Fistful of Fingers

"All the Wright Moves," a limited series podcast from the Director's Chair Podcast Network, hosted by Trucker Andy with guest Ryan Rebalkin, dives into the filmography of Edgar Wright, beginning with his obscure 1995 debut, A Fistful of Fingers. This episode explores the film’s significance as a comedic, low-budget parody of spaghetti westerns, showcasing Wright’s early directorial promise despite its amateurish execution. The discussion highlights the film’s clever gags, Monty Python and Looney Tunes influences, and its role as a proof-of-concept that paved the way for Wright’s later successes like Shaun of the Dead and the Cornetto Trilogy. The hosts also touch on Wright’s transition to the acclaimed sitcom Spaced, his collaboration with Simon Pegg, and their anticipation for his upcoming The Running Man adaptation, emphasizing Wright’s passion for film and his unique comedic voice

Creators and Guests

Host

Ryan Rebalkin

Host

Trucker Andy

What is The Director's Chair Network?

Join Ryan and many featured guests and other hosts as they break down and review a variety of directors and their films!
So far, this podcast has featured films from Edward Zwick, John Hughes, Brian De Palma, and Michael Mann.
Soon, we will feature Edgar Wright, Sam Peckinpah, Paul Verhoeven, and David Fincher!

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[Music]
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Welcome one and all to the All the Right Moves, a limited series from the
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Director's Chair Podcast Network about the filmography of Edgar Wright. I'm your host, Trucker Andy, and with me
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today is the founder of the Director's Chair Network, Ryan Rebulk. And Ryan, thank you for being here today.
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Dude, an absolute pleasure to be on, and I just got to say, I'm so excited you're tackling this and uh being a part of the
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network. Thank you so much, Andy. Yeah, we were having a lot of fun talking about the films of Michael Man,
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specifically Collateral. Yeah. Over on uh your channel. and I offand
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made a comment that I wanted to talk about Edgar Wright and you were uh nice
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enough to allow me to do that. So, here we are. Well, and I appreciate that. In fact, if anyone's listening to this, this is my
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little plug here. You want to be like Andy and you think there's a director that you want to tackle and added to the network because that's what happened. It
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was a natural like, oh, I like Edward Edgar Wright. I want to do his films. I'm like, are you serious? And we talked offline. You were. So, if you're
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listening to this and there's a director you want to tackle and add to the network, please contact myself or Ry. We'd love to have you on. There is there
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is no limit to the directors that we'll cover. Yeah. And I I thought this was a perfect
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fit because the the catalog is not two. I was willing to commit to the amount of
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films that Edgar Wright has made and a lot of them are beloved to me. But this
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one, we have to start at the beginning. And I had never heard of this. And when
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I went to look at where to start, I found this and I went and watched it.
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And I have a lot of thoughts about it. I know you have watched it as well.
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Um, this is 1995's Fist Full of Fingers, which I, again, I
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had no idea this even existed. And I think maybe I know why it doesn't come up in a lot of conversation, but uh have
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you heard of this before I no talked about it? No, I I I thought Sha of the Dead was his
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first film. I like film proper. Maybe it is. If you want to argue this, you could say Fistful of Fingers might be like his
2:27
lost long demo tape that's resurfaced after he's become a big- time director. But I yeah, I look forward to talking
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about it's an important demo tape, though. It's a it it is a one worth investigating.
2:39
Exactly. This seems to be a a resume builder that this is what a lot
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of director the way that Ryan Reynolds made that little Deadpool short uh to
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convince studios that of what the movie would end up becoming. This is Edgar
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Wright's uh proof of concept or proof of knowledge to show case to producers or
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collaborators that he knows how to pace a film. He knows how to block a shot. He
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knows how to write and edit and all of these things. The only problem I feel
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like is that it is a an amate it's it's amateur hour basically from front to
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back is how and I had to keep telling myself watching this. It's like what are
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people looking at this and going this kid's got got gumption and and uh
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like promise that and what what am I seeing here on this screen that made
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somebody a producer decide to take a chance on Edgar Wright? Well, I don't know if I can answer that per se because
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now we're retroactively looking at it as someone who is a very accomplished director and has directed some of my
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favorite films of all time. Uh, of course, Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I mean, those are just his trilogy uh of
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films. What's it called? The Cornet, what's it called again? The the Cornetto trilogy. Yeah, that's right. It makes no sense
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other than he it's the same two actors, but I don't know how they exactly tie together. I'm not an Edgar Wright like
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nerd though. Shan the Dead when it came out it blew me away and I can't wait to hear people's thoughts on it when you
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cover it. But I'm excited to cover this early demo film per se like you. I was
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like what are we watching here? It's a YouTube link. I found the YouTube video cuz I when you said we're doing this
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film I thought is there a way I can rent this film? Can I Luckily somebody put it up on YouTube? I don't know if you had
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another place to find it. Like what how are you going to watch it? That I was concerned about that when we
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decided we were going to do this. I I started going to Amazon Prime and Netflix and it's unfindable, but luckily
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maybe a a fan is hosting it somewhere on YouTube and that's exactly how I
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can't buy it. Yeah. Nor should you. Okay. Well, you sounds like and I'm not
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trying to be like, oh, this is an amazing film. Okay. Take off take off how it I don't know how should I
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actually ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I did. 5 minutes in, I was like, what are we watching here? This does look like obviously what it
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looks like. It's a VHS tape. It's filmed in 1995, which was 30 years ago. But I
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have to say, I'm impressed with 20-year-old Edgar putting this together with his teenage friends. And I laughed
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out loud at parts. I'm not I truly thought some of the gags were quite I
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was almost jealous that a 20-year-old could come up with some very funny stuff. And granted, he's he's my age.
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He's a year older than me. So, we we come from the same school of film, comedy, MontiPython, Naked Gun. So, this
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guy is obviously a Montipython Naked Gun uh fan. You you nailed it. That that was one of
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the things that was in my notes as well. And just to back up just a little bit,
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if you're watching this episode one of this limited series, the the director's
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chair is more of a discussion. We we're approaching this with the uh presumption
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that you've gone to YouTube and watched this already. So, this isn't a a channel
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where we're going to explain the plot of Fingers to you, even though we will talk about specific things in the movie. So,
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if you're watching this now and you haven't watched it, just go find it for free on YouTube and then come back and
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you're going to have a better understanding of what we're talking about here. But it's very interesting to
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me that it's most fledgling directors I would say cut their teeth with lowbudget
6:42
horror and that is not what right and a lot of these people that I
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feel like are sister or like spiritual successors or contemporaries of Edgar
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Wright do operate in in that genre. People like Robert Rodriguez I feel like
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is a onetoone comparison to maybe Edgar Wright's the way he cultivated his
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career and okay but well Robert Rodriguez made El
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mariachi and then and then that he I I read his
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autobiography and he subjected himself to medical trials
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where he was sequestered to in a room and taking experimental
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drugs and being tested whether he was placebo or not while he was sequestered
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doing these medical trials to get money to make his movie. That's how he wrote
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El Mariachi. Oh wow. Is the story of Robert Rodriguez who and
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unfortunately I feel like Robert Rodriguez went on to make a slew of shitty shitty movies. How dare you? Spy
8:01
Kids 2. Spy Kids 3 was Stallone, Shark Boy, and Lava Girl, anyone?
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Oh, that was a that was a love letter to his children. That was their story. Okay. Well, save it for them because I I
8:14
hate those movies. Whereas Edgar Wright went on to make movies. I like just
8:19
about all of them in one way or another. So, he's got a pretty good track record. I mean, we are This is the premier
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episode, so to speak. So, I don't mind if you know I'm not going to give my thoughts and feelings cuz people are going to cover it. But if you just look at his filmography, it's a pretty good
8:33
run of films. Uh, I mean, the Hot Fuzz, of course, Sean of the Dead, The World's
8:38
End, and then he then they're like, "Hey, dude, you're a pretty fun filmmaker. Do you want to dabble in Ant-Man?" Though he only wrote it, but
8:44
the idea that they tagged him for that. Of course, Baby Driver, I feel like he
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he doesn't take like he takes his time to do films, which I think it shows on the screen in the script. What do you
8:55
think? Agreed. And let's not forget Scott Pilgrim, which is arguably one of my
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all-time maybe top three favorite films. Just okay. That speaks to my soul on so many
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levels. And um I don't know how I'm going to be able to talk about it in only one episode when we get around to
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Scott Pilgrim. This is instead of it being a horror film where a lot of people seem to get their feet wet, this
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is a parody of spaghetti westerns, right? Allah Sergio Leon and like Clint
9:30
Eastwood style films, but well, it really is a Clint Eastwood parody at the end. This is there's no
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bones about it. This is alternate universe Clint Eastwood, right? And if it's Sergio Leon meets the
9:45
Looney Tunes, it meets Bugs Bunny. You know, it's funny they bring up Looney Tunes. There was a couple scenes like, "Oh my
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gosh." Obviously, again, we're the same age. He was raised in Looney Tunes. So, this he editor and I I think if we were
9:56
to sit down and have a conversation about our growing up years watching TV and we'd have so much ven diagram of
10:02
what we enjoyed because there was there was definitely Bugs Bunny type behavior in this. Right. So you mentioned Monty Python,
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you mentioned Naked Gun, Zucker brothers type of things. No, Brooks. Yeah, these things are right. And that's
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that's really where I struggled with watching this and I had to keep
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reminding myself that it was So you struggled. I got to I got to interview you a little bit. So you str
10:27
See, that's where I embraced it. Yeah. Well, that that's that's why I
10:33
gave it so much of a pass. But I wouldn't not to skip to the end, but I
10:39
can't see myself ever watching this ever again. Okay, that's okay. Well, yeah. I don't
10:45
know if I'm gonna punch in the YouTube address. Yeah. And watch this again. I'm glad I did,
10:51
though. I'm glad I did cuz now I can say that I'm one of the few fans of Mr. Wright that I've said I've seen his
10:58
first official film. I'm curious though, and you know better than me because you're going to talk about space I think at the end, but why the big break
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between this student film of sorts and then how did he get Shawn of the Dead because it seems that
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movie is so well done and it it almost feels like someone who's been doing movies for 20 years, right,
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is Shawn of the Dead. So, how did he get from 1995 to 2004 in that?
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It's because of Spaced. Okay, which is why we have to talk about space and we will
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once we get through the slog that was fistful of fingers.
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Nice day. Say that again. Nice day. Once more for the cheap seats. Nice day.
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I I know you're being like you're such a nice guy. You're to give people the benefit of the doubt and I just
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I don't know if that's it. I Okay, I'll say this. There was some really good gags that I guess I envisioned. Okay,
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I'm going to pretend I I was a multi-millionaire producer and it's 1995. I've got money to burn and I'm
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let's say at this time I'm 50 years old and I'm watching this in 1995. I see this young kid and he gives me this
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film. I kid you not, I would have said I want to see this film done proper with
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proper film. Give me the right horses. Give me all the things. And that's the
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thing is I get it. The quality is the home video quality. I I I watched it for
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the gags. I thought this should have been on the big screen. There's some legitimate gags in this film that are funnier than your naked gun films. That
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is some some of it's funnier than your Monty P. I kid you not. I actually genuinely laughed out loud. I thought, "Oh, that's clever. That's too clever
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for teenagers." I I had that thought as well, but mine was more when it comes to
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the humor of the film and there it is joked dense, but my reaction to a lot of
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it was, "Oh, that's funny. I get it." And not actually laughing, which is if
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you tell a joke and somebody goes, "That's funny." And that instead of actually laughing, that that's a
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different version of humor. That's more like my wife being polite when I tell a joke as opposed to somebody actually
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thinking what I said was funny, which was the the way that I digested a lot of
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this humor. And but to to what you were saying about let's take this let's make
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let's go from Evil Dead to Evil Dead 2. Yeah, I guess that's what it is. Yeah, sure. Let's go from El Mariachi to Desperado
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with this. Let's do it with all the right equipment, all better writing,
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better editing, and better a better cast because I didn't like the lead. I liked
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I thought the the villain and the and the hero should have switched. But that
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was more like a good a good villain a good movie needs a good villain. So
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maybe they just like a Katon Nicholson Batman kind of dynamic
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where the strength of the movie was in the the the antagonist.
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Yeah, the lead I kind of agree. I I like Squinty and Okay, this is Do we want to
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talk about the controversial psychic subject? Yeah, we I mean we can bring it up, but
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it remember this is 1995, not 2025. Okay. Why? I'm not going to be an
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apologist and that's not my intent and I'm not going to say yes. Of course, yes. Yes, folks. White people don't put
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on brown face paint and become a different nationality. Like, we know that. We Let's get that out in the open. We understand that you don't do that.
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Um, but what I will say is they did it on like it was so obvious. They they had
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this young actor. The gag was he he was only painted brown
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from his neck up. The rest of his body was white. Yeah.
14:53
Sorry. I think that's part of the gag because they you Here's the thing. They're gagging. What was Hey, look.
15:00
This was before Tropic Thunder. So, I I think they should get a not they should get a pass the same way Robert Downey got a pass because they're m This was
15:06
pre-tropic thunder. Uh, this is where I give Edar some real credit here for some originality because they are making fun
15:13
of a time when actors did put on darker makeup to become Native Americans in
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western films. This was a real thing. And then other nationalities, it was it was so common that nobody batted an eye.
15:27
Okay, we have an American actor playing an East Indian, you know, person. We have was that Jerry Lewis playing the a
15:34
Chinese person or whatever it was like David Keredine and kung fu right so but that's what they were doing
15:40
that was the commentary is like here we have a very obvious white person with putting on the uh cliche Native American
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voice and then throughout the film throughout the film he has the it's the
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classic like mystic ability. Yeah. Sorry, I there was a scene where
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uh they're having the big shootout at the end and there's a sign that says like caution loose rubble and he starts
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doing the uh the war cry with his mouth in hand. Totally. Yes. Inappropriate.
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The idea that he's going to make the rocks fall like he's one with nature but nothing fell. The whole world shook but
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no rocks fell.
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[Music]
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This is I see you're laughing. I was watching this thinking this is actually
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is it it's very high brow and c but that's the commentary is we are this is
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wholly inappropriate to the sense but this is what films do did like native Americans were one with
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earth and they had this like and they are always so calm and they come in the last moment they're kind of guiding the
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poor stupid white man through the wilderness and that but I don't know I thought that was pretty smart com again
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from somebody like Edgar who I guess watched unforgiven given and the and the these movies and Dances with Wolves and
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and they took the mick out of it with this commentary. Sure. And we have to remember that this
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is 1995 England. There's not Native Americans in England for a 20some Edgar
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Wright to cast in this film. So you you it also leans into that sort of version
17:39
of the joke. So but if they did it today if they did it today, yes, they would Yeah, that's the thing. would then cast somebody who was
17:46
actually a Native American taking the mick out of stupid white people doing
17:51
this with their roles, making them seem mystical and you know all that stuff. So you you could do this film today, but
17:57
you'd have to cast obviously appropriately, right? And and there it's a lot of
18:03
cleverness that goes into well our lack of budget. What are we going to do? Let's parody the horses from Monty
18:10
Python and a lot of the signage and the Bugs Bunny stuff. And one of the things
18:15
when you said this is it's almost too clever that when the horse runs goes off
18:21
the cliff and it says edge of cliff and then it pans to the right and it says edge of frame. It's like that's it's a
18:29
movie making joke that's almost too clever to be in this movie. But that that was maybe one of my favorite jokes.
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And I knew they were going to do the Monti. I knew it. I said, "Oh, they're going to go on a horse. They're going to do something nod to Montipython." And I
18:43
will give this showcases Edgar's ability as a filmmaker. So, even though they're they're running with the like the
18:49
horses, they're in a horse costume and the characters or the actors are running. I squinted my eyes a little bit. Hear me out. I like I kind of like
18:56
blurred my vision to watch their angling or Edgar's angling of the
19:01
horse riding chase with him and squinty eye uh was actually really well done. He
19:06
had a at an early age he has a knack for direction and setting up the frame. What do you think of it? So even though
19:12
they're it's a funny horse chase. I actually en again envisioned real horses here and it's like he actually has a
19:19
knack for doing this. I really hope he reinvestigates this film. That would be interesting if he did.
19:24
Maybe I wonder how what he thinks of this if cuz I'm sure when he talks about
19:32
recommending things from I mean maybe he never does but if somebody was like his uh a relative that doesn't know anything
19:39
about him and they're like well where should we start with your catalog he's never going to say this but I so I
19:46
wonder if he does romanticize the the production of this film as a young man
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and like what he would would do different now if he to make it better when he
20:00
watches this because he he wants it to be Blazing Saddles. And yeah,
20:05
there's another movie called Hundreds of Beavers that came out uh in 2024 that is
20:14
virtually silent and virtually all green screen except for the actors who are in
20:21
like mascot costumes as beavers. And it's it's really
20:28
insanely good. And when I when I watched this, it reminded me of that. but not as
20:35
good. So that that is and that's a problem. That's my fault for assigning
20:42
um expectations to something that I shouldn't. So, and I'm also going to say
20:48
this that might chase a lot of people that are watching this away if you're a fan of Monty Python. I never was. I I I
20:56
don't. Okay. Well, that's it's not my thing. And uh so a lot of
21:02
the the gags where I was just like, "Oh, this reminds me of Monty Python, something I don't enjoy." Okay. Well, no, no, I I appreciate and
21:09
then I think the listener would appreciate your your angle and that's fine. That's your journey as a as a
21:16
comedian and or comedy movie stylings. Uh I I was raised on Python. So that's
21:24
my kind of humor. Absolutely. That British humor. It's it's absolutely ridiculous. And I I kind of like the
21:30
ridiculousness of the naked gun of the Montipython. It like it should it shouldn't be funny and that's what it's
21:36
funny. And I don't know why that makes me laugh cuz it's like I get the joke. I like I see why you did that joke, but
21:42
it's so bad. It's good, but it's also very clever. Like I there's so many jokes. I got halfway through the film
21:48
like I should have started writing things down. Uh because there's like Oh, remember that joke? Remember that joke? There's one that stuck out to me that
21:54
was really good when uh what's it oh the Native America's name is running R running sore I love his ex-girlfriend's
22:01
name was the Yanks with fist good god it's Yanks with a fist you know
22:07
her I've been out with her that's terrible see
22:14
well because that's a play on words for the uh dances wolves was stands with fists that's the joke it's okay anyway
22:22
So, uh, when he's being taught how to shoot shoot shoot a gun, and he's doing practice, and we see him quick drawing,
22:30
he's missing the, uh, the props that they're putting up, like it's a watermelon head or whatever it is. And then we see him like he draw, you see
22:36
the the watermelon explode. Oh, he's improved. And the guy with no name says, "Well, that's, you know, you got to go a
22:43
little bit further back next."
22:49
And again. Fast enough.
22:55
Good one. Now just a little further away. You see
23:01
now he's standing right next to the watermelon as he like the idea that he was right there when he blew up the watermelon. I love those clever little
23:07
gangs who were led to believe his viewer. Oh, he's getting better at his aim. But no, we find out later he was literally standing right next to the
23:14
watermelon. That it's stupid. Why is that funny? But it is. is I found myself constantly surprised by
23:21
obvious humor working so well. Maybe it's just been a long time since I've seen that kind of slapstick comedy that
23:28
I enjoyed growing up with. Sure. And I'm a big fan of Looney Tunes and
23:34
Sure. Fair enough. Did you happen to see the new Naked Gun? I I I heard that you went uh about it.
23:41
Is it good? It is there. Okay. I I look forward to it then because I love the Naked Gun films.
23:46
I mean, say what you want about OJ, but he was really funny in those films. It's true because he really killed that role.
23:55
Yes. I I OJ's beloved, you know, that's why
24:01
that's why things took out for OJ the way they did because he here in Buffalo,
24:06
upstate New York. All right. Yeah. I like to believe that OJ covered for his son, that his son
24:12
committed the murders and OJ took the fall for him. That's that's the narrative I go with to to so I can still
24:18
watch the naked gun, right? And if you enjoy that type of
24:23
humor, if you enjoy Monty Python and you enjoy Looney Tunes, you will find value
24:28
in this film and a lot and obviously a lot of people did see the potential and
24:34
the value in it and that and that's great, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't have shot in the Dead, we wouldn't have Hot Fuzz. So the this is it's definitely
24:44
cuz this is another thing that I realized why this is findable. Why maybe
24:50
people cuz when Space came out for two seasons and then Shaun of the Dead
24:56
exploded in popularity then you're people are anxiously awaiting uh hot fuzz and in the meantime
25:04
what is there what is there to find other than after I've watched Space
25:10
twice or three times and watched Shawn of the Dead 10 times, what's left except this when the when that was the only
25:16
other thing as an Edgar Wright fan to go and find. I'm sure a lot of people saw
25:22
this and so it was nice to have in the catalog for that reason. There's just
25:28
one more thing to maybe as a a hidden track in the filmography of Edgar
25:34
Wright. You can go see him at his roots and how he got
25:40
how he cut his teeth in making films. How did he do you know how he connected
25:46
with Simon Peg? Hm. I have to I don't mean to put you on the spot, but
25:51
I I don't know that specifically except that Simon Peg I mean this is probably a
25:58
good time to start talking about spaced because this is
26:04
the Edgar Wright players is uh where the the pedigree of spaced versus Shauna of
26:12
the Dead. Um, I I I'll just say as as let's wrap up
26:18
our thoughts about Fistful of Fingers and then we should probably start talking about space at this point
26:24
because um that's really where the popularity
26:30
and of Edgar Wright starts. It's certainly not with this, but I did I
26:36
just to talk about the end of the film a little bit. Sure. They do a reference to Once Upon a
26:43
Time in the West and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. And when they started
26:49
bringing up those movies, I was like, "Oh yeah, those are cool movies. I should go watch those." Um, so you could
26:55
see the influence of the westerns there. You could see the influence of Monty Python and where Edgar gets all of his
27:03
comedic sensibilities and he's very funny. He's very clever and you that's
27:09
really what shines through with fist full of fingers. Okay, I'll also add regarding the end
27:15
sequels because they're talking about how the final shootout between Butch Cassie and Sun get like how that ended
27:22
and they had these characters come in with the faces of of the actors and from that film and they got shot within this
27:28
film. But what it showed me is Edgar Wright comes from the school of and you
27:33
could almost argue this was he wrote andor created this
27:39
around the same time Pul Fiction was released in '94. Now this was released in '95. But I dare say I I I think this
27:47
movie would exist without Quent Tarantino ever existing. I want to make this clear. I'm I'm 99% sure that this
27:52
was an independent thought thought exercise and creation of Edgar independent of on the other side of the
27:58
pond with QT and his journey with his he's another independent filmmaker who
28:03
loves movies and his love of movies showcases in his films where you have that fourth wall dialogue about films
28:09
and movies and the screen franchise is also not that like I'm I love horror
28:15
films I'm making a horror film about my love of horror films and now that's Edgar doing this And that's what makes
28:21
Edar a pioneer is he is breaking that fourth wall throughout this whole film
28:28
talking about what makes these other films so great but he of course parodies it and that's his love letter is through
28:37
humor is you can tell that he truly loves spaghetti westerns that he loves the Clint Eastwood films. You can't
28:43
parody something that you don't enjoy. It's not making fun of like mocking oh
28:48
stupid western tropes. The idea is is he's seen so many of these films that
28:54
that's his love letter to the films with his humor and clever writing you know from all these jokes and gags or things
29:00
that he's enjoyed. So he's incorporating and I'll give him credit too for taking that town or sorry an area of England.
29:06
I there was there was there were legit moments where I allowed myself to be in the West. Like he was able to really
29:15
tell a story or or a setting in England and make it at times seem like I'm
29:22
having a story in the Old West. And I think that just again now with his the way he is now, he's gonna do Running Man
29:28
coming out. I can only imagine with the budget that he has now, the kind of stuff he can pull. So, I'm really excited to see what he can do in this
29:35
bag of tricks with almost an unlimited budget and crew and and camera work and stuff. Yeah, I I guess I have a I don't
29:43
know. I I this movie endeared me. I legit was I enjoyed it much more than I
29:49
thought I was going to enjoy it. And I truly laughed. I was ready to say, "Oh, this is going to be self-indulgent. Look at me. I'm going to be a film guy." You
29:56
know, but I was like, "Oh, yeah. He he has a vision and a love of film."
30:01
Oh, back to the Butch Cassidy is what I'm getting at. He's talking about the film within the film that Quentyn does.
30:07
And so, it's the same idea of you can tell he loves film and that shows in his
30:13
film making. I think that's the key. He is like, I want to make a good film because I like films and I want people to like films. So, I think yeah, I I'm
30:20
I'm becoming a bigger fan of Edgar just because of a fistful of fingers. That's fantastic.
30:26
And you're right, the these are the category of contemporaries that are
30:33
lovers of film. We talk about Grindhouse and why his short for the trailer for
30:41
don't is included in that along with Eli Roth and right Rob Zombie to a lesser degree. But uh
30:48
these guys are Robert Rodriguez, Quinton Tarantino, right? all a lot of I this is
30:54
the kind of stuff I loved watching when I was a kid and this is this Fistful of
31:00
Fingers is definitely a a kid make to making a movie because
31:06
he's compelled to make movies because he loves movies so much and these are the
31:11
things that have influenced him and what and the type of film that he would want to see. He's making something that that
31:19
he wants to see on the screen. So that's and that's the value of a fist full of
31:24
fingers is the potential and the passion and uh the writing these these charming
31:32
little things that prompted everybody to take note of what Edgar Wright had to offer. So
31:38
awesome. All right. So tell me tell me about space. I mean and I should have I'm surprised I never watched this cuz a
31:44
I love Star Trek. I love science fiction and I love comedy, but I wholly missed
31:49
this series. That's uh clear because it's not about
31:55
outer space. Oh, I thought it was. Yeah. Right. Tim and Daisy are on the outs
32:00
with their respective significant others. Meeting by chance in a coffee shop. They bond over their similar
32:05
circumstances and the wantads with a lack of opportunities professionally, romantically, and financially.
32:20
They hatch a thre's company style plot to rent a flat pretending to be a
32:25
professional couple with neighbors and friends like Mike, Twist, and Brian. It's all Tim and Daisy can do to keep up
32:32
the charade and stay one step ahead of suspicious land lady Marsha. Whether it's botched house warming parties or
32:39
will they won't they awkwardness. Quirky Daisy and Sardonic Tim have no choice but to become unlikely friends.
32:47
I'm an idiot. It's fine. But the first thing I would say is if you're enjoying early Edgar
32:54
Wright and you're enjoying all of these films that he's done that are seemingly
33:00
um is it a western? Yeah. like almost categorically all good
33:08
with some critical exceptions. I enjoy virtually all of the movies and Spaced
33:15
is a beloved British sitcom that a lot of the things
33:22
we've already talked about why like like what makes Edgar Wright's voice as a
33:28
creator and an artist are on display in spaced spaced being the it's called that
33:36
I believe because yeah in England they call apartments flats and Oh, you know,
33:42
there there's different terminology. I I could be wrong about this, but spaced is like there they're sharing an apartment
33:49
because the the concept for the show, um, if we're just
33:56
talking about the the series overall, you have Tim, who is played by Simon
34:01
Peg, okay, and Daisy, who is played by Jessica Hines. And a lot of people that you will
34:10
end up seeing go on to be in Shaun of the Dead and some of the other specifically Nick Frost and Edgar,
34:16
right? Or Simon Peg. Yeah. You know, these guys are it spaced is basically those movies done
34:24
half an hour at a time for two seasons. I thought, you know what's funny? I I'm such an idiot.
34:30
No, you're not. You haven't seen it. I haven't seen it, but for some reason, because I I just always associated Simon
34:35
Peg, his love with sci-fi, of course, being in the Star Trek films, I just thought for some reason, well, I did if
34:40
you asked me 10 minutes ago, I thought it was a like group of characters in space, and it was sort of like,
34:48
well, I'm telling you, I I can't recommend it enough. This is really a beloved series. It a lot of
34:54
people are all about it. And if you like that style of comedy that it's Shaun of
35:00
the Dead, you if you just take the zombie the zombie apocalypse out of Shaun of the Dead,
35:05
right? I got you. A lot of beats in that movie that are straight taken right out of space.
35:13
How did they meet? That's what I don't because it says here the show was Yeah, it says here the show was created by
35:18
Simon, but it is directed by Edgar. So, I wonder how they Okay. Well, they they probably got paired up by a production company and
35:26
the Simon said, "I wrote this concept and the like, let's see who we could
35:32
find to direct it." Oh, here's this guy that has a lot of Moxy and Promise that made this Fist full of fingers film.
35:39
Let's see what he can do with he did like an episode here and there of other things that I'm sure where he proved
35:46
that he could handle directing a whole series before they handed this whole you know showrunning project over to him. So
35:53
he did this episode of that and and a and a music video or something like that proved that he could handle this and
35:59
then they're just like okay let's see what you can do with Simon Peg's project and then they teamed up for the next 15
36:06
years or more. Okay, so it says here I I was going to say I sure wish there was some sort of tool that we could use
36:12
where we I know I I hate googling on the fly, but it's driving me crazy. So I'm
36:17
like how do these two like meet up in the business? So because what they childhood friends No. So in 98, writer
36:23
actress Simon Peg and Jessica were in the early stages of developing their sitcom Space for Channel 4 and they
36:29
thought of asking Wright to direct having fondly remembered him work sorry having fondly remembered working with
36:35
him on the 1996 Paramount comedy Asylum. So they met on the show Asylum.
36:41
Ah okay. So they were so Simon Simon just girl hey this is great who do we think of you
36:46
know we're gonna act and write this but who's gonna who's got the vision for this comedy then? So I guess Edgar, he
36:53
worked on this show called Asylum, which was created by Edgar, Wright, and Simon Peg wrote for that show as well. There
37:00
you go. Okay. Well, that makes sense. Well, we were talked uh in the episode about
37:06
Collateral, how Michael Man enjoyed working with Jamie Fox and Jada Pinket
37:12
with the with Ali or one of a movie that he did right before he made Collateral. And
37:17
then when he decided to put that together, he wanted to work with people that he enjoyed working with. And that's that's how a lot of things get made.
37:24
Well, there at the end of the day, if you get along with somebody and you're like, "Hey, that's the thing why you shouldn't burn bridges, right? Like,
37:30
hey, we're getting along and who could we collaborate with? Who do we trust behind the camera?" So, it's that's
37:35
great. So, good for this is interesting though. So, Edgar does that fistful of fingers and had Simon never existed,
37:42
that's what I that's what I wonder about these things. Edgar is a very visionary guy. He has a great he has a great
37:48
aesthetic behind the camera, but without Simon's writing prowess.
37:55
Yeah. Like what would have happened? That's true because I I have to assume they probably wrote
38:02
Shawn of the Dead together or Simon Peg wrote it. Simon wrote it. That's what I mean. I think Edar is the visionary guy,
38:08
but Simon So like you've got u who's the writer for Elton John, you know, like whatever that you know, like the
38:16
Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, one guy's writing the music,
38:21
the other guy's singing it. Meatloaf. Meatloaf. He's the singer. The other dude's the writer.
38:27
Yeah. So, spaced I think get derives so much of its charm. Well, well, it's very
38:34
formulaic blueprint in the sense that the first one starts with uh the the main
38:40
characters breaking up and goes into kind of a who's the boss. Will they
38:46
won't they? Won't they kind of territory now that they're living together even though
38:52
they're pretending that they're not together? Will they actually end up together? And
38:57
that is a cliche concept and the breakup in the first episode like Rachel on
39:04
Friends running out on her wedding or there's a another show called Happy Endings where two of the main characters
39:10
who they get one of them leaves the other one at the altar and now they're friends. Yeah. So this these this
39:16
classic concept, but where the writing and the the style of the show becomes
39:26
unique is from Simon and Edgar. It there's a lot more.
39:31
Let's say I I don't know this to be true but in
39:37
this came out in 99 spa the series season of spaced and
39:44
in 94 and 95 you get clerks from Kevin
39:49
Smith all rats and I can't help but assume that Edgar a
39:56
younger Edgar Wright saw what Kevin Smith was doing with dialogue and fandm
40:05
as a personality with like the characters from clerks and
40:11
m rats talking about how much they love Star Wars and how much they love comics and if you don't know anything of you
40:17
like what you know and and your pop culture references are your personality
40:23
and almost all that matters to a lot of people that hang out in music stores and hang out in record shops and that it
40:30
just becomes a voice of a generation and that is kind
40:36
of what Simon Peg's voice is in spaced. Okay.
40:42
And a lot of a lot of it is pop culture
40:47
reference dense and I think that people like that. People want to hear, "Oh, I've seen that. I enjoyed it as well.
40:53
I'm cool for liking that." And that is something that I feel like Kevin Smith
40:58
cultivated also as a guy that was bootstrapping making films. And
41:04
I I have to think that Edgar Wright saw that happening and saw what Robert
41:12
Rodriguez was up to and decided that he was going to just I want to be a
41:17
filmmaker. I'm you. That's something that Kevin Smith said in one of he does a lot of those TED talk kind of
41:23
appearances. His sister said to him, um, you know, why aren't you making a movie?
41:29
Well, I don't know where to start. And he's, if you start writing a script, you're a screenwriter. If you start
41:35
making a movie, whether you're successful or not at it or not, that's that's what you're doing. That's who you
41:42
are. That's what I'm a podcaster, not successful. Look at me. I'm
41:47
a podcasting genius. Um, so when somebody's you look at somebody doing
41:54
that, it's inspiring and I feel like that he got a lot of inspiration from
42:01
those kind of creators like Quinton Tarantino and um so on everybody that
42:07
we've discussed up until this point and I should note and it's interesting the two directors that I've done on the
42:12
network so far, Ed Edward Zwick and Michael Man, they both for for the most
42:19
part have written the movies they've directed or their key writers if not Michael Man
42:25
for sure. Uh Edward Zwick was definitely did a few of them but he had a collaboration or he would you know even
42:31
if he didn't get the credit he was a big part in the writing. Mhm. So it's just interesting that that's the
42:36
same with Edgar Wright is Yes. He has written every one of the films that he
42:41
directs he is credited as a writer/cco-riter whether it's with Simon Peg or it seems
42:46
like uh Michael Beall is one of his writing partners cuz him and Michael did
42:51
Scott and Pilgrim and they're doing the Running Man uh for example. So they're they're writing partners with Peg as
42:57
well doing a lot of lot of these films. I just find it interesting that yeah, to Edgar's credit as a director, he's also
43:04
the storyteller, you know, screenplay or or dial. I bet he does the dialogue and stuff like that. He definitely has that
43:09
comedic type ability. Yeah, I I'm going to pay attention to this as we start digging
43:16
further and further into this catalog about who he worked with on specific
43:21
projects because it does seem like people just have uh a certain chemistry
43:27
when they work together that uh is what goes on to make projects successful.
43:34
Rick and Morty comes to mind. Uh Dan Harmon and Justin Royland.
43:39
Thank you. Thank you. Uh Justin Royland has this manic high concept type of
43:47
thought process that leads to a lot of scenarios that allow Dan Harmon's
43:53
writing to shine. like Harmon has a lot of strong
43:59
um like grasp of what the the writing process is and what makes a good story,
44:04
a hero's journey as well as a brilliant sense of humor and a brilliant uh voice
44:11
to to write with. Whereas Royland has this high concept manic energy and when
44:18
you put those two things together it creates you know the you know magic and
44:25
that is probably true of Edgar Wright and Simon Peg and some of these other
44:30
people that you that you've just brought up that he works with. So, I want to keep an eye on the certain projects that
44:36
have those ingredients that add up to successful aggre things or maybe like
44:42
some of the other ones that help get to when we start getting into the the other stuff. Maybe
44:47
I can't wait. I can't wait to get our Oh, no. I keep thinking he directed Ant-Man, didn't I? So, I can't wait to get our first Marvel film on the
44:53
network, but that's not true. He only He only wrote Ant-Man. He didn't direct it. I wonder what the first Marvel film will be on our
44:59
Can you imagine? That would have been so amazing if I mean I Ant-Man did go on to be
45:04
pretty popular. Yeah, it it turned into a a street level
45:12
hero with a different tone. Not godlike powers, but it was more of a caper
45:18
movie. And it was definitely a different thing that probably allowed them to greenlight Guardians of
45:23
the Galaxy. You know, it's like people don't need to know that it's Spider-Man
45:28
and Captain America and all these highle things for this to be a successful movie, right? But I really would have liked to see
45:36
Edgar Wright direct that. I I have to think that a lot of the work that he did on it did
45:44
go on to be included in that movie and be why that was successful. They just
45:51
had some kind of professional falling out where they he just couldn't maybe it
45:56
was scheduling. Maybe it was Yeah. Or he was working on Baby Driver right after. So he might just been busy with cuz that was his next film right
46:02
after writing that. He works on Baby Driver and then Right. It's so fickle that the big
46:08
blockbuster like big studio stuff when contracts come into play and suddenly
46:14
Paul Rudd's not available till this date and Edgar Wright's already committed to Baby Driver. So, he just physically
46:21
can't be there to helm the project because of contract negotiations, but they're they take all of the
46:29
pre-production stuff that he did, pay him for it, but take his name off of it cuz it does seem like an Edgar Wright
46:36
movie when you watch that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. He was supposed to You're right. Sorry. He was supposed to direct it. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So,
46:42
Oh, I want Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Well, yeah. It would have been interesting, but I'm kind of, you know,
46:48
it's kind of like it keeps him pure a little bit if that he hasn't done it official, if that makes sense. Like, you
46:54
know what I mean? Like, yeah, a lot of a lot of people it's turned a corner where a lot of people so sick of
47:00
it and it it would be a shame for everybody to think of Edgar Wright the
47:05
way they think of maybe. Sorry, I totally forgot. My apologies. I totally forgot that he was originally
47:10
signed on to direct. That's right. Yeah, because that was another point I wanted to make about space. Do you see at what
47:17
Edgar Wright could do with that show and then you look at the Russo brothers who
47:24
did a lot of their earlier work with the show Community Right. Not to tie everything into Dan Harmon
47:29
again. I was going to say, yeah, the Russo brothers are directing Dan Harmon's writing and then suddenly
47:35
they're quarterbacking all of the most successful Avengers stuff that everybody
47:40
loved. And um so maybe it would have been good for a right to do that, but
47:47
yeah, he'd be directing uh you know, Black Panther 3 or something. Nobody wants
47:53
that. Nobody wants that. I'm glad we're getting I'm actually um I want to kind
47:59
of hear your thoughts before we close on your excitement if any about his covering the running man.
48:04
I I couldn't be more excited. I when I initially heard that they were redoing
48:09
it, I didn't think it was a good idea. And one
48:16
of the things I know about the Schwarzenegger film versus the novel
48:23
which is Stephen King's pen name Bachman. Richard Bachman Richard Bachman. Yeah.
48:28
But is actually Stephen King. I know that there are huge departures from the
48:34
plot of the book to the plot of the film. And I saw the film first not
48:40
knowing any of that. Okay. and I learned about the novel much later. So, I feel like there's a way to
48:49
make another version of that plot in a new way with and I think that
48:56
Glenn Powell, the star of the new movie, is probably one of the more compelling
49:02
leading men that is making films right now. So, yes, I think that is a good
49:07
choice. I think Edgar Wright directing is never a bad choice, right? And I'm I'm very excited for that
49:14
movie. So I agree. I haven't watched the trailer because I'm I'm one of I don't watch trailers. So yeah I don't watch trailers
49:20
unless I'm at the I sit down and I'll just put on a a a
49:26
YouTube channel that is all trailers and just what's coming out in the fall and I
49:31
just watch all the trailers for like a half hour straight. But that's just me. I can see I know a lot of people don't
49:36
want things to get spoiled for them. Yeah. It's not so much the spoiled person like I not so much the spoiled
49:41
but yeah that like I don't know what the like I haven't seen a naked gun trailer so I don't I actually don't know any
49:46
gags zero. So when I go and see it I don't know one single gag. Uh I just saw
49:52
weapons in the theater recently. Never saw a trailer. Didn't even know what it was about. All I heard is that it was
49:58
good and you should go see it. So I'm like oh I heard it's good. I want to go see it. And I did and it's good. You should go see it. Okay. I do want to see it and I haven't
50:05
seen it yet. I don't really know a whole lot about it, but I have seen the trailer. Yeah. And then same with um uh The
50:11
Running Man. I was like, "Oh, I'm a big of course Arnold fan." This was it came out when I was young. So, I was like, but I I say all this knowing that it was
50:18
I'm a huge Stephen King fan, too. So, I'm betting without seeing the trailer, I'm betting it's more faithful to the
50:24
novel. And I'm also betting when Stephen King wrote the story, he didn't have Arnold
50:29
Schwarzenegger in mind. like that's not that's not that's not the character that he wrote or the physical description. It
50:36
was this huge hulking mass of a man. So Glenn Pal is a great actor, great leading man. And so I'm very curious to
50:42
see uh how it's done and I'm curious and hopeful that it falls closer to the
50:48
source material. So you're not re you're not re This is what I hate when people say, "Oh, they're redo." No, they're not redoing The Running Man. You can almost
50:54
argue they're doing The Running Man maybe proper from the book. Yeah, that that's not a bad uh way to think about
51:01
this new one. I I I think that it's going to be good, but I do have a a
51:06
special place in my heart for the original. Of course, Arnold's always fun. But
51:12
as since we're still talking about Edgar, Wright, you look and maybe this is why he decided to do this and I don't
51:18
know if it's going to be I don't specifically remember
51:23
the how close to the book the movie is, but the the way that Scott Pilgrim has
51:28
the different boss battles with X's and the uh the hitmen of the Schwarzenegger
51:36
running man, all those gimmicks that each of the villains had a fireball
51:41
time. Yeah, that's be fun to watch his version of that. That's right. Yeah. So, it seems like it's right up
51:47
Edgar Wright's alley. Good call. I didn't even think of that. Yeah, there's all these different kind of like levels of a video game almost
51:53
that the characters go through. So, I think Ed Edgar is going to have a fun time visualizing that on the screen, I think. Yeah.
51:58
Yeah. So, we can look forward to that. And if you are watching this now, the
52:04
series is planned so that this limited this limited series of Ed movies is
52:12
going to conclude with the release of The Running Man. So this that will be
52:18
the last movie that we talk about this right after for now. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Until he makes
52:25
another movie. Absolutely. So, I am very excited about this. I very
52:32
glad that you allowed me to you came up with the idea for me to do this and that
52:39
the director's chair network is giving other people a chance to talk about movies that they love. What What other
52:46
uh Why don't you plug some more of those things that people are adding to the channel? I certainly will, Andy, and we did not
52:53
plan on that, but thank you. So, right now what we have on the network is I've completed Edward's Wix
52:59
films, but it was just announced that he's doing a western, which I'm thrilled about. Yeah. So, I'll be covering that. But his
53:04
filmography is completed. I'm almost done. Michael Man, so I'm doing that one right now. Uh John Hughes has been
53:11
covered on the network. It's almost done. That's hosted by Katie. Uh my my other host that's on the network, Craig,
53:17
he has done uh Brian Dealma. Most of his films. The thing with his it's a little bit different, which I kind of like. He
53:22
just keys in on a certain scene with from each film and him and the co-host talk about a big scene from the film.
53:28
Yeah. But they cover that's what they've been doing with Brian. Again, when people come on the show, if you're thinking about coming on the network, I don't
53:33
tell you how to run it. The idea is is you're just focusing on a uh on a director and I do it with in order. I
53:41
think that's how you're doing of the films that they did in order. That's how I'm doing it. I just I want to hit them all. But uh lastly, we have David
53:48
Fincher is coming on the network. That's going to be hosted by a guy named Seco. We have Sam Peekpaw coming on to the
53:54
network that's gonna be hosted by a guy named Scott. And then we have another Scott coming on the network who's Dave
53:59
who's doing David Fincher. So we have the network is growing Andy. Wow. Yeah, that's very exciting. That a
54:06
lot of I I look forward to hearing people's takes on those films and I look
54:11
forward to talking more about Edgar Wright, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the worst of the best. I
54:18
thought maybe when we get to the end of this, we could decide the the worst Edgar Wright film. Maybe we wouldn't
54:25
talk about Fistful of Fingers. We leave that one off of the off of the list just because it's it's not a
54:31
professional production. And I I'll I'll plug my show, All Apologies Podcast,
54:37
where we talk about celebrity apology tours and uh make fun of that. I do that with my my
54:44
brother Joe. And I I will offer the apology that I forced you to watch maybe
54:51
the worst. I legitimately had a good time. No, I do not accept your apology because I had a
54:57
blast watching a fist full of fingers. Go watch it, folks, on YouTube. But I always bring Ryan on for all these
55:02
very divisive and uh conversations. So if you if you want more Ryan on, all apologies. He did Mel Gibson and Marilyn
55:10
Manson. Easy characters. easy character, easy subject matter to talk about. Um,
55:16
so, uh, go check out All Apologies. Go check out Worst of the Best. And if you
55:22
are thinking about missing next week's episode, don't
55:34
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