Transcript
Film Festival Talk with Rob Thomas (Hour 2)
Nite Lite with Pete Schwaba and Greg Bach · Wed Apr 9, 2025
Sometimes I just have people over and I say,
You know, go on in there and wiggle for a while, chill out.
That's what the room is for.
And come back and join the party.
I'm Pete Schwab.
This is Nightlight.
Great to have you with me on this Wednesday night.
We are barreling through the week.
This is the third location I've done the show from this week, Conrad.
You realize that?
Yeah, yeah.
Are you going to get crazy tomorrow night?
I'm a rambling man.
I don't like to stay in one place too long.
I don't know.
Where would I do it from?
Where would I go?
Go to the Walker Show Studios.
Take the road less traveling.
Do we have Walker Show?
I think I thought it was all WRJN now, right?
Go to Racine.
Yeah.
I'd love to go to Racine.
A weekend there sometimes.
So it wouldn't be that long of a stretch.
You know, we got to have Stuart Waddles on the show.
He did very well in the pole or not in the pole in the brackets.
Didn't he take like third place or something?
I think so.
And our own Amanda Nimmer came in second.
Good showing for N-E-W-I.
I like that.
Congrats to Amanda.
And I think next year's my year though.
I'm gonna crush it next year.
I'm gonna do a little more research next year because I really did nothing.
And I even lost interest.
Like I didn't even watch the Final Four.
I was too wrapped up in movies and I just didn't care.
I mean, I typically would take great movies over that anyway, but like if the Badgers were in the championship game, I'd watch that obviously, but Houston and Florida,
I don't
have to rush back to my hotel for that.
I got a text from my friend Dave who refuses to text the show.
He said, I wouldn't change my name, David, but I would ask people to pronounce it David.
There you go.
Okay, that would make you more.
more, I guess, eccentric.
Okay, so I wanted to do this last week, but we ran out of time and we just had so many great guests.
Let's do this Conrad.
I clipped a bunch of Karla lines from Cheers.
I did not have Cheers kick lately.
Love Rhea Perlman.
And she's just so great, especially the way she goes after Cliff, but just in general, her wisecracks are so great.
So do we have two clips?
It's been over a week.
Let's hear some Carla
from Cheers.
Sure, big guy wants some pointers now.
Sure, Sammy, I'll fill you in.
What a pathetic display.
I'm ashamed God made me a man.
I
don't think God's doing a lot of bragging about it either.
That's so great.
PJ on the stream says, does anyone hang out at the Oshkosh studio?
Why are you asking PJ?
Yes, there are tons of people all the time, and there are Rottweiler's there.
So if you're thinking of knocking off the Oshkosh Studio, PJ, don't even think about it.
Yeah, there's people there from time to time.
Right, Conn?
Have you been down there?
Mino and the mayor will actually be there tomorrow morning.
All right.
Now, you're laying out PJ's plans to when to hit the joint, because now he knows not to do it tomorrow.
Let's hear some more.
This is Rhea Perlman, very funny, playing the role of Carla from Cheers, another clip.
Tell me something, Ray.
Are professional athletes better between the old wamp-sutters than ordinary men?
I've had no experience with ordinary men.
Oh, me neither.
But I'm trying to work my way up to one.
Believe me, athletes take their pants off one leg at a time just like anybody else.
They take off their
pants?
And if you remember Carla's husband from Cheers, Nick, he's just like this grotesque guy who, it's just hard to explain.
There are so many great episodes of Cheers where Nick comes back.
In one episode he comes back, he wants one of their kids.
They have like five kids together.
He has a new girlfriend, she can't have kids.
So he wants one of his kids with Carla, even though he hasn't seen the kid like in two years.
And then another one where he's down in his luck, and the girlfriend that he was in love with left him, and he's doing odd jobs for Sam at Cheers, and he's trying to win Carla back until the other girl comes back and takes him back.
Those are two of the best episodes of Cheers.
Dan Hedia, I think I'm saying his name correctly, plays Nick, and he's just hilarious.
But he and Carla together are very funny.
We have one more Carla clip.
Let's play that one too, Cameron.
You can have anything you want, as long as it doesn't have ice, straws, cherries, olives, mixer, umbrellas, fruits, or flames.
In order.
I need an old-fashioned brandy Alexander and a martini.
Three beers coming up.
Excuse me.
I'm here in response to the air in the newspaper about a musician's, uh, a tortellist's children.
Oh, what, is she trying to sell them again?
Never mind.
Never mind.
Carla?
Yeah, what is it?
The lady here to see
you.
Oh, yeah?
Oh, I'm a skilder.
We spoke earlier about your ad for a
tutor.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Have a seat over there, and we'll talk.
I'm taking
five.
OK.
Here are my resume and references, Mrs. Tortelli.
You will see that I teach all subjects.
I have a great deal of experience, and if I may say so myself, I am very highly recommended by those for whom I've worked.
Forget that.
Have you ever been in any major military skirmishes?
What?
Look, it's very important that I know that you can handle yourself.
Just stand up for a minute.
Give me one.
Give you one what?
Your best shot, right here.
Cold cock me, honey.
Let's go.
You don't really expect me to strike you.
Six bucks an hour.
It's
Carla from Cheers, ladies and gentlemen, our little tribute.
We have also Josh Brolin, I think, at a birthday last week.
And I found a clip from him where he's talking about acting.
Conrad, I would love to play that before too much time goes by.
So let's hear from Josh Brolin, one of my current favorite actors.
You know, it was frustrating because I would lose roles to people who I didn't think were necessarily really good actors.
And we know now it's like, look, you know, bad actors can have great careers and great actors can have no careers.
You know, that's the thing about our industry is you don't know.
It can be a look, it can be a thing, it can be a vibe or it can be a great technician or somebody like, you know, Anthony Hopkins who gets Silence of the Lambs at 55 and has been struggling since then.
And then he has a whole career from 55 to 80.
Yeah, it's a really good example.
You know, it's just he's amazing.
Yeah, one of the
Literally one of the great living actors and was one of the great living actors before that.
I remember somebody said to me in an interview, how does it feel to be doing A plus work now when you were doing C minus work?
I was like, fuck you, man.
Who said I was doing C minus work?
It may be perceived as a C minus movie.
But I was bringing an A game to everything I could with whatever ability I had.
I never kind of just phoned it in.
I've never phoned it in.
Josh Brolin, if you have not seen No Country for Old Men, highly recommend it.
The first thing I remember seeing Josh Brolin in was the Goonies.
And he played kind of the older kid on the block, older brother.
Actually, I think he was Mikey's older brother.
And I thought he was great even then.
Have you seen the Goonies Conrad?
that.
What about what about no country for old men?
Addicting movie phenomenal absolutely worth a look so All right, the other clip we had this is one of my favorite actors it was Christopher Walken's birthday was it his birthday or I don't remember why I clipped this now because a whole week has gone by but We have a clip of Christopher Walken.
Is it the one from Annie Hall?
Okay, so let's this is Christopher Walken plays Diane Keaton's younger brother Dwayne Woody Allen neurotic New Yorker showing up in Wisconsin to meet his wholesome girlfriends family and Dwayne pulls Alfie, which is Woody Allen's name into his room and Woody Allen finds out kind of how nutty he is.
Can I confess
something?
I tell you this because as an artist, I think you'll understand.
Sometimes when I'm driving on the road at night, I see two headlights coming toward me.
Fast, I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly head on into the oncoming car.
I can anticipate the explosion, the sound of shattering glass, the flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.
You're right.
Well, I...
I have to go now, Dwayne, because I'm due back on the planet Earth.
Oh, that'll be so long now.
No.
And look up Uncle Brilly, huh?
Oh, he is a dorm.
Do you think
so?
We're
going to take them to the airport.
No, no.
Dwayne can.
I haven't finished my drink.
Yes, Dwayne is.
I'll be right.
I just think I have to get the...
The best visual is right after Woody Allen finds out that he has he has a tendency to want to hear his car in the other lane is the three of them going to the airport in a rainstorm on a highway and Dwayne driving and The look on Woody Allen's face is absolutely.
It's absolute gold PJ on the stream says he's talking about the Oshkosh studio again He says I drive past it often and a friend of mine lives close by there.
I get it PJ easier to case the joint, right?
Conrad, I hope this is all being recorded, because I will make a suit of the rest.
PJ
knows that.
He's a frequent listener of the show.
I hope he understands that.
Thanks for the texts, PJ.
Tomorrow night, we got a lot of good fun coming up on Night Light the rest of the week.
Tomorrow night, John and Gordy will be here from the WMDX Morning Show in Madison.
They will be making the popcorn pick of the week tomorrow night.
We'll get two for the price of one.
Those guys are always fun.
Radio legends, can't wait to have them on the show.
Max Blaska will be here talking about his mental health warrior film festival.
That'll be interesting.
That's in Madison as well and Logan Rogie will be here telling us what's going on with Discover Wisconsin, all the fun stuff coming up.
And then on Friday, Sean Hannish will be joining us.
He's the director of the movie Just A Bit Outside.
I hung out with Sean a little bit at the Wisconsin Film Festival.
He has streaming information.
So if you haven't seen it in the theaters,
This film took the film festival by storm and now you're able to see it on streaming very shortly Sean will fill us in tomorrow night and If that's not enough, it's a bar ban Friday night tomorrow night with our pal Terry Barr Coming up some pre-recorded content with Rob Thomas PJ says funny Pete.
Thank you PJ.
Thanks for the text It's this peach while the night light we're coming right back
Welcome back.
Great to have you with me on this Wednesday night as we get ever closer to warm weather, hopefully.
Joining us now on the program is one of our nightlight pals.
He is here frequently and we love hearing what he has to say about movies and TV.
And tonight we'll get his perspective on the Wisconsin Film Festival as well.
He is the CityCast Madison Editor, Newsletter Editor and a...
Madison based film critic Rob Thomas joins us now on nightlight.
Hey buddy.
Hey Pete.
How are you?
Doing very well.
Thank you.
How are you doing?
Do a good little tired film festival time.
You're trying to work.
I don't know.
It is actually tiring to watch movies, which I don't understand why.
But if you watch two or three in a row, it does kind of take it out of you.
Yeah.
When I was there, I just got back last night, and you're right, it's like you're sitting there, and then there's also the socializing afterwards.
Oh,
sure.
Between films, then you're going to another venue, and you're right, it is funny how watching movies can make, or I'm just horribly out of shape, I don't know.
What happened to us,
Pete?
Rob, I just want to share with you that our question of the night deals with name change.
It is national change at your name day.
If you couldn't go by Rob Thomas, and I think you have a fine name, it's very easy to remember, but I know you've had some conflict in your life because of another Rob Thomas, what would you change your name to?
Let's see, I mean, Danny Thomas comes to mind, but I guess that would be a zone set of problems, although.
How about Ron Thomas?
You know, if people don't hear my name, they always say Ron.
They always say, oh, Ron, no drop.
So that's a sore spot with me.
But I don't know.
My middle name is Mike.
Mike might be all right.
Mike Thomas.
That's a good name.
That's a trustworthy name.
There's nothing wrong with the name Rob Thomas.
I didn't mean to insure you.
I'm sure we're just having some fun tonight with the questions, so I thought I would ask.
Hey, so, okay, you're at the Wisconsin Film Festival.
You've been there.
Once again this year, our paths did not cross, which made me very sad.
But I trust you've been seeing some good stuff and meeting some fun people.
How's it going so far?
It's been really good.
It's an eight day festival sponsored by the UW's Communication Arts Department.
So like the first half is on campus.
at a bunch of different venues.
And then the second half is that the Monday through Thursday that theater, great theater, Flick's Brewhouse, Madison.
So it's really fun.
I mean, there's been a lot of, I think they've had a really great turnout this year.
Like every screening I've been to has been packed and it's like just a wild mix of movies.
Like in one day on Sunday, I introduced this really
avant-garde sort of experimental dance film called The Sea.
And then a couple of hours later, I saw Starship Troopers, which is that movie from the 90s where guys killed giant alien bugs.
So it's like the gamut of cinema.
That's true.
At Flix Now, are you planning to be there today or tomorrow?
I'm out here right now.
I gotta catch a double feature here.
Yeah
Rob do yourself a favor and in order a hazed on radio IPA that is the nightlight inspired brew that brewmaster Dave Hansen put together at Flix and we worked
out a
couple weeks ago Yeah, I tasted it the other night and I'm not a beer aficionado by any chance but by any stretch, but I thought it was good.
It's got kind of a
passion, fruity kind of flavor to it.
And I really dug it.
And I guess it's doing very well.
So I'm happy about that too.
That sounds great.
They do good beer there.
They brew it on site.
And it's, yeah, it's definitely one of the perks.
I will definitely get myself a pint.
Do you like, where do you prefer to watch films?
You're right.
That's a state of the art facility.
Some of the venues downtown in the university area.
I think have a certain charm to them, and it's just so much fun to watch movies there because of that.
But where do you prefer to watch?
Do you have a favorite venue at the festival?
It does vary.
Like the Cinnamon Tech, where I saw Starship Troopers, is like, it's a relatively small venue.
It's usually packed.
But it's very fun that way.
They had the filmmakers there, the screenwriter and a producer, and they were like...
Kind of like 10 feet away from me while they were doing this Q&A, which was really fun And then I I I'd never been to music hall, but it's like this really beautiful Yeah, I mean they abused there, but really beautiful places to see a movie So that was really fun But Flix is really I mean you get burgers and beer delivered right to your table.
That's a pretty good deal You know, it's hard to turn that down
Exactly.
Let's talk about Starship Troopers.
I have to say I've never seen the film
You I read a little bit about it in your sub-statute.
Is that a masterpiece or is it not?
I Think I've come around to being a masterpiece when it came out in 97 I think I was with the critical Opinion with a lot of people including Roger Ebert that it was like a a dumb sci-fi war movie with a lot of blood and and
nudity and just just this empty-headed film and what what i missed in a lot of people miss that time is that it's also this really clever funny satire about war movies and how they can be used as propaganda by the government like the screenwriter said he was really inspired by the world war two movies that came out during the war that were like you know joining goes off to war until the audience to buy war bonds and all that kind of stuff and so
watching it now, like it's really, like it's still a blast to watch as an action movie, but it's also really smart and, and certainly has only gotten more relevant as the years have gone on.
I think about, you know, how government can use mass media to kind of manipulate the public to their will.
So I, I really, I think this might have been the first time I actually saw it from start to finish.
And I really loved it and really, I think appreciated it.
That's fantastic.
I want to ask you about that Q&A too.
We've got a break for the news here, but... Sure.
Stick with us, folks.
Rob Thomas is here giving us a full report of the Wisconsin Film Festival and we'll find out what else he's seen right after Civic Media's news team keeps you informed.
This is Pete Schwabba in Nightlight.
Great to have you with me on this Wednesday night on the Civic Media Radio
Network.
Don't punish me with
you
It's shiny and happy when Rob Thomas is here.
Welcome back to Nightlight.
It's Pete Schwabba, and I am joined right now by Rob Thomas, our good friend who is at the Wisconsin Film Festival out at Flix Brewhouse.
Two more nights to go.
You got tonight and tomorrow night, and then they wrap things up.
It was such a fun weekend, Rob.
In regard to the Q&A, we were talking about Starship Troopers.
I said I've never seen it before.
What did the producer, what insights did the producer and the writer offer?
filmgoers or viewers, I should say, to what that experience was like.
Well, it was really fun.
The producer is John Davidson, who's retired.
The screenwriter is Ed Newmire, who also did Robocop, which is a very similar film where it's like an action movie, but that's a lot more going on.
And, you know, they were very entertaining because the movie, Star Trek Troopers, was basically a flop when it came out in 1997.
Like, I think it got beat at the box office by Mr. Bean movie.
And so they sort of talked about how they made it and how people didn't seem to get it.
And, and then just kind of how, uh, I think probably because of the, you know, VHS and DVD people started rewatching it or seeing for the first time and being like, well, there's a lot more going on here than just
you know bugs ripping guys limb from limb which is to be fair a lot of the movie uh it's extremely violent um and so it was interesting to hear them talk about it and like I just tell stories like the studio heads didn't get it and and all the problems they had um and how it was this move you know it was it's really a throwback to the 90s where you know the spaceships in it are all models
which they don't do anymore obviously it's all CGI and so that was really fun to hear so it was a really really fun Q&A and the audience was packed with people who loved the movie obviously.
That's great and leave it to those guys the programmers of the Wisconsin Film Festival to find great gems like that or to find something that maybe wasn't appreciated when it first came out.
and then re-release it to people with a new perspective.
And it
helps to have
the Q and A, they're a writer and a producer.
To me, that's the joy of film festivals, but in particular, the Wisconsin Film Festival.
Yeah, they do a really good job of these classic screenings.
And I think tomorrow night, they're showing films from the 50s, like it came from outer space, and they're in 3D, and the audience will get 3D glasses.
I mean, it's not like...
Sound like it like a con or a Sundance, or I think it's a little snootier and right all you know I mean there's a lot of new films here, but there's always that thing where it's like You know we're all here because we love movies and we love all kinds of movies and you know They want I think they want to have something for literally everybody
Absolutely, so what else have you seen Rob at the film festival?
It sounds like you've been pretty active
Yeah, I saw this This great documentary
about marriage called uh two strangers trying to not to kill each other which is this best title of festival in my
life
and it's this couple this uh the the husband is 84 he's a famous photographer the wife is 75 she's sort of a failed writer and it's just it's such an intimate look at their marriage and like how they're growing old together and they're very much in love but there's also these
you know these long simmering resentments especially from the wife who I think is you know it's sort of lived in the husband's shadow and it was incredible like I think it somebody told me it might be on public television later this year and and definitely check it's one of my favorites of the year I think that was fantastic um and then I did see uh no packers no life I don't know if you saw that one no I didn't I
interviewed
that filmmaker on directors cut, but I had a conflicting, I had to introduce a film and I couldn't make it back to the Barrymore, but he said it went great.
Yeah, we, it was a rock and screening.
I mean, it was full of Packers fans and he got like, gotta go pack, go call and respond to it.
It's a pretty simple story about this group of Japanese Packers fans and this guy who brings them over to Lambo to see a game and kind of fulfill their fan dream.
Um, and you know,
Like I said, it's a pretty simple thing, but it was a very fun screening.
And I'm not sure where that film will pop up, I assume.
But I mean, I think about the festivals, they really championed Wisconsin filmmakers.
There's always room on the program for films like that.
So that was fun.
That is one I was unable to see.
And I also interviewed on PBS John Roach, who made A Road at Night.
So I got a sneak preview at that, but I saw John at one of the parties later and he said that the screening was incredible.
Did you happen to be there?
I
missed that one, but I heard somebody said it was, you mean the road at night screening?
Yeah, about Howard Moore, the badger who was in the terrible
accident.
Yeah, I talked to somebody who was there and said it was very powerful, very emotional, both, you know, I think Howard's son was there, if I'm not mistaken, of course, Jen Roach.
And I heard it was a really powerful screening, again, with a local connection.
Yeah.
I think comedy is certainly something that you want to watch with a crowd, but also something like that can be cathartic.
At least that's what it sounded like, because I watched it by myself.
And it's just not the same experience.
Right.
Yeah, you saw a Milk Punch, Rob.
Tell us about Milk Punch.
I read about that.
It has a connection.
Its history has roots in Madison.
What was that like?
Very much.
And I didn't get to see it.
It was sold out, the official screening here, the Bestful.
But if you're in Madison, they're going to screen it again at the Bartell Theater this Friday.
So Milk Punch, and it's fun because I wrote about it when I first came to Madison in 2000.
indie comedy about uh... this guy if you guys get the car stolen or drive around madison to to get it back in it it's fun because it's it's uh... really uh... a time capsule of madison back that the city has changed so much and you see put places like ellis delhi and uh... that that uniform shop used to be in the shank at work at all these locations that
Okay, it's Corral which burned down in 2001 like all these landmarks that people remember that are gone now they go to the Fame Latee great lounge, which is Luckily still here.
It hasn't changed a bit But so the filmmaker restored it for its 25th anniversary and brought back a lot of the the the cast and the crew and talked about it really sort of scrappy Independent film so if people are in town
Friday, I definitely recommend going to see it.
And again, a lot of the cast and crew will be there at that screening.
But that's fine.
Like actually, he preserved like the press kit from 2000.
And I saw my own quote in there from the review I wrote in 2000, which was kind of fun.
Oh, that's fantastic.
My bad.
I didn't mean to put you on the spot.
I thought for some reason when I was looking at your article that you had seen that film.
So but that was a
good, at least a history lesson and something.
So yeah.
Yeah.
I saw in your article your friends with James Creel.
I don't know how to say his last name.
Cruel.
Cruel.
Love that guy.
We sat next to each other at WC Fields Film at Cinematheque at the festival about five years ago and we were laughing hysterically together.
He's kind of a cinephile, huh?
Well, he's the big, yeah, he's a huge cinephile.
He has his own substack, which is great.
He brings a lot of like experimental films to town, which is great because it's like they play at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and Arts and Lit Lab and really like the most challenging films that play in Madison, usually Jim has a hand in it.
So it's really great.
And yeah, he's all over the festival here this year.
I've seen him a couple of times already.
That's so cool.
What else did you see, Rob, at the festival?
I saw Shanghai Blues which was this Hong Kong comedy from like 1984 it was kind of like a farce where it's like you know mixed up identities and and and it was really fun to watch and I in yeah I mentioned I intro this movie called the sea which was made by UW filmmakers sort of a really interesting kind of like
part movie part dance performance piece And that's about it.
I've got a couple tonight and then a couple tomorrow night So I think it would I think I'll have seen 10 when all the set is done Which was pretty good back in the day I would hit like for a day and be absolutely exhausted, but I don't think I have to stay
I think my two favorite things I saw what was fun I hosted a meet the parents Q&A with Greg on Saturday at the at the Barrymore
But then I saw a movie called the threesome at the Barrymore, which I've been talking about incessantly, maybe the best romantic comedy I've ever seen.
Just a really solid script and executed well, well directed, great music, great acting.
Zoe Deutsch is the lead.
I highly recommend that one.
And then the, I don't know if you're familiar with the Rolling Stones documentary they played at.
the Barrymore on Saturday night.
Oh, what's that?
Oh, Pete, what's that called?
The blank blankety blues
for lack of.
But you know, and that one to me, I know they were excited to have it, not a great documentary, but really neat snapshots of the stones and what their life was like, you know.
Just great stuff at the Wisconsin Film Festival this year, as always.
My guest is Rob Thomas.
He's the city cast Madison newsletter editor and a Madison based film critic.
We're talking about the Wisconsin Film Festival.
Rob, Milwaukee's Film Festival is right around the corner.
Will you spend time there?
I'd like to.
I was looking at my buddy Matt Mueller, I know, is on the show quite a bit.
Yeah, dropped the schedule on his sub stack.
And boy, there is a ton of stuff.
I like, I don't even know.
where to begin.
And that's a, is it like a 15 day festival?
Like twice as long as the NASA festival?
Like just so much stuff.
And so I like to try and pick my shots and find a day and head out there and catch, you know, at least two or three movies in a row.
So I'll have to plan on that.
They've got that beautiful Oriental theater, like, you know, Madison has such great venues, too.
The Barrymore is fantastic.
And I would say that, like, the Oriental theater is kind of Milwaukee's Barrymore.
They're different, but that old, historic, just great venues to watch a film in.
Absolutely, yeah.
It's really a jewel, and they restored it a few years ago, and it has three theaters, but that big main theater is just astonishing, yeah.
Yeah.
Let's talk about some other stuff you've seen.
You're ahead of me.
I did see Last Breath on your recommendation.
Just wow, what an intense film.
Yes, yeah.
I think it's on, I think it's on VOD now, or if not, I think it is.
Yeah, people could rent it as home, but the true story of this incredible undersea rescue when this diver got trapped.
we're trying to repair, like undersea pipeline.
And based on a true story made by a guy who made the documentary about it.
So it's very, I mean, I really, I mean, just the idea of these guys doing this work, it's fascinating enough, like how they go that far down under the ocean and then to see it all go wrong and how they save this guy, no spoilers, but it's pretty incredible.
So I'm glad you
love
it.
It's a spoiler, but it's not.
I mean, I kind of knew he was saved going into it, but it's what he goes through and the miracle of how he was saved.
And despite what happened and how long he went without oxygen, it's fascinating.
And the other thing I noticed, Rob, about the film, which I kind of liked, no bad guys, like it was just everybody kind of angling towards the same goal.
It just
made it riveting.
Yeah, remind me I think I compared to Apollo 13 in my review in the sense that it was like Yeah, like you said, there's no villain.
There's no no like greedy billionaire saying, you know, let him go or whatever It's like guys on the ship guys on the diet the divers the guy trapped and everybody Trying to do their part to to get him back.
So yeah, highly recommended
Really fun Woody Harrelson and the guy from my animal kingdom.
I can never remember his name
So we'll have a couple more minutes with Rob.
Rob, I also want to say, you know, at the Wisconsin Film Festival, I went to see part of Erika, which is a Russ Meyer film.
And I had never seen a Russ Meyer film, but it's so campy and so bad.
I have to say, the novelty wore off after about 40 minutes.
And despite nudity and bad acting, I had to get out of
there.
I've seen.
What have I seen?
I've seen.
I think it was called like faster pussycat kill kill oh yeah the name of the boot I've seen that I think I saw it maybe at the festival or like the Cinematheque which is sort of connected to it and yeah yeah as quality goes I wouldn't recommend it but it's definitely an artifact of the time
yeah for sure
All right, Rob Thomas is with us.
He's a Madison-based film critic.
We'll have a couple more minutes with Rob after this very short break.
Don't go anywhere.
It's Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Fixing up to go somewhere
Welcome back.
Tomorrow night on Nightlight, John and Gordy from the WDMX morning show in Madison will be here to make the popcorn pick of the week.
Those guys are always so much fun to have on the show.
And just good all-around dudes, they will be here.
And then Max Blaska will be here to talk about his film festival, which focuses on mental health.
And Conrad, who else?
Oh, we got Logan Rogi from...
from Travel Wisconsin.
He'll be joining the program as well to tell you what is coming up and what you should look forward to here in the state of Wisconsin in the next month or so.
Right now we have a few more minutes with our friend Rob Thomas.
We were talking about the Wisconsin Film Festival and the movie Last Breath.
Rob, I want to ask you about one more movie and then I have another question for you based on an article I saw in CityCast Madison newsletter which is fast becoming one of my favorite reads.
You're welcome.
It's just always interesting stuff and I like the way you guys frame things like it was the best restaurants in Strip malls, you know, it's just a fun kind of take on things But let's talk about black bag.
I mentioned that I hosted the meet the parents Q&A I found out that David Kep was there who's written tons of movies and works with Steven Soderbergh and Steven Soderbergh is one of the reasons meet the parents ended up at Universal
So I found that interesting and just kind of a weird coincidence.
But, uh, yeah, what, uh, he wrote Black Bag, uh, David Kep.
So what did you think of that?
I still have not seen it.
I loved it.
I, um, uh, yeah, David Kep UW graduate and he wrote like the original Jurassic Park.
And I think he wrote the new one and just, you know, really prolific and writes all kinds of movies, big and small.
And, uh, Black Bag was right up my alley.
It's a.
British spy movie, but much more like John Le Carré than James Bond and Michael Fassbender and Kate Blanchett, great cast play, married British spies and Fassbender gets wind that his wife might be a traitor and starts kind of investigating her without her knowing.
And then things get very complicated, and there's lots of double crosses, and what's going on.
It's fantastic dialogue, great acting, extremely stylish, and not much action, but very much like a battle of wits.
And I highly recommend, I think that is also already out on.
VOD is to rent or buy as well as still in theaters.
I think it's still in theaters after a couple weeks.
But yeah, and it's like another great thing.
It's like a 90 minute movie.
You're in and you're out.
So
I
mean, yeah, I love that.
Yeah, same.
I'll have to check that out.
I love Steven Soderbergh as a director.
And when I first saw that coming out, also I read about that, like the husband and the wife thing.
And it begs the question, at least within me.
Would my wife really try to kill me or can we work this out like I don't without knowing the details I kind of feel like your home life trumps the spy world, but not with these people they could be pretty ruthless
Yes, yes, and that is the essential question is like how far can you trust your spouse and and I won't it definitely won't reveal it, but it's It's really fun to watch.
Yeah
Very cool.
So
Another thing Rob, I know you didn't write this article, but I sit I figure since you're the editor of the newsletter Someone wrote an article called will Wisconsin ever legalize weed.
What are your thoughts on that?
I Don't know.
I mean, it's interesting.
We're sort of a I think Erica says we're an island of prohibition with
Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, all legalizing it and the article and it's so convoluted here right now about what's legal and what is Vincent, you know, and so I thought that was, yeah, Haley wrote that, my boss, executive producer of CityCast, and a good way to try and untangle like what's actually, you know, available and whether that will ever change.
It seems like I think the governor put something in the
in his budget, you know, sort of moving towards that, but it doesn't seem to be getting much support from the legislature.
So we'll see.
It's just getting weird.
Yeah,
correct.
One more quick question for you.
I've heard nothing but.
We've got about a minute left.
Gotham bagels.
I've heard those are the best.
What are your favorite bagels in Madison?
This was also in CityCast.
Check
it out.
Yeah, I wrote a list of the best bagels.
I love Gotham.
They're sandwiches.
And then there's a place, Mermaid Kitchen, where I think you can kind of pre-order them.
I've gotten those.
And those are really good.
I don't pretend to be like a...
Bagel connoisseur like I didn't grow up in New York or Montreal where allegedly the best bagels in the world are But those two I think are the ones people should try it for sure All right
Fantastic.
Hey great stuff as always Rob go watch your movies listen get yourself a hazed-on radio beer put it on my tab I just like to pretend I'm a big shot so but
Have a great time with the movies, buddy.
Keep up the great work and let's talk again soon.
Definitely.
Thanks, Pete.
All right, you got it, Rob.
That's Rob Thomas.
Check out his work at CityCast Madison.
A great publication.
Rob is the newsletter editor, writes great articles.
Also, check out his sub-stack, not that Rob Thomas sub-stack.
Always fun to hear Rob's opinions.
Conrad, are you ready for John and Gordy tomorrow night?
Oh, yeah, they're going to bring it.
I'm a little intimidated.
I have to be honest.
They bring what 40 56 200 years of radio experience these guys have they bring their a game They're fun.
They're smart.
I'm I'm a little nervous, but I think we'll get through it Yeah, I think they're gonna bring some good recommendations I think so too and it's nice that they'll both be there because we get to for the price one.
Yeah popcorn picks We'll talk about a Film festival in Madison that addresses mental health
with a lot of its movies and with the festival as a whole, which will be fun.
And then our pal Logan Roghe will join us too and we will find out what's going on in Wisconsin.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much to Rob Thomas.
Thank you to Tim Schweigel and have a great night everybody.
Thanks for your texts.
On behalf of the lovable producer Conrad, I'm Pete Schwabba saying good night Wisconsin.
