#105 - "Footloose" (1984) with Bethany Wells and JB Huffman

Attendees: Bethany Wells, JB Huffman ("Manly Movies"), Timothy Williams

This transcript of the full unedited recording was computer generated and might contain errors. 

Timothy Williams: What happens when the battle for the soul of a small town gets fought in the most unexpected of Arenas the Dance Floor this 80s flick inspired by true events. Dared to answer that question and became one of the most influential movies of the decade in the small Utah town. The spirit of Youth is a whimpered song into the new student from the big city of Chicago decides. It's time to crank up the volume with his rebellious heart and dancing feet. He challenges the status quo winning allies and sparking a cultural Showdown that had audiences rooting for freedom and dancing in the aisles. So get ready to cut loose kick off those Sunday Shoes and Dance your butt off as Dan as dancing Wells as Bethany Wells JB Huffman, I discuss Footloose from I'm gonna read this all again because I got to fix these typos what have Dancing Wheels I should.

Bethany Wells: Dancing Wells is my stage name.

Manly Movies: There you go.

Timothy Williams: I literally just finished this introduction two minutes before I got on so

Timothy Williams: Dare dance going over here. Had that hat or nothing. Where did I have miss? It had audiences had rooting for dancing the aisle. So get ready to cut loose kick all this on his shoes and dance your butt off as Bethany Wells. I still can't say your name Bethany walls that Bethany Wells,…

Bethany Wells: You are strawberries about.

Timothy Williams: All right, enter number two. What happens when the battle for the soul of a small town gets fought in the most unexpected of Arenas the Dance Floor this 80s flick inspired by true events. Dared to answer that question and became one of the most influential movies of the decade. in the small Utah town. The spirit of Youth is a whimpered song until the new student from the big city of Chicago decides. It's time to crank up the volume with his rebellious heart and dancing feet. He challenges a status quo winning allies and sparking a cultural Showdown that had audiences rooting for freedom and dancing in the aisles. So get ready to cut loose kick off those Sunday Shoes and Dance your butt off as Bethany Wells JB Huffman, and I discuss Footloose from 1984 on episode of the 80s flick flashback podcast that was much better.

Manly Movies: Yeah, boy.

Timothy Williams: I had had my good radio voice on that one. This is Casey ase Alright? Welcome in everybody.

Bethany Wells: he

Timothy Williams: Glad to have you for this very fun and exciting episode. That is one that I want to do for a long time. and finally I was gonna do it this year. This was the year, we're gonna do it and so happy to do it with two of my favorite hosts. We're talking about Footloose the movie that made Kevin Bacon a huge movie star and made everybody want to dance again. I think before Dirty Dancing one of the dance dirty. But anyway, there's whole another story but let me introduce our co-host for this episode. you love her Bethany Wells is back.

Bethany Wells: I'm doing great.

Timothy Williams: How you doing, Bethany?

Bethany Wells: I love this movie. I'm so excited.

Timothy Williams: And we're excited to have you and excited to have from manly movies B Huffman. How you doing? JB?

Manly Movies: I'm doing great ever since you said I'm one of your favorite guests. So that makes me happy and to talk about as Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy would say, …

Timothy Williams: Yes. That's right.

Manly Movies: one of the Greatest American Heroes. Of all time Mr. Kevin Bacon

Bethany Wells: Absolutely. Ruby loves a Guardians of the Galaxy and…

Timothy Williams: That's right.

Timothy Williams: mmm

Bethany Wells: so watching this she was like, Kevin Bacon It's like yeah.

Timothy Williams: I understand the reference Yeah. Yes,…

Manly Movies: I understood the reference.

Timothy Williams: All So, let's Jump Right In so we'll start with Bethany. When did you see Footloose for the first time?

Bethany Wells: Man, it was Probably maybe early High School. It was something I know both my mom loved it. But also my stepmom had this really funny story She always told about how when it was in theaters her and her cousins I'm sure the statute of limitations is over so I can tell this story and she won't get in trouble, but she and her cousins would sneak into the theater just to watch the final prom scene and…

Timothy Williams: Right, right.

Bethany Wells: they did that over and over again. And so I always remember that story and it just makes me laugh and…

Timothy Williams: 

Bethany Wells: when it gets to that part, I'm always thinking of her and her cousin sneaking in to go see that movie. So it was probably then early high school when I saw it for the first time

00:05:00

Timothy Williams: Yeah. I will say sneaking into other movies was much easier to do in the 80s and probably early 90s much more easy than it is now. Not that I'm condoning that behavior,…

Bethany Wells: Yeah. Yeah.

Timothy Williams: but as a kid or a teenager. I do have a story past limitations where These are 90s movies. So it doesn't fit this podcast but a friend of mine from high school. We wanted to go see flatliners another Kevin Bacon movie. So it does connect and we were not allowed to see that because it's rated R. Neither one of us were 18, but we knew this the theater wouldn't let us so we bought tickets for Weekend at Bernie's instead. No wasn't we can and…

Manly Movies: 

Timothy Williams: Bernie's what it was something else. It was like a college at PG comedy that we did not watch and we went and saw flatliners instead and I remember the theater thinking I'm so bad. so I'm such a Let's say rebel. To watch this R-rated horror movie.

Bethany Wells: Absolutely. I still think it's so wholesome that her big bad.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, but

Bethany Wells: Is that she broke it just to watch the final scene. Because it's not like she could own it on VHS or…

Timothy Williams: yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: anything. that's the only way she could go see it and she just wanted to watch that one scene where Kevin Bacon screams Let's Dance.

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: Right, right. funny good.

Manly Movies: It's funny even now in 2024 my local theater if it's not like a prime time if it's not like, seven o'clock at night if it's for a matinee or whatever, which I'll take my kids to about now on Saturday or Sunday or whatever and I always buy them tickets, but literally every single time I take them. you buy the tickets in one place and then you go in another place. There's never anybody working over there. so you could literally walk in there. but obviously I don't because I mean …

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: Right, right. Once again,…

Manly Movies: I do have morals.

Timothy Williams: this is not Behavior we condone we're just making observations.

Bethany Wells: I've never done this.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: We're telling stories.

Bethany Wells: I would like to put that out there on the podcast.

Timothy Williams: Okay.

Bethany Wells: I've never done that.

Timothy Williams: I don't think that yeah,…

Manly Movies: Don't think I have either yeah.

Timothy Williams: I think we're safe. I'll say that was the one and only time that I did that I think so.

Bethany Wells: Was it worth it? Yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, we love the movie. That was one of my favorite movies. I've watched it again recently. It doesn't hold up as well, but it's still for you had Kiefer Sutherland Kevin Bacon and Julia Roberts for the three of them to be in a movie. It's definitely worth watching.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: It's not the greatest of plots, but it's still entertaining with the three of them and then Oliver Platt. Who's that as big of? Name, but if you know he is he's good in it too.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: But alright, When did you see Footloose for the first time?

Manly Movies: Believe it or not. First time I watched it was about two years ago. Like I told y'all before I've have some history with this movie…

Timothy Williams: Mm- Yes.

Manly Movies: which we will talk about later. and obviously I grew up in the 80s and I was around this movie. I've seen it in bits and pieces on TV I watched My mom was a bigger fan of dirty dancing and…

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Manly Movies: I watched that a lot. Footloose was never something that I ever actually watched from beginning to end.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Manly Movies: But when I watched it two years ago, I remembered all these scenes and I just kind of put them all together.

Timothy Williams: But all together it all makes sense now. Yeah.

Manly Movies: So Yeah.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Manly Movies: Yeah, exactly.

Timothy Williams: No more plot holes. I understand. why they did it.

Bethany Wells: Now it all makes sense.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Right,…

Bethany Wells: It's you complexities of this plot.

Timothy Williams: Yes, that's a complex plot. But yeah.

Manly Movies: But funny story though, my wife the town that she grew up in Southwest, Missouri the town next to it's called party. and supposedly It's not necessarily based on it because I think it happened either about the same time or a year before year after but that high school there did not allow dancing up until the mid 80s or something. So it's kind of cool.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Manly Movies: Like I always say that's about party. it's Probably not.

Bethany Wells: I have heard that party was one of The Inspirations.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, the research I have will get into it here in a few minutes was Elmore City Oklahoma,…

Manly Movies: Probably yeah.

Timothy Williams: but it does reference that Were there a lot of other. Counties or cities up and through the years I had old laws in the books from the 1800s that had not been updated and some were enforcing it in some weren't…

Manly Movies: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: but it was more common than you would think in 1984. So yeah. alright, so for me, honestly, I was trying to remember I'm pretty sure like We were good, Southern Baptist, Church going family. And if you anything about the southern baptist, dancing is not allowed in the southern baptist church. So this one was a little too close to home. So my parents were a little bit like do we want my kids to see this because it's gonna like cause some issues

00:10:00

Bethany Wells: Hey.

Timothy Williams: But my mom who was always been a little bit more liberal than my dad. I think she really wanted to see it because we kept hearing good things about it. it was, winning at the box office and it was all this stuff. Of course, the songs were all over the radio which is why me and my sister wanted to see it. And so I think we didn't actually see it until I made it to the dollar theater. And then by that point I think we kind of wore my dad down. He's like, I'm not gonna go see it. I'm gonna watch it. And so it was me my sister went and I remember seeing it and really enjoying it a lot and really liking it and I thought they handled it. it didn't. for Hollywood to present.

Timothy Williams: The religious community and somewhat of a positive light or at least Redemptive in some ways I like that and we're jumping into it. But I like that John Lithgow's character. He is kind of seen as the big meaning at the beginning but you see a character Arc for him…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: where he's like, I can't be the moral compass for the whole town people have to make their own decisions. So that was good, but I remember even after I think we saw right when it got to the dollar theater and remember driving by that theater for the next two months and it played for all for a long time and this was before, it was on digital, VHS wasn't even over here just was around but Going to see on VHS for at least two years probably and then cable wouldn't get into a year later. but I remember just driving This Footloose is still playing like that was the thing every Friday Drive By is it still there. it's still there, the week when it was finally gone you Right. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: If you watch the prom scene Tim.

Timothy Williams: All So how long did it been since you rewatched it before you're watching it for the podcast is this one that you watched on a regular basis? I'll start with B this time. So you start two years ago. Have you watched it again since then before this week or

Manly Movies: let's see. No, but

Manly Movies: and yeah, but it's something that I know all the scenes and so it's like I haven't had to go back and revisit it but I plan to eventually. it's something that I'll probably would keep on the rotation every couple of years because I don't really watch a whole lot of movies. Like I just don't and so I kind of get a hankering to watch something ever two or three years or so. So that's yeah.

Timothy Williams: gotcha. What about you Bethany?

Bethany Wells: I love this movie. I probably watched it maybe a year ago. I was introducing it to Ruby because like I said, she got really into guardians galaxy and we had watched it and I think she had seen the part where he was talking about Footloose. And we were like you just want to watch Footloose because it's a really great movie and…

Timothy Williams: Right, right.

Bethany Wells: we watched it and even Ruby enjoyed it watching it then. And it's just one. I think every few years. I pop it in. It's a good Comfort You don't have to pay super close attention to it.

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: And the music is just incredible every song is a banger.

Timothy Williams: Right, right. Yeah, yeah.

Manly Movies: Sorry.

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: And so It's great to have in the background.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Manly Movies: but the 80s in general man, it's the greatest soundtrack ever from the 80s like this

Timothy Williams: mmm

Bethany Wells: I know it's not this movie. But I remember my mom had the cassette tape for cocktail. Is that 80s?

Timothy Williams: Yes 89.

Bethany Wells: Yeah, so she had the cassette tape of that soundtrack and she would play it in the car and me and…

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: my sister would beg her to play Kokomo, but we would say Aruba Jamaica mama.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: and so

Timothy Williams: Love it. Yep. I had ad cocktail on vinyl. The soundtrack and…

Bethany Wells: nice

Manly Movies: nice

Timothy Williams: Originally we'll look at the soundtrack. I'm interested now, my sister had the vinyl of Footloose the soundtrack that she bought my sister's older than me and…

Bethany Wells: nice

Timothy Williams: I would always want to borrow and she would never let me borrow it so back then you could record it on to cassette so I think she let me finally just make a copy on cassette I will listen to it. but I think I have her copy of the vinyl now because I have a Vine. I have a record player. She doesn't so all of her old records or my parents house and one day. I was just like I'm just taking them and she wants them, she can ask for all other borrow it but I'm gonna hold it for now.

00:15:00

Bethany Wells: Haha got her.

Manly Movies: Now I have listened to that soundtrack many many times.

Manly Movies: I'll say that that's something I did have on repeat a lot.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. yeah.

Bethany Wells: Yeah, yeah.

Timothy Williams: All let's jump into for rewatching for me. I remember buying the DVD for this at Walmart for five bucks probably 20 years ago. And I remember one night when me and after me entire were married for a couple of years. I think it was like either we had not had cable for a while or nothing good was on I was like, we're just gonna cook a movie from the DVD collection and we watch and that was the first time I'd seen it probably since I was Teenager and really enjoyed I remember liking it a lot then I probably haven't watched it all the way through since then.

Timothy Williams: I was about Tyra and I were talking about earlier and she was like, we just watched this last year and I was like, no I didn't I said you were watching and I think it was on freeform or one of the regular cable channels. I said, I know I walked in the room a couple of times because you didn't start it from the beginning but I really enjoyed watching it. It had been a good long while before I'd seen it but I've seen it so many times there's not much that I don't know about what's gonna happen, but It does. Hold up pretty well overall. I mean it is

Bethany Wells: I think it almost holds up too. there's some stuff in it where you're just like I hate that this still feels relatable at time.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. yeah. Yeah.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: So the fashion is fun like the opening sequence with the shoes like watching it today.

Bethany Wells: So good.

Manly Movies: yes.

Timothy Williams: I was like man, we had some interesting shoe choices back. Then my favorite is still the 80s and leg warmers. I didn't realize our ankles are so cold in the 80s,…

Bethany Wells: magical

Timothy Williams: and how they had to have them over the heel of the shoe and I'm like, how did you not fall and slip back then but …

Bethany Wells: It right now.

Timothy Williams: that wasn't

Bethany Wells: I've got a space eater at my feet.

Timothy Williams: Yes. But yeah,…

Bethany Wells: So leg warmer sounds great.

Manly Movies: he

Timothy Williams: but the fashion is great. But yeah, so let's jump into the storage in a A lot of this. I think it's fascinating stuff that I really did not know about the movie until now so I get excited about the background stuff. But this one was I was really excited. I was really liked this background. So as we mentioned earlier Footloose is Loosely based on the town or one of the towns is based on his Elmore City Oklahoma the town had banned dancing since it's founding in an attempt to decrease the amount of heavy drinking one advocate of the dancing man was the Reverend from the nearby town of Hennepin. His name was Johnson. He said quote no good has ever come from a dance. If you have a dance somebody will crash it and they'll be looking for only two things women in booze when boys and girls hold each other they get sexually aroused you can believe what you want. But one thing leads to another end quote.

Bethany Wells: 

Timothy Williams: Yeah, because of the man on Dancing the town never held a prom in February of 1980 the junior class of Elmore City's high school made national news and they requested permission to hold a junior prom and it was granted the request to overturn the ban and order to hold the prom was met with the two decision from the school board when the school board president Raymond Lee broke the tie with the words let him dance. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: I like to think of the quote that the reverence wife Diane Weist says is you…

Timothy Williams: So go ahead.

Bethany Wells: we used to just look at each other and…

Timothy Williams: right right

Bethany Wells: get excited and I think it shows especially towards the beginning of the movie. It doesn't matter if music or…

Timothy Williams: mmm

Bethany Wells: dancing is banned kids gonna be kids.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, because it was evident that Ariel is a rebel. To the core like she was you…

Bethany Wells: yeah.

Timothy Williams: what you would consider the traditional PK or preacher's kid, she's gonna be the rebel.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: So with the music or not wasn't gonna change how she was gonna, live her life at that time. so yeah. All right. So Dean Pritchard the script writer came up with the idea for Footloose as far back as 1979. So we talked about the other cities that were similar to that he teamed up with melnicks Indy prod who set the production up at 20th Century Fox in 1981 Pitchford wrote the screenplay his first and most of the lyrics however Fox put in a turnaround. So he originally wrote it as a straight-up musical he had songs in mind which I thought was fascinating and we'll talk about a minute. He actually wrote and if you watch the credits, he wrote every single song that made it on the soundtrack. yeah, which I thought was interesting because

Bethany Wells: wow.

Manly Movies: nice

Timothy Williams: There's some interesting song I mean, I just thought they were just cool songs.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: They pulled together, but no he wrote every single song and it had a purpose for its scene in the movie.

Bethany Wells: it's funny that you say it was meant to be a musical because it feels like a musical.

00:20:00

Timothy Williams: Yeah. …

Manly Movies: sure.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, which I guess is why it transitioned into a musical for it.

Bethany Wells: It turned into a musical. Yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah eventually. So I pulled this from a website that I use. I meant to put it there in the reference would go back. None of my sources. I thought this was cool.

Timothy Williams: So there's a website that I go to called Fast rewind calm that has a lot of behind the scenes stuff from movies and they allow people to submit personal stories. So if they were a part of the filming or if it filmed in their town, then people write in stories. And so this is one that I read on there. I have to agree. I have to believe that it's true, but it seems like this one doesn't seem too far-fetched. But this is what one of the people wrote there said in preparation for this movie Dean Pitchford visited several communities in Oklahoma. One of those was the town I grew with that grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma in November of 1980. He came to our school sat with us in class interviewed students and spoke to us a little about why he was there all we knew was he was writing a story for a movie about high school kids.

Timothy Williams: After seeing the movie, I felt he possibly got one of the ideas for one of the scenes from us when the kids crossed the state line and a bridge to go dance at the bar. It was a normal Saturday night for us. We lived only 30 miles from the Oklahoma state line at that time. The legal drinking age in Texas was 19 and there were several bars that would let underage drinkers in we crossed the Red River Bridge many weekends on our trips to party. So I was like that. Pretty interesting. So I did read a couple things that he did do a lot of research at high schools to get the story he wanted us to seem,…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: as authentic as possible. So I thought that was cool. So in 1982 Paramount Pictures made a pay or play deal for the film when negotiations with Herbert Ross, the director initially stalled, Ron Howard was approached to direct the film, but he turned it down to direct Splash instead. Michael simoneau was hired by Paramount to direct the film his first since Heaven's Gate after a month working on the film The Studio fired Seminole who was making extravagant demands for the production including demanding an additional $250,000 for his work they ended up firing him and going back and hiring Herbert Ross. One of the things I read about that was.

Timothy Williams: The heavens gate record Michael simoneau. He wanted to completely rewrite the script and wanted to make it much more extravagant. That's why he was trying to bring in all this other stuff. So glad I didn't go that that way we all know what's such a big hit Heaven's Gate was if you are familiar with seminar 80 Cinema Cinnamon rolls.

Bethany Wells: cinnamon roll

Timothy Williams: His name is Seminole. So I got those two things together. But Heaven's gay is one of the biggest bombs of the 80s, so that's why.

Bethany Wells: no.

Manly Movies: Devastated it was nominated for several razzies. So if that's anything

Timothy Williams: Yeah, pretty terrible So a little bit about the director Herbert Ross. I was telling Bethany before we started filming our starter recording that we've covered a Herbert Ross film before that. She wasn't aware of and neither was I until I started the Russian research, but Ross was an American actor and choreographer and director and producer who worked predominantly in the theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award. He is known for directing Musical and comedy such as Goodbye Mr. Chips in 1969 Play It Again Sam in 72 the Goodbye Girl and 77 and Pennies from Heaven in 1981. His other films included protocol 94 with Goldie Hawn and Secret of My Success with Michael J fox in 1987.

Timothy Williams: His one big hit was the play adaptation of Steel Magnolias in 1989, which Bethany and I covered a couple seasons ago and the 90s. He directed My Blue Heaven in 1990, which we just discussed a few episodes ago true colors in 91 Undercover Blues in 93 and Boys on the Side in 1995. He is also known for his work on Broadway as a choreographer for Productions with Barbara Streisand Stephen Sondheim Richard Rodgers and author Lawrence. So.

Bethany Wells: Wow, I might secretly like his directing.

Timothy Williams: He's done a lot of movies that I'm a fan of that's for sure.

Bethany Wells: But I like although apparently he was not nice to Dolly Parton. So

Timothy Williams: Yes and I was watching the behind the scenes thing on Footloose and Sarah Jessica Parker. It was Interview with her and she was saying that it was a lot of cuz he was a c They were supportive choreographed pieces in the movie. He said she had done ballet her whole life up until making the movie but she was always the last one to learn such I was a very slow learner. I was good, but I was always the last one to kind of learn stuff and her quote was we all knew how demonstrative he could be. So I didn't want to be on his bad side. So she didn't really say it as bad as we heard about he was on still Magnolia's but obviously he was still pretty demanding director for sure. So

00:25:00

Bethany Wells: Tyrant tyrannical. Mm-

Timothy Williams: all right any films on his list that you're a fan of JB or familiar with?

Manly Movies: I mean, I'm a fan of anything with Michael J fox. So

Timothy Williams: Yeah, Secret of My Success is one of my favorites one of his more underrated. comedies, of course

Manly Movies: yeah.

Timothy Williams: All let's jump into casting. I don't have a whole lot to cover because there's really if only a few main characters in the movie that we kind of focus on so we'll be able to get through these pretty quick. So of course we got Kevin Bacon as a wren McCormick, I really want to know it wren's full name was like Ren was always an interesting name for me. Is it Reynold or Ronaldo or yeah, I mean that's Renfield,…

Bethany Wells: Ronaldo absolutely

Manly Movies: Rent Renfield.

Timothy Williams: there you go. I don't look we'll take that one. So Kevin Bacon made his feature film to view in National Lampoon's Animal House in 1978. He then starred in Friday the 13th the 1980 and then Diner in 1982 before landing the role for this movie in 95 84. He also started movies like JFK in 1991 A Few Good Men in 92 Apollo 13 and 95 Mystic River in 2003 Frost Nixon in 2008. One of my favorites trimmers in The River Wild in 1994 crazy in 2011 X-Men first Class in 2011 and Patriots Day in 2016. And that's just a small sampling of all the movies that he's been involved in. He's a very prolific actor for sure and we've covered him in Friday the 13th when we covered that movie as well, but favorite Kevin Bacon performance

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: this one

Timothy Williams: this one What about you JB?

Manly Movies: I mean, I could probably go back back and forth between this and A Few Good Men. He just nails that one out of the park.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Manly Movies: That's just and…

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Manly Movies: And I can't say it's a Kevin Bacon performance, but I really like his role in a place Trains and Automobiles.

Bethany Wells: yeah.

Timothy Williams: All right, right. Yeah, good Cameo there for sure.

Manly Movies: Yes, super bit part there.

Manly Movies: But yeah.

Timothy Williams: Mm- Just connecting him in the John Hughes Universe for his role,…

Timothy Williams: and she's having a baby. but yeah A Few Good Men is probably one of my favorite movies all time. so he's great fun fact about that him and Kiefer Sutherland when they were hired they switched roles during filming so they were actually cast for the other person's role, which I can't even imagine that now they're perfectly cast how they are now. But yeah, Kevin Bacon's great I can't really think of any bad Kevin Bacon movies there's never been one that I saw was like this is just terrible. That I can think of.

Bethany Wells: No, the one where he was the Invisible Man. That was pretty bad.

Manly Movies: Hello, Yeah.

Bethany Wells: Yeah, that was pretty bad.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah. And you know what?

Bethany Wells: He's not bad.

Timothy Williams: I don't think. Right, it's a bad.

Bethany Wells: It's just not a good movie.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen that movie all the way through I'll start it and…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: I get 30 minutes and I'm like, I just can't take anymore.

Bethany Wells: just

Timothy Williams: It's just bad. Yeah, you're right. I stand corrected. That one's pretty terrible.

Bethany Wells: that one's fresh on my brain.

Manly Movies: I'll say that. although the one that he was in is probably the best as a whole the Friday the 13th series is pretty dang bad though,

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: I think Laramie would probably disagree with you there, but

Manly Movies: I just get worse and worse like yeah.

Bethany Wells: I just don't like slasher movies.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. I will say yeah,…

Bethany Wells: So that's

Timothy Williams: but let's be honest. The trimmer sequels are probably worse than the Friday the 13th sequence.

Bethany Wells: The Tremors sequels are terrible,…

Manly Movies: Over it.

Bethany Wells: but that first movie is amazing. That was my introduction to Kevin Bacon was the Tremors movie.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Is awesome.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, it's awesome.

Manly Movies: Yeah first yeah.

Timothy Williams: Was it really?

Bethany Wells: I loved that movie.

Timothy Williams: That's a movie. I've seen so many times and I just watched that one again a couple years ago think it was on Netflix. It was like 11 o'clock at night. I'm like, I need some to fall asleep, too. I was like, my gosh Tremors on I watched me was like,…

Bethany Wells: tremors

Timothy Williams: one o'clock in the morning. I was like I have to watch another way through and then I think I started trimmers too. And I was like, just Anything I can't do it.

Bethany Wells: No. Look you got Kevin Bacon. You got Reba.

Timothy Williams: Reba right and the dad from growing pain growing…

Bethany Wells: Yeah. Yeah.

Timothy Williams: but I Family Ties.

Manly Movies: yeah. Yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, Michael Gross Gross is a gross or gross. I'm sure he preferred to gross. Yeah.

Manly Movies: I think Animal House is probably my first introduction to Kevin Bacon.

Timothy Williams: I have never seen Animal House all the way through.

Bethany Wells: I don't think I've seen it all the way through.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, so JB's are real. Cinephile so he's seen all these he likes his older movies. He watches all the great the classics so

00:30:00

Manly Movies: try to I hang out in the 30s and 40s and 50s for the most part the Hays code movies

Timothy Williams: yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: I've seen a lot of those. those are fun.

Timothy Williams: All right. So interesting to know Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe were highly considered to play the lead of Ren the casting directors were impressed with Cruz because of the famous underwear dance sequence and risky business, but he was unavailable for the part…

Manly Movies: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: because he was filming All the Right Moves low audition three times and had dancing ability and the quote unquote neutral team looked at the director wanted but he injured himself during one of the dance rehearsals that forcing him to not take the part.

Timothy Williams: Bacon had been offered the main role for the Stephen King film Christine at the same time that it was asked to the screen test for Footloose. He chose to take the gamble on the screen test, which I read was mostly because John Carpenter really encouraged him to do he knew he was gonna be a big star. He was like Footloose will make you a star. This will be good. But you've done horror before so, get kind of pigeonholed after watching his earlier film Diner the director Herbert Ross persuaded The Producers to go with bacon. and he told the story that I guess. Herbert Ross confer persuaded the producers and the writer all liked him. But whoever the head of the studio didn't think he was quote unquote sexy enough for the lead. And so he had to do a full screen test and then they said they did this 20 minute screen test. the studio had watched 30 seconds. I said, okay, you guys can hire him. It's fine with me.

Bethany Wells: They watched him for 30 seconds and went never mind. He's definitely sexy,…

Timothy Williams: Yeah. You're good.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: .

Timothy Williams: you're good, Kevin Bacon based his hairstyle on rocker stings spiky hairdo as he was a big fan of the police at the time you mentioned the band and one of the scenes so Little Nugget there for you All…

Bethany Wells: I love that scene.

Timothy Williams: Lori Singer,…

Bethany Wells: Have you seen the police?

Timothy Williams: yeah. Yeah, where are they right behind you?

Bethany Wells: caribbehind you

Timothy Williams: Laurie as Ariel Moore singer was a musical prodigy making her debut as a cellist with the Oregon Symphony at 13 and accepted a Juilliard where she became the in youngest graduate in the early 80s. She signed with Elite Model Management before shifting or Focus to acting she was cast as Julie Miller a teenage dancer and cellist in the TV series Fain in which she appeared between 1982 and 83. She gained notice for the lead role in this she later was cast and supporting roles in the Falcon in the Snowman in 85 the comedy the man with one red shoe with Tom Hank. 85 for the horror film Warlock in 1989 and Robert Altman's Ensemble drama cat drama. shortcuts from 1993 Reading is hard some.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I forget that Laurie singer was in the TV show Fame because that was a big show that we watched as a family when I was younger.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: But yes, I remember her being in that TV show at least I guess for that show ran for several years, but she was only on for two of the years it was on but

Bethany Wells: He was it like the 80s version of Glee her.

Timothy Williams: 

Timothy Williams: Not really.

Bethany Wells: No.

Timothy Williams: No. I mean, it's based on the movie Fame that came out in 1980.

Bethany Wells: yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, but it's performing arts school. But it wasn't just focused on please just the Glee Club this was like you had the dance students the drama students the band,…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: bands it was all those different than the teachers as So that's a show which I could find somewhere streaming. I'd love to go back and watch that from the beginning because I never really liking that it got a little hokey towards the end. I think yeah,…

Bethany Wells: like Glee

Timothy Williams: the Glee was so good. The first two seasons and then it just …

Bethany Wells: So Good.

Manly Movies: It was really good. Yeah.

Timothy Williams: then it I think they tried to work with totally different conversation. They were trying to work songs in it to eat too hard like you could tell it was like this plot is only so they can sing this song and it kind of lost some of its luster for me discussion for another time

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Manly Movies: My steps were cool though. Yeah, really like that.

Bethany Wells: absolutely. That's for our Glee podcast that we're recording later.

Timothy Williams: Mmm, yeah, yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Coming soon stay ned. So rumor I put this in italics or rumor because I don't know how much of this is actually accurate but that claim that Darryl Hannah turned down the offer to play Ariel in order to play Madison and splash and 83 Elizabeth McGovern turned down the role of Airline play Deborah Kelly in Once Upon a Time in American 84 other people who are offered or audition for the role. Here's the list. Madonna Valerie Bertinelli Melanie Griffith Michelle Pfeiffer Jamie Lee Curtis. Rosanna Arquette Meg Tilley, Julia, Louis-Dreyfus Heather Locklear Meg, Ryan, Jennifer Jason Leigh Jodie Foster Phoebe Cates Tatum O'Neal Bridget Fonda, Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane and Brook Shields.

00:35:00

Bethany Wells: Like all of them.

Timothy Williams: right I believe maybe three of those.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Manly Movies: I mean Phoebe Cates had to be in somebody that they contacted. She was just yeah.

Timothy Williams: probably yeah.

Timothy Williams: I could see Madonna auditioning, trying to kind of make her name. that was really before she became really a big pop star, but she was want to do acting Some of the other ones I'm like,…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: yeah, I don't know.

Bethany Wells: maybe it could have been one of those things where it was like an all-call audition and…

Timothy Williams: Yeah. yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: all of those people auditioned because they were told to But none of them were genuinely considered.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, Exactly. I could see Daryl I could yeah.

Manly Movies: some of them see but

Timothy Williams: No say I could see Daryl Hannah because she has kind of the same look some what as Lori Singer so I can kind of see that one…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: but everybody else. I'm like, yeah, not really.

Manly Movies: some of them seem a little bit old for that part even native poor

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing too.

Bethany Wells: Yeah. I would love to have seen Meg Ryan though.

Timothy Williams: Sometimes I see these listen, I think people just who were famous people around this time and they just throw them in there to see who's gonna believe it.

Manly Movies: the 80s that

Timothy Williams: But did you guys like Lori singer in the role? I mean

Manly Movies: I did.

Timothy Williams: you got real quiet. Yeah.

Manly Movies: Yeah, I mean I thought I…

Bethany Wells: She was fine.

Manly Movies: yeah, I

Manly Movies: She was alright, yeah. for that role

Bethany Wells: She had really great moments.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: And especially I felt like the moments between her and John Lithgow were the most interesting that she had.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: I don't know. She necessarily had a ton of chemistry with Kevin Bacon. I didn't quite understand why the two of them. Were together but between her and John Lithgow those scenes were really like you can't stop watching them.

Timothy Williams: I agree with that 100% where you say Jamie.

Manly Movies: It just would not have felt right like I felt like you kind of believed her as this.

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Manly Movies: Preacher's daughter as you said earlier just this normal down home girl trying to break out of it. So yeah, the fact that she hadn't been in a ton of stuff. I think she fit the role perfectly.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, this was one of those movies it was kind of a breakouts for all for everybody. there were no mean John lithgowan, the adults are probably the biggest political stars at that point for the movie. But yeah, yeah, I agree. Yeah, she's not my favorite part of the movie. But I mean she's not terrible, but I agree with you. I think I don't really see the chemistry between her and Kevin Bacon at all. it's just not really. As there as much as you think it needs to be but I agree her scenes with John Lithgow really really good.

Bethany Wells: Their moments when she's sneaking into the house and…

Manly Movies: yeah.

Bethany Wells: she's like running up stairs and…

Timothy Williams: 

Bethany Wells: he comes down and it's very subtle, but she does a couple steps back and lowers her head. And even though that seen ends with her finally snapping back. it's so interesting you really see that dynamic between the two of them like you can tell.

Manly Movies: but

Bethany Wells: That first scene where she's trying to talk to him and keeps chickening out. You can tell there's a lot of love between the two of them you get so much from that conversation when nothing is really said, And so I really appreciated…

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: what she did in those scenes.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I would think her best thing to me and this doesn't fall into my favorite scenes I'm not jumping ahead.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: But this scene with her in the church towards the end when she really confronts her dad.

Bethany Wells: yeah.

Timothy Williams: That's a powerful powerful scene that I think the two of them really worked off each other like that felt very real like it didn't mean she was a little over the top…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: but it needed to be like that was such a good scene for her.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: All right, since we mentioned him already John Lithgow as Reverend Shaw Moore Shaw as a first name. Once again, these names are just funny to me Ariel is the only one that seemed to normal so far.

Manly Movies: even

Timothy Williams: But especially when his wife Shaw,…

Bethany Wells: show

Timothy Williams: I don't Just put an in on me. And it's Shawn. Can we Give me Sean. So lift gals early rolls include all that jazz and 79 and blow out an 81 before we received Academy Award for best supporting actor nominations for his roles in the world, according to GARP and 82 in terms of endearment 83 his other notable films a few of them because he's been in a ton of things like Kevin Bacon include Twilight Zone The Movie 83 Harry in the Hendersons 87 Raising Cain in 92 Cliffhanger in 93 a civil action 98 Shrek in 2001 Interstellar in 2014 bombshell in 2019 and most recently killers of the flower moon in 2023.

00:40:00

Bethany Wells: So just a few things. really a low-key.

Timothy Williams: Just a few things. Yeah. Yeah,…

Manly Movies: You yeah, it's a little bit.

Timothy Williams: but I would put him like him and Kevin Bacon I think are both really good actors that.

Bethany Wells: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: Don't get pigeonholed in a certain type of role like they both play great villains.

Bethany Wells: yeah.

Manly Movies: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: I love when Kevin Bacon plays a bad guy,…

Bethany Wells: 

Timothy Williams: but also really great and…

Manly Movies: yeah.

Timothy Williams: every man kind of rolls as well. But I mean, of course Lithgow's done more bad guys stuff, but he's great in comedy. when he was on Third Rock From the Sun the TV show,…

Bethany Wells: I love that show.

Timothy Williams: I mean as a master class and…

Manly Movies: yes, that's so good.

Bethany Wells: That was my introduction.

Timothy Williams: comedy Yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: That was my introduction to John Lithgow was Third Rock From the Sun I loved that show.

Manly Movies: Mine, too. Yeah for sure. yeah.

Timothy Williams: Still funny, I'll catch reruns. Everyone still makes me laugh. So alright so fun few funny story are one funny story one kind of inspiring story here about John Lithgow. So for this film not being a man of Faith himself Lithgow sought a ministers advice to better understand his character. He found one in the Yellow Pages, ironically breaking the ninth commandment as he reached out pretending to be lonely and asking for comfort and conversations about faith.

Bethany Wells: 

Timothy Williams: Although Lithgow says he felt bad for misleading the minister. He experience invaluable in helping him shape his character in pretty smart, but yeah, it's like

Bethany Wells: I could have gone really sideways. what if he had picked somebody really?

Timothy Williams: right and…

Manly Movies: this is funny

Timothy Williams: then when I

Timothy Williams: mmm

Bethany Wells: mmm

Manly Movies: Did you see the movie Orange County? 2003 or…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Yeah, it's been a while. Yeah.

Manly Movies: something, but found out that when his son told him that He said What do you want to be a writer for you're not depressed. You're not gay.

Bethany Wells: I love it so much.

Manly Movies: that's just

Timothy Williams: And the funny part of that is a writer wrote that that's what's so funny. Right, very similar.

Bethany Wells: Probably because his dad said something similar to him.

Timothy Williams: Yeah exactly. Yeah, that sounds like a kind of line that he would say and you could hear it coming from him. That's me. just free. It works for that. Yeah, So this…

Bethany Wells: So good.

Timothy Williams: what I thought this was cool, so during the filming of Dr. Solomon's traveling alien show in 1998. One of the characters playing a circus strongman took John Lithgow aside to share a personal story with him. He confided that he was from a small town in Louisiana where his own father a Baptist Minister would not allow the kids to dance or listen to rock and roll music when he saw Footloose. He explained that Lithgow's Reverend was the epitome of his own father after he brought his father to see the film without any warning of its plot. His father was so touched by Lithgow's performance. The man said that he was the first of six children that were permitted to attend their High School prom.

Bethany Wells: No.

Bethany Wells: It's really nice.

Timothy Williams: that's pretty cool. Even though he lied to a minister to give that performance.

Manly Movies: Yep.

Bethany Wells: I'm sure the minister understood and…

Manly Movies: yeah.

Bethany Wells: appreciated it later.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah, that was when I found that blurb about that the person that wrote the article, they're like I really want to know they didn't find out. I really want to know if the minister ever found out that it was really him. If he saw the movie was wait that was a dude that came and…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: talked to me, but Yeah,…

Bethany Wells: Hey, at least that Minister helps him.

Timothy Williams: exactly, so as he should.

Manly Movies: Yep.

Timothy Williams: All right moving right along Diane weest as Vai more insurers of short for Vivian. Not that just gonna take a stab at that one. Everybody's got shortened names. She has one two,…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: academy awards for best supporting actress for 1986 is Hannah and Her Sisters in 1994's Bullets Over Broadway both directed by Woody Allen one golden Global award for Bullets Over Broadway the 1997 prime time. Emmy Award for outstanding guest actress in and drama series for road to Heavenly and the 2008 prime time Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress and a drama series in treatment in addition. She was nominated for an Academy Award for 1998 1989's Parenthood another great movie that she was in. Other film appearances by waste include the purple rose of Cairo and…

00:45:00

Bethany Wells: mmm

Timothy Williams: 85 Radio Days at 87 The Lost Boys in 87. Yeah Bright Lights big city in 88 another Michael J fox movie Edward Scissorhands in 1990. Little man Tate 91 The Birdcage in 96 one of Bethany's favorites Practical Magic and…

Bethany Wells: woo

Timothy Williams: 98 and Dan in Real Life in 2007. So

Bethany Wells: 

Bethany Wells: I love her so much.

Timothy Williams: yeah, one other podcasts I listened to buzzing the tower they have crowned her as the greatest on-screen mom of the 80s which I can't really deny that the mom in this movie The mom and Lost Boys the mom and parented those three being their main reasons for giving that and even the mom in Edward Scissorhands, but that's 1990 but Yep.

Bethany Wells: She is just

Manly Movies: count it It was probably shot in the 80s. So

Timothy Williams: You can count it. Yeah. Yeah,…

Bethany Wells: She was.

Timothy Williams: that's…

Timothy Williams: what we say.

Bethany Wells: She was a mom and…

Bethany Wells: Birdcage and she was so precious.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. so

Bethany Wells: So is Nathan Lane and he was also a precious mom in Birdcage. I just love her in this movie.

Manly Movies: 

Bethany Wells: She's so quiet at the beginning…

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: where you almost don't even notice. She's there. and then as things as tension starts to build between Shaw and Ariel, she finally starts speaking up. And the things she has to say.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: Are so poignant and I think that's when he really starts to take his journey and…

Timothy Williams: yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: start to realize Maybe I've taken this a step too far and I think especially once they start getting into the book burning stuff.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: He starts to realize the monster he's created with this town. and…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: I don't think he would have come to that realization if it weren't for.

Bethany Wells: How she handles it and it's just so powerful. She's very subtle very quiet. but

Timothy Williams: All right time My daughter needs me.

Timothy Williams: Okay, is Mommy asleep? Okay. Wouldn't you take something then? Is it? Hold on a second guys. Sorry. Okay,…

Bethany Wells: Yeah, you're good.

Manly Movies: Okay.

Timothy Williams: I'm just gonna mute for a second. So

Timothy Williams: Sorry about that. her stomach was hurting but mommy asleep already so

Timothy Williams: Trying to decide what type of pain is it? Is it a stomach ache Is a gas no,…

Bethany Wells: Is that you don't want to go to school tomorrow?.

Timothy Williams: she's homeschool. So she's going to school tomorrow.

Timothy Williams: That doesn't work around here. So. All…

Bethany Wells: mmm

Timothy Williams: so you're talking about dying least?

Timothy Williams: Okay, that's fine. yeah, so I agree whatever you said I agree.

Timothy Williams: You have any thoughts JB on dying we see any performances to stand out for you.

Manly Movies: I mean my first introduction to her was Edward Scissorhands and I remember watching that a lot growing up.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Manly Movies: yeah, it's something that's a good role for her and one that's Not a whole lot of people talk about but Dan in Real Life is such a great freaking movie and…

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: It's really good.

Manly Movies: it's really really good and her role is really good. she's the older grandmother in the.

Timothy Williams: mmm

Manly Movies: I really liked her and then I really like that movie soon. Yeah, she's just As you said the perfect 80s mom.

Bethany Wells: but she does such a good job of being the straight man, but still being so funny In the comedies that she's in …

00:50:00

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: I don't know if y'all watch that show Life In Pieces. It didn't run for very long.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I watched that.

Timothy Williams: He was good in…

Bethany Wells: She is so funny and…

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: she's very subtle, but what she says is very strong.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, and that's our character in Parenthood apparently it is a comedy but it's very loud drama in it. But she plays that character she has some funny moments but it's not like she's not playing it to be funny. It's just funny situations, but the way that she gives it such levity and groundedness that it feels authentic. Not just she's just trying to be funny so good stuff.

Bethany Wells: right

Manly Movies: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: All right, and then we'll talk about Chris pin as Willard. He was the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn noted as a skilled character actor.

Bethany Wells: 

Timothy Williams: He was typically cast as a tough character featured as a villain or a working-class thug or on comic role. He had roles in films such as the wildlife Reservoir Dogs Rush Hour Corky Romano, True Romance Beethoven's Second All the Right Moves at range pill Rider and the TV version of Starsky and Hutch But he did pass away sadly 2006 I think is when he passed away.

Bethany Wells: Wow.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, it was.

Manly Movies: 

Timothy Williams: I think with cardiac arrest so

Bethany Wells: That's so sad.

Manly Movies: Yes.

Bethany Wells: I didn't realize he was Sean Penn's brother.

Timothy Williams: Mm- Yeah.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: I remembered that from early days that he was related to Sean Penn. So yeah. I loved the scenes where Chris pins character had to learn how to dance for a dad. It were added to the script because pin really could not dance so

Bethany Wells: That's probably one of my favorite Montage scenes.

Timothy Williams: Sure, okay. Yes.

Bethany Wells: In any movie it's so good.

Timothy Williams: the song

Manly Movies: Yeah, and when I watched this for the first time two years ago, it was really. He fit that part so well…

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Manly Movies: because I can't remember which one I saw first between Reservoir Dogs and pale rider. But those two movies his characters and those movies you can see how a guy like that could not know how to dance so he fit it so well, so

Timothy Williams: Yeah, there was an interview in the behind the scenes on the Blu-ray. Of him talking about the audition and he said that his dad told him to take the role before he read the script so he knew nothing about the movie and…

Bethany Wells: What?

Timothy Williams: so he showed up for a quote unquote rehearsal and combat boots just and smoking a cigarette drinking coffee and…

Manly Movies: yeah.

Timothy Williams: they're like, hey, you need to put on some tennis shoes. He's like, I've never been doing audition or a reverse or shoes were a requirement. They're like, this is a dance audition. He's like once again haven't read the script don't know what this movie is. He's basically told them. Yeah, I don't know how to dance and so that's when they decided they were gonna have to kind of at that little section. what's like that is one of my favorite scenes that Montage scene of Kevin Bacon teaching him how to dance is one of my favorites for sure.

Bethany Wells: And the chemistry he has with Kevin Bacon.

Manly Movies: Chris

Timothy Williams: Yes, yes. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: It's just off the charts like the scenes of the two of them together you believe they are friends and…

Manly Movies: yeah for sure.

Timothy Williams: Mm- Yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: when they first meet they're interactions and just it's the best meat cute. It is my favorite relationship in this movie.

Manly Movies: right That's great.

Timothy Williams: They have more chemistry than him and…

Bethany Wells: Absolutely they do.

Timothy Williams: Lori Singer do.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, they're like I hate to even say it this way but the opening C because I showed it again in the behind the scenes of when first he bumps into and they're looking it's like I want someone to look at me like Kevin Bacon looks like Chris Ben when he first meet you. Oh.

Bethany Wells: get some.

Manly Movies: That's funny shows up in combat boots and…

Bethany Wells: So good.

Manly Movies: smoking a cigarette. Let's see.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Yeah.

Manly Movies: That's the first pin that I know so.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, he was like I blame my dad. He wouldn't let me read the script. but I also read I guess when they were thinking of the character of Willard. I think the writer said he had Chris Penn in mind. So they kind of beefed up that role. for him to take it so All right. Let's talk about Sarah Jessica Parker as Rusty with a great name for a girl Rusty which makes me think of.

Bethany Wells: It's such a good name.

Timothy Williams: Which makes me think of Rusty from vacation movies anyway.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: Rusty Right here. so surgically yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: But it fits her little character. So it's so cute.

Timothy Williams: this I don't remember the last time watching it but I knew Sarah Jessica Parker was but now because she's such a big star from Sex in the City and all that kind of stuff. I didn't realize how much she was in this movie. she had really was a serious character. I was in the research, I was like, yeah. She's in this movie. She wasn't a little small part, but she has a pretty decent role in the movie, but she made her first major film appearances in 1984 with footloose and first born her other film roles include LA Story in 1991 honeymoon in Vegas what in 92 Hocus Pocus and 93 Edward and 94 the First Wives Club in 96 the Family Stone in 2005 Failure to Launch in 2006. Did You Hear About the Morgans in 2009 New Year's Eve in 2011, and of course Hocus Pocus too and 2022.

00:55:00

Bethany Wells: I grew up on yeah.

Manly Movies: You don't forget Flight of the Navigator man. You're the 80s guy submission.

Timothy Williams: No, yeah, yeah. I can't mention them all.

Bethany Wells: No, I loved the Pocus movies like that. First. I was like prime age when Hocus Pocus came out and loved it. And then my mom was obsessed with the First Wives Club and…

Timothy Williams: Yeah,…

Bethany Wells: she is so funny so underrated and…

Timothy Williams: yeah. Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: funny in that movie. It is such good movie. And then obviously Sex in the City big fan.

Timothy Williams: yeah, yeah, so Yeah, yeah never watched an episode.

Manly Movies: But be honest guys, I watched Sex in the City when I probably shouldn't have been watching Sex in the City.

Timothy Williams: I would say most young men probably had the same statement.

Manly Movies: But…

Timothy Williams: I've never really watched it.

Manly Movies: then I tried to watch it my wife begged me to watch it with her because she's seen every episode and she owns every episode and so I started watching it with her and…

Bethany Wells: same

Manly Movies: I think I made it through the first three and I was like, I can't keep doing this.

Bethany Wells: The first season's not great once they stop doing the weird interviews on the street.

Manly Movies: Okay.

Bethany Wells: It gets a lot better. My mom was a huge fan. It came on after my bedtime and it was like Mom's show and I remember thinking how unfair that was when I was a kid. I was just like, I know it's dirty. But I think it's ridiculous that on these nights. I'm rushed to bed. And then now as an adult,…

Manly Movies: but

Bethany Wells: I'm like she just had one show that she wanted to watch by herself.

Timothy Williams: Right, right. Yep. I remember.

Bethany Wells: So yeah. I watched it when it was on TBS.

Timothy Williams: You saw the sanitized version?

Bethany Wells: Yeah. Yeah.

Manly Movies: yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I think I might have seen one or two episodes without it never really appealed to me. And I kind of knew what it was about. I was like, yeah, but it's a huge show. I'm sure. But of course she was known at this time for the TV shows Square pigs that she was in but she was not the first choice for the part of Rusty a real. I had to change this because she does interview where she was asked to play Rusty originally, but she had been doing Annie on Broadway and had cut her hair. So after doing Square pegs, she let her hair grow long. So when they wanted her to do the part of Rusty they wanted her to cut her hair short again and diet red. He's like I just finished that I don't want to do that. She said so I passed I said, no, I'm not gonna do it. so after that, they

Timothy Williams: They hired Tracy Nelson who played the valley girl Jennifer in square pigs and was supposed to play the park because she already had short hair. Anyway, the script was Rewritten to make Rusty a bit rowdier and goofier and Nelson was no longer interested. So they called Sarah back and said will you come out and take the rule of rusty said do I have Cut my hair no just get on a plane and get out here. So she set a couple of days into filming. She said she admitted she had a bit of a crush on Kevin Bacon when they were filming but nothing ever really happened.

Bethany Wells: We all did.

Timothy Williams: She said we just kind of grinded each other. The film was shot in the summer of 83 and…

Bethany Wells: 

Timothy Williams: the location was not full of exciting attractions one night. Sarah said the cast decided to venture out into the only theater in town which happened to be playing the movie breathless with Richard Gere everyone found it hilarious at such a conservative. Utah town would allow such a racy film to be shown.

Bethany Wells: She is so good in this part. She plays more so than Ariel's character.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Manly Movies: yeah for sure.

Bethany Wells: She feels like a teenager.

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: Especially that scene where she goes and finds her and is telling her all the…

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: She's learned about en. I've done that with friends before and…

Timothy Williams: right Mm-hmm.

Bethany Wells: just So here's what we know about him. He does this and it just felt so genuine and I also have to say I love the way Sarah Jessica Parker screams. If you ever hear her scream in a movie, that's just how have you not been in horror movies being a scream Queen you have the best screen?

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

01:00:00

Bethany Wells: She screams when they're in the bar and the guy punches him. I'm just like yes.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah. She screams in the car when Ariel's hanging on to both cars.

Bethany Wells: Yeah. …

Bethany Wells: don't get me started on that scene.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah. But yeah, we have one thing. She said she had just turned 18. So she said making the movie was a much about being free she felt like her first time she flew on a plane for the first time by herself. She was there, with all these other young people her older than her cuz I think Kevin Bacon was 24. I think Lori Singer was probably 20 one or 22. So she might have been one of the only real teenagers on set with all these older people. so yeah, I'm sure that that came across pretty well too in the filming. But yeah. I agree.

Manly Movies: Yep.

Timothy Williams: All right, another mom from the 80s Frances Lee McCain as Ethel McCormick Ren's mom. She was casting several major films in the 80s usually playing the mother of main character. Here we go in 84. She starred in the film Gremlins as Lynn Peltzer the mother of the main character Billy Peltzer.

Timothy Williams: She also was the mother of Kevin Bacon the same year and footloose and 85. She appeared in Back to the Future as Stella Baines the mother of Lorraine Banes played by Leah Thompson. And of course in 1986, she played Mrs. Legion LaChance the mother of gordila chance Will Wheaton in the drama film Stand By Me.

Bethany Wells: 

Timothy Williams: So two great eighties moms and one movie. Who would have thought? she was good in this she didn't give her a whole lot of scenes, but she was good.

Manly Movies: Yep.

Bethany Wells: Yeah, I always kind of felt bad for her character. I kind of wonder. They don't go into much detail. they kind of make it out to either the Can't remember if they say specifically that they've gotten to but she's gotten divorced or if the dad just ran off or if he died like it's not specific.

Timothy Williams: I got the feeling the dad passed away is what I think and that's why they were moving.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: But yeah, it's never really clearly defined why they moved there from Chicago. I mean, I know there was family there I guess but

Bethany Wells: And then you almost get the impression like the uncle in the aunt that they're living with are kind of judging her as a mom.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Manly Movies: Yeah for sure.

Bethany Wells: And she gets sidelined on a lot of the parenting and she doesn't. Really get much to do in this movie.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. She does get sidelined pretty she's there for…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: what she needs to be there for but there's not a lot of backstory for her to really play off of…

Bethany Wells: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: but that's kind of I can see why I mean the movie moves pretty well. I mean there's some things that I wish were fleshed out a little bit more like character development wise and some of the side characters. I feel like they were more like stereotypical set pieces that you needed The one guy that wanted to burn the books like that, …

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: you see him at the beginning and I'm thinking he's gonna be a kind of the second hand to the Reverend being his little yes, man, but he's really only there for that burning book scene and…

Bethany Wells: If you just loves burning books,…

Timothy Williams: then that's it. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: That's his Hobby.

Timothy Williams: yeah, but the same thing with The uncle and he's just kind of there to yell at Rin every time he sees him like I don't yeah.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: I wish there would have been a little bit more. backstory of why they were there and what the relationship was with them, but

Bethany Wells: Yeah, but at the same time I didn't want to two hour long Footloose movie.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, exactly you want it…

Manly Movies: Yeah, exactly.

Timothy Williams: but for the movie what?

Bethany Wells: You could have edited out the book burning thing. I don't think maybe

Timothy Williams: I don't think that changed his mind as much as the conversation about the you…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: yeah.

Timothy Williams: we used to get excited about looking each other. That was a really turning point.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: The book burning I think it kind of helped Edge him with that By seeing someone else doing what he was doing of trying to be the moral compass for other people.

Bethany Wells: right You can't be that.

Timothy Williams: We can't decide what's right or wrong for the people. Based on…

Bethany Wells: but I would have liked to seen the book burning stuff taken out a little bit more and…

Timothy Williams: what we believe. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: add more maybe conflicts between Ren's mom and…

Timothy Williams: 

Bethany Wells: the uncle of her trying to defend him, but maybe him pushing her back and then maybe her Starting to side with the uncle or some of that conflict…

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: because otherwise you're just kind of like, what does she feel about this whole thing because I don't know.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Another character that felt like needed more was his boss at the Mill who all the sudden became his big Ally and…

01:05:00

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: gives him the big plan. I feel like maybe there was some story there with him that we didn't know about.

Bethany Wells: There was subtle things. So when he hires him, there's the comments like he's asking them and he's kind of pushing him to see are you a hot head? Are you actually trouble or you just trouble because you don't fit in? And you get the impression he hires him because he's an outsider. But clearly is a good kid and…

Manly Movies: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: right

Bethany Wells: then you see him during the little town hall and he's got the face of just like Yes, Wren,…

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Manly Movies: but

Bethany Wells: good job, even though they're not successful and…

Timothy Williams: Right, right.

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: then he steps in. But yeah, there's just Like I said, I would have liked to have seen more with the moms development in her conflicts, but it just wasn't there.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, but I really do like we don't need a two-hour version of this story.

Bethany Wells: No. No,…

Timothy Williams: And

Bethany Wells: if you want to make the Montage of Willard learning how to dance about 15 minutes longer than it'll be fine…

Timothy Williams: hahaha Yeah.

Bethany Wells: if it's two hours. but

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Alright.

Manly Movies: we don't need to exact Snyder's Footloose.

Timothy Williams: Let's

Bethany Wells: This action Schneider cut.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Right and…

Bethany Wells: It's all wheeler dancing. that's actually understood.

Timothy Williams: it's in black and white?

Manly Movies: Yeah. That's great.

Timothy Williams: In slow motion…

Bethany Wells: It's Miller dancing than cut to Kevin Bacon dancing in the warehouse…

Timothy Williams: then sped up. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: then cut back to Wheeler dance and…

Timothy Williams: Right, right.

Bethany Wells: then Kevin Bacon into warehouse. everybody's favorite parts

Timothy Williams: Yeah, exactly.

Manly Movies: with lens flares and close-ups and…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Yeah.

Manly Movies: yeah good times

Timothy Williams: All let's jump into iconic scenes favorite scenes. I think there's more than one but I'll ask you both the same questions. So let's go first if someone says Footloose, what's the first scene that pops in your head is the iconic scene.

Manly Movies: the first scenes wow, There's yeah.

Timothy Williams: So there's more than one. I'm sure.

Manly Movies: I would want to talk about the warehouse dancing but that final number though that let's dance is what I'm always gonna think of every single time.

Timothy Williams: Mmm Yeah Yeah, what about you Bethany iconic scene?

Bethany Wells: That's really tough. I agree with you the prom at the end. That is so iconic. But just to say something slightly different. maybe something we haven't said yet something that always sticks in my head and I think it's because I'm an anxious person who always thinks of different ways to die is the scene where Ariel is going from the car into the truck and…

Timothy Williams: Yeah. right

Bethany Wells: she does the Jean-Claude Van Damme where stands between the two And just that scene stresses me out so much. And for some reason that scene always Pops in my head when I think of Footloose in addition to all the fun dancing that we've already talked about

Timothy Williams: Yeah that I don't really want to talk about that scene, but we should probably talk about the scene. But yeah, it's it. Yeah anyway.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: Iconic scene for me like I agree. I grew more with JB than Bethany but No,…

Bethany Wells: no, I agree with JB too. I was just trying to say something different.

Timothy Williams: I know. Yeah, I'm like,…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: that's not the first thing that pops in my head, but the other thing that is them is the Montage of especially the scene of them walking by the lockers and…

Bethany Wells: mmm

Timothy Williams: Kevin Bacon's kind of snapping his fingers and then you see Willard coming behind him over the aggressively trying to do stay and beat like that scene is what pops into my head and also the dance in the warehouse, the highly choreographed exactly.

Bethany Wells: Yeah, yeah, never know.

Timothy Williams: And if you've never seen the movie.

Timothy Williams: All the Andy Samberg movie. What is it? man.

Manly Movies: hot rod

Timothy Williams: Yes, if you've never seen a hot rod with Andy Samberg where he does his own frustrating Dance Off to the same song, which is hilarious one of my favorite scenes. so yeah, those are mine, but what about favorite scenes?

Timothy Williams: Bethany you can go first this time.

Bethany Wells: Man, I've already said it 100 times but Willard learning to dance. I sit there and…

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: I watch it with this big old grin on my face and then knowing that they did have to teach him how to dance and that's why that montage is there is because he didn't know how to dance. it just makes it all that more wholesome and…

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: then at the end he's so proud of himself and…

Timothy Williams: Yes, yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: he's doing such a good job and Kevin Bacon cheers him on and even him dancing with the little girls. That's just so cute.

01:10:00

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: It's all just so cute and precious and he's all doing it because Sarah just Parker. Just wanted to dance. And he couldn't and…

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: he could tell that he was really disappointing her and so he's like no I'm gonna do it and it's just so sweet and it's also let's hear it for the boy is a great song.

Timothy Williams: Right, right. Yeah, and the big payoff on that is at the prom when he takes off his jacket. He does like John Travolta that's still brings a spot of my face like that.

Bethany Wells: So good.

Timothy Williams: That was a part. I really enjoyed today watching again. what about you favorite scenes?

Manly Movies: this is weird but like I have to say that the opening credits were just shows the shoes.

Bethany Wells: So good.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Manly Movies: And…

Manly Movies: they're all dancing in their own little movements. when it comes on and you see that when I turned it on to rewatch it like You see that going on You're right then and…

Bethany Wells: You're in it.

Manly Movies: there you're in for a treat man.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Manly Movies: This is gonna be fun. This is gonna be dancing.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Manly Movies: This is gonna be good times and being free and so it's just really really cool like opening.

Bethany Wells: a little silly

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Manly Movies: Credit scene for me.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: Which ones are your favorite shoes?

Manly Movies: I love it get you in the mood.

Bethany Wells: Yeah, what's your favorite shoes?

Manly Movies: Yeah. that's somebody think about.

Bethany Wells: My favorite is the high heel that almost goes all the way around.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: I love that.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, that's a good one.

Bethany Wells: Cool.

Manly Movies: 

Timothy Williams: Fun fact, but the person wearing the gold shoes was Kenny Loggins. Yeah.

Manly Movies: nice

Bethany Wells: Ellie

Timothy Williams: That wasn't much. Yeah, so over 150 different pairs of feet per shot it contain many of the cast and crew the dancer with the gold shoes was Kenny Loggins. I was my first trivia nugget so You…

Bethany Wells: thanks.

Manly Movies: You can't happen ladies movie without Kenny Loggins.

Timothy Williams: But yeah.

Manly Movies: Can you like?

Timothy Williams: Now that I can't log in song anyway, yeah, but yeah, and that's what they like they play Footloose in this movie. Probably I think at least three times maybe four.

Bethany Wells: yeah.

Timothy Williams: But I didn't get sick of it like I could hear that song.

Manly Movies: No. …

Timothy Williams: Every day it's one of the greatest 80s songs.

Manly Movies: So good.

Timothy Williams: Not that it lyrically makes any kind of sense,…

Timothy Williams: but it's just a great song.

Manly Movies: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: At weddings if Kevin Bacon is at a wedding,…

Timothy Williams: Yes.

Bethany Wells: he will tip the DJ not to play Footloose.

Timothy Williams: Exactly exactly.

Bethany Wells: Which I would be livid.

Timothy Williams: How dare you rob me of this experience?

Bethany Wells: I would be Excuse me,…

Manly Movies: No, you're Kevin Bacon.

Bethany Wells: so I think we've kind of alluded to this. I was in the musical in high school and…

Timothy Williams: Yes.

Bethany Wells: That song played at my wedding and the girl that played Ariel was my maid of honor. And the guy that played the Pastor Shaw,…

Timothy Williams: Okay.

Bethany Wells: he's saying in my wedding and that song started playing and we all turned around and we looked at each other and we ran to the dance floor and we did our choreography. Actually the guy who played Ren was working as a caterer and I was like, please kind of dance with it and he was like, I'm working. But yeah, we were all like And so we've got some fun pictures of us doing the choreography from our High School Musical. at my wedding

Timothy Williams: There you go. Yes. So for you don't know both of my co-hosts were in a High School production of Footloose. So now that Bethany has shared her story. this is a good place to JB tell us how you were brought in from the practice squad into the theater group.

Manly Movies: If yeah, I grew up singing in church and so everybody knew that I sing but I played football and basketball and baseball. So I didn't have time to do drama and in high school. I mean, I guess I could have made the time and not played sports. But I'm a southerner so I played sports. yeah, so they asked me anytime that they needed a male solo. They had guys in the choir. I don't know why they had to ask me but they always asked me to seeing and so they

Manly Movies: Asthma to come out and practice with them and do this musical thing that they were doing. I would really call it a musical is kind of just more like a choir production type thing, but I did see Almost Paradise.

Timothy Williams: Okay.

Manly Movies: In this production and I got to do the final number the dancing scene for the Footloose the prom scene. So that was a good time. I enjoyed it. So

Bethany Wells: So in the musical the scene where Ren is speaking to the Town Council, that's a wrap. and it's It hilarious.

01:15:00

Timothy Williams: Okay.

Timothy Williams: Okay.

Bethany Wells: Because it's bad, but it's great. It's so good. and every time I'm always think of it as dancing is not a crime.

Timothy Williams: but good.

Bethany Wells: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's so good.

Manly Movies: 

Timothy Williams: So funny she mentioned that so during the scene in which everyone is being organized for the dance. You'll notice the cast is singing or their mouths are moving. That's because they actually were wrapping Herbert Ross wanted one of the sequences to be a footloose rap, but after seeing the look on screenwriter Dean pritchard's face and…

Bethany Wells: No, no.

Timothy Williams: what he had to say after the screening of the scene the rap was dropped so

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Manly Movies: Wow.

Timothy Williams: But I read another interview with one of people that was in the movie said that they're gladly took it out because it really dated the movie because it was really bad that everybody was trying to do in that time of eighties, but he said the wrap was very dated about the time I talked about the president as Ronald Reagan and it had a lot of current references at that time. but they said they recorded it all, ahead of time and had learned how to do it. yeah. And I was looking for today when I watched it.

Bethany Wells: I'm gonna need somebody to release that.

Timothy Williams: Probably so Alright, let's jump into some scenes of trivia. I'm trying to we've gone long already and it can only get longer.

Timothy Williams: Yeah 20 for 20. Okay talk to him with the principles knowledge 24 year old Kevin Bacon attended the Payson Utah high school as Wren McCormick a transfer student from Philadelphia to help get him into the role with his narrow tie and New Wave haircut. He was treated pretty much he was treated in the film bacon gratefully left with a location Scouts on the afternoon of the first day, so he was Not welcomed.

Bethany Wells: He got teased.

Manly Movies: Wow.

Timothy Williams: Yes. Yes,…

Manly Movies: man, talk about some method acting.

Timothy Williams: he did. right

Bethany Wells: When you imagine being the teenagers that bullied Kevin Bacon as he was preparing for his role in Footloose growing up and…

Timothy Williams: right

Bethany Wells: saying like I believe him.

Timothy Williams: Mm- Yeah, he was telling the story. He said when he first got there. He was like Everybody kind of looked at him weird, and he said he went in the bathroom and kind of got pushed around by he said some corn fed guys, but then he met someone very much withered that kind of took him under his wing and showed him around so he said it was a lot of art imitating life in that day.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: I guess it wasn't all All you talked about the scene where he's talking about the Town Council. Would you believe the real life Kevin Bacon was terribly nervous during the first part of filming and had to take anti-anxiety pill to call himself down. He actually broke out into hives on his chest and had to take half of Valium to combat the nerve. So he said he was fine acting but public speaking in front of people made him really nervous. And so that scene but he does so that's one of the great scenes like it's

Bethany Wells: But that reads so well it's so good.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah. my favorite part is when he's talking he was like What does it say?

Bethany Wells: What David did…

Timothy Williams: What does it say? What did David do yeah,…

Bethany Wells: what did David do?

Timothy Williams: that's what did David do David danced? Yeah. That was this. Just great and those little subtle things are really great. the other little subtle thing that I thought was great is when he picks Ariel up for the prom and he's trying to be all smooth and he goes to open the car door and it's locked and he runs around and he unlocks.

Bethany Wells: so cute.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Yeah. I thought just one of those just a great little,…

Manly Movies: he

Timothy Williams: just a piece there just to keep it light and just to show that's what teenagers do that's very very relatable. All right. So, do you know about footloose's original ending?

Bethany Wells: I knew it was different and they had to record it, right.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, so yeah based on early audience feedback. It was nixed and replaced by the energetic dancing scene. We now know which was shot nearly a year later in an Entertainment Weekly interview in 2022 bacon talked about the original conclusion in which he runs into the room and says Let's Dance then after a brief moment of dancing the camera goes into slow motion while glitter Falls from above during test screenings producers realize that the audience wanted to get up and dance. So they shot a new choreograph scene with higher dancers from Los Angeles the long gap between the conclusions of filming and the start of reshoots would explain the conspicuous absence of the Young Sarah Jessica Parker who plays Rusty in one of her earliest movie roles. So she is there in that one scene where Willard starts to dance but you can tell watching it today. it's very evident. you've got professional dancers because when I was kind of joking I was like

01:20:00

Timothy Williams: If I watch this for the first time today, I'd be like, okay, all these kids were closeted dancers because They're doing these how these little they were all Breaking the Law in their basements,…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: .

Bethany Wells: I think that was part of the reason why my stepmom like to break in was she thought it was hilarious that these kids…

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: who have never been allowed to dance before or now all of a sudden professional dancers?

Timothy Williams: Yeah, exactly, but a light but that or your friend like that was your Who's that your cousin stepmother?

Bethany Wells: my stepmother step mother

Timothy Williams: but sneak in

Timothy Williams: That was my favorite part because I was big into break dancing.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: So watching the kid doing the break dancing that we all were waiting.

Bethany Wells: So good.

Timothy Williams: When it came on cable, we would watch the whole movie just to get to that part to see the kid breakdance at the end like we were all kind of waiting for so that was great. in his bio good Me.

Manly Movies: I'm trying to on picturing you break dancing right now, by the way. Yeah.

Timothy Williams: No, I didn't say I broke dance. I would like to watch it. I was terrible at it. So yeah.

Bethany Wells: I break something when I dance.

Timothy Williams: And my mom, of course, the big fear don't do that. You can break your spine or you try to do the head spin. You're gonna break your neck some kid in Oklahoma, as always some kid that was a thousand miles away that broke their neck plans of anyway,

Manly Movies: I was reading a bio about Shaquille O'Neal and said that when he was younger he used to do break dancing and I'm like I cannot see this big giant of a man spinning on his head kicking people over exactly

Timothy Williams: right, right.

Bethany Wells: He spends his legs around knocks everybody out.

Timothy Williams: Sorry, Go on YouTube and find the old Vin Diesel break dancing in instruction videos pretty funny.

Manly Movies: It's all about the family.

Timothy Williams: There you go. family. All right last trivia in his biopic still. Alright, Kenny Loggins explained that the final scene where the kids dance off their prom were the kids dance at their prom night. The actors weren't actually dancing to the song Footloose, but they were actually dancing to Chuck Berry Johnny Be Good.

Bethany Wells: And…

Timothy Williams: Yep.

Bethany Wells: then Marvin called and he's like, yeah, it's your cousin Marvin.

Manly Movies: Is your cousin Marvin Berry?

Timothy Williams: You know that you've been looking for listen to this. Yeah.

Bethany Wells: but listen to this

Timothy Williams: I've got to talk about it. We'll do it kind of quick the soundtrack. You can't talk about this movie about talking about the soundtrack.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: So it was released on cassette eight-track tape vinyl real to real and CD format. That's amazing. The 84 open Real release was among the last commercial released in the format. The soundtrack was also released on CD for the 15th anniversary of the film in 1999. The release included for new songs or other songs that were already out at the time Bang Your Head by Quiet Riot Hurt. So Good by John Mellencamp Waiting for a Girl Like You by Foreigner.

Bethany Wells: mmm

Timothy Williams: So the original album includes footloose and I'm free Heaven Help The Man both by Kenny Loggins. I'm not gonna read all the names but it's went on to sell over 9 million copies in the USA all songs and the initial release. We're written by the screenwriter Pitchford based on various songwriting styles for Holding Out for a Hero, he listened to various songs written by Steinman such as his work with meatloaf, which makes sense. The music from the soundtrack was released prior to the film's premiere.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: The filmmakers felt the songs produced a stronger emotional response from people already familiar with them which heightened the experience of watching the movie the music video for Footloose had scenes from the movie instead of actual footage of Loggins singing the song which I remember that as a kid like they would Kenny Loggins wasn't in at all. It was all just scenes from the movie. So yeah. I'm still amazed the screenwriter I wrote every song and that soundtrack. that's amazing to me.

Bethany Wells: What's your favorite song from the soundtrack?

Manly Movies: Holding up a Heroes my favorite hands down easily and…

Timothy Williams: That's tough. ? Yeah

Bethany Wells: So good.

Manly Movies: and I'll tell you why too. obviously I grew up listening to this song. As I said even before the movie I've listened that soundtrack over and over and over again, but When I took my kids to see the Super Mario Brothers movie last year. during the Montage of Mario's training that song is being played and…

Bethany Wells: Mm-hmm

Manly Movies: so now my kids love that song. it's one of their favorite ones to listen to in the car. So I'm like, heck. Yeah, you want to listen to that are with those somebody tower on in this car. That's got this. Yeah. So yeah,…

Timothy Williams: right

Manly Movies: it just makes it so much more special now that my kids love that song. and…

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Manly Movies: anytime I hear it pumps me up and…

Timothy Williams: Mm- Yeah.

Manly Movies: I just love that song so much.

Bethany Wells: Yeah. What makes you want to jump out of your friends car and into your boyfriend's truck, right?

01:25:00

Manly Movies: exactly

Timothy Williams: I've always been partially I'm free Heaven helps the man. I don't say I like it better than Footloose.

Bethany Wells: mmm

Timothy Williams: But Footloose was because everybody knew that one that was the B side that was just as good as a side to me, but I love never.

Bethany Wells: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: I liked Almost Paradise. Probably one of the best, love Ballads of the 80s for sure.

Bethany Wells: Good.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, what about you? What was your favorite?

Bethany Wells: Man, everything y'all mentioned obviously and then also let's hear it for the boy. It's just such a bop.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, yeah.

Bethany Wells: It does make you want to get up and…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: dance like it was it's such a fun song. so it's just Poppy and you just want to spin around and Saying at the top of your lungs, I think this is the soundtrack. I'm going to listen to on my way to work tomorrow to get me excited to be at work on Monday.

Manly Movies: Yeah. Sure,…

Timothy Williams: it's a good one to pull back out. Yeah.

Manly Movies: I guess I'm required to say that I really like almost paradise since I did sing that in the musical but

Bethany Wells: I will say the song the girl gets around. You don't hear it very loudly…

Timothy Williams: Mm- Yeah.

Bethany Wells: but in the musical the guy that played a chuck. was not the best singer…

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Bethany Wells: but he was a guy so he got a solo and every time I hear that song now, I just in my the Google it's Is what I sing in my head so fine. Yeah.

Timothy Williams: You're here's version. we're there so in the musical version it is just all songs from the soundtrack or other songs not from the movie that are included as well that you can remember.

Bethany Wells: There for the most part their sound songs from the soundtrack like all of the ones you mentioned. I don't think never is in it, but the rest of them were and…

Timothy Williams: Okay.

Bethany Wells: then I think the only one that wasn't a jukebox song is the rap that they do during the

Timothy Williams: right, Which more likely is probably a variation of the rep that was cut from the movie. I would think probably.

Bethany Wells: Probably not because it's just him it.

Timothy Williams: It's that senior.

Bethany Wells: It's his speech…

Timothy Williams: Right, right.

Bethany Wells: but he's wrapping it and so it's like look at the Book of Ecclesiastes, And we're all in the audience going you.

Timothy Williams: So tomorrow while you're listening to the motion picture soundtrack, I'm gonna find the browse soundtrack and be listening to that tomorrow just so I can hear the rap.

Bethany Wells: Please please do it It's a real treat.

Timothy Williams: Do you do yourself a…

Timothy Williams: Do yourself a favor and…

Bethany Wells: Yourself a favor and…

Timothy Williams: listen to it? Let's take it.

Bethany Wells: find dancing.

Timothy Williams: Let's take it to the top of the iTunes charts this week.

Bethany Wells: Is not a crime. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah anyways.

Timothy Williams: all right, I'll cut this but If you want to hear a really bad rap song from the 80s.

Bethany Wells: my bad

Timothy Williams: There's one called the Wham rap from the group Wham with George Michael…

Bethany Wells: 

Timothy Williams: if you haven't heard it and…

Manly Movies: my God

Timothy Williams: and I remember it was actually playing in a movie. So I put it on my movies playlist. And when I list them I remember hearing this on the Wham album and we laughed about it as a kids and it is so terrible why everyone should not raps. I just for your own pleasure just find that somewhere on YouTube.

Bethany Wells: it's a skill and not a lot of people have it.

Timothy Williams: Yes, This is true. All right, let's jump into box office critical reception and wrap this puppy So Elite Footloose was released on February 17th 1984 during the President's Day weekend. It debuted at number one at the box office beating out the other new releases Lassiter with Tom Selleck and number two and Blame It on Rio at number four Footloose one three weekends amid slim competition before seating the top spot to the debuting Splash. It would remain in the top 10 more or less uninterrupted until June finishing as the seventh top grossing film of the year. So think about that from February to June.

Bethany Wells: That's crazy.

Timothy Williams: it was still a theater. In a blockbuster soaked 1984 that was quite an accomplishment. The only films to do better. Were Beverly Hills Cop Ghostbusters Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Gremlins The Karate Kid and believe it or not Police Academy. Made more money than Footloose for the year. The 80 million total bank for Footloose would roughly translate to about 205 million dollars today. So

Bethany Wells: So you're saying if my stepmom had just paid for the tickets, she could have maybe beat out Police Academy.

Timothy Williams: it's all her fault. And I want you to tell that next time you see.

Bethany Wells: my poor stepmother

01:30:00

Manly Movies: because Surprised the Terminator wasn't on that list. I guess I didn't really get too big…

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I think yeah.

Manly Movies: until T2 came out.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I think it was big because it made. Schwarzenegger a star but I think was Blockbuster status like the second one was yeah. But I mean you still looking at the other I mean.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: It might have been the top 10 but I mean the other ones we listed were all huge movies for All right, critical reception Rotten Tomatoes 55% on the Tomato Meter and a 71% audience score IMDb 6.6 out of 10 with viewers and a 42 on Metaritic. not a fan of the critics for sure, but Where does this fall for you guys? Is it in the 70s 80s 90s out of 100?

Manly Movies: It's somewhere in the 80s for me. it's one that I really enjoy and…

Timothy Williams: Okay.

Manly Movies: want to throw on but it's not up there in that upper echelon for me,…

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Manly Movies: but it's definitely pretty close so

Timothy Williams: right

Timothy Williams: What about you Bethany?

Bethany Wells: Yeah, I'm gonna agree high 80s.

Timothy Williams: 

Bethany Wells: Definitely. It's such a fun movie. It is silly the premise of it. It's a silly movie and there are parts of it that you're just calm down.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: It's dancing But it at the end of the day,…

Manly Movies: .

Bethany Wells: it really does speak to teens and how they feel about if they become passionate about something. It does become the end of the world. And so I enjoy it.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: It's a fun movie.

Timothy Williams: Yeah.

Manly Movies: It's funny. You said that because that was in my initial review when I first watched it. it really brought me back to How simple everything was when I was in high school? and hair free and…

Bethany Wells: Mm-hmm

Timothy Williams: mmm

Manly Movies: Things that get you all wound up absolutely don't mean anything at all. So

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Not that big of a deal. Yeah.

Manly Movies: Yeah good times, but that's…

Timothy Williams: Yeah, and it's just good.

Manly Movies: why I love it's also a wild love coming of age stories too.

Timothy Williams: mmm

Manly Movies: Just because it's a throwback and

Bethany Wells: It's so Timeless even. Doesn't really matter…

Manly Movies: yeah.

Bethany Wells: what decade it's written. The Human Experience is so similar throughout time.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, and one thing I read about this that really I mean thinking too because this was set in a small town with teenagers. That was a big departure from the John Hughes because his was like Chicago and was more City kids. There may be even so suburb kids is different than Utah, or Middle America and…

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Timothy Williams: that's when Kevin Bacon talked about he had never been to Middle America before he filmed this movie. So he said I got off the plane and Salt Lake City. He was like, wow, this is Completely different than what I'm used to so it was kind of good for him to be put in that kind of, different place. So it does kind of separate it from the John Hughes movies. It's in the one thing like watching it today. I liked about the movie is has Silly moments, but there's a lot of drama it really plays as a drama with some of these kind of

Timothy Williams: fantasy type dance. Let me know the whole thing in the warehouse. Even Kevin Megan's like, it starts off and putting the cassette tape In the car, which is very real but then once he gets outside the car, it's all fantasy after that so it's almost like what you're seeing is what's he's doing in his mind. He's not really actually doing any of that dance stuff. It's just how he sees himself but yeah, but I'm coming all that to say. Yeah, hi 80s for me. It's highly rewatchable. It's not the greatest 80s movie ever made, but highly rewatchable very entertaining and to see Kevin Bacon in his prime because Youth and then it's not bad.

Bethany Wells: It's so fun. I just love it.

Timothy Williams: Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Manly Movies: It's easy to watch an iconic 80s movies like this that even watching it for the first time two years ago. It's easy to watch something like that and be like, okay. Yeah. This is way overrated people talk about this way too much…

Timothy Williams: yeah.

Manly Movies: but when I watched it, it absolutely holds up, you…

Timothy Williams: Mm-hmm

Manly Movies: 40 years later. So yeah.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, I agree with that. I think it holds up better than a lot of 80s movies even with the fashion and even the music some people would say is dated but The music still takes you back. There's music itself is nostalgic because the soundtrack was so well played by everybody that I remember every song. Of course. the soundtrack was over again, but every song that came up even it was just for 30 or 40 seconds of the song. I was like, man, I remember listen that or jamming to that with my friends, so Yeah.

01:35:00

Bethany Wells: I think there's a reason why the song Footloose is still played pretty frequently at events and…

Timothy Williams: Mm- yeah.

Manly Movies: Yeah.

Bethany Wells: stuff like Great song A lot of those songs are just really good and well-written and they fit so well into the moments and they make you feel excited like you did when you were a teenager like everything makes you excited. And it's so good.

Bethany Wells: Maybe I'll give it a 90 just for that.

Timothy Williams: Just for that it took it to the 90s. All before we wrap all the way up, let me give our 80s flick flashback feedback. This one comes from a rock Master Angelo. I'm butchering his last name, but I've talked to rock a couple of times on social media is one of our social media guys, but he did leave us a five star review on Apple podcast. Title so much 80's goodness. Here's what rock had to say. I really love the podcast. I grew up in the 80s. So this brings back so many great memories the host not just go over the movie and great detail, but they add personal stories about whether they saw in the theaters or remember renting it this podcast is like a time machine for me being 46 years old when I listen to this show. I remember the thrill of seeing some of these movies when they were definitely Too Young when I was definitely too young to see them go ahead and download it subscribe to the show. You won't be disappointed. Thank you so much Rock for the great review appreciate that and hope you take his advice to download And subscribe to the show.

Timothy Williams: So I want to thank my wonderful host Bethany and JB. Thank you guys both so much for joining me today. Had a great time with you guys.

Bethany Wells: Thank you for having us Tim.

Manly Movies: Yeah, thanks for inviting us. It was a good time.

Timothy Williams: Yeah, All right folks that's a wrap on this episode of the 80s flick flashback podcast. If you enjoy the show as much as rock does then show us some love by dropping a stellar written review and slapping a shiny five star rating on Apple podcast. Don't forget to hit that follow or subscribe button and spread the word to your fellow 80s flick loving friends. If you have burning questions, I want to shoot the breeze hit us up on Facebook Instagram and tiktok and if you're feeling extra gnarly consider supporting the show over at buy me a coffee calm for as little as five bucks a month. Why not deck yourself out in some rad 80s flick flashback gear check out our online store at age 80s flick flashback.com as well as tpublic.com for all the nostalgic swag your heart desires. Just drop some new design. This week so definitely check those out. everybody for listening. Thanks you guys for joining me. I'm Tim Williams for the 80s flick flashback Let's Dance.