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Hello and welcome to the All 80s Movies Podcast, the podcast.
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Where we talk about the blockbusters, the flops, and everything
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in between from one of the freshest decades for movies,
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the 1980s. I'm your host, Bill Banton. Along with me
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on this journey revisiting 80s movies is my guest host,
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Seth Leavitt.
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Hello, Seth. My mom says it means I was saved
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for something really special. Know what it is? I'm going
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to be a star. Because stars don't fall out of
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the sky, do they?
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That's right, listeners. We are discussing what spoils the plenty.
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the 1987 musical biography La Bamba. It was produced by
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New Visions and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The movie stars
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Lou Diamond Phillips, Isai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, and Elizabeth Pena.
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Written and directed by Luis Valdez, this movie is rated
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PG-13 with a running time of 1 hour and 48 minutes.
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The movie was added to the National Film Registry in 2017. So,
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what is this movie about? What's on the box? If
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you grew up in the 1980s and went to your
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local video store to rent this movie, you would find
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this description on the back of the VHS box. It
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is What's on the Box. Take it away, Seth.
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The man, the myth, and the music that brought America
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to its feet? and catapulted 17-year-old Richie Valens to rock
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and roll stardom lives again in La Bamba. Mexican-American farm
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laborer obsessed with music and full of dreams, Richie, played
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by Lou Diamond Phillips, burst into the glittering world of
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1950s rock with a string of chart-busting singles, clinging to
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the love of his girlfriend Donna, played by Danielle Von Zernick,
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and haunted by a growing conflict with his half-brother Bob,
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Isai Morales, and eerie premonitions of his own death Valen's
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meteoric rise to the top is suddenly halted by a final,
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shattering tragedy. A vivid portrait of Valen's vibrant life, La
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Bamba is alive with the electricity of his hits, Come On,
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Let's Go, La Bamba, and Donna, performed by Los Lobos,
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as well as the legendary sounds of Buddy Holly, Little Richard,
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and Chuck Berry. La Bamba.
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La Bamba. Seth, thanks so much for being here again.
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For our audience, if they don't remember, Seth was on
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our show back in season three to discuss Hoosiers, which
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is a lot of fun. So if you haven't checked
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out episode, please check it out. Seth, just a quick reminder,
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tell us a little bit about yourself and your awesome podcast,
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of course, The Fish Tank.
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Well, I appreciate it, Bill. You know, we go way back.
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You and I worked together with the Miami Dolphins back
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in the, I guess, mid to late 90s into the
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early 2000s. So that's My background is in sports, but
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always loved movies. I know we like to talk about
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movies over some pretty bad poker games back in the day.
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But yeah, for the last 20 plus years, I've been
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running the nonprofit organization for Hall of Famer Jason Taylor.
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But eight years ago, got into this podcast game myself,
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and it is the Fish Tank Podcast, which I'm honored
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to co-host with OJ McDuffie, another former Miami Dolphins great.
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and found myself producing podcasts, starting a couple other podcasts.
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Got a little bit of the bug here, but I
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don't know that I have any more fun than I
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do when I get a chance to dive into the
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All 80s Movies podcast.
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Seth, appreciate that.
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Yeah, man.
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So here we are. We're going to talk about La Bamba.
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And just so you know, for our listening audience, our
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guests always get to pick the movie.
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Yes, sir.
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When Seth told me he was going to pick this,
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I was surprised. This is something I would have not pegged.
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We never talked about this movie before, so I think
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this was kind of a surprise for me. So my
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first question to you, Seth, is do you remember the
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first time you saw this movie?
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I do, but it was not in the theater. I
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guess I would have been heading into high school my
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freshman year or so. But La Bamba hit HBO in 1988,
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and I had this neighbor, Paul Guzman, and he was
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the one who introduced me to this movie. So Paul's
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family was Colombian. They weren't Mexican, but they loved the film.
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And I'm so glad that they did, Bill, because the
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first time I watched this, we called him The Goose.
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This was at The Goose's house. And in those days,
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new movies would play multiple times on HBO, right? You'd
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get the little guide and you'd flip through and you'd
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see what time of day and you could catch it
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at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and again at 8 p.m.
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So I can't even tell you how many times we
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watched this movie, but I just couldn't get enough of it.
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And I don't know why. I know that I love
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the film. but I don't know why I was so
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attracted to this particular movie. But the funny thing I
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got to, I have to share this story with you
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is the goose, or we would call him silly Paul
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or the goose. He considered himself this La Bamba expert,
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and he would share all of these amazing facts about
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the movie. Most of which I learned later were completely inaccurate.
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I don't know if he was making them up. I mean,
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and we'll probably talk about some of it during this podcast,
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but he would come up with all this crazy stuff.
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And I would be like, really?
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Wow.
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And then I'd look it up and go, he's, He's
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out of his mind. But the legend of La Bamba
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grew in my world with all of this stuff. And
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I have to share one other funny story. So the
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Goos had these two chihuahuas in his house named Pancho
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and Raina. And Poncho may have been the meanest dog
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on the face of the earth. And so, you know,
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all the guys, we'd gather at the Goose's house and
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we'd go to his room and we'd watch whatever movies
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we would watch. And at some point he would disappear.
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We'd think he'd go to get some food or something.
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And the door would crack open and his hand would
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come in with Poncho. And he would just drop Poncho
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into the room and shut the door. And everybody would
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jump on the bed and run. And this tiny little chihuahua.
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would take control of the whole room and scare the
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daylights out of us. So I will just say that
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if you have never been with a bunch of teenage
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dudes running like little girls because of a chihuahua while
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watching La Bamba, then you really haven't lived.
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Oh, my God.
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That is hysterical. I had to cover my mouth.
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I was afraid to laugh throughout your whole story.
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You could have. You could have. Are you still friends?
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I haven't talked to him in a long, long time.
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He went into the service and we kind of lost touch.
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And every now and then I'll see him on social media.
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But he did introduce me to La Bamba. And I'm
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telling you, I cannot sit in front of the television
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and flip through channels and pass this movie. Like, I
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don't care where it is in the film. If it's on,
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I have to stop and watch the rest of it.
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And I become fixated. It is the strangest thing, like
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you said, Bill, that you would have never expected this.
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But I just am so connected to so many elements
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of this movie that I'm sure we're going to talk
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about throughout this podcast.
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That's hilarious. Yeah, for me, this was a rental. I
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just remember the summer this movie came out, everywhere you went,
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you just heard La Bamba.
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Everywhere.
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And I didn't even know it was Los Lobos. I
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just always assumed it was an old recording of Ritchie Valens.
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Right.
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And then I was like, oh, someone else sings it.
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Maybe it was when I finally saw the music video
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for it that it was Los Lobos. But this song
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was everywhere. And I just remember for me, for our
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family vacations, we always vacation at the end of the
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summer leading into Labor Day. And which I love because
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really by the end of the summer, you really knew
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like pop culture wise for that summer, like what the
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big things were.
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Sure.
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But yeah, you'd be on the boardwalk at the end
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of the summer and every store is playing La Bamba.
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That's just how big the song was. And then I
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finally got to rent it and I haven't seen it since.
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You told me this is the movie you wanted to do.
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So I was very pleased to go back and revisit
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this one.
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I'm grateful that you gave me the chance to discuss it.
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As I said, I'm excited to be back on the show.
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And I've been begging you to let us review this film.
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You know, you talk about the music and the music
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is the film in and of itself is phenomenal. There's
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great performances. It's gut wrenching to see the rise and
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then tragic fall for Ritchie Valens there at such a
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young age. but the music is the heart and soul
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of the film, just as it was of young Richie Valens.
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And the Los Lobos piece is a fun fact. And they,
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you know, I guess they were recording an album at
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the same time they were asked to do all of
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this music. And they made the conscious decision to say, okay,
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let's remake Richie Valens' music, but let's give it a
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little bit of a modern flavor so that this modern
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audience connects to it. And that'll make them interested in
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this music that was so popular in the 50s and
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I think they did a brilliant job, and the song
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wouldn't have been everywhere if they didn't do such a
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great job. And it's really cool that one of, if
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not the first, full Spanish song that was a popular music,
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sung completely in Spanish, made the top 40 charts back
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in the 50s, and it resonated in the 80s as well.
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It's super cool.
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Oh, yeah.
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So let's get into our initial thoughts about it. La Bamba.
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And one of the first things is, the title of
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the song is La Bamba, but we don't hear Richie
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Valens perform it. I had to pause it because I
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couldn't believe it was this late in the movie. An
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hour and 27 minutes.
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Yeah.
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And it didn't matter because up to that point, I
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was just so engaged with Lou Diamond Phil's performance as
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Richie Valens. There's a point in the movie where he's
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singing the Knick Knack Paddywhack song.
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Yeah.
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And even that, I was like, oh my God, that
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is such an awesome spin. on doing that song, I
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would be with those kids just sitting there listening to it.
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And you're right, the music is amazing in it, and
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just the presence and talent. What Lou Diamond Phillips was
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doing was a reflection of Richie Valens. I can see
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why he shot to fame as quick as he did.
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Yeah, there's no doubt about it. I can't mention one
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without the other, Lou Diamond Phillips and Eastside Morales, right?
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I mean, you had two young actors that were in
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their early 20s, that really their filmography was exceptionally limited
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prior to this film. And these guys show up like
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two heavyweights in this thing. Phenomenal performances. It makes you
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feel like you got to know the real people. And
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then if you do a little research on the film,
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you find out later on that the family was there
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and watched a lot of this. And Bob Morales actually
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did give a lot of his story to the filmmakers
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and helped, you know, in the authenticity. And they just
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fell in love with the performance of those two guys.
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And so Just a spectacular job for two young guys
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to go out there. Two unknowns, really, if you think
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about it. And you talked about Lou Diamond Phillips, and
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this will be my last Silly Paul story. He had
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me convinced that Lou Diamond Phillips was cast because he
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was a dead ringer for Richie Valens. Even to the
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point where there's the scene where he's on, I think,
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American Bandstand. And the family's at home watching it on
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a black and white TV. And Paul had me convinced
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that that was authentic footage of the real Richie Valens
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on American Bandstand. I'm like, really? Are you sure? It
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looks just like the actor. Come to find out it
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was the actor. Like, Richie Valens, I don't say nothing
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like him. I mean, he did enough to capture him.
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But I was like, this is the kind of stuff
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this guy was telling me. But he did apparently capture
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the innocence of The spirit of Richie, the passion that
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he had for his music and his desire to be
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something bigger than just a migrant worker in this small town.
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And I think all of that came through just really,
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it shined really brightly in this film.
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Yeah, we recently covered Bad Boys on our podcast, and
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that had Isai Morales in it, and that was an
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amazing performance also. And watching this, going back to revisit
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this the first time watching it, Isai Morales, he really overpowers,
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to me, the film. I mean, he is just super
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jealous of his brother. He just feels like he's gotten
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a raw deal all throughout life.
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Yep. And.
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You almost lose Lou Diamondfield's performance just a little bit.
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So when I went back and watched it again, it
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really made me appreciate Lou Diamond's performance because the two
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of them are like the opposite sides of the coin.
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They are.
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And as powerful as Isai Morales is, the performance that
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Lou Diamond gives is amazing too because it's so subtle.
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He has this vision. He wants to be a rock
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and roll star and he's going to do whatever it
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takes to do it. And every time he's in front
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of an audience, he just makes it look so easy.
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Yeah.
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I think I was just blown away by it. And
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this is really, I think it's maybe a second acting credit,
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his first feature. I don't think he's come close to
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it since, but he is really good at this. I mean,
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both of them are really good at it, but it
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really took me to the second watch to really appreciate
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what Lou Diamond Phillips was doing throughout the film because
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he's Simon Rouse. I mean, he was chewing it every
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time he was on the screen.
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Yeah, well, I mean, you need that yin and yang,
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I think, for this to work, right? The strength of
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each actor's performance made the other actor's performance that much greater,
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I think, because they were these polar opposites, but yet
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they did, they had this tremendous love for each other,
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but there were all these inner dynamics of Richie being
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the golden child and Bob Morales being the bad boy and,
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you know, the whole backstory, and I hope I'm not
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getting ahead of myself here, but the whole backstory of
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the two brothers where Bob Morales was older than Richie by,
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I want to say, four or five years. But he,
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at 13 or 14 years old, found out that his father,
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the person he thought was his father, was not his
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biological father. He was Richie's biological father, but Bob Morales had,
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you know, he was from a previous relationship. They obviously
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shared the same mother. And Bob Morales was devastated by that.
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just crushed. And I think that he started to, whether
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it was real or perceived, started to feel all of
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these things that Richie was, you know, received in life
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and that he was treated differently. Now he kind of
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felt like he understood why. So while he was so,
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he was so just supportive of his brother and loved
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that his brother had success, it also in the same
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way kind of hurt him and cut him a little
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deeper each and every time. You just feel that boiling
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pot boil over as this film progresses.
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Oh yeah, definitely. And as much as he's trying to
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support his brother, he always seems to undermine it at
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the same time too.
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That's really tough.
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And it was kind of cool. You think about famous
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people and they have siblings and how many of them
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go through this?
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Right.
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Famous athlete or famous actor and you're the brother, you're
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the sister and- How do they feel? What do they
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go through? And this is kind of a little peek
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into that. In this one instance, it's not like this
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with all, I'm sure, but it must have been really
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tough to feel like you're a distant second to Richie.
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Because the mom, as much as she's excited about Richie's success...
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There is a couple of times I feel like she
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accidentally fuels the fire for Bob and makes him feel
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like he's the second banana.
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Sure. Yeah.
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I mean, he does it to himself a lot and
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then it just kind of gets piled on. That's the
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storyline in the film, which I think from what I've read, uh,
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It's somewhat true to form, and then some of it
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is exaggerated to help make a great story. But I
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think that Esai Morales' performance allows you to feel that, right? Like,
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we feel that for him. We get angry with him
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when he does crazy things and shows up to Richie's
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first opportunity there and starts a brawl because he's drunk.
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And it's just always something to your point. And then
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one of my favorite scenes in the film we'll get
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to later, all of those things continue to boil over.
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But he's devastated. when he loses his brother. I mean,
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he understands how important his brother was, not just to
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that family, but I think to his people. So complex character, man.
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Bob Morales was a complex individual and Isai Morales was
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spectacular in bringing that to the big screen.
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Oh yeah, definitely. Can we talk about the very opening
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scene of the movie? Because if it wasn't for the research,
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I don't think I would have caught on what was
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going on because we have the opening scene where we
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have kids playing on a playground. And then we have
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the two planes that collide. And then it cuts to
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Richie waking up. We think it's a nightmare.
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Which it is.
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It is.
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It is.
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Which feeds into his fear of flying. I didn't realize,
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probably until the second watch, and like I said, if
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I didn't do research, I wouldn't have known this, that
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that was based on an actual incident at his school.
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And people died from that. And His dreams are really
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his concept of what had happened.
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Right.
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I'm not sure if he was there.
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He was not. Okay. Yeah. So the real story is
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that this did happen. These planes collided and the wreckage
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falls to the earth over this elementary school. and kills children,
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including his best friend. And he was not there that
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day because he was at his father's funeral. So, I mean,
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when you add all of the layers, like that's the
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00:17:02.309 --> 00:17:05.390
true story. I think in the film, when he's at
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the diner with Donna, he says he wasn't there because
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he was at his grandfather's funeral. But the point is,
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and I'm with you, I don't think that it was
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completely clear to me when I watched it, especially as
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a 14, 15 year old, Other than I knew that
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he was afraid of flying and he was afraid of
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this thing that might happen. But if you don't catch
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it in that diner when he kind of talks about
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what happened, you may not connect those dots. You just
365
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feel like maybe they're setting you up for this thing
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that's going to happen at the end. But he had
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this legitimate fear of flying because of what happened when
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he was just a young kid.
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00:17:40.009 --> 00:17:42.309
Yeah, it was interesting because I thought when I first
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saw the movie the first time, he just had these
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nightmares that he was going to die in a plane crash.
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And he was witnessing what he thought was going to
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happen to him.
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Ah, like this premonition.
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Right.
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And even when I do the research for the Cisco
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00:17:54.339 --> 00:17:57.220
and Ebert, they thought the same thing, that he was
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00:17:57.259 --> 00:17:59.460
having these dreams like a premonition. And they're like, oh,
379
00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:01.839
they're kind of hammering that in a little too much.
380
00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:02.650
Forcing it?
381
00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:03.160
Yeah.
382
00:18:03.420 --> 00:18:07.259
But I'm like, no, that's based on something that really happened, unfortunately.
383
00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:10.589
And I missed it. And it's almost a throwaway line,
384
00:18:10.829 --> 00:18:13.009
like you said, at the diner scene. All right, I
385
00:18:13.009 --> 00:18:15.009
missed that the first time. I just thought he was
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00:18:15.049 --> 00:18:17.009
having dreams. He was going to die in a plane crash.
387
00:18:17.390 --> 00:18:19.980
Yeah. You know, it's interesting as you say that now,
388
00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.460
because having seen the film as many times as I
389
00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:24.900
have and having done a little research just along the
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00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:28.279
way and certainly in advance of sitting down here with you,
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Where I'm at right now, I feel like I have
392
00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:33.779
this great understanding. I imagine a lot of screenwriters run
393
00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:35.809
into this, right? When you're in the bubble, you think
394
00:18:35.849 --> 00:18:38.410
something's clear and then, you know, you hand it over
395
00:18:38.450 --> 00:18:40.470
to somebody else and they're like, what is going on here?
396
00:18:40.509 --> 00:18:42.990
I don't get this. And so that is a great point.
397
00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:45.829
And maybe that's something I don't necessarily believe it was
398
00:18:45.890 --> 00:18:50.079
intentional for it to be unclear or confusing. So maybe
399
00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:52.359
that's something that they could have done a little differently,
400
00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:54.319
but I'm certainly not going to get on them about
401
00:18:54.339 --> 00:18:55.839
it because I love this movie too darn much.
402
00:18:56.309 --> 00:18:59.809
Oh, no, just for the audience so they understand. I
403
00:18:59.849 --> 00:19:01.650
missed it the first time. I missed it the second time.
404
00:19:01.690 --> 00:19:04.390
It wasn't until the third time that I was like, oh, okay,
405
00:19:04.589 --> 00:19:05.150
that's what.
406
00:19:05.049 --> 00:19:06.809
All this means. We were kids the first time, though, Bill,
407
00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:08.099
so you've got to give us a break.
408
00:19:08.579 --> 00:19:11.619
Oh, yeah, exactly. And I'll admit, too, when they do
409
00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:14.220
the scene at the plane and the coin flip, I'm
410
00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:17.220
yelling at the screen, don't get on the plane. Please
411
00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:20.140
don't get on the plane. Even though I knew it
412
00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.349
was going to happen, I couldn't believe how much that
413
00:19:22.369 --> 00:19:24.789
affected me, going back and watching it the first time.
414
00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:27.519
I think that's a testament to the storytelling. I think
415
00:19:27.539 --> 00:19:30.240
it's a testament to these actors who, and going back
416
00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:32.900
to your point about Lou Diamond Phillips, I mean, we
417
00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:35.140
care about the guy so much at that point, right?
418
00:19:35.480 --> 00:19:38.299
We care about him as an individual. He just seems
419
00:19:38.339 --> 00:19:42.079
like a good guy who achieved his dream and deserved it.
420
00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.309
And the last thing you want is to see all
421
00:19:44.309 --> 00:19:46.970
of that fall apart, And especially at 17 years old,
422
00:19:47.029 --> 00:19:49.150
you know, 17 years old for that to happen, but
423
00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:51.299
they do, they flip that coin. Imagine you feel like
424
00:19:51.339 --> 00:19:54.700
you're the winner and, and you know, it's the ultimate
425
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:56.119
loss in that moment.
426
00:19:56.660 --> 00:19:56.859
Yeah.
427
00:19:57.099 --> 00:19:58.730
That was a tough one. Anything else you want to
428
00:19:58.769 --> 00:20:00.730
get to about the movie before we move on?
429
00:20:01.089 --> 00:20:05.220
Well, I mean, I think that in terms of biopics,
430
00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:08.299
to me, this was like perfection. I know, I guess
431
00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:11.059
you could read some critics that felt certain things maybe
432
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:13.619
were a little bit too formulaic or what have you,
433
00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:16.089
but they were pretty darn true to the story. If
434
00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:18.819
you do some research on Richie Valens and, and, um,
435
00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:21.380
I think you couldn't help but care about the characters.
436
00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:25.369
You just, I think, exemplified that in terms of your
437
00:20:25.619 --> 00:20:27.950
screaming for Richie not to get on that darn plane.
438
00:20:28.390 --> 00:20:30.750
And I just think you don't have a pulse if
439
00:20:30.809 --> 00:20:33.309
you don't feel the pain of this journey, of somebody
440
00:20:33.349 --> 00:20:36.710
who came from nothing, who did everything the right way,
441
00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:40.630
who got his break, who earned his opportunity, and then
442
00:20:40.690 --> 00:20:44.670
to see it all just vanish, right? And if a
443
00:20:44.710 --> 00:20:47.849
movie makes you feel in that regard, then what a
444
00:20:47.890 --> 00:20:50.390
great job. So in terms of biopics, I absolutely love it.
445
00:20:50.390 --> 00:20:52.950
In terms of musical biopics, I know there's been a
446
00:20:53.009 --> 00:20:56.369
few lately and I went and found this list that
447
00:20:56.430 --> 00:20:58.710
Rotten Tomatoes did of like the top 50 of all time.
448
00:20:58.730 --> 00:21:00.490
And I think they had this at 19 and I was,
449
00:21:00.890 --> 00:21:03.529
I was not happy with that list, Bill. I felt
450
00:21:03.569 --> 00:21:05.670
it should have been a lot higher, but yeah, it's
451
00:21:05.710 --> 00:21:08.970
just a, it's just a great story about a guy
452
00:21:09.029 --> 00:21:11.230
that maybe a lot of people had never heard of
453
00:21:11.690 --> 00:21:14.680
in terms of our age and our generation and until
454
00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:17.059
this film came out. And it told an important story
455
00:21:17.140 --> 00:21:20.829
about a guy who really was, I think, making an
456
00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:23.450
impact in a lot of ways. Not just someone that
457
00:21:23.509 --> 00:21:26.509
young to have music that became that popular, but also
458
00:21:26.549 --> 00:21:30.710
to represent Chicano music. And just culturally, there was significance
459
00:21:30.730 --> 00:21:31.269
there as well.
460
00:21:32.210 --> 00:21:34.200
Yeah. I mean, they call it the day that music
461
00:21:34.259 --> 00:21:37.200
died for a reason, because I really do think just
462
00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:39.759
watching this, I'm like, wow, what did we miss out
463
00:21:39.859 --> 00:21:43.230
on between him and Buddy Holly? How much great music
464
00:21:43.250 --> 00:21:46.430
we missed out on because of that crash, unfortunately. No
465
00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:49.509
doubt about it. Let's move on to our favorite scenes
466
00:21:49.670 --> 00:21:53.140
or moments. So favorite scenes or moments from La Bamba.
467
00:21:53.539 --> 00:21:56.259
Seth, what do you got for me? Well, I'll kind
468
00:21:56.299 --> 00:21:58.980
of warm up to my favorite, favorite scene. I think
469
00:21:59.059 --> 00:22:03.190
one of the scenes I really enjoyed was Richie's always
470
00:22:03.230 --> 00:22:06.230
playing his music, but his audience essentially are, like you said,
471
00:22:06.250 --> 00:22:08.650
the little kids in the neighborhood, right? But then he
472
00:22:08.690 --> 00:22:13.779
gets invited to audition for The Silhouettes, this local garage band.
473
00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:16.940
And much to the dismay of the lead singer, he
474
00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:20.000
does make it into the band. He clearly impresses the
475
00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:22.940
rest of the bandmates. And he gets his first big gig.
476
00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:26.490
And they have this garage performance. And Bob shows up
477
00:22:26.609 --> 00:22:29.630
on the motorcycle. And his mother's out in the parking
478
00:22:29.670 --> 00:22:31.750
lot in the car with the two young siblings. And
479
00:22:31.789 --> 00:22:34.970
everybody's excited to see Richie do his thing and start
480
00:22:35.009 --> 00:22:38.279
to live his dream. And what was... look like this
481
00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:41.319
little high school band, so to speak, and he never
482
00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:44.279
gets to the mic. He's just a background player on
483
00:22:45.299 --> 00:22:47.859
his tiny little amp the entire time because of this
484
00:22:47.980 --> 00:22:52.569
jealous lead singer. And the family's furious, and Richie is just,
485
00:22:52.609 --> 00:22:54.890
you could tell he's fuming the entire time. And he's
486
00:22:54.910 --> 00:22:57.829
a good soldier, and he plays the music the entire time,
487
00:22:57.849 --> 00:22:59.869
but his people are starting to leave, and he never
488
00:22:59.930 --> 00:23:03.009
gets a chance to step up and sing again. He's hurt,
489
00:23:03.049 --> 00:23:06.089
but instead of it crushing his dreams, it motivates him
490
00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:08.789
even more. I thought that was a cool scene. It's
491
00:23:08.809 --> 00:23:11.730
just kind of, in terms of the significance of the
492
00:23:11.769 --> 00:23:14.369
entire film, I don't think it's, you know, if you
493
00:23:14.390 --> 00:23:18.009
had to start putting an order of top scenes to bottom,
494
00:23:18.410 --> 00:23:21.730
somewhere probably in the middle. But I liked it because
495
00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:25.259
it was a step on the journey that was important
496
00:23:25.299 --> 00:23:28.940
for us to see and how that drive just and that,
497
00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:31.589
you know, fire continued to burn. And it was all
498
00:23:31.619 --> 00:23:33.259
of these little moments here. And I thought that was
499
00:23:33.299 --> 00:23:33.720
kind of fun.
500
00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:36.700
Yeah. That lead singer, the silhouettes, I think it was
501
00:23:36.740 --> 00:23:37.359
a silhouettes, right?
502
00:23:37.819 --> 00:23:38.319
Correct.
503
00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.240
If he could sing half as well, he could play
504
00:23:40.259 --> 00:23:43.769
the saxophone. They'd be okay. But yeah, he is terrible.
505
00:23:44.150 --> 00:23:47.089
I just love as soon as the show is over,
506
00:23:47.269 --> 00:23:49.150
the way he just pulls that plug out of the
507
00:23:49.309 --> 00:23:51.759
app and you just know like, Oh, all right. He
508
00:23:51.819 --> 00:23:52.359
is not happy.
509
00:23:52.779 --> 00:23:55.079
Not at all. Not at all. And he knows he
510
00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:57.339
has so much to offer, right? He knows how good
511
00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:00.160
he is and he's not arrogant and he's a humble guy,51200:24:00.500 --> 00:24:03.029
but he just knows that they had him sitting on51300:24:03.049 --> 00:24:05.410
the bench the entire time when he should be the51400:24:05.450 --> 00:24:06.289
starting quarterback.51500:24:06.890 --> 00:24:07.609
Oh, a hundred percent.51600:24:08.089 --> 00:24:08.309
All right.51700:24:08.329 --> 00:24:10.589
So for me, it's just a moment because it made51800:24:10.609 --> 00:24:14.750
me laugh out loud so much. So it opens where51900:24:14.970 --> 00:24:17.390
Richie and his family, they're pretty much a citrus farm52000:24:17.430 --> 00:24:19.529
living in Ted's picking citrus.52100:24:20.009 --> 00:24:20.170
Yeah.52200:24:20.930 --> 00:24:24.750
And we have Elizabeth Pena there also who was playing52300:24:24.809 --> 00:24:27.170
Richie's girlfriend in the beginning. And then she moves on52400:24:27.230 --> 00:24:27.769
to Bob.52500:24:28.269 --> 00:24:28.730
Rosie.52600:24:28.779 --> 00:24:31.319
So the showers are outside. It's just a water tower.52700:24:32.200 --> 00:24:34.519
And it's a scene where Richie and Rosie, they're in52800:24:34.559 --> 00:24:37.000
the showers, in separate showers. And those two little kids52900:24:37.059 --> 00:24:39.640
come up on the tower to look down. And the53000:24:39.940 --> 00:24:43.049
face that one boy makes, I think it's in the53100:24:43.089 --> 00:24:48.150
white button down shirt, to see Elizabeth Pena naked. I53200:24:48.369 --> 00:24:51.369
was dying because he's kind of doing the the eyebrow53300:24:51.509 --> 00:24:54.609
up and down. He's scrunching his face so funny. I53400:24:55.069 --> 00:24:57.220
lost it. I know I'm kind of burning a moment53500:24:57.259 --> 00:25:00.259
in this movie, but hey, it's 10 years old. I53600:25:00.299 --> 00:25:03.140
totally get it. And then Richie turns around. It just53700:25:03.160 --> 00:25:06.970
kind of gives them like the point like way to go.53800:25:07.049 --> 00:25:07.789
That was hilarious.53900:25:08.380 --> 00:25:10.059
And it was cool. It was like a little snapshot.54000:25:10.079 --> 00:25:12.140
You know, I have no idea what life would be54100:25:12.200 --> 00:25:15.500
like living on that farm and, you know, having to54200:25:15.539 --> 00:25:17.660
work those fields and all of that stuff. It was54300:25:17.700 --> 00:25:19.839
a community in and of itself and just all these54400:25:19.880 --> 00:25:21.789
little things that happened. So, no, you're right. That was54500:25:21.849 --> 00:25:24.269
pretty funny. Rosie did not find it as funny.54600:25:24.109 --> 00:25:24.430
As we did.54700:25:24.529 --> 00:25:25.009
No, not at all.54800:25:25.029 --> 00:25:25.470
Not at all.54900:25:26.289 --> 00:25:28.650
That's a good one. So, you know, the next scene55000:25:28.710 --> 00:25:31.789
for me, Bill, is is my favorite scene in the55100:25:31.849 --> 00:25:35.619
entire movie. And maybe this is cliche, but I don't care.55200:25:35.970 --> 00:25:38.680
It's Richie's La Bamba concert performance. And, you know, as55300:25:38.720 --> 00:25:41.720
you said, it's so deep into the film. But at55400:25:41.839 --> 00:25:46.140
that point. That symbolized the peak of his stardom, at55500:25:46.180 --> 00:25:49.210
least from our experience in watching the film. And this55600:25:49.309 --> 00:25:52.230
is the moment. It's the title of the darn movie,55700:25:52.250 --> 00:25:55.130
for crying out loud, to your point. And so we're55800:25:55.210 --> 00:25:58.150
waiting the entire film to see when this is going55900:25:58.190 --> 00:26:02.309
to happen. And it signifies Richie Valens reaching this place56000:26:02.349 --> 00:26:05.890
of his stardom. You see the way. Look, he walks56100:26:05.990 --> 00:26:09.730
on stage. He plugs his guitar in. And then he56200:26:09.769 --> 00:26:12.250
just has this look on his face of like, I56300:26:12.289 --> 00:26:15.170
might be 17, but I'm about to own this entire theater.56400:26:15.380 --> 00:26:18.359
You know, the old Dwayne Wade jumping on the on56500:26:18.380 --> 00:26:20.640
the scorer's table screaming, this is my house. It's kind56600:26:20.660 --> 00:26:23.059
of what he did. And then he drops this line56700:26:23.079 --> 00:26:25.980
and he says, here's a bit of a rattlesnake, you know,56800:26:26.019 --> 00:26:28.480
and then he goes into the song. And, you know,56900:26:28.619 --> 00:26:30.700
I haven't even shared this with you yet, Bill, but57000:26:31.000 --> 00:26:34.250
my go to karaoke song. And it has the same57100:26:34.289 --> 00:26:36.289
surprise effect as I think me telling you how much57200:26:36.349 --> 00:26:39.009
I love this movie. It is La Bamba. And I57300:26:39.049 --> 00:26:42.309
will sing the whole song in Spanish, you know, the57400:26:42.349 --> 00:26:45.759
full song La Bamba. It's my go-to song. And every time,57500:26:46.039 --> 00:26:47.619
you know, I punch it in and people are looking57600:26:47.660 --> 00:26:49.779
like you're going to sing La Bamba. And then before57700:26:49.839 --> 00:26:52.930
it starts, the karaoke starts. I have to open up with,57800:26:52.950 --> 00:26:54.890
here's a bit of a rattlesnake. And I just thought57900:26:54.910 --> 00:26:57.279
that that was just, that was just a gangster move58000:26:57.299 --> 00:27:00.019
by Richie Valens. It's like, wow, this guy was made58100:27:00.079 --> 00:27:02.920
for this moment. And, you know, and then they play58200:27:02.960 --> 00:27:05.539
the entire thing. You know, you hear the entire song58300:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.640
and you see all these kids getting up and jumping58400:27:08.680 --> 00:27:11.829
and dancing in the, in the stands and, and Richie58500:27:11.869 --> 00:27:16.390
Valens has arrived and, and the music is just spectacular.58600:27:17.109 --> 00:27:17.369
Yeah.58700:27:17.390 --> 00:27:21.200
It is a fun performance because it's, Going into that scene,58800:27:21.359 --> 00:27:23.849
he's the one that wants to do the song. And58900:27:24.009 --> 00:27:28.529
Bob Keene, who's his manager, played by the great Joe Pantoliano,59000:27:28.930 --> 00:27:31.230
is kind of hesitant because he's not sure how this59100:27:31.349 --> 00:27:34.559
is going to play off. But he eventually comes around59200:27:34.700 --> 00:27:37.500
and tells Richie to go for it. And that was59300:27:37.839 --> 00:27:39.099
very smart for him to agree.59400:27:39.400 --> 00:27:42.400
Yeah, no doubt. That's a great point, right? Because, I mean,59500:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.269
he's whitewashed his name, right? You know, Ricardo Valenzuela becomes59600:27:46.329 --> 00:27:49.309
Richie Valens, which I don't know anything about Bob Keene59700:27:49.430 --> 00:27:51.250
other than what we saw in this movie. But it59800:27:51.289 --> 00:27:55.019
was 1950-whatever, right? You know, I mean, he's just trying59900:27:55.039 --> 00:27:58.359
to make somebody marketable. And people to this day continue60000:27:58.380 --> 00:28:01.380
to change their names. But there was no hiding that,60100:28:01.559 --> 00:28:03.319
you know, you're going to sing La Bamba, this old60200:28:03.359 --> 00:28:06.829
Mexican folk song, and you're going to sing it completely60300:28:06.869 --> 00:28:09.460
in Spanish and put it on Top 40 radio. It60400:28:09.569 --> 00:28:11.980
is what it is at that point, and he crushed it.60500:28:12.750 --> 00:28:16.589
Oh, yeah, definitely. For me, one of my favorite scenes60600:28:16.809 --> 00:28:20.829
was Richie's performance at the Cowboy Palace. We just covered60700:28:20.890 --> 00:28:22.789
Blues Brothers recently. We had a guest host on a60800:28:22.809 --> 00:28:24.990
couple weeks ago and did the Blues Brothers, and one60900:28:25.019 --> 00:28:27.119
of the favorite scenes from that is Bob Country Bunker,61000:28:27.279 --> 00:28:29.559
and I'm like, oh, my God, this is so paralleling.61100:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.759
Here it is, Richie, Hispanic background. Connie, his mom, convinces61200:28:35.240 --> 00:28:38.329
the owner to let him perform And it's just him61300:28:38.589 --> 00:28:42.130
with his brother in front of a whole bunch of cowboys.61400:28:43.329 --> 00:28:47.559
And he wins them over by playing Oh Boy by61500:28:48.039 --> 00:28:51.019
Buddy Holly. And he says in the beginning, oh, this61600:28:51.079 --> 00:28:54.680
song's from Lubbock, Texas. And of course, Bob's like, what?61700:28:55.579 --> 00:28:58.200
And Bob's not too bad of a drummer.61800:28:58.920 --> 00:28:59.589
He did enough.61900:28:59.980 --> 00:29:03.170
Yeah, he wins that audience over right away. A lot62000:29:03.190 --> 00:29:05.650
better than what the Blues Brothers did at Bob Country's Bunker.62100:29:06.089 --> 00:29:08.819
I thought it was a fun little scene and just62200:29:08.859 --> 00:29:12.180
his mom, just like doing shots. Like, Oh my God, please, please, please, please, please.62300:29:12.240 --> 00:29:12.440
Right.62400:29:13.039 --> 00:29:16.119
You know, I, yeah. Cause she was, she pushed for it, man.62500:29:16.160 --> 00:29:17.849
She found a way. I think she said something about62600:29:17.910 --> 00:29:20.690
my husband drank himself to death in this bar. You62700:29:20.730 --> 00:29:22.910
just got to let my son sing. And then once62800:29:22.950 --> 00:29:25.049
he did right, the owner of the bar wanted to62900:29:25.089 --> 00:29:27.259
take Connie out to dance and the whole thing. I mean,63000:29:27.299 --> 00:29:29.769
he was, He was excited because it was a moment.63100:29:29.829 --> 00:29:31.750
That is a cool scene. That's a very cool scene.63200:29:31.890 --> 00:29:35.359
Yeah, again, it just shows Richie's presence once he just63300:29:35.519 --> 00:29:37.420
owns that stage once he's up there. It's amazing.63400:29:37.440 --> 00:29:39.680
That's exactly right. Yeah, that's exactly right.63500:29:39.700 --> 00:29:41.240
16, 17 at that point.63600:29:41.799 --> 00:29:43.980
I know that's, what's crazy about it in a bar63700:29:44.440 --> 00:29:47.500
crushing it. So my, I, you know, the last scene63800:29:47.539 --> 00:29:50.660
that I had identified favorite in the sense, because it63900:29:50.680 --> 00:29:52.890
was such a great performance and it was so powerful.64000:29:52.970 --> 00:29:57.089
And it, I think it was obviously a pivotal moment64100:29:57.289 --> 00:30:00.460
in this film. but certainly nothing that makes you feel good.64200:30:00.849 --> 00:30:04.250
But Richie and Bob Keene return home from the big show,64300:30:04.890 --> 00:30:07.450
and the entire family is excited to see him. They64400:30:07.470 --> 00:30:09.529
surprise him. He walks in, and it's a big party.64500:30:10.069 --> 00:30:12.750
But Bob, to what you said at the top of64600:30:12.769 --> 00:30:16.109
this show, you can tell he is carrying just a64700:30:16.170 --> 00:30:20.130
load of hurt and resentment. At least in the film,64800:30:20.170 --> 00:30:22.990
they're saying that he had kind of tried to lay64900:30:23.130 --> 00:30:26.920
off the drinking for a little bit, so he was65000:30:27.019 --> 00:30:29.680
on edge to begin with. But by the end of65100:30:29.740 --> 00:30:33.200
the night, he is trying to manage this longstanding hurt65200:30:33.710 --> 00:30:35.589
from learning that the man that he thought was his65300:30:35.630 --> 00:30:39.109
father really wasn't. And he projects all of this on65400:30:39.190 --> 00:30:42.950
Richie and Richie and his success. And of course, this65500:30:43.009 --> 00:30:46.650
leads to an altercation. The two brothers saying things that65600:30:47.130 --> 00:30:50.059
maybe they have been harboring for some time. I think65700:30:50.160 --> 00:30:52.980
even Richie kind of mentioned something about, I'm not Rosie.65800:30:53.039 --> 00:30:55.940
Like you can't, you know, you can't get physical with me.65900:30:55.960 --> 00:30:58.819
I'm not, I'm not Rosie. And, you know, you could66000:30:58.839 --> 00:31:00.849
have been something if you weren't drunk all the time66100:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.250
and messing up all the time. And, and, and then66200:31:03.309 --> 00:31:05.809
as any big brother, you know, I think of my66300:31:05.849 --> 00:31:07.529
own little brother when we get into it, you know,66400:31:07.549 --> 00:31:10.329
it was like, not only are we arguing to argue,66500:31:10.410 --> 00:31:12.289
but it's also like, how dare you speak to me,66600:31:12.329 --> 00:31:15.170
your big brother like that. And so it just, it66700:31:15.210 --> 00:31:19.470
turns into a physical altercation. And I think it's, it's,66800:31:19.990 --> 00:31:24.819
it's the culmination of great performances by these two young66900:31:24.960 --> 00:31:29.910
actors and, It's incredibly poignant because there really was a confrontation.67000:31:29.970 --> 00:31:33.170
I think it started over something innocuous, like he forgot.67100:31:33.529 --> 00:31:36.089
Richie had asked Bob to buy a dress for his mom,67200:31:36.910 --> 00:31:39.910
and Bob forgot to do it. But he was incredulous. Yeah,67300:31:39.930 --> 00:31:42.559
so what that I forgot? And it just kind of67400:31:42.680 --> 00:31:45.579
steamrolled and dominoed into these things that they'd been harboring67500:31:45.619 --> 00:31:48.319
for so long. But they really did have a confrontation67600:31:48.359 --> 00:31:51.240
in real life, if you do the research. And unfortunately,67700:31:51.279 --> 00:31:53.430
it was the last time those two brothers saw each other.67800:31:54.029 --> 00:31:54.470
And that.67900:31:55.430 --> 00:31:58.009
That's heavy, man. That's heavy. And Bob has to live68000:31:58.029 --> 00:32:00.089
with that. You know, he had to live with that68100:32:00.130 --> 00:32:02.630
the rest of his life. And and they you know,68200:32:02.670 --> 00:32:05.690
both of those guys carried that until they couldn't any longer.68300:32:05.710 --> 00:32:09.450
And I thought that that was just a very powerful68400:32:09.910 --> 00:32:12.130
scene that was that was really well done.68500:32:13.089 --> 00:32:17.410
Yeah, it was certainly tough to watch the older with68600:32:17.490 --> 00:32:20.910
my brother, too. And luckily, we've never had that kind68700:32:20.950 --> 00:32:24.130
of argument. We've always gotten along and I certainly do68800:32:24.170 --> 00:32:28.230
appreciate that. But something had to come to a head. Unfortunately,68900:32:28.349 --> 00:32:31.569
it did. It felt very real. It felt like a69000:32:31.609 --> 00:32:35.130
conversation that the two of them would unfortunately have. And69100:32:35.410 --> 00:32:36.809
in the movie, they try to spin it that they69200:32:36.829 --> 00:32:39.910
do have one other conversation afterwards, which I don't know69300:32:39.950 --> 00:32:43.940
if it's true or not. But I'm sure if that69400:32:44.079 --> 00:32:47.740
really was their last talk together, yeah, that's really got69500:32:47.759 --> 00:32:50.079
to weigh on Bob for the rest of his life.69600:32:50.099 --> 00:32:51.099
It's going to be a tough one.69700:32:51.619 --> 00:32:51.819
Yeah.69800:32:52.619 --> 00:32:53.319
No doubt about it.69900:32:53.970 --> 00:32:56.559
Yeah, for me, this got me a little misty-eyed, and70000:32:56.619 --> 00:33:01.680
it was the announcement of Richie dying in the plane70100:33:01.700 --> 00:33:07.299
crash and the fact how his family and Donna found out.70200:33:07.599 --> 00:33:07.839
Yeah.70300:33:08.539 --> 00:33:11.220
And here's Bob. He hears it off the radio.70400:33:11.240 --> 00:33:12.079
Yep.70500:33:12.119 --> 00:33:15.740
Connie hears it off the radio with Bob trying to70600:33:15.779 --> 00:33:17.720
race home to try to give her the news before70700:33:17.759 --> 00:33:21.059
she finds out about it that way. And then even Donna...70800:33:21.069 --> 00:33:24.250
who's in school and sees that everyone's upset. And she's like,70900:33:24.309 --> 00:33:26.569
what's going on? And one of her classmates was like,71000:33:26.670 --> 00:33:29.839
you don't know? And then has to tell her. That71100:33:29.859 --> 00:33:33.839
got me. That was really upsetting, watching it the first time.71200:33:34.279 --> 00:33:38.960
And what a way to learn such tragic events like that.71300:33:39.400 --> 00:33:41.980
Everything seems to be going right for him. He seems71400:33:42.000 --> 00:33:43.359
like he's going to be on the top of the world.71500:33:43.779 --> 00:33:46.880
And it's just, the rug is just pulled. And you71600:33:46.920 --> 00:33:48.960
find out about it on a radio broadcast.71700:33:49.730 --> 00:33:49.869
Yeah.71800:33:50.380 --> 00:33:52.759
Did I hear that correctly? Is this, is this real?71900:33:52.779 --> 00:33:55.089
Like where, where do you, how do you confirm that72000:33:55.160 --> 00:33:58.950
information at that point? So that really impacted me hearing72100:33:58.970 --> 00:34:02.670
about that and then learning what happened because of that,72200:34:02.750 --> 00:34:05.369
how methods had changed, how always want to make sure72300:34:05.390 --> 00:34:07.509
they contact the family first. So the family knows before72400:34:07.549 --> 00:34:08.800
it goes out to the general public.72500:34:09.179 --> 00:34:09.820
Yeah. Yeah.72600:34:09.840 --> 00:34:13.000
That was heavy. That was really heavy. And it's hard72700:34:13.039 --> 00:34:15.840
to put yourself, you know, thankfully I have not had72800:34:15.880 --> 00:34:18.920
to deal with anything like that personally, but it's hard to,72900:34:19.510 --> 00:34:24.510
to put yourself in that place, but to watch them,73000:34:24.570 --> 00:34:26.949
to kind of be the voyeur and watch this family73100:34:27.010 --> 00:34:30.869
that had dealt with all this turmoil, but yet had73200:34:31.389 --> 00:34:34.090
kind of rising from the ashes and seeing this thing happen.73300:34:34.110 --> 00:34:38.460
And if anybody in that family deserved something good to73400:34:38.579 --> 00:34:43.239
happen to them, it was Richie Valens. And then to73500:34:43.340 --> 00:34:45.880
see them have to suffer through that, you're right, that73600:34:45.960 --> 00:34:50.409
was very well done. And And then Bob ends up73700:34:50.489 --> 00:34:53.059
on the bridge and just screams out his brother's name.73800:34:53.139 --> 00:34:58.909
And again, kudos to Isai Morales for just making us73900:34:59.010 --> 00:35:01.130
feel everything throughout the entire film.74000:35:01.800 --> 00:35:09.559
Yeah, definitely. All right, so let's move on to Swiss74100:35:09.579 --> 00:35:13.980
cheese and complaint department. So what plot holes, bloopers, or74200:35:14.139 --> 00:35:17.300
general complaints would you like to file about La Bamba? Seth,74300:35:17.320 --> 00:35:18.840
start us off. You've got to have something. I know74400:35:18.860 --> 00:35:20.119
you love the movie, but there's got to be something.74500:35:20.139 --> 00:35:22.210
Yeah, I know. I don't have a whole lot, right?74600:35:22.269 --> 00:35:24.630
I had the same problem with Hoosiers. When you have74700:35:24.650 --> 00:35:27.429
me picking my favorite movies of all time, to me,74800:35:27.489 --> 00:35:31.989
they're darn near perfection. I guess technically there were some74900:35:32.090 --> 00:35:35.619
thingsâ I guess, continuity things in the film. Like if75000:35:35.659 --> 00:35:37.619
you really watch closely, and I know that's a fun75100:35:37.659 --> 00:35:39.619
thing to do now on Instagram or what have you,75200:35:39.639 --> 00:35:44.389
and people find little mistakes in films. And there was75300:35:44.429 --> 00:35:49.150
a scene where after one of the performances, Richie is75400:35:49.230 --> 00:35:52.090
feeling great about himself. Bob thinks we're about to make75500:35:52.130 --> 00:35:56.420
it here. And they're at their mom's kitchen table. and75600:35:56.780 --> 00:36:00.650
Connie's bringing over some food to Richie. And if you75700:36:00.690 --> 00:36:03.429
watch it again, she brings over a certain amount of75800:36:03.469 --> 00:36:05.570
food on the plate, and Richie says something, they cut75900:36:05.590 --> 00:36:07.309
to Bob, and they cut back to Richie, and there's76000:36:07.349 --> 00:36:09.670
three times as much food on the plate as there76100:36:09.690 --> 00:36:13.210
was beforehand. So there's little things like that. There's the76200:36:13.289 --> 00:36:18.210
scene in Tijuana where they're at the brothel, and Bob76300:36:18.309 --> 00:36:20.289
thinks he's being a big brother to Richie and brings76400:36:20.329 --> 00:36:23.260
him to the brothel. And the first thing Richie does76500:36:23.340 --> 00:36:27.280
is he hears the band playing La Bamba, but playing it,76600:36:27.829 --> 00:36:29.610
you know, as the folk song and he runs over,76700:36:29.670 --> 00:36:32.190
he doesn't care about all these women that are sitting76800:36:32.210 --> 00:36:35.429
there on the wall. Bob does. And as Richie's running76900:36:35.469 --> 00:36:39.010
over the band, you see Bob kind of, he's engaging77000:36:39.090 --> 00:36:41.840
in the full, you know, he's kissing this gal and77100:36:41.860 --> 00:36:43.980
what have you. And then when they cut to Bob,77200:36:44.019 --> 00:36:46.099
he's just walking up to her in the, you know,77300:36:46.139 --> 00:36:48.460
for the first time. And so there was little continuity,77400:36:48.519 --> 00:36:52.179
things like that, if I am forced to nitpick. But77500:36:52.280 --> 00:36:55.260
beyond that, You know, it's hard for me to find77600:36:55.280 --> 00:36:56.119
holes in this film.77700:36:56.840 --> 00:37:00.670
Yeah, and movies always take liberties of true events to77800:37:00.690 --> 00:37:01.929
make the movie more dramatic.77900:37:02.309 --> 00:37:02.550
Sure.78000:37:02.929 --> 00:37:06.630
Just so you're aware, the American Bandstand appearance, he didn't78100:37:06.650 --> 00:37:09.090
play Donna. I think he played OK, Let's Go. I78200:37:09.389 --> 00:37:11.309
think that was the actual performance that he played on78300:37:11.329 --> 00:37:13.000
American Bandstand. So I didn't know that. But it plays78400:37:13.039 --> 00:37:16.860
better because, unfortunately, there's a riff with Richie and Donna78500:37:16.880 --> 00:37:20.980
because of Donna's father. So what makes it more cool78600:37:21.000 --> 00:37:24.719
to make Donna... Stand her ground is have Richie play78700:37:24.800 --> 00:37:28.320
that song on the television. Just remember when you're watching this,78800:37:28.480 --> 00:37:31.409
as fun as the movie is, there's always little liberties.78900:37:32.050 --> 00:37:33.239
Historical inaccuracies.79000:37:33.449 --> 00:37:37.030
Yeah. And it goes for any movie that you watch.79100:37:37.590 --> 00:37:40.829
That's biography that they always do little, little things like that.79200:37:41.230 --> 00:37:43.150
That was the big one that certainly stood out to79300:37:43.190 --> 00:37:44.610
me that when I was doing my research.79400:37:44.670 --> 00:37:44.909
Yeah.79500:37:44.949 --> 00:37:46.889
You know what? Now that you say that, I think79600:37:46.989 --> 00:37:50.469
I read that there's the scene where there's the radio79700:37:50.530 --> 00:37:54.710
promotion and, somebody wins a pizza party and Richie and79800:37:54.769 --> 00:37:58.750
Bob Keene show up to, to the pizza party at the,79900:37:58.829 --> 00:38:02.710
you know, this young gal's house. And he's passing out80000:38:02.730 --> 00:38:05.159
the albums and those albums didn't even come out till80100:38:05.219 --> 00:38:07.840
after Richie had passed away. And, and I guess the80200:38:07.920 --> 00:38:11.739
song Donna was, is on that album in real life.80300:38:12.460 --> 00:38:15.599
And in the film, he hasn't even written Donna yet,80400:38:15.739 --> 00:38:19.070
you know? And so again, there's, there's some continuity things80500:38:19.159 --> 00:38:21.590
and they play a little bit with time and space, but,80600:38:22.349 --> 00:38:23.340
I don't hold that against it.80700:38:23.929 --> 00:38:25.889
No, that's okay. Do you have anything else?80800:38:26.489 --> 00:38:28.409
No, I told you it's hard for me to find80900:38:28.449 --> 00:38:29.289
holes in these things.81000:38:29.710 --> 00:38:31.469
Oh, you know what I found super cheesy though? That81100:38:31.570 --> 00:38:34.329
opening title card of La Bamba. It does not look good.81200:38:34.829 --> 00:38:37.710
No, that's fair. So that was, I think you and81300:38:37.730 --> 00:38:40.949
I talked about this before you started recording, but I81400:38:41.010 --> 00:38:44.230
saw an interview with Lou Diamond Phillips and he talked about,81500:38:44.250 --> 00:38:46.590
I don't know how old this interview was, but it81600:38:46.630 --> 00:38:49.820
doesn't seem like a handful of years ago. There was81700:38:49.840 --> 00:38:52.179
some anniversary of the film, and he had just watched81800:38:52.440 --> 00:38:54.420
the movie, and he was like, it holds up. He81900:38:54.480 --> 00:38:57.239
used a term, certain movies feel like a time capsule,82000:38:57.260 --> 00:38:59.460
that when you watch them, you know that this was82100:38:59.500 --> 00:39:02.619
an 80s movie. And La Bamba doesn't. Part of it82200:39:02.880 --> 00:39:05.480
is because they're capturing this time period that was in82300:39:05.519 --> 00:39:07.400
the 50s, but I think the other part of it82400:39:07.480 --> 00:39:10.880
is just really well made. But I will, to your point,82500:39:11.280 --> 00:39:14.639
that title card of La Bamba feels very 1980s. Yes,82600:39:14.679 --> 00:39:14.820
it does.82700:39:17.320 --> 00:39:19.639
It does. And I did have to laugh, too, when82800:39:19.679 --> 00:39:23.530
we saw Isai Morales riding the motorcycle. And you're like, yeah,82900:39:23.570 --> 00:39:25.710
he's not on that cycle.83000:39:26.329 --> 00:39:26.489
Right.83100:39:26.510 --> 00:39:28.190
I'm like, what is he, part of the Wild Ones?83200:39:28.389 --> 00:39:30.489
Is he trying to be Marlon Brando here? And then83300:39:30.510 --> 00:39:33.070
it does the shot of the motorcycle going down the street.83400:39:33.090 --> 00:39:35.719
And you can tell it's a stunt driver. But you83500:39:35.739 --> 00:39:37.980
do see Isai on the bike. He is able to83600:39:38.059 --> 00:39:40.800
ride it. It did look a little cheese, but that83700:39:40.820 --> 00:39:43.360
was about it. About 30 seconds there in the beginning.83800:39:43.940 --> 00:39:44.760
And then after that.83900:39:45.059 --> 00:39:45.860
That's not so bad.84000:39:46.239 --> 00:39:46.420
No.84100:39:46.840 --> 00:39:47.469
No, not at all.84200:39:48.250 --> 00:39:51.010
All right, time to move on to Hey, It's That Actor.84300:39:51.170 --> 00:39:53.630
So in this segment, we spotlight a character actor you84400:39:53.650 --> 00:39:56.230
have seen in many other films, an actor making their84500:39:56.309 --> 00:40:00.369
big screen debut, or an actor that makes an uncredited cameo.84600:40:00.769 --> 00:40:01.789
It's Hey, It's That Actor.84700:40:02.130 --> 00:40:03.869
Seth, who'd you choose for Hey, It's That Actor?84800:40:04.449 --> 00:40:07.110
So I don't know if I'm breaking the rules here, Bill,84900:40:07.179 --> 00:40:09.139
but I kind of had two. And I think the85000:40:09.179 --> 00:40:12.880
first one was too lazy, but I did have the experience.85100:40:13.460 --> 00:40:16.119
And it was Joey Pants. It was the great Joe Pantoliano,85200:40:16.139 --> 00:40:19.280
who you mentioned earlier. He's been in so many films, right?85300:40:19.300 --> 00:40:23.460
The Goonies, The Matrix, Memento, which is a spectacular film.85400:40:23.920 --> 00:40:26.610
All the bad boys films. Not the bad boys that85500:40:26.619 --> 00:40:31.789
you reviewed, but with Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. He's85600:40:31.829 --> 00:40:35.170
yelling at those guys the whole time as the police chief.85700:40:35.449 --> 00:40:39.429
He was infamous in The Sopranos. But I know that's85800:40:39.469 --> 00:40:42.309
kind of low-hanging fruit because he did have such a85900:40:42.369 --> 00:40:44.590
major role in this film. So I'm going to go86000:40:44.630 --> 00:40:48.510
with John Quaid, who was the bartender. who cuts off86100:40:48.590 --> 00:40:52.949
Bob Morales. So he turns off the television. Bob is86200:40:52.969 --> 00:40:56.340
just pounding shots. He's in another one of his moments86300:40:56.400 --> 00:40:59.019
there where he's just mad at the world. But he's86400:40:59.079 --> 00:41:02.639
still watching his brother on American Bandstand on this little86500:41:02.719 --> 00:41:06.539
black and white TV. And John Quaid is the bartender86600:41:06.579 --> 00:41:10.179
who not only cuts Bob Morales off at the bar,86700:41:10.539 --> 00:41:13.239
he turns off the television and basically tells him he's done.86800:41:13.380 --> 00:41:16.000
So when I saw him, I didn't even know John's name.86900:41:16.380 --> 00:41:20.239
But as soon as I saw him, I absolutely had that, hey,87000:41:20.280 --> 00:41:23.199
it's that actor response. And the reason is, go on87100:41:23.280 --> 00:41:26.420
IMDb and look, he is on every show I watched87200:41:26.480 --> 00:41:28.420
as a kid. He's been on The A-Team. He's been87300:41:28.460 --> 00:41:30.480
on The Fall Guy. He's been in Knight Rider. He's87400:41:30.500 --> 00:41:33.090
been on Hill Street Blues. He was even on Baywatch.87500:41:33.489 --> 00:41:36.480
So you name it. He made an appearance. And he's87600:41:36.519 --> 00:41:38.760
just one of those character actors that you may never87700:41:38.820 --> 00:41:40.659
know his name, but you know you've seen him a87800:41:40.739 --> 00:41:41.429
million times.87900:41:42.070 --> 00:41:45.289
Yeah, I forgot Joey Pants was in this. And one88000:41:45.309 --> 00:41:47.230
of my favorite movies that you actually didn't mention that88100:41:47.250 --> 00:41:50.650
he was running scared as Snake. I love that one.88200:41:51.110 --> 00:41:53.630
He's pretty funny in that one. Good call on the88300:41:53.730 --> 00:41:56.139
bartender because I was like, I know I've seen him before.88400:41:56.420 --> 00:41:56.639
Right.88500:41:56.900 --> 00:42:00.550
So, yeah, I have someone different. So we really haven't88600:42:00.590 --> 00:42:03.260
talked about Elizabeth Pena in this much. I mean, she88700:42:03.300 --> 00:42:06.800
doesn't have a big role. But her father, who I88800:42:06.840 --> 00:42:08.800
think has two lines in the movie, and I recognize88900:42:08.840 --> 00:42:11.679
him right away. And I think his second line is89000:42:11.719 --> 00:42:15.820
just him screaming, Rosie! When she decides to go on89100:42:15.840 --> 00:42:18.480
the bike with Bob and roll off.89200:42:18.639 --> 00:42:19.460
Throws the apron.89300:42:19.780 --> 00:42:22.360
He's in one of my favorite movies from the early 90s.89400:42:22.679 --> 00:42:25.639
And that is Tremors. And he played Miguel.89500:42:25.659 --> 00:42:25.719
Oh.89600:42:26.670 --> 00:42:30.369
So he has about 45 film credits and he did89700:42:30.409 --> 00:42:33.760
return for Tremors 3. But his other notable credits are89800:42:34.340 --> 00:42:38.679
Phenomenon with John Travolta and the Milagro-Beanfield War, which was89900:42:38.940 --> 00:42:42.530
directed by Robert Redford. But yes, Tremors. Love that movie.90000:42:42.590 --> 00:42:43.949
And as soon as I saw him, I'm like, oh,90100:42:44.110 --> 00:42:45.869
wait a second. I think I know this guy. One90200:42:45.889 --> 00:42:48.730
of the survivors from the initial onslaught of Tremors. And90300:42:48.750 --> 00:42:50.469
it made me actually go watch the movie again because90400:42:50.489 --> 00:42:51.409
I love that movie so much.90500:42:51.889 --> 00:42:52.650
That's fabulous.90600:42:53.199 --> 00:42:55.480
All right, time to move on to facts and trivia.90700:42:55.619 --> 00:42:58.460
What are some fun facts or trivia we can share90800:42:58.519 --> 00:42:59.199
about La Mamba?90900:42:59.619 --> 00:43:02.199
Man, there's so many, right? And I think we shared91000:43:02.239 --> 00:43:04.460
a lot of them already here. So I'll start with91100:43:04.500 --> 00:43:08.949
this one, which is, I always find this fascinating, but91200:43:09.030 --> 00:43:14.590
this film became a massive box office success, which is 1987.91300:43:14.590 --> 00:43:18.650
There's a different definition for massive box office success compared91400:43:18.690 --> 00:43:21.190
to 2026, but it grossed more than $ 54 million domestically.91500:43:22.809 --> 00:43:26.610
But Lou Diamond Phillips, who delivered this spectacular performance that91600:43:26.650 --> 00:43:30.139
we just discussed, it was a launching pad for just91700:43:30.480 --> 00:43:33.760
a wonderful career that he's had. He raked in a91800:43:33.840 --> 00:43:38.260
whopping $ 6, 000 to star in this film, to be the91900:43:38.380 --> 00:43:41.159
leading actor. Six grand, and he gave half of his92000:43:41.219 --> 00:43:44.039
first paycheck to his mother. She had recently been divorced,92100:43:44.420 --> 00:43:46.579
and she needed some cash, and he got his first92200:43:46.619 --> 00:43:50.340
big job. So he gave her three grand, and he92300:43:50.429 --> 00:43:54.659
took home six. $ 3, 000. Now, he built a career off92400:43:54.739 --> 00:43:57.179
of it, so it was a lost leader for him.92500:43:57.550 --> 00:44:01.289
But when you think about that, for everybody who's chasing stardom,92600:44:01.869 --> 00:44:05.570
Lou Diamond Phillips had the role of a lifetime as92700:44:05.670 --> 00:44:11.269
Richie Valens, starring in La Bamba, a massive hit in 1987,92800:44:11.269 --> 00:44:13.070
and he made $ 3, 000. Hopefully he's.92900:44:14.690 --> 00:44:16.130
Getting royalty checks from that.93000:44:16.409 --> 00:44:17.489
Yeah.93100:44:17.570 --> 00:44:20.110
I hope he got some points, for sure. Maybe that's93200:44:20.150 --> 00:44:22.699
doubled by now, but Yeah, it is true. For a93300:44:22.929 --> 00:44:25.960
first film like that, not a big budget, yeah, six93400:44:26.039 --> 00:44:27.659
is low. I thought he would at least get maybe93500:44:27.679 --> 00:44:31.179
in the 20s. I wouldn't be surprised if he told93600:44:31.219 --> 00:44:32.860
me like 25,000 to 35,000.93700:44:32.860 --> 00:44:33.320
Six.93800:44:34.000 --> 00:44:36.599
But they took a chance, and it certainly worked.93900:44:36.840 --> 00:44:37.000
Yep.94000:44:37.539 --> 00:44:39.679
So I always love this, because I always love to94100:44:39.719 --> 00:44:41.880
find out how old the actors were who were supposed94200:44:41.900 --> 00:44:45.019
to be playing people younger. So, of course, we're telling94300:44:45.039 --> 00:44:48.139
the story of a teenage rock and roll pioneer, Richie Valens.94400:44:48.639 --> 00:44:50.739
most of the principal cast was a little bit older.94500:44:50.820 --> 00:44:55.000
So Lou Diamond Phillips was 24 during filming. And he94600:44:55.019 --> 00:44:57.719
was actually a few months older than Isai Morales, who94700:44:57.760 --> 00:45:01.780
played his half-brother, Bob. In real life, Richard Valens died94800:45:01.800 --> 00:45:06.039
before his 18th birthday. Danielle Von Zernick, who portrayed Donna,94900:45:06.300 --> 00:45:09.139
she was 21 at the time. While Elizabeth Pena, who95000:45:09.179 --> 00:45:13.570
played Bob's wife and Richie's former girlfriend, Rosie was 27.95100:45:13.570 --> 00:45:17.010
And then even more surprising, Rosanna DeSoto, who played Richie95200:45:17.090 --> 00:45:20.949
and Bob's mother, Connie, was just 36 years old during filming.95300:45:21.050 --> 00:45:23.829
So that only put her 12 years older than the95400:45:24.110 --> 00:45:25.030
actors playing her sons.95500:45:25.469 --> 00:45:25.710
Wow.95600:45:26.190 --> 00:45:26.909
Isn't that crazy?95700:45:27.150 --> 00:45:27.329
Yep.95800:45:27.809 --> 00:45:29.510
And, you know, but if they're doing a good job,95900:45:29.550 --> 00:45:31.630
it's not that you think they look this age or96000:45:31.650 --> 00:45:34.710
what have you, but you just believe, you know, they96100:45:34.809 --> 00:45:38.889
create this kind of time and space and ages and96200:45:38.909 --> 00:45:41.360
you just buy into it. And I think that's, again,96300:45:41.389 --> 00:45:43.199
a testament to the performances of the actors.96400:45:43.679 --> 00:45:45.760
I did look at some pictures of Richie Balance, and96500:45:45.820 --> 00:45:46.820
he does look older.96600:45:47.460 --> 00:45:49.920
He does. Yeah, that's a fair point. He doesn't look96700:45:49.940 --> 00:45:50.860
like a 17-year-old.96800:45:51.019 --> 00:45:51.940
No, he does not at all.96900:45:52.239 --> 00:45:54.179
Yeah, which might have been part of the reason why97000:45:54.199 --> 00:45:57.300
Donna's father wasn't, you know. There could have been some97100:45:57.320 --> 00:45:59.340
racial issues as well, which is, I think, what they97200:45:59.380 --> 00:46:05.480
intimated there in 1950, whatever. It's probably some truth to that.97300:46:05.980 --> 00:46:09.000
But he probably didn't also like seeing this grown-ass man97400:46:09.460 --> 00:46:12.440
walk into his daughter's home and didn't realize that he97500:46:12.480 --> 00:46:13.119
was just a kid.97600:46:13.739 --> 00:46:15.320
Exactly. Yeah.97700:46:15.960 --> 00:46:20.199
So I talked earlier about one of my favorite scenes97800:46:20.420 --> 00:46:25.269
being Richie's first performance there with the silhouettes. And that97900:46:25.329 --> 00:46:28.969
is his first big break in this movie when he's98000:46:29.010 --> 00:46:31.610
invited to join the band. In the movie, as we98100:46:31.679 --> 00:46:34.119
talked about, the lead singer of that band is Rudy.98200:46:34.860 --> 00:46:39.960
He is not particularly talented vocally, as you expressed. And98300:46:40.000 --> 00:46:43.059
he quickly realizes that Richie poses this major threat to98400:46:43.099 --> 00:46:46.079
whatever he's got going on. Doesn't let Richie sing, as98500:46:46.119 --> 00:46:50.059
we discussed earlier. Richie's upset. His whole family's upset. But98600:46:50.119 --> 00:46:53.349
in real life... That band was led by a guy98700:46:53.409 --> 00:46:58.420
named Gil Rocha. Rudy was a made-up character. Gil Rocha98800:46:58.460 --> 00:47:01.280
was the lead of that band, and he was a98900:47:01.440 --> 00:47:04.500
mentor to all those guys. So this band was ahead99000:47:04.539 --> 00:47:07.880
of its time. It was incredibly diverse. It was multiracial.99100:47:07.900 --> 00:47:12.239
They had Mexican-Americans, African-Americans, Japanese-Americans, white musicians. all in this99200:47:12.340 --> 00:47:15.869
one little garage band. And Gil kind of mentored all99300:47:15.889 --> 00:47:18.889
of these young musicians. And I guess they had another99400:47:18.969 --> 00:47:21.349
lead vocalist. He left, Richie stepped in and the rest99500:47:21.369 --> 00:47:25.210
was history. The Silhouettes became in that area, in that99600:47:25.269 --> 00:47:28.449
San Fernando Valley area, the Silhouettes became like one of99700:47:28.489 --> 00:47:30.880
the top rock and roll bands in the area, which99800:47:30.929 --> 00:47:33.940
is kind of how Bob found them. Bob Keene found them.99900:47:34.219 --> 00:47:36.880
And Gil and Richie were actually really good friends. So100000:47:36.900 --> 00:47:40.320
there wasn't this animosity that was created with this fictional100100:47:40.400 --> 00:47:45.659
Rudy character. And actually, when Richie passed away, the silhouettes100200:47:45.940 --> 00:47:49.380
would serve as his pallbearers. And later in life, Gil100300:47:49.400 --> 00:47:52.559
Rocha was the guy who spearheaded the campaign to get100400:47:52.619 --> 00:47:55.400
Richie his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Oh, nice.100500:47:55.840 --> 00:47:56.079
Yeah.100600:47:56.460 --> 00:47:59.199
Okay, so the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives100700:47:59.260 --> 00:48:02.239
of Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, and J.P. the Big Bopper100800:48:02.440 --> 00:48:06.019
Richardson was the result of several contributing factors rather than100900:48:06.099 --> 00:48:10.929
a single cause. Investigators concluded that the aircraft encountered icing conditions,101000:48:11.139 --> 00:48:13.769
was near its weight limit, and was able to climb101100:48:13.869 --> 00:48:17.550
safely after takeoff, crashing just six miles from Mason City101200:48:17.590 --> 00:48:22.869
Municipal Airport. Another major factor was the pilot, 21-year-old Roger Peterson,101300:48:23.030 --> 00:48:27.369
who was relatively inexperienced and not certified to fly using101400:48:27.510 --> 00:48:31.320
instruments in the severe weather conditions that night. The tragedy101500:48:31.360 --> 00:48:35.340
on February 3, 1959, as we've noted earlier, became known101600:48:35.420 --> 00:48:36.599
as the day the music died.101700:48:37.170 --> 00:48:39.610
Yeah, that's I didn't realize. I mean, it makes sense,101800:48:39.690 --> 00:48:42.469
all of those factors, but it just makes you more101900:48:42.489 --> 00:48:45.690
and more frustrated. Yes, exactly. You hear that stuff. I mean,102000:48:45.730 --> 00:48:48.349
you know, all these years later makes you more frustrated.102100:48:48.869 --> 00:48:52.489
So you talked about the ages of Esai Morales and102200:48:52.510 --> 00:48:55.000
Lou Diamond Phillips and how Lou Diamond, even though he102300:48:55.039 --> 00:48:57.159
played the younger brother, was actually the older of the102400:48:57.199 --> 00:49:01.860
two actors. The two actors auditioned for the opposite roles.102500:49:02.329 --> 00:49:05.989
Lou Diamond Phillips wanted to play Bob Morales. And originally,102600:49:06.469 --> 00:49:08.570
Louis Valdez, who was the writer and director of the film,102700:49:09.050 --> 00:49:11.610
he had wanted to make this Ritchie Valens movie for102800:49:11.650 --> 00:49:14.909
a long time and ran into Bob Morales at a bar,102900:49:14.989 --> 00:49:18.130
believe it or not. And Bob Morales ends up telling103000:49:18.170 --> 00:49:21.320
him the entire story. here's everything I'll put it all103100:49:21.400 --> 00:49:24.639
out here for you and they shifted and we're going103200:49:24.699 --> 00:49:27.780
to make a movie through the lens of Bob's story103300:49:28.090 --> 00:49:30.309
which I think is part of the reason why Isai103400:49:30.349 --> 00:49:34.110
had this really rich character to bring to life on103500:49:34.130 --> 00:49:36.690
the screen and Ultimately, they decided they would stick to103600:49:36.710 --> 00:49:39.210
the original idea and still tell Richie's story. But Bob103700:49:39.250 --> 00:49:42.750
was such a central character in the film. But Isai103800:49:43.190 --> 00:49:46.530
auditioned to be the star. He wanted to be Richie Valens.103900:49:47.119 --> 00:49:49.920
And they were like, no, sir, you are Bob Morales104000:49:49.960 --> 00:49:52.000
through and through. And that's how it's going to be.104100:49:52.400 --> 00:49:55.440
And Lou Diamond Phillips came in and tried to be,104200:49:55.619 --> 00:50:00.519
you know, this cool, edgy character. And it was Louis104300:50:00.539 --> 00:50:05.159
Valdez's brother who said, look, you don't have that. You104400:50:05.179 --> 00:50:07.519
don't have that edge. Why don't you go home and104500:50:07.579 --> 00:50:10.590
read Richie's lines and come back? And they just were104600:50:10.739 --> 00:50:14.710
struggling to find their Richie. They went all over the104700:50:14.769 --> 00:50:17.610
country trying to find their Richie. And then he came104800:50:17.639 --> 00:50:19.889
back in and it was a eureka moment for the brothers.104900:50:19.989 --> 00:50:23.469
And the two actors didn't get the roles they wanted,105000:50:23.510 --> 00:50:25.269
but I think they got the roles that they were105100:50:25.289 --> 00:50:25.730
meant to be.105200:50:26.250 --> 00:50:29.269
Oh, yeah, totally agree. So there's a scene in the105300:50:29.610 --> 00:50:34.829
movie when Richie is on a radio show. And during105400:50:34.909 --> 00:50:37.989
the interview, the DJ asked listeners, what does our mystery105500:50:38.030 --> 00:50:40.320
guest have in common with the vice president of the105600:50:40.340 --> 00:50:42.760
United States? So in case you didn't know, I'm going105700:50:42.780 --> 00:50:43.739
to give you the answer right here.105800:50:44.239 --> 00:50:44.659
It's simple.105900:50:45.059 --> 00:50:47.079
They shared the first name. At the time the scene106000:50:47.099 --> 00:50:51.199
take place, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president and Richard Nixon106100:50:51.480 --> 00:50:52.280
was vice president.106200:50:52.300 --> 00:50:52.949
Wow.106300:50:53.090 --> 00:50:55.710
How about that? That's great. I don't even think to106400:50:55.750 --> 00:50:58.889
look that up. That's a great one. So good. So106500:50:58.989 --> 00:51:01.590
the last one I have, Bill, is and we talked106600:51:01.630 --> 00:51:04.409
about Los Lobos at the top of the show and106700:51:04.909 --> 00:51:07.530
that Los Lobos did all the music that we heard106800:51:07.699 --> 00:51:11.659
from Richie Valens. But what we didn't discuss was that106900:51:11.719 --> 00:51:14.400
when Richie and Bob do go to Tijuana and they107000:51:14.440 --> 00:51:17.320
do go into the brothel, And they're looking at all107100:51:17.340 --> 00:51:21.440
of these women. And, you know, Bob says, have your pick.107200:51:22.079 --> 00:51:27.869
And Richie completely gets distracted by the band playing this107300:51:28.010 --> 00:51:32.590
traditional version of La Bamba on stage. That is Los Lobos.107400:51:32.929 --> 00:51:35.909
The band members from Los Lobos got to appear in107500:51:35.929 --> 00:51:38.030
the film, not just have their music played in the film,107600:51:38.289 --> 00:51:40.010
but they got to appear in the film. And that's107700:51:40.070 --> 00:51:42.980
their moment there, that they are the brothel band. And107800:51:43.019 --> 00:51:43.840
that's Los Lobos.107900:51:44.519 --> 00:51:44.699
Yeah.108000:51:45.130 --> 00:51:47.369
The song, yeah, I think it hit number one in108100:51:47.389 --> 00:51:49.489
the top 100s. It was everywhere.108200:51:49.969 --> 00:51:50.570
Yes, it was.108300:51:50.590 --> 00:51:53.849
All right, so let's move on to box office. So108400:51:53.889 --> 00:51:59.090
La Bamba hit theaters on July 24th, 1987, opening on 1,109108500:51:59.090 --> 00:52:03.889
screens across North America. Produced on an estimated budget of $ 6. 5 million,108600:52:04.340 --> 00:52:07.619
the film became a surprise box office success, earning $ 54. 2108700:52:07.460 --> 00:52:12.010
million during its theatrical run. The movie opened the number108800:52:12.030 --> 00:52:15.519
five spot at the box office, finishing behind two other108900:52:15.639 --> 00:52:19.320
new summer releases, Summer School, which we covered on our show,109000:52:19.400 --> 00:52:22.500
and Superman IV, The Quest for Peace. Strong word of109100:52:22.559 --> 00:52:24.920
mouth helped La Bamba remain in the top ten for109200:52:24.960 --> 00:52:27.670
another ten weeks, making it one of the biggest sleeper109300:52:27.690 --> 00:52:29.750
hits of the summer. By the end of its run,109400:52:29.949 --> 00:52:34.840
La Bamba finished as the 15th highest-grossing film of 1987,109500:52:34.840 --> 00:52:39.719
outperforming Summer School and Superman 4's combined gross that year.109600:52:40.039 --> 00:52:41.940
So sometimes you don't have to start off strong, just109700:52:41.960 --> 00:52:42.480
finish strong.109800:52:42.880 --> 00:52:43.309
That's it.109900:52:43.739 --> 00:52:45.829
And then moving on to reviews. When growing up in110000:52:45.849 --> 00:52:47.889
the 80s, we would watch At the Movies with Gene110100:52:47.909 --> 00:52:50.469
Siskel and Roger Ebert to hear their reviews and watch110200:52:50.530 --> 00:52:54.690
clips of upcoming movies. Their review of La Bamba was unanimous.110300:52:54.969 --> 00:52:58.699
Two marginal thumbs up. Roger Ebert called it a good110400:52:58.889 --> 00:53:03.059
small movie, sweet and sentimental, praising its heartfelt portrayal of110500:53:03.340 --> 00:53:07.059
family and the tragic rise of Richie Valens. Gene Siskel agreed,110600:53:07.139 --> 00:53:10.340
highlighting the performance of Lou Diamond Phillips and Isai Morales,110700:53:10.489 --> 00:53:13.809
and saying the emotional relationship between the two brothers elevated110800:53:13.889 --> 00:53:17.610
the film above the typical rock and roll biography. Rotten110900:53:17.650 --> 00:53:20.139
Tomatoes gives it a tomato meter score of 83%, with111000:53:20.159 --> 00:53:21.699
a popcorn meter score of 79%. It also has an111100:53:21.719 --> 00:53:29.579
IMDb rating of 7. So this takes us to additional111200:53:29.639 --> 00:53:32.400
thoughts and questions. So before we wrap up this week's episode,111300:53:32.480 --> 00:53:34.860
are there any additional thoughts and questions you want to111400:53:34.920 --> 00:53:37.639
share about La Bamba? Anything we missed, Seth, that you111500:53:37.659 --> 00:53:38.099
want to cover?111600:53:38.519 --> 00:53:41.139
I think we covered a lot. I just love the film, Bill,111700:53:41.260 --> 00:53:44.119
as I told you. It's always been near and dear111800:53:44.139 --> 00:53:48.349
to me. For whatever reason, I just can't take my111900:53:48.409 --> 00:53:51.230
eyes off of it once it's on. And since we112000:53:51.269 --> 00:53:53.389
decided we were going to do this, I rewatched the112100:53:53.409 --> 00:53:56.869
movie for the 200th time. I've been singing the songs112200:53:56.889 --> 00:53:58.820
around the house. My kids are looking at me like112300:53:58.889 --> 00:54:02.260
I'm a maniac. Although they do know, my wife's from112400:54:02.280 --> 00:54:05.519
the Philippines. Karaoke is something that's a big part of112500:54:05.579 --> 00:54:08.800
our family. And they know that La Bamba is always112600:54:09.019 --> 00:54:12.340
my go-to song whenever we sing karaoke. But I think112700:54:12.380 --> 00:54:15.260
they got to see the connection and why it speaks112800:54:15.300 --> 00:54:17.889
to me the way it does. So yeah, no real112900:54:17.949 --> 00:54:22.150
questions here. I'm glad that I was able to throw113000:54:22.190 --> 00:54:24.090
you a curveball and get you back in front of113100:54:24.130 --> 00:54:25.050
this great movie.113200:54:25.570 --> 00:54:27.809
No, I appreciate that. And so I just want to113300:54:27.829 --> 00:54:30.869
do a quick shout out because when Richie does his performance,113400:54:30.949 --> 00:54:34.239
it says Alan Freed presents. And there's a movie that113500:54:34.280 --> 00:54:36.699
my dad used to watch all the time. And it's113600:54:36.739 --> 00:54:40.480
called American Hot Wax. It came out in 1978. And113700:54:40.500 --> 00:54:42.619
it is the story of Alan Freed. And Alan Freed113800:54:42.659 --> 00:54:45.000
was a really a big pioneer of rock and roll.113900:54:45.199 --> 00:54:48.949
And of course, at that time, rock and roll was evil.114000:54:49.559 --> 00:54:51.539
and it is about one of his last shows that114100:54:51.559 --> 00:54:54.300
he does put on in New York. It wasn't Richard114200:54:54.380 --> 00:54:57.900
Vallon's performance, but it's a movie that definitely flew under114300:54:57.920 --> 00:55:01.710
the radar. A young Jay Leno is in the movie. Oh, wow.114400:55:02.289 --> 00:55:05.150
That's where I got my introduction to Jay Leno. If114500:55:05.190 --> 00:55:07.070
you have not seen that movie and you really love114600:55:07.110 --> 00:55:10.329
this type of music, I would definitely say check it out.114700:55:10.369 --> 00:55:13.099
I believe Chuck Berry does a performance in it. Little114800:55:13.119 --> 00:55:17.340
Richard performs. It's really a fun film, and that certainly114900:55:17.360 --> 00:55:19.550
made me think of that. And that's one of those movies.115000:55:19.590 --> 00:55:20.880
I'm like, Oh, I wish that movie was in the115100:55:20.929 --> 00:55:23.099
eighties so I could cover it on the, on this podcast,115200:55:23.119 --> 00:55:24.539
but I'll shout it out right here.115300:55:25.000 --> 00:55:26.400
Very cool. I'll have to look it up.115400:55:27.099 --> 00:55:27.400
All right.115500:55:27.900 --> 00:55:30.619
So let's move on to our rating. So we use115600:55:30.639 --> 00:55:33.369
a five-star system with zero stars being the worst and115700:55:33.409 --> 00:55:37.230
five stars being the best and half star increments are allowed.115800:55:37.429 --> 00:55:40.050
So Seth, you know, you picked the movie today, so115900:55:40.110 --> 00:55:42.150
it's safe to assume you're going to give a good marks.116000:55:42.710 --> 00:55:45.320
Yeah. And I didn't just pick the movie bill. I mean,116100:55:45.340 --> 00:55:47.300
this has happened twice in a row and I feel,116200:55:48.170 --> 00:55:50.469
I mean, it just feels so predictable, but this is116300:55:50.530 --> 00:55:53.219
five stars all the way. I mean, everything, you know,116400:55:53.579 --> 00:55:56.420
I've just been waxing poetic about this movie the entire time.116500:55:56.980 --> 00:55:59.760
I just think it got everything right. It got everything right.116600:55:59.820 --> 00:56:02.480
I know people like to nitpick certain things and say, well,116700:56:02.500 --> 00:56:04.300
it could have been this or couldn't be that. Even116800:56:04.320 --> 00:56:07.090
just hearing the Siskel and Ebert reviews and, and they're116900:56:07.119 --> 00:56:09.769
right about the performance of the two brothers, but otherwise just,117000:56:09.889 --> 00:56:12.050
you know, saying it's, it's, you're kind of run of117100:56:12.070 --> 00:56:15.699
the mill musical biopic, but, I just think everything was117200:56:15.760 --> 00:56:18.760
right in this film. And when you leave thinking that117300:56:18.800 --> 00:56:22.190
the actors did a brilliant job, thinking that the star117400:56:22.369 --> 00:56:25.570
could have been the real guy, feeling the pain that117500:56:25.690 --> 00:56:28.429
all of those actors felt, and you're the guy screaming,117600:56:28.449 --> 00:56:30.630
don't get on the plane, Bill Bant. How can you117700:56:30.690 --> 00:56:32.050
not give that thing five stars?117800:56:32.489 --> 00:56:34.639
You're making pressure on me, pressure on me.117900:56:35.230 --> 00:56:36.869
Well, no, you rate it how you want. But I'm118000:56:36.909 --> 00:56:39.369
just saying to me, that's a five star film. Like,118100:56:39.409 --> 00:56:41.079
what more do you want a movie to do for you?118200:56:41.610 --> 00:56:45.670
I certainly give it a solid four stars. And I definitely,118300:56:46.010 --> 00:56:48.769
as much as I was blown away by Esai Morales' performance,118400:56:49.329 --> 00:56:51.909
when I continually watched it, I was really blown away118500:56:51.989 --> 00:56:55.530
by Lou Diamond Phillips and just the presence he was118600:56:55.650 --> 00:56:59.809
able to portray being Richie Balance. It really showed why118700:57:00.179 --> 00:57:03.500
Richie Balance, as a young 17-year-old, was going to skyrocket118800:57:03.539 --> 00:57:06.119
to the top of the music world. I still want118900:57:06.139 --> 00:57:08.400
to know why Bob was in jail. I couldn't find that.119000:57:08.579 --> 00:57:10.719
What had happened? Why was he away from the family?119100:57:11.389 --> 00:57:13.269
I did want to get a little more background with119200:57:13.389 --> 00:57:17.050
that kind of stuff. But overall, I was pleasantly surprised.119300:57:17.090 --> 00:57:20.449
I'm so glad you picked this movie because it has119400:57:20.530 --> 00:57:24.070
been a long time since I'd seen it. Probably since, yeah,119500:57:24.130 --> 00:57:27.489
probably since the 80s. So I'm certainly glad that we119600:57:27.710 --> 00:57:29.820
were able to touch on it. Seth, thank you so119700:57:29.860 --> 00:57:31.880
much for being on the show. And I'm going to119800:57:31.920 --> 00:57:35.900
give you time to plug away about your excellent podcast119900:57:36.059 --> 00:57:39.059
and You have multiple podcasts, the ones you produce, the120000:57:39.139 --> 00:57:41.239
ones that you're on. Where can people find you? Where120100:57:41.260 --> 00:57:41.869
can people follow you?120200:57:41.900 --> 00:57:44.960
Yeah, I'm doing a lot of podcasting, that's for sure.120300:57:45.000 --> 00:57:47.889
But my primary podcast is The Fish Tank. If you're120400:57:48.010 --> 00:57:52.989
on Twitter or Instagram, it's TheFishTank81. And look, we're a120500:57:53.070 --> 00:57:57.650
sports podcast, specifically a Miami Dolphins podcast. So if that120600:57:57.710 --> 00:58:00.150
is your thing, you definitely want to come spend some120700:58:00.190 --> 00:58:03.070
time with us. We have a great time. We're not120800:58:03.150 --> 00:58:06.449
just a hardcore X's and O's podcast. We love to120900:58:06.590 --> 00:58:12.179
tell old stories, talk to former players, mascots, coaches, and121000:58:12.239 --> 00:58:14.139
now we do talk a lot about the current team121100:58:14.179 --> 00:58:16.360
in our new format. We do a live stream on121200:58:16.380 --> 00:58:20.380
Wednesday nights on the Dolphins Talk YouTube channel. So anything121300:58:20.400 --> 00:58:23.159
Miami Dolphins related, come check us out at the Fish Tank.121400:58:23.480 --> 00:58:25.940
I do some other things that are Dolphins-centric. I've got121500:58:25.960 --> 00:58:27.940
a new one that I'm cooking up here. I won't121600:58:27.980 --> 00:58:30.900
say anything about it just yet, but it's something I121700:58:30.940 --> 00:58:34.170
think you might find interesting, and it's off the beaten121800:58:34.210 --> 00:58:36.309
path from the kind of stuff I've been doing. And121900:58:36.329 --> 00:58:39.369
then when I'm not podcasting, my day job is to122000:58:39.409 --> 00:58:42.539
run a nonprofit organization. So if you care about young122100:58:42.599 --> 00:58:47.139
people in the South Florida area, education, empowerment, we've got122200:58:47.159 --> 00:58:49.780
a huge spoken word poetry program, our careers in sports122300:58:49.820 --> 00:58:53.019
program here at the Jason Taylor Foundation. We're always looking122400:58:53.079 --> 00:58:55.099
for people that can be our champions.122500:58:56.590 --> 00:58:58.309
So that wraps up for this week's episode of the122600:58:58.349 --> 00:59:01.280
All 80s Movies Podcast. Thanks for so much for spending122700:59:01.320 --> 00:59:02.840
part of your day with us. And a huge thank122800:59:02.880 --> 00:59:06.230
you to Seth who were joining the show and please122900:59:06.289 --> 00:59:07.969
be sure to check out and follow the fish tank123000:59:07.989 --> 00:59:11.400
podcast for some great football promises. It really goes into123100:59:11.420 --> 00:59:13.539
some of the behind the scenes stories. There were stories123200:59:13.820 --> 00:59:15.559
I love that I was there at the time and123300:59:15.599 --> 00:59:17.760
do nothing about until I listened to this podcast. So123400:59:17.780 --> 00:59:20.679
that's what made it so great. So if you enjoyed123500:59:20.699 --> 00:59:23.130
today's episode, I would really appreciate it. If you'd follow123600:59:23.150 --> 00:59:25.309
the all eighties movies podcast, leave us a rating and123700:59:25.349 --> 00:59:28.389
write a review on your favorite podcast platform. It helps123800:59:28.469 --> 00:59:31.130
more movie fans discover the show. Have a question, a123900:59:31.289 --> 00:59:33.809
favorite 80s movie you want us to cover, or some feedback,124000:59:33.989 --> 00:59:43.710
we'd love to hear from you. Email us at all80smoviespodcast. gmail. com124100:59:39.239 --> 00:59:44.559
or visit us online at all80smoviespodcast. com. Have a truly awesome day, everyone.124200:59:44.579 --> 00:59:47.500
And remember, the 80s may be over, but the movies124300:59:47.559 --> 00:59:48.039
are forever.
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