Florida, but somewhere else. But I just want to like get all the Bay movies together. Yeah, Antonio Bay with the fog. Yes, the fog, yes, exactly, yes. Mark is talking about in Bodega Bay. Yes, I was going to say, Jeff, yeah, Jeff is going to be on my other episode. We're not going to do it tonight because I haven't rewatched it. Maybe next week we'll talk about the birds, another bay, another animal movie from Alligators and Crocodiles to Birds. But what was I saying? Yeah, you know, you bring up a good point, Andrew, that you're so right. Everyone is so, from the get-go, everyone is so obsessed with Sam Lombardo, that you're right. I do actually kind of like that. Like can someone not be attracted to him? Because even Perez, Daphne Rubin-Veva, I forgot that camera zooms in, they are about to kiss. And you know, the horn honks, but like everyone's obsessed with him. That yeah, maybe it's actually kind of nice that at least Duquette, you know, can control himself. Like he's just a guidance counselor. What's the sexual desire here? I don't understand. He has a pension, you know? It's like, ooh, so sexy, you know? It's like- I don't know, guys. It's working for me. He is so good looking. Oh, in this movie? Yeah, yeah. I mean, even though it's like a couple of years after to die for, he was doing something right. Oh my God, things were working. Although, and we'll get to it, his face during the three-way scene is a little goofy. He's doing like an Elvis-like thing. And I'm like, okay, all right. Cool, you know, but no, everything else is working real well for me personally. Those T-shirts fit nicely. And everyone does, everyone looks good. So okay, so that's Steven Peters, the director, John McNaughton. This was kind of random. Maybe you guys saw this too. He had, you know, directed some TV, I think, homicide and, you know, different things. But he was up until this point and still beyond, most well-known for directing Henry, portrait of a serial killer. Huh, yeah, right? So pretty extreme. And then, you know, pretty cool to have that. And then this, I mean, the guy just goes for it. And then let's go through our lead actors. We'll just go through the main four. Our actor and executive producer, Kevin Bacon. He described the script as the trashiest thing he had ever read. But every few pages, there was another surprise. He was hooked. He knew he had to do it. He was just in Sleepers, which I do like. That's a pretty heavy drama and picture perfect. I think that was with Jennifer Aniston the year before. Yes, yeah. Actor Matt Dillon was just in In-N-Out, which I've talked about on the show. Love In-N-Out, where he's blonde. And also Albino Alligator, which I never saw, but I remember seeing the big poster of the video store and just loving that title. Albino Alligator, right? And fun fact, I was looking up everyone's ages. Cause Matt Dillon to me, I think it's just that thing where when you first see a movie, that person is just always older than you. But Matt Dillon was only like 33 or 34. And he seemed so much older to me. I don't know, does he seem older than that to you guys or no? Yeah, I'm just like- Yeah, I feel what that feels about right. You know what I mean? I don't know. It's weird now, but I'm like, I'm older than he was in this movie. I don't look like that. I don't look like- What? You know? He's already kind of got that in a good way. Like the dad bod kind of going, like he's such a man that I'm like, dang, I don't- He gets the voice. He's got the- Yeah. He's like, you know, man, uh, you know the- Yeah. Like he's kind of been through it. Right, right. Rugged. Right, a little rugged for sure. Then we have Neve Campbell, our girl, as we know she had just come off screen too. She was currently still in party of five. Season four was airing. So she was the it girl. I mean, God, I love her. Actor Denise Richards. Wow, what a splash. Literally in that bathing suit. Oh my God. I like your stroke. Oh my God. Oh my God. She, like we said, had just done Starship Troopers, which I also love. That was a big, big thing. So she was kind of newer-ish on the scene and becoming quite a star. And I was looking up her age. It's funny. She was like 26 or 27. Neve was about 23, 24. And then yeah, Kevin Bacon was older. He was 39. So it's just interesting to- I'm always curious like how old people are when they're playing high school. Cause Denise, I mean, not that 27's old, of course. But she looked, you know, but she looked younger. I think she kind of looked the part. I don't know. What do you guys think? She didn't look too old. Yeah, she looked. Yeah. Yeah, like how kids, how people do in movies, right? Like 10 years older than teenage, right? Yeah. Yeah, very, very soapy. Well, and they definitely like, they definitely like dress her in a certain way too, to make her feel younger. Like you mentioned like the little lace socks and the like buckle shoes. And like, when we were looking at this, I also looked up their ages. I was like, I actually thought she was younger in this movie. If anything, I would have swapped the ages. I would have thought that Denise would have been 24 and Neve would have been 27. Yeah. Yeah. I know it's funny. Neve always, even in scream, like she always looks like so good and so young, but just there's like such a wisdom on her face or something that makes her seem older than that. But yeah, yeah. And you know, something I forgot, those are our four leads, but in the opening and closing credits, Teresa Russell, who is acting for the God's honey, she is in between Neve and Denise. Poor Denise, who is giving a lot of action here. She is fifth on the list. I thought that was interesting. I think this was maybe before Denise had, you know, her and her agent had the power to, you know, get her up there. I just thought that was kind of weird. What was, I know, I know Teresa, I used to, well, Teresa Russell for me used to be on, what, like the late night, like soft core adult movies on HBO. So like last, not last seduction, but like things like that. And I'm like, I remember being in theater, I'm like, good for her, you know? I'm like, finally getting in an A-list movie. Like, you know, we've seen in her movies three hundred times. And now, you know, maybe we'll see them tonight. And I think, yeah, we do see them. We actually do. Yeah, we, she gets her own sex scene early in the film. She's shown it off before the younger kids do for sure. Yeah, she is. I so badly want to see, and I feel like I told Tariq this, Jeff, a long time ago. I need to see a live version of this film. Maybe it can be a musical. I don't care. It can be downtown somewhere. I need to see wild things live. And I need the mom, especially to be played by a drag performer. I just need, right? I just need, she is so over the top from the get go. Like, can't you just imagine seeing like a drag queen just in her, whatever. I think she's in her underwear or a bikini or something like, oh, is that Sam Lombardo, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know, they did that for showgirls. They, like, about 10 years ago, they had a, like, the musical parody of showgirls playing down on 42nd Street. And it was the best thing ever. I mean, I feel like they could do that same thing with wine. Oh my God, absolutely. Yeah, because showgirls and wild things are related for sure. For sure. I think you could even do the top, the three main girls. So the mom, Nev, and Denise, Ella's drag, as drag stars. Yes, thank you, Andrew. Yes, absolutely. That's what I wanted to say, but I didn't want to go overboard, but thank you. Thanks so much for watching. Next week, we'll be part two of this discussion. And in the meantime, please follow Release Date Rewind on Instagram.