Dolores Claiborne (1995)
Spring is in the air, and so is the drama in our latest chat about the film "Dolores Claiborne"! We dive right into the heart of the episode by exploring the gripping tension between love and sacrifice through the lens of Kathy Bates' powerful performance as Dolores. The film, adapted from Stephen King's novel, uncovers the dark secrets of a mother-daughter relationship marred by abuse, trauma, and the haunting question: is Dolores a cold-blooded killer or a desperate mother protecting her child? We share a few laughs (and a few cringe-worthy moments) as we reminisce about the wild ride that is the '90s film scene and the quirky characters that populate it. So grab your popcorn, settle in, and join us as we navigate the twists and turns of this captivating story! Spring is in the air, and so is the drama in our latest chat about the film "Dolores Claiborne"! We dive right into the heart of the episode by exploring the gripping tension between love and sacrifice through the lens of Kathy Bates' powerful performance as Dolores. The film, adapted from Stephen King's novel, uncovers the dark secrets of a mother-daughter relationship marred by abuse, trauma, and the haunting question: is Dolores a cold-blooded killer or a desperate mother protecting her child? We share a few laughs (and a few cringe-worthy moments) as we reminisce about the wild ride that is the '90s film scene and the quirky characters that populate it. So grab your popcorn, settle in, and join us as we navigate the twists and turns of this captivating story!
Takeaways:
- The podcast dives into the themes of abuse and resilience, highlighting how trauma shapes relationships, especially between Dolores and her daughter Selina.
- Listeners are treated to a mix of humor and serious discussion as the hosts share personal anecdotes related to the film's themes, making the episode relatable and engaging.
- Throughout the episode, the hosts explore the complexities of female relationships in the context of societal expectations, showing how these dynamics evolve over time.
- The hosts humorously reflect on their own experiences and cultural observations, making comparisons to modern society and highlighting how certain issues persist through generations.
Takeaways:
- The podcast dives into the themes of abuse and resilience, highlighting how trauma shapes relationships, especially between Dolores and her daughter Selina.
- Listeners are treated to a mix of humor and serious discussion as the hosts share personal anecdotes related to the film's themes, making the episode relatable and engaging.
- Throughout the episode, the hosts explore the complexities of female relationships in the context of societal expectations, showing how these dynamics evolve over time.
- The hosts humorously reflect on their own experiences and cultural observations, making comparisons to modern society and highlighting how certain issues persist through generations.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Windows 95
- Bill Gates
- Mercury
- Titanic
- Dolores Claiborne
- Good Night and Good Luck
- A League of Their Own
- Call the Midwife
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- Single White Female
- The Hateful Eight
- Misery
- Starflight
Transcript
Oh, hello there.
Speaker A:Spring has decided to stick around a little bit.
Speaker A:Coming and going.
Speaker A:Kind of like our customers coming and going.
Speaker A:Although we don't get too many coming.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I don't know if you've seen the back room.
Speaker A:Yeah, there was that time that they thought that we were the dry cleaning business, and a few more people actually came in.
Speaker B:What I don't like is when we have to stay open for Midnight Madness and the people that come in to use the adult section in the back.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's either creepy.
Speaker A:I mean, I. I'm gonna start keeping a container of bleach.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:I'm gonna put a container of bleach wipes so the folks that go back there can clean up themselves.
Speaker A:Yeah, but spring is sprung, and I guess we can just expect that to be a quote unquote natural thing.
Speaker A:But anyways, here we are yet again.
Speaker A:And the bunny's hopping down the trail pretty soon here.
Speaker A:Are we in Ostara already or not?
Speaker B:Oh, yes.
Speaker B:Estara was the 20th, so we are officially into Spring Day.
Speaker A:My car wouldn't start.
Speaker B:Well, that was.
Speaker B:And also, we just ended a very powerful Mercury in retrograde.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, there's a lot going on.
Speaker B:And we just had, like, this big solar stor.
Speaker B:So lots of things.
Speaker B:Lots of things.
Speaker A:Lots of strange things happening.
Speaker A:I wonder if that's an omen for things to come.
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker B:Hey, change.
Speaker B:Change is in the air.
Speaker A:Lots of changes in the air.
Speaker B:Lots of things happening.
Speaker A:Speaking of things happening, wireless.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:Mr. Mr. Man in the basement there.
Speaker A:Give me one of those bleach wipes, Matt.
Speaker A:This one's.
Speaker A:This one's extra interesting.
Speaker A:All right, let's put that in.
Speaker C:Good afternoon, time travelers.
Speaker C: Today you are in: Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker C:The shock of the Oklahoma City bombing stunned the nation, while the verdict in the O.J.
Speaker C:Simpson murder trial gripped millions in a media frenzy that redefined courtroom coverage.
Speaker C:Meanwhile, the launch of Windows 95 signaled a new digital era, bringing the Internet into everyday homes.
Speaker C:The year also carried deep loss, including superstar Selena and Jerry Garcia.
Speaker C:On a brighter note, future stars like Timothee Chalamet were born, reminding us that new talent is always on the horizon.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's on the new horizon, unless you're in.
Speaker B:In the opera or the ballet.
Speaker B:And then, well, way.
Speaker A:Usually when we look to the past, it's sort of more grim, but in some ways, it was more positive.
Speaker B:I mean, I know, right?
Speaker A:The Clintons were in office, so there wasn't too much bad going on.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:It's just a bombing And a murder and all sorts of fun things.
Speaker B:Not to mention whatever Bill Gates was up to.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, speaking of Bill Gates, I think I remember the last time I loaded an operating system on floppy disk was Windows 95.
Speaker B:Windows 95 seems like 150 years ago and yet just yesterday.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Everyone compares it to that.
Speaker A:Then of course, there was 98.
Speaker A:And everyone's like, this sucks.
Speaker A:But it's so much like the last one.
Speaker B:Well, yeah.
Speaker B:And then what was the big one?
Speaker B:Me.
Speaker B:Remember how bad that was?
Speaker B:It was like gone so quick, like nobody wanted it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And everyone compares Windows 8 with me.
Speaker A:It's like it.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's Bud light, basically.
Speaker B:Windows 8.
Speaker B:I don't even remember, honestly.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A: Well,: Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:Well, let's see here.
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker A:No, I was.
Speaker A:I was old enough to go out then, so 18.
Speaker A:Not, mind you.
Speaker A:I didn't really go out much, though, because you kind of have to have a social life and I was the last kid at home and.
Speaker A:Well, I'll be damned if I was going to go on a date with a girl.
Speaker A:I might have tried that once, but that was all I needed to know.
Speaker A:No, no, that's not what I wanted.
Speaker A:Yeah, but in 95, there were other people who were more than happy to be going out on.
Speaker A:On the town, on the night in 95.
Speaker A:Tell us what their options were in 95 for going out and having a good time there, Matt.
Speaker B:Well, according to this, you could have taken your date to go see Toy Story with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.
Speaker B:I think I would have passed on that.
Speaker B:That would have been creep.
Speaker A:That would have been a creepy date.
Speaker A:Toys.
Speaker B:Although, honestly, it is a good movie.
Speaker B:It is for its time.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:And then we have Batman Forever, one of the worst of them.
Speaker B:I'm just saying, although.
Speaker B:Val Kilmer and his Prime.
Speaker B:But then you had Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones.
Speaker B:But then we had Apollo 13.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which was Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton.
Speaker B:What an amazing hot cast that would have been.
Speaker A:I mean, wasn't that also.
Speaker A:Wasn't that also a Ron Howard movie?
Speaker B:I believe it was, yeah.
Speaker A:That was pretty interesting because Ron Howard's own mother played Jim Lovell's mother in that movie.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker B:I did not know that.
Speaker B:Apparently his daughter is doing some acting, but I don't know.
Speaker B:What.
Speaker A:Oh,.
Speaker B:Just like a little dinosaur thing.
Speaker A:I hear Tom Hanks was busy in 95.
Speaker A:What else was there?
Speaker B:Well, he also did this thing called Forest G. Gump.
Speaker B:I believe we have the alternative version in the Adult section in the back anyway.
Speaker B:But yes.
Speaker B:So Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, that was a big, big year for Tom.
Speaker B:But you know what?
Speaker B:He, he was like the it back then.
Speaker B:I mean, just.
Speaker B:And I, I admit, well, not only is he a Sacramento boy, but I, I love Tom Hanks.
Speaker B:I really did.
Speaker A:And in Forrest Gump, he was cast along with Robin Wright, as you were saying.
Speaker A:But Rob.
Speaker A:Other woman don't because she married Madonna's ex husband, Sean Penn.
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker A:Someone had to.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Yeah, because I don't know Madonna's choices in husbands.
Speaker B:Maybe she should say single.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker B:Oh, and of course there was Braveheart with Mel Gibson, which.
Speaker B:Well, let's just say that accent was something, wasn't it?
Speaker B:An Australian who speaks American and Yeah.
Speaker B:Tries to do Scottish.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Yikes.
Speaker A:I have never to this day been brave enough to watch Braveheart, but I do remember living through the times and I remember that Mel Gibson had an appearance on, I want to say the Tonight show at the time this happened.
Speaker A:He wore the kilt in the spirit of Braveheart, and one of the women in the audience hooted when he was sitting too far forward on the couch.
Speaker B:Well, hey, back then he was something before he was something.
Speaker B:Yeah, but he.
Speaker A:Yeah, but you know what two of the men in the top five movies of 95 have in common, don't you?
Speaker B:I've never seen pics, but.
Speaker A:Well, Tim Allen and Mel Gibson are both sharing the same batch of tinfoil that they make their hats out.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, well, you gotta throw in Jim Carrey there.
Speaker B:The jury's still out on that one.
Speaker A:Although I do hear that he's turned to painting and that he.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, beautiful work.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That he has a gift for that.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, and then, and then Tommy Lee Jones, apparently legend has it that he has OCD so bad that like he.
Speaker B:That his co stars, some of his co stars have been like, didn't want anything to do with him.
Speaker B:Yeah, but you didn't hear.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:I wanted to gossip, so you didn't hear that for me.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because he only got a sandwich in that store next door that one time.
Speaker A:There was an obscene amount of mayo on it.
Speaker B:Well, I mean, I've.
Speaker B:I've heard stories about like way things like he can't stand being touched and just.
Speaker B:Anyway all sorts of weird stuff and.
Speaker A:All things that happened before COVID before people had a reason to be.
Speaker A:Germ Files.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I mean, as somebody that has OCD myself, I've at least been able to do Pretty well with it to where apparently he's got it like to a crazy point.
Speaker B:I'm like, how do you, how do you exist in that business if you've got.
Speaker B:Got it that bad?
Speaker A:Anyway, so.
Speaker A:Well, okay, I was going through the returns and it's, it's a funny thing that happens when we put that tape in the VCR and we time travel here.
Speaker A:The movies in the returns been change and well, I have a funny feeling that one of them that I see on the top of the pile is going to be what we're talking about today.
Speaker A:But I didn't say nothing.
Speaker A:Let's let the man in the box tell us.
Speaker C:Today you're watching a gripping drama starring Kathy Bates as a main housekeeper accused of murdering the wealthy woman she cared for.
Speaker C:As investigators question her long buried secrets about her troubled past and strained relationship with her daughter emerge through flashbacks, the truth behind a decades old crime and the sacrifices Dolores made to protect her child gradually comes to light.
Speaker C: It's: Speaker A:She, she threaten the life of the wealthy woman she works for.
Speaker A:You better not let Lula May know we're talking about this.
Speaker B:Yeah, you don't want to cross Lula May.
Speaker B:Basically, Lula May is one of those like if you're going to do it, you do it right the first time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So speaking of doing it right, rewind through time into movie night.
Speaker B:Blockbusters in these in black and white from 80s thrills to silver screen dreams trapped in the past by a time machine.
Speaker A:Each time the door for DJ And Matt to explore the lo.
Speaker A:The past is present and you're gonna want more.
Speaker A:Ooh.
Speaker A:Oh, right.
Speaker A: Dolores Claybor,: Speaker A:And it should be noted that this was a Stephen King novel.
Speaker A:Some say he actually wrote it with Kathy Bates in mind for the part later.
Speaker A:Oh, we'll circle around on that.
Speaker A:So just like working here at a video store owned by a wealthy woman, there's a setup and there's a problem.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker A:So in Dolores Claiborne now also it should be noted, and I'm not sure if this mattress, but as someone who's been to the west coast and places with more Spanish Hispanic culture, are you familiar with the, the background of the name Dolores?
Speaker B:Well, my grandmother, one of my grandmothers was named Dolores.
Speaker A:Oh, well, Dolores is supposed to be a name that represents a saint and it's supposed to be a lady of sorrow.
Speaker A:So there's a little foreshadowing here.
Speaker A:This woman that lives in the northeast in The New England.
Speaker A:She's a Lady of Sorrow, Dolores Claiborne.
Speaker A:She's a quiet, mean gal up there in the northeast corner of the country.
Speaker A:And she lived in a.
Speaker A:She lives on one of the islands like a lot of folks do.
Speaker A:It's rocked when longtime housekeeper Dolores is accused of murdering her wealthy employer, Vera Donovan.
Speaker A:Her estranged daughter Dolores, daughter Selina returns home, forcing a tense reunion shaped by years of silence and unresolved trauma.
Speaker A:As the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear this case isn't just about one death.
Speaker A:It's tied to a dark past involving Selina's abusive father and a decades old incident Dolores may have gotten away with.
Speaker A:The central problem emerges quickly.
Speaker A:Is Dolores a cold blooded killer or a woman pushed to the edge protecting her child?
Speaker A:And what truth has been buried all of these years?
Speaker A:I mean, you either work in a vacation destination in the northeast during the tourist season or during the off season.
Speaker A:Apparently you go fishing or abuse your spouse.
Speaker B:Well, then her husband did a good job.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, this was, it was a small island.
Speaker B:You either worked for a rich person, you did fishing and boating, or you worked at a hotel or whatever, but that's when you had.
Speaker B:With the on season, they always call it off season.
Speaker B:So was it on season that you actually did those things?
Speaker A:But yeah, I mean, I would assume offseason is like the winter because of course, who wants to be there then?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So cold.
Speaker B:So it's funny, like, even their police station didn't look like a real police station.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:I mean, there, there were parts of this that felt that it was shot on the same location as the little town that Hocus Pocus was supposed to take police in.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah, I can, I can totally see that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it's supposed to be in the, in New England, where of course, some of the, the earliest settlements of Morca began.
Speaker A:So that's the places where you might find the oldest buildings.
Speaker A:And a lot of the folks there live in homes that were originally just a, a little fishing shack, a cottage.
Speaker A:It wasn't meant to be lived in year round.
Speaker A:But of course, as time goes on, mom and dad passed away and they gave you the cottage.
Speaker A:So now you're gonna have to insulate it and keep it up.
Speaker A:And now it's gonna be a real home.
Speaker A:So here go.
Speaker A:Because of course, just like the detective that comes into town when the wealthiest woman on the island passes away.
Speaker A:Now mind you, she was up there in years, so who would have seen that coming?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:But let's, let's just say this Is apparently take place in like the late 80s or something like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, there is a degree of flashback that takes place.
Speaker B:Yeah, but, but like the modern period where she is, I mean maybe, maybe 95ish when it was made, the film was made.
Speaker B:But she was the richest person on the island for $1,000,600.
Speaker A:And we're talking about the boss lady who passes away, Dolores.
Speaker A:Dolores is what we call working class.
Speaker B:Yes, Dolores made $40 a week or a month.
Speaker B:I forget which it was at the time.
Speaker B:Yeah, but it was like okay, but seriously, you're the richest person on the entire island and you're only worth like $1,000,600.
Speaker A:Which I mean back when this, by.
Speaker B:Today's standards you're practically a pauper.
Speaker A:Right, but, but when Dolores Claiborne started working for Vera, which is when her daughter was a child, it's assumed that it would have been around the 70s or so.
Speaker A:So maybe when you break it down that $40 a week that that could have equaled minimum wage back then if it was a part time job, I suppose.
Speaker A:But anyway, so there's a setup.
Speaker A:The detective comes to town, he's good, he's got to try to figure out what really happened that this wealthy lady passed away.
Speaker A:Because it's not even a spoiler.
Speaker A:This is the beginning of the movie folks.
Speaker A:Kathy Bates character Dolores is at her boss's house where she's been staying because she's basically her caregiver.
Speaker A:And a terrible thing happens.
Speaker A:The a lady of the house ends up taking a tumble down to this down the stairs.
Speaker A:And we're led to believe that it's Dolores doing because she scrambles down the stairs.
Speaker A:She's looking for something, assumingly a murder, something to do her in with.
Speaker A:And then she returns and that's pretty much what the problem is for the rest of the movie.
Speaker A:We have to figure out for ourselves did she mean to kill her?
Speaker A:Was it an accident?
Speaker A:What really happened?
Speaker A:So did you find yourself sympathizing with Dolores choices over the course of this story or were you conflicted about whether her actions were justified?
Speaker B:Oh, I totally sympathize with her, absolutely.
Speaker A:I think that as an outsider to the story and possibly this isn't something that you will get used to until having seen it a couple of times.
Speaker A:Because I think it's fair to say you, I have seen it at least a couple of times.
Speaker A:But, but as an outsider you don't really necessarily know what Dolores has been through.
Speaker A:So maybe as an outsider you're looking at it from the Point of view of the policeman or the detective, the law, they're supposed to be representing the best interests of the people.
Speaker A:So the wealthiest lady in town has suddenly died.
Speaker A:Yeah, she died.
Speaker A:I wanted to say it more eloquently, but the wealthiest lady in town has suddenly died and there could be a killer on the loose.
Speaker A:So we've got to figure out what happened.
Speaker B:So not to mention she may have done it before.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because there.
Speaker A:There was something that happened in the past.
Speaker A:Dolores's late husband was late for a very good reason because he passed away and there might have been an accident involved.
Speaker A:Although some people don't think it was an accident.
Speaker B:Late.
Speaker B:He didn't even show up.
Speaker A:Right, exactly.
Speaker A:So I think that I did end up finding myself sympathizing with Dolores only because I enjoy Kathy Bates.
Speaker A:Spoiler.
Speaker A:We're going to talk about her in a bit.
Speaker A:But it did take me until at least a second viewing before I felt more empathy for the character.
Speaker A:Because you just think, of course she killed her.
Speaker A:This woman was horrible to her.
Speaker A:But it takes that second viewing to understand these people had things in common.
Speaker A:We'll get back to that.
Speaker A:So there's another question there.
Speaker A:Matt, how about you take a stab, as it were?
Speaker B:Oh, how did the emotional tension between Dolores and Selina make you feel?
Speaker B:Did it draw you in or leave you unsettled and questioning the truth?
Speaker B:Well, even with the rewatch, and, I mean, I've seen this film three, four times, it still leaves me feeling unsettled.
Speaker B:Well, I don't know about unsettled, but it definitely irks me because I'm.
Speaker B:I'm the.
Speaker B:The ilk of.
Speaker B:If you guys would just talk.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I can understand.
Speaker B:And, and this is a perfect scene.
Speaker B:And one of the reasons that Kathy Bates is such an incredible actress.
Speaker B:Do you remember when Celine, when Kathy Bates finally is told that that's.
Speaker B:That Selena is not a lawyer, she's her daughter, and she hasn't seen her in so long that she didn't even recognize her.
Speaker B:But remember, did you see on.
Speaker B:On Kathy Bates face?
Speaker B:The, the.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:What's the right word?
Speaker B:The cavalcade of emotions that she went through.
Speaker B:Like, like she just went from being shocked to, like, just being tender.
Speaker B:And you knew she just wanted to rush over and she was like, oh, my God, I'm so glad you're here.
Speaker B:But then she went right back into trying to be that real tough.
Speaker B:Like I said, don't call her.
Speaker B:And, you know, trying to.
Speaker B:Trying to be all, you know, strong and the one who was in charge.
Speaker A:She was in charge of her own destiny.
Speaker B:But it was just like you just saw this, this range of emotional that she went through, and it was just brilliant acting.
Speaker A:Well, I, I felt like Dolores and Selina seeing each other, that, that was very telling.
Speaker A:The, the, the way that she reacted.
Speaker A:As you said, she didn't know that this person standing in front of her was her daughter.
Speaker A:It had to be explained because, of course, as you stick around, you realize it's been a long time since she's seen her daughter.
Speaker A:She's been gone for years.
Speaker B:15 Years.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So naturally, she wouldn't just assume that her daughter would come rushing to her side because things have happened.
Speaker A:And so this has got to be a shock for her that her daughter would bother to come to the rescue.
Speaker A:Now, it should also be noted, though, because this is an audio form that we're discussing in, in the film, just as the death of Vera takes place fairly early on, you also have the cause of Selina's return to her hometown happens in her workplace, that it's brought to her attention that something has happened back home.
Speaker A:Matt.
Speaker B:Oh, her editor slash boyfriend is apparently doing a different reporter now.
Speaker B:Winky winky.
Speaker B:And takes the story away from her that she's been working on and gives it to this other.
Speaker A:See, but there's.
Speaker A:There's also something that happens in the office, though, that brings the story to her attention from back home.
Speaker A:Do you remember.
Speaker B:Oh, mean, when she gets a fax about the story.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:So youngins out there listening, we used to do this thing where we sent paper to each other and sometimes it came out of a machine, so kind of like email.
Speaker A:But this was physical proof that you got the message.
Speaker A:It popped out of a machine and she got it.
Speaker A:And it wasn't enough that her hometown paper, or at least the city biggest near her hometown, got sent to her, but there was a cover sheet, and that's something that we.
Speaker A:We've sort of lost the art of because faxes are pretty much dead.
Speaker A:What's on the COVID sheet?
Speaker A:What do you normally get on?
Speaker B:Actually, I, I didn't.
Speaker B:I didn't see what was on the COVID sheet.
Speaker A:Oh, the COVID sheet had a personal message in handwriting that said, isn't this your mother?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:And of course, then when we find out who sent it.
Speaker A:Oh, yes.
Speaker A:We'll get to that in a moment.
Speaker A:But very telling.
Speaker A:Selena is her hometown.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:One more thing that I wanted to throw in there is that I actually understand where Selena was coming from with keeping those walls up.
Speaker B:Because I have.
Speaker B:I had a parent that I struggled with who is emotionally, especially emotionally abusive.
Speaker B:And I had.
Speaker B:I had to put those walls up around that parent to.
Speaker B:To feel safe.
Speaker B:So there was a part of me that really understood why Selena was just like this.
Speaker B:No, I'm not letting my guard down around you.
Speaker B:I'm not letting you in.
Speaker B:I don't want to hear what you have to say, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker B:So there was a part of me that really understood that part of it as well.
Speaker A:Because Selena had, quote, unquote, gotten out.
Speaker A:She's now living somewhere else.
Speaker A:And that's why it's been so long since she's been back, quote, unquote, to home.
Speaker A:Because she wants to forget all of those things.
Speaker A:But now, right.
Speaker A:She can't.
Speaker A:She's been forced to come to, for lack of a better term, her mother's rescue, even though she's technically on borrowed time, because her excuse is that she's got another assignment that she's got to meet.
Speaker A:So she's.
Speaker A:She's just passing through town.
Speaker A:She's not meaning to spend more time than she wants to there.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And we'll have a ding, ding in a moment here.
Speaker B:Well, and Dolores wanted her to be gone to go live her life away from the island, too, so.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:And probably for different reasons, but things happen that keep the daughter there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, okay, there was somebody behind the camera, the.
Speaker A:The visionary, if you will, who was in charge of presenting the story and the talent and the scenes, who was the director of Dolores Claiborne.
Speaker B:Matt, I believe it was.
Speaker B:Let me see.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, it was Terrace Hat.
Speaker B:Taylor Hackford.
Speaker B:Now set aside the name Hack because he was actually a very wonderful director.
Speaker B:But yeah, he's.
Speaker B:He was very known for.
Speaker B:For character driven dramas and emotional storytelling, which is evident in this one.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:So he was also almost a 45 baby.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Nobody knows about being born around the first of the year, do they?
Speaker B:Anyway, but he was born in Santa Barbara, California, and he began a career in television before gaining recognition with, get this, he directed An Officer and a gentleman in 82, which is still held up, apparently, is this romantic thing.
Speaker B:But he won an Academy Award, actually, for a short film that he did called the Teenage Father.
Speaker B: Oscar winning biopic Ray from: Speaker A:Did not know that that was the Ray Charles biopic.
Speaker B:Yes, yes, it was.
Speaker B:I was thinking of a boxer, but no, you're right, it was that.
Speaker B:It was that one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Anyway, but his work often explores the human relationships and moral dilemmas.
Speaker B: e and the Devil's Advocate in: Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker B:And is respected for all this work that he did and has done stuff across film and television.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker B:Amazeballs guy.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you about the leading lady in this.
Speaker B:No, I mean, yay.
Speaker A:So this of course wasn't her, her screen debut, but Ms. Kathy Bates starred in the leading role.
Speaker A:Dolores Claiborne.
Speaker A:But of course, by the time we meet her, when the detective played by another important celebrity we'll talk about in a bit, she, she clarifies that she went back to her maiden name after her late husband passed.
Speaker A:So she's, she's Dolores St. George now.
Speaker A:Don't you forget it.
Speaker A:But Kathy Bates is an award winning American actress who's who is celebrated for her power versatile performances across film, television and stage.
Speaker A:She was born in June of 48, so she's a boomer and in Memphis, so sort of southern.
Speaker A:She rose to international fame with her Oscar award winning role as Annie Wilkes in Misery.
Speaker A:I'm your biggest fan.
Speaker A:Bates has since delivered memorable performances in films just like the one we're talking about today.
Speaker A:Dolores Claiborne, she's also in Titanic just a couple years later where she played Margaret.
Speaker B:No, Molly Brown.
Speaker A:Molly Brown.
Speaker A:I'm, I'm thinking Margaret because that was actually her real name.
Speaker A:They changed it for the musical because it's hard to sing Margaret, but.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Are you there, God?
Speaker B:It's me.
Speaker A:And she was also in Primary Colors with John Travolta in 98, which was sort of the, sort of the story of Bill Clinton's early political career.
Speaker A:It was, it's quite an interesting film.
Speaker A:It has Emma Thompson and also.
Speaker A:And this earned her multiple Academy Award nominations.
Speaker A:Now on television, Kathy has won Emmy awards for, in more recent years, American Horror Story and Two and a Half Men where she had guest appearances.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:Kathy is known for portraying complex, often formidable women.
Speaker A:Bates brings depth, intensity and humanity to every role, solidifying her status as one of Hollywood's most respected and enduring performers.
Speaker B:Yes, Queen.
Speaker A:So she's been a busy lady and to this date she's had between 120 and 130 film and television roles.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:As we mentioned, Misery, which she starred in with James Cameron and this was a Stephen King novel.
Speaker A:She got an Oscar for performance on that and it was one of the most new Mower.
Speaker A:It was one of the most terrifying villains in film history because she was the crazed fan that just held him, her favorite author, captive.
Speaker A:And in 97, as we mentioned, she played the character, the wealthy woman, Molly Brown, who just happened to be in the wrong place, the right time on the Titanic, or was it the wrong place at the wrong time?
Speaker A:Also, Dolores Claiborne, who said primary color, she got an Oscar for.
Speaker A:And in 98, she.
Speaker A:Well, she.
Speaker A:She got a paycheck with a guy who I don't love, but he has some talent and he was in Saturday Night Live.
Speaker A:And anyway, she was in the water boy, 98.
Speaker A:And that was an Adam Sandler film.
Speaker A:She played his mama.
Speaker A:So, Matt, we got our nerd hats on our little lunchboxes out here.
Speaker A:Gonna compare our notes.
Speaker A:I. I've tried to see as much Kathy Bates as I can.
Speaker A:I don't get to see as much of her roles in television because I'm not as much of a horror movie fan as my husband is, but I would say that I've seen about five of her movies.
Speaker A:The film we're discussing today, Dolores Claiborne, is a close tie with me of being a favorite, as it is with Fried Green Tomatoes, the other film that I think's one of her best.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And what about you?
Speaker A:How many?
Speaker B:I've seen nine films and then a number of her TV appearances.
Speaker B:And I think my favorites, my favorite will always be Dolores Claiborne.
Speaker B:Of her.
Speaker B:I mean, it's just an iconic, iconic role.
Speaker B:And of course, yes, Misery is right up there.
Speaker B:I mean, she just.
Speaker B:Just nailed that, so to speak.
Speaker B:But, yeah, no, Dolores Claiborne will always be my favorite.
Speaker B:It actually inspired one of the books that I.
Speaker B:My early writings that I wrote.
Speaker B:But I'm also really enjoying Matlock, which is the.
Speaker B:The show that she's doing now.
Speaker B:And it is.
Speaker B:She has basically said after she finishes doing Matlock, she is probably going to retire from acting.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, but I mean, just.
Speaker B:Just an amazing, amazing woman.
Speaker B:Career performer.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But, hey, I want to know.
Speaker B:Yes, a little bit about the conflict and rising action of this film.
Speaker B:Act Two.
Speaker A:Okay, so we're right in the thick of things here.
Speaker A:Things have gotten complicated because not only is Dolores being brought onto the hot seat and whether or not she.
Speaker A:Her boss, but now her daughter has come back to town who she never thought she'd see again.
Speaker A:And, well, maybe they're gonna prove her innocent, but you gotta.
Speaker A:You gotta sit tight to figure it out because she's not ready to claim her innocence quite yet.
Speaker A:She just wants to be done with it.
Speaker A:The conflict intensifies as Dolores is arrested for the suspicious death of Vera Donovan, with Detective Mackie, played by one Christopher Plummer.
Speaker A:Folks, we.
Speaker A:We might have dedicated more time to talking about him, but he's like the quarterback you can only.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think he's been in like, what, five movies that we've talked about this year.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:You can only talk so much about the quarterback before he's stroking his own ego.
Speaker A:Maybe he's done that too.
Speaker A:But anyways, Detective Mackey is determined to finally prove she's a killer.
Speaker A:He's got a vendetta, some might say.
Speaker A:As Selena stays on the island, long buried memories begin resurfacing, revealing the emotional and physical abuse inflicted by her father.
Speaker A:Huh.
Speaker A:Kind of like some high school reunions we talked about earlier in the season.
Speaker A:Dolores pass.
Speaker A:Her past comes under scrutiny, including the mysteries, mysterious circumstances of her husband's death years earlier.
Speaker A:The tension builds through shifting timelines as mother and daughter are forced to confront painful truths they've both avoided.
Speaker A:With legal pressures mounting and Selina's memory sharpening, the story races towards a revelation.
Speaker A:The Dolores may have committed terrible acts, but possibly for deeply protective, desperate reason.
Speaker A:Just check sec.
Speaker A:Edit, Edit, Edit.
Speaker A:4Ish minutes there.
Speaker A:So, yeah, so in that conflict and rising action, it might be said that the director had quite an input on that because just as the author, Stephen King put into the story, we have some cinematography that focuses on flashbacks and whether or not we are in the present day or in the past, because there are moments throughout this film that cause them to think about the past.
Speaker A:And it's wonderfully done because it's all from a matter of if point of view, where they are in the present triggers memories of the past.
Speaker A:So go ahead with that first question about the conflict and rising action, Matt.
Speaker B:Well, as the truth about Dolores past unfolds, did you feel more empathy for her or did the revelations make you question her actions even more?
Speaker A:Well, I actually did feel more empathy for her and I think understanding the trauma that she went through because, spoiler, she had an abusive husband, I think knowing that it informed her motives, her motivation.
Speaker A:She did the things that she did to protect herself and her daughter.
Speaker A:But of course it.
Speaker A:It's inevitable at some point we're going to talk about the daughter's perspective because she doesn't necessarily remember things the same way.
Speaker B:Way.
Speaker A:So how about you?
Speaker A:Did you feel more empathy for her or did it make you think that she had questionable motives?
Speaker B:Oh, no, absolutely.
Speaker B:I felt more sympathy for her, I mean, especially as.
Speaker B:As the things unfold more.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I mean, I.
Speaker B:Maybe part of it was my upbringing, but you just, you.
Speaker B:When you're in difficult situations, you just learn to.
Speaker B:To knuckle through, to white knuckle through and.
Speaker B:And get it done.
Speaker B:And so especially with the abuse part that she.
Speaker B:When you finally saw the flashback of the husband, like, really abusing her, and then you finally saw her stand up to him the way she did, and.
Speaker B:Oh, girl.
Speaker B:I was all like, you go, girl.
Speaker A:Oh, yes.
Speaker A:It should be noted we.
Speaker A:We do our best not to spoil scenes that you have to witness, but just to.
Speaker A:To walk around the edges of the.
Speaker A:The frozen lake here.
Speaker A:There's a really great scene where the husband thinks that he's got literally the upper hand.
Speaker A:And that's when Kathy, as Dolores, lets him know that he does not have the upper hand.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And she's.
Speaker A:Stand up for herself.
Speaker A:And the daughter comes downstairs.
Speaker A:It's one of those quintessential moments of I want a glass of water kind of thing.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:And Dolores just basically says, go back to bed, baby.
Speaker A:Mom and dad are.
Speaker A:We're talking and we're having adult talk.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But it was also interesting that that scene in particular really fleshes out for the viewer how much of a daddy.
Speaker B:Daddy's girl that the daughter was up until.
Speaker B:Other things.
Speaker A:Oh, yes.
Speaker A:That we'll talk about in a bit here.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:There are different forms of abuse that happen in Dolores Claiborne.
Speaker A:And it's.
Speaker A:It's actually quite interesting because I guess unless you yourself are a victim of abuse, sometimes you don't realize that something that has happened is a form of abuse.
Speaker A:Because so many of us go through life thinking that unless somebody has actually touched you physically, that you haven't been abused.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And sometimes you can think because you weren't, you didn't react a certain way or certain things didn't happen, you could think that it is an abuse until you're talking with a therapist, and then they're like, yeah, you were abused, honey.
Speaker B:And then you start seeing it from the outside perspective and realizing that.
Speaker B:Yeah, is there.
Speaker A:Because there's avoiding confrontation, which is in part what Selena does.
Speaker A:But the other side of that coin is neglect.
Speaker A:And so she neglects her mother, which is a form of abuse.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Whether or not she intends it to be so.
Speaker B:Bye, buddy.
Speaker B:My buddy.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:So I can't remember who read the questions.
Speaker A:We're on the second question.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yes, we're on the second question.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:That one is yours, sir.
Speaker A:Okay, so how did the growing tension between justice and.
Speaker A:One might say that this form of justice takes the form of Detective Mackie, played by Mr. Plummer in Survival, which I guess you would say is Dolores, because she's not thriving, she's merely surviving.
Speaker A:So how did the growing tension between justice and survival make you feel?
Speaker A:Were you rooting?
Speaker A:And that's.
Speaker A:That's not a.
Speaker A:A joke of the late husband's demise, although there were roots involved with that.
Speaker A:But were you rooting for Dolores or conflicted about what the right, quote, unquote outcome should be?
Speaker A:Because Detective Mackey represents the people and justice and do we have a killer on the lo.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, okay, so that's a complex question in that I imagine the first time I watched it, I would have been conflicted because if she really did do something, then it's only right that she has to.
Speaker B:But at the same time, everything that she did, it's just like.
Speaker B:So there's a lot of conflict there.
Speaker B:However, knowing the full story as I'm rewatching it, I'm just like, I'm rooting for her because anybody who is strong enough to go through what she has done in life, and especially when she finds out that she is the recipient of Vera's money, that Vera has left everything to her, which is $1.6 million, which is actually an equivalent, almost about $5 million in spending power today day.
Speaker B:But when she.
Speaker B:I'm like that, you go, girl.
Speaker B:You take that money and you go have a nice.
Speaker B:But she's just gonna take that money and still sit in that same house and eat from cans and stuff like that.
Speaker A:But I mean, my, my version of it was because I watched this with hubby, I thought, well, she's got Vera's house.
Speaker A:So, yeah, maybe now how she can act out her wishes is she employs all the gossip mongers in town that didn't like her and now she.
Speaker A:She can be the boss with the capital B.
Speaker B:Yes, well, Dolores, sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has.
Speaker B:And you know what?
Speaker B:That is the perfect classic line.
Speaker B:I mean, up there with I. I can't even tell you, but all the famous movie lines, that one is like, right up there with it.
Speaker A:And we don't have time to talk about her more than two sentences.
Speaker A:But the woman who played Vera Donovan in this film was a woman who I didn't know until years later I would fall in love with her.
Speaker A:Judy Parfitt, or Parfi, is a British actress who in more recent Years has been in a long running series called Call the Midwife where she is the eldest nun who was wise beyond her years.
Speaker A:And you just sit down with her character in any moment of the show and she, she's the quiet type who knows things and just shocks you because she brings a smile to you every time she speaks.
Speaker A:Judy Parfit, gotta have more of her.
Speaker A:So, man, how I felt about this, I felt like the more I watched the film, the more I felt for Dolores.
Speaker A:So I felt like I was not rooting for her in the beginning because I didn't know whether or not she did her boss in.
Speaker A:But as the story went along, I understood the story in the motivation, which is always the important thing about any court case.
Speaker A:It's presented with the facts and then you understand the motivation.
Speaker B:Yeah, well.
Speaker B:And also it didn't help wanting to root for the police when you had such a horrific representation.
Speaker B:I mean, he was.
Speaker B:And because in the beginning you're like, okay, well, maybe he's just a good police officer doing his job, trying to get her rattled.
Speaker B:But honestly, I mean, he was, he.
Speaker B:You could just tell that his life was so bitter and angry and it was all because of that woman, you know, so.
Speaker A:And he played it, he played it to his credit.
Speaker A:He played it so well that you didn't like the character.
Speaker A:And also, I didn't like.
Speaker B:I was, wait.
Speaker B:I wanted her to get him to, to go out to that root cellar.
Speaker B:I mean,.
Speaker A:But you could, because they talk about his career at a point in the film and all the cases he's tried.
Speaker A:I want to think that because of the events that took place in Dolores Claiborne that there might be some innocent people in jail.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Honestly, I didn't even think about that.
Speaker B:But you're right, it very well could be because he's like, I've had 84 out of 10, 85 convictions.
Speaker B:Well, I'm sorry, but that's, that's a little, that's a little weird.
Speaker A:And I think that that would be, in essence, isn't that like a conflict of interest?
Speaker A:He's only getting involved in this case because of his own reputation.
Speaker A:He's got personal motivations.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:He does.
Speaker B:But it's a little town and an island in Maine.
Speaker B:Nobody, nobody else wanted to go out there.
Speaker A:And we look the other way because people have deep pockets and when you run for office, you can do no wrong.
Speaker A:So speaking of doing no wrong, daddy's girl, maybe she did do wrong, but we'll see if we have enough time to talk about that.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker A:The other lady in this cast was an up and coming who had made a name for herself by the time or was about to tell us about who played the daughter, Selena.
Speaker B:Well, that would be Jennifer Jason Lee.
Speaker B:And she, of course, is an actress known for her fearless and emotionally raw performances across film and television.
Speaker B:But, yeah, she was born in February.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:So she's only a few years older than us in Hollywood.
Speaker B:Oh, she was born in Hollywood, yeah.
Speaker B: st Times at Ridgemont High in: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So 10 years later.
Speaker B:And then 10 years later, she played in Single White Female, which made her like a scary.
Speaker A:Yeah, a household name.
Speaker B:Like, you still, like, see references on TV about, like, okay, is this a Single white Female situation?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that was in 92.
Speaker B:And she earned widespread acclaim and an Academy Award nomination as her role as Daisy Dovagu.
Speaker B:I don't know how to pronounce that in.
Speaker B:Gosh.
Speaker B: thing in the hateful eight in: Speaker B:1915.
Speaker B:2015.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Jumping forward there a bit anyway.
Speaker B:But she also delivered, of course, the performance into Lors Claiborne, and she was playing with grappling trauma and memory and all that.
Speaker B:And basically she's just known for doing very intense roles and taking on a lot of, well, more challenging roles.
Speaker B:And that has really made her have such a depth and range as a performer.
Speaker A:But we are at about the halfway mark in the show.
Speaker A:We're going to take a brief break for some ads, some jingles, some nostalgia from days gone by.
Speaker A: d of things that come up from: Speaker A:Mind you, when this movie came out, not when the beginnings of the story are set, but I could possibly have some fun with that, too.
Speaker B:This is your brain and this is heroin.
Speaker B:This is what happens to your brain after snorting heroin.
Speaker B:This is what your body goes through.
Speaker B:Wait, it's not over yet.
Speaker B:This is what your family goes through and your friends and your money and your drug respect and future and your life.
Speaker B:Any questions.
Speaker B:On America Online?
Speaker B:I get Compton's Encyclopedia, Barron's book notes, even the entire Internet, all of which have really helped my schoolwork.
Speaker B:And I won an A this time.
Speaker C:America Online welcome.
Speaker A:The only one CK one,.
Speaker B:A fragrance for a man or a woman from Calvin Klein.
Speaker A:Anyways, we are back.
Speaker B:Surprisingly, she's only been in about 60 to 70 films and television shows and she had a lot more television shows.
Speaker B:Than I realized she did.
Speaker B:But her, her top five movies, Hateful Eight, which she got Oscar nominated for.
Speaker B:Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which again launched her career.
Speaker B:Single White Female, Dolores Clayborne, obviously, and then Georgia, which I have never heard of, but it's a raw, critically acclaimed indie performance as a troubled singer.
Speaker B:And I had not known that one before, but did you that she was also in Bastard out of Carolina, which.
Speaker B:It was a role that just like shook me.
Speaker B:And she played, she.
Speaker B:It was almost like she played kind of a Dolores Claiborne type character.
Speaker B:Not as, not as tough.
Speaker B:Not as tough, but the same type of abusive situations and she was the mother in, in that situation.
Speaker B:So anyway, how many of you seen of her movies?
Speaker A:Well, honestly, I've heard the legends of Single White Female, but I wasn't, I wasn't quite old enough to go to the movies by myself when that came out out.
Speaker A:So I actually to this day haven't seen it.
Speaker A:But I have seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High, although not in recent memory.
Speaker A:So that's due for a rewatch.
Speaker A:For me.
Speaker B:The only thing that I remember about that film is Judge Reinhold in the bathroom.
Speaker A:Oh, well.
Speaker A:And then Ray Walston supposedly had a glass eye.
Speaker B:Oh, see, I didn't even remember that he was in it.
Speaker B:It's been that long since I watched that.
Speaker A:O.
Speaker A:So I've seen all of two.
Speaker A:I've seen Dolores Claiborne, of course, but another favorite of mine was a film with Timothy Robbins Hudsucker Proxy, which is all about corporate greed and disappearing in the bowels of the industry as an employee.
Speaker B:Never heard of it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It was a, it was a very terrific film.
Speaker A:Yeah, I've seen, I've seen two.
Speaker B:Okay, well, I have actually seen eight, believe it or not.
Speaker A:Stalk.
Speaker B:I know, right?
Speaker B:I mean, it surprised me too.
Speaker B:And there were roles that I didn't even realize it was her I was watching.
Speaker B:But yeah, so Dolores Claiborne, of course, it will always be my all time favorite.
Speaker B:And then Single White Female was the next one.
Speaker B:But while I was thinking about that, there was another movie.
Speaker B:Oh, Bastard out of Carolina was probably.
Speaker B:I would.
Speaker B:I, I hesitate to say it's my fave because it was a very disturbing movie movie.
Speaker B:But I think that she, it is a role that she just did a fab, fantastic job in.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker B:All right, well, do you want me to tell you about the climax and the resolution?
Speaker A:Well, it should be noted that of course, just like any story with a climax and a resolution, there.
Speaker A:There's a moment where the Action comes to a.
Speaker A:A peak, and then it falls and, well, so did.
Speaker A:So did the late husband.
Speaker A:And that's why he's late.
Speaker A:And I don't mean just for dinner.
Speaker B:Yeah, he.
Speaker B:He rose and he fell.
Speaker B:All right, well, what.
Speaker B:Basically, the climax of this arrives when Selena, who is fully recovered and fully remembers the truth that happened during the silo, the solar eclipse, which is a big, big thing in this film, by the way, the cinematography around that whole thing.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And what happened.
Speaker B:And everything was so good.
Speaker B:Anyway, realizing her father's abuse and understanding that her.
Speaker B:Her mom killed him to protect her.
Speaker B:Although, did she?
Speaker B:I mean, she may have led him.
Speaker A:There, but she let him on, literally.
Speaker B:But she didn't actually touch him, so.
Speaker B:Right, yeah.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker B:But it was all to protect her.
Speaker B:And this emotional break breakthrough forces her to confront both her own trauma and her mother's sacrifice.
Speaker B:And then Dolores actually does finally confess.
Speaker B:Well, say confess, but explains, like, the whole truth of everything that happened in detail.
Speaker B:Not out of guilt, but out of love and necessity.
Speaker B:And she actually does it on a cassette tape and tapes it to her daughter.
Speaker B:It puts it in her daughter's luggage as her daughter is, like, across the channel and flying away.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Or.
Speaker B:Or whatever.
Speaker B:So she listens to it and then.
Speaker B:Yeah, and then.
Speaker B:So anyway, so Selena, basically.
Speaker B:And at that point, remembering everything that happened, remembering the trauma, she comes back, she stands by her mother's side and helps helping cast doubt on the current murder charge involving Vera Donovan, which you're not Cassie Doubt.
Speaker B:I mean, but she didn't actually touch her either.
Speaker B:Anyway.
Speaker B:While legal certainty remains ambiguous, the emotional resolution is clear.
Speaker B:Mother and daughter reconcile, facing the past and beginning a path forward toward healing and making Christopher Plummer's character look like a complete ass, which he was.
Speaker B:So there you go.
Speaker A:So one of the journeys that you go on in watching Dolores.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is that familiar?
Speaker A:Return to home.
Speaker A:And it's familiar for folks like myself because before I was faced with having to return to my home state after living almost a decade away.
Speaker A:It's like, I've got all this freedom, and when I go back home, what am I going to have to face?
Speaker A:I have to face the music.
Speaker A:Music.
Speaker A:Why did I leave?
Speaker A:And are there going to be reminders of why I left?
Speaker A:And has.
Speaker A:So in this case, where it's been 15 years since the daughter had been home, all of these experiences of visiting with her mother and just being present in the moment has caused her to revisit all those buried feelings.
Speaker A:And I think that some of the moments that are Most informing are when you realize that maybe daddy's girl, the daughter Selena, starting to take after her father a little bit.
Speaker B:Like, starting.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:She has to get groceries for her mother's home because mom has been living with her boss for a while.
Speaker A:They sit down to dinner, and what does the mother find in the bag of groceries there?
Speaker A:Man, it's rather big, actually.
Speaker B:The same type of liquor that he.
Speaker B:That her father drank.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:No, whiskey, I believe.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So here it's supposed to be mother and daughter sharing a meal together.
Speaker A:And it's been 15 years since they've seen each other, but of course, the daughter has to take the edge off and get through the experience.
Speaker A:So her mom finds her daughter following in her late dad's footsteps, literally his brand, and.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:But also, don't forget that when she's unpacking for Selena in her purse, she finds, like, six different medications, too.
Speaker B:And it's like, I don't think that's for blood pressure.
Speaker B:Well, maybe it is, but, yeah.
Speaker B:So it's like all those medications and then alcohol on top of it and smoking, I believe, too.
Speaker B:So, I mean, she's just.
Speaker A:And who's to say all those medications were legitimately hers, too, you know?
Speaker B:Well, it did have her name on it, but.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Because, I mean, what's the difference?
Speaker A:You got some leftovers.
Speaker A:And that's a whole problem, too, in America is you don't throw away your meds just because the.
Speaker A:The doctor says you don't have to take it anymore.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But, yeah, a lot.
Speaker A:A lot of telling and informing moments.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And the daughter, she.
Speaker A:She was at a tender age when all these things happened.
Speaker A:So it's not until she goes back and spends time with her mother and is in that environment that she realizes there's always more than one side to any stories.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Well, and, I mean, the girl, Selena, when she grew up, which, I mean, she was already, like.
Speaker B:She was, I guess, young.
Speaker B:Selena was only supposed to be, like, 13 or something, which was about the same age that Dolores was when she started working and having to do things as well.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But she.
Speaker B:She went to.
Speaker B:She went to, I think Vassar, and, I mean, went to a really good college.
Speaker B:Apparently, she was working for Vanity Fair.
Speaker B:So, I mean, she did really became something when she left.
Speaker A:And despite the differences between them since they were apart 15 years, Selina realizes that her mother really is proud of her.
Speaker A:Because on the nightstand of the boss now dead boss's bedroom was a scrapbook.
Speaker A:And it had all of her daughter's publishing in there, all of the stories that she'd written.
Speaker A:So no one could look at that and say that they weren't proud of their child.
Speaker A:Why would you cut out somebody's article that they wrote for some paper or whatever, unless you were following your child's career?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So did the final revelation and Dolores's confession feel cathartic to you?
Speaker A:Or did it leave you with lingering moral questions about arrest actions?
Speaker A:Was she justified?
Speaker A:Was there motivation?
Speaker A:Did she do the right thing?
Speaker B:Yeah, there's always that question about doing the right thing or not.
Speaker B:But I certainly understand why she did what she did.
Speaker B:I mean, she was a.
Speaker B:She's a woman who basically, she had never been more than 50 miles from that island in her life.
Speaker B:That was her.
Speaker B:When you have that small of a worldview, you don't see a bigger option.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You see what's in front of you.
Speaker B:And sometimes, Dolores, all a woman has is being a.
Speaker B:And so anyway, yeah, I totally understand.
Speaker B:And it totally.
Speaker B:It felt very cathartic.
Speaker B:And what felt even more cathartic is, is when Selena went back in and handed that police officer as a.
Speaker B:And show that she really was.
Speaker B:Because especially in that time and working that high a profile job and everything, you don't get that way unless you have some serious moxie.
Speaker B:And all you see from Selina is that she's just.
Speaker B:She's a pill poppin, hard drinking, smoking, like, I don't want to deal with.
Speaker B:Deal with you like mess.
Speaker B:She has a nervous breakdown in the bathroom for a little bit there.
Speaker B:It's like she's a mess.
Speaker B:And how you have a job at Vanity Fair and you're this like, crack journalist and all this stuff, if you are a mess, just.
Speaker B:So when she walked back in, she walked in, in the.
Speaker B:The inquest part of it and, and just stood up and asked the right questions and all the rest of that stuff showed that that that's her and that's how she got where she was.
Speaker B:Anyway, I rambled on way too long.
Speaker A:That's okay.
Speaker A:We'll.
Speaker A:We'll go to the second question because I'm just going to share some thoughts here.
Speaker A:So one of the wonderful things about this movie is that it, as a viewer, the director and Stephen King, the author, has taken you on the experience of these characters by comparing their lives to each other.
Speaker A:He brings characters together that have things in common so that they can learn about each other's strengths and weaknesses and draw from each other.
Speaker A:That's why Dolores ended up with Vera Donovan they were both women who had seen some form of abuse.
Speaker A:And as.
Speaker A:As is revealed towards the end of the film, when the daughter decides.
Speaker A:Spoiler.
Speaker A:That she's going to stick around for her mother hearing is that there wasn't abuse.
Speaker A:There's a reason why she stuck by her boss for all those years.
Speaker A:She wasn't being paid well, but it was comforting to spend time with this woman and take care of somebody, somebody who needed her.
Speaker B:And yeah, Dolores needed to be needed.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And we saw from the point of view of an outsider, when you're introduced to the story in the beginning you saw abuse, which is deliberately because you were supposed to doubt whether or not Dolores did her in.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:In the same way, though, that Dolores has had to deal with some things and she draws strength from Vera.
Speaker A:Selina has had to deal with some things, but she hasn't had the strength like her mother.
Speaker A:Her mother doesn't have all those medications to let her escape.
Speaker A:There's a moment where Selena is having that breakdown, as you said, and she said to her mother, just give me 10 minutes and I'll.
Speaker A:Fine.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Dolores doesn't have that.
Speaker A:She doesn't have the pill to pop to escape.
Speaker A:She has chosen to participate in life and that's why she's cold, because there were things in life that happened that she couldn't do anything about.
Speaker A:And her escape was working for Vera.
Speaker B:Well, now.
Speaker B:Okay, here's a.
Speaker B:Here's something that just popped in my head that I want to ask you.
Speaker B:All right, so you have.
Speaker B:Okay, so.
Speaker B:So Vera basically gives Dolores the.
Speaker B:The idea and the.
Speaker B:The time, etcetera, to take care of business with the husband, shall we say.
Speaker B:And she basically alludes to that.
Speaker B:She ended up making sure that her own husband.
Speaker A:She took care of her own situation.
Speaker B:Because he was cheating.
Speaker B:Now, in.
Speaker B:In Dolores's case, her husband was harming their child very badly.
Speaker B:Stealing.
Speaker B:Stealing the money that she saved up for her daughter's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Stealing that money, abusing her drinking and I mean, just like he was a ass hat.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I completely understood why Dolores was like, what.
Speaker B:I don't see any other way out of this.
Speaker B:This then leaping across this big hole.
Speaker B:And what happens, happens.
Speaker B:Yeah, like.
Speaker A:Like Titanic a couple of years later.
Speaker A:Oops.
Speaker B:Yeah, something's sinking and I'm not helping.
Speaker B:But, but with Vera, she didn't seem abused at all.
Speaker B:She seemed kind of ignored and she seen.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And apparently her husband was cheating.
Speaker B:But is that really motivation for what may.
Speaker B:She may or may not have done to.
Speaker B:Whereas with Dolores, I'M like, you go, girl.
Speaker B:And with Vera, I'm like, really?
Speaker A:Well, and it's kind of ironic because Kathy Bates was in it, but as they say, misery loves.
Speaker A:As they say, misery loves company.
Speaker B:He was in Misery as well.
Speaker A:Huh?
Speaker B:But, yeah, so I don't know.
Speaker B:So Vera just her motives did not seem all that to me.
Speaker A:Yeah, but.
Speaker A:Boy, both women had been done wrong.
Speaker A:But poor Selena didn't have the strength to.
Speaker A:To change things.
Speaker A:Besides escaping, her means of coping was escaping in several senses of the word.
Speaker A:The first being physical because she left her hometown town.
Speaker A:And then, of course, in her adult years, she learned to escape through pills, through booze.
Speaker B:Well, and also repressing the memory, huh?
Speaker A:Because she very conveniently remembered that her mother was the abuser and that there weren't two sides to that story.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So how did the reconciliation between Dolores and Selina make you feel?
Speaker A:Was it satisfying and earned or bittersweet, giving everything they enjoy endured?
Speaker A:Now, mind you, this all becomes possible due to the tape that Dolores made and left for her daughter.
Speaker A:Selina was ready to go on to her next assignment if there was one, because you actually get the impression that maybe she quit her job, but.
Speaker A:So there's a reconciliation between them.
Speaker A:Was it satisfying and earned, or was it bittersweet?
Speaker B:Both.
Speaker B:It was definitely satisfying, especially when she came back in and stood up for her mother finally.
Speaker B:And it was very earned because they went through a lot to get to that point.
Speaker B:But it was also bittersweet because they ended up.
Speaker B:Hopefully things would get better for them, but they had that moment and then she left again.
Speaker A:I mean, because could you imagine what would have happened if after the father had passed away, they had just moved in with Vera?
Speaker A:I mean, I don't know that Vera wanted kids around, so maybe that wasn't possible.
Speaker A:But what if that had happened?
Speaker A:Because in Fried Green Tomatoes that Kathy Boots was also in Jessica Tandy's character was being welcomed into her home.
Speaker A:We didn't get to see it, but she was inviting this unrelated woman to come live with them.
Speaker A:So it would almost be the same way if Dolores and Selina had moved in to that big house that was so empty with Vera.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But I think Vera was probably far too proud to do that.
Speaker B:She probably moved in later, after Selina had left, just because it was easier than commuting every day.
Speaker B:But I think that if something like that had been offered, that Dolores probably would have been like, I don't need your.
Speaker B:I don't need your charity.
Speaker B:I don't need your pity.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, that.
Speaker A:That's also.
Speaker A:It's tempting to say that it's a New England thing, but it's not.
Speaker A:It's actually.
Speaker A:I think it's more generational because the time frame that Dolores would have grown up in, it's sort of implied that Dolores is not much different than Kathy Bates own age.
Speaker A:Having been born in 48.
Speaker A:Kathy Bates character was actually part of what's called the silent generation, which is.
Speaker A:Was my father's generation.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The generation that took place between the Great Depression and the baby boomers are called the silent generation because they didn't talk about their problems.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So that they got put in the corner and told the Shut up.
Speaker B:Kids were not kids were to be seen and not heard.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:But also it should be noted that as we were talking about the money that Dolores was putting away for Selena.
Speaker A:I think that if you.
Speaker A:If you pay attention to the flashbacks, because the story of Dolores Claiborne begins in the present and you have a few visits to the past.
Speaker A:So you may lose track at some point of where we are, but it's supposed to be present.
Speaker A:So when her daughter was so young that she was putting money away for her college, this.
Speaker A:This was the 70s.
Speaker A:So it's possible that the banking laws that had changed in that time had either not yet changed or were just recently changed to the point where a woman had to have her husband co. Sign on a bank account.
Speaker A:So that's why the husband was able to take all the money out.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, but even though it was actually illegal for him to do that, which is why she got so of it back.
Speaker B:But yeah, it was basically.
Speaker B:And what she said was very true.
Speaker B:It's because I'm a woman.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But yeah, to me the reconciliation was bittersweet because if it had happened, if it had dawned on the daughter sooner, if maybe the daughter had come home and visited more recently than 15 years later, maybe they could have been friends all of this time and there could have been more healing.
Speaker A:That's the only reason why I see it that way.
Speaker A:I have my own regrets in life.
Speaker A:I mean, after two years of college I moved away.
Speaker A:And during that time my own father passed away.
Speaker A:So I see that as a missed opportunity.
Speaker A:Because if I hadn't moved away, I might have been there and I might have participated or had my father involved with my life in my adult years.
Speaker A:I don't have memories of being an adult and having to be able.
Speaker A:Not having to be having the opportunity to talk about everyday things that you have in your life as an adult.
Speaker B:You don't know how lucky I had it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So that's my takeaway is missed opportunities.
Speaker A:There is an opportunity that for all this time, Selena and Dolores could have been friends.
Speaker A:And maybe because they say that if your friends and your family look out for you, you are in a better place to meet somebody who's compatible with you.
Speaker A:And maybe if Selina and Dolores had been friends, Selina wouldn't have had such poor luck in love.
Speaker A:But that's.
Speaker A:That's another possibility.
Speaker A:So we have a whole bevy of other people that shared the spotlight light with Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Lee.
Speaker A:We already talked about Christopher Plummer, so we can skip him.
Speaker A:But the guy who played Selena's dad, Matt, who was that?
Speaker B:That was Joe St. George, which was played by David Stathir on Stather Strathairn.
Speaker B:Stratiron.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:It was in there somewhere anyway.
Speaker B:But yeah, the abusive father whose actions basically haunt the family long after his death.
Speaker B:But he's.
Speaker B:He was actually best known for playing Edward R. Murrow in Good Night and Good Luck, which I was kind of surprised about.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But I thought he did a decent job in this one.
Speaker A:He was also in A League of Their Own which was directed by Penny Marshall.
Speaker A:He played the guy who was in charge of the league when Gary Marshall decided to.
Speaker A:He wasn't spending money on women in ball anymore.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:He had a cigar and he talked about women.
Speaker A:Women ball players.
Speaker A:Tom Hanks's boss, basically.
Speaker A:So, yeah, there was also the.
Speaker A:The wonderful, as I mentioned, Judy Parfit who played the boss.
Speaker A:Vera Donovan, she's known as Sister Monica Joan on Call the Midwife these days, but she played a sharp tongue employer who's mysterious, mysterious, curious death sparks the investigation.
Speaker A:And she's also best known for her role as Queen Marie in a show called Ever After.
Speaker B:I don't remember her now.
Speaker A:And who played Selena when she was a little girl?
Speaker B:Oh, that would be Ellen Muth, who is seen in flashbacks, of course.
Speaker B:And she's best known for playing George at last in Dead Like Me.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the policeman, the officer, Frank Stamshaw was played by John C. Riley.
Speaker A:I know he's.
Speaker A:The character is a local police officer involved in the investigation surrounding Vera Donovan's death.
Speaker A:John C. Reilly is best known for his comedic role as Cal Naughton Jr.
Speaker A:In Talladega Knights, which is a. Oh, what's his name?
Speaker A:That was in Elf with.
Speaker A:Yes, he's another.
Speaker A:Take it or leave it for me.
Speaker B:Oh, leave most of it.
Speaker B:But I did like Elf.
Speaker B:But the rest of it, I'll leave it.
Speaker A:And that movie that the, the model where he was like, blue Steel, look,.
Speaker B:I want to be a super model.
Speaker B:Nope, I have no idea.
Speaker A:But yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So on these characters, this is just one little side thing I have to say.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:As.
Speaker A:As a younger person, when I watched this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I. I had not.
Speaker A:And this is weird because I grew up in New York, western New York State.
Speaker A:I did not know many people from the upper coast of New England, no one from Massachusetts or anything like that.
Speaker A:So I would not be able to tell you whether or not the accents that the actors were presenting sounded authentic to me or not.
Speaker A:Some of them seemed to be trying a little hard to give you that accent, and it was more of a Boston than a Maine.
Speaker A:And the.
Speaker A:I'm sorry, but I felt that the actor who was playing the policeman sounded a little more Canadian than he sounded like he was from Maine.
Speaker B:But maybe he was a.
Speaker B:Maybe he.
Speaker B:He was transplant.
Speaker B:Yeah, there you go.
Speaker B:That's a good name for it.
Speaker A:And what's the, what's the Canadian name for a policeman?
Speaker B:Mountie thing.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I was going to, I was going to give you a hint and say that it's what you get when you got on a horse, but.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So our favorite sci fi genre, Star Trek, has some connections here and of course, the detective we've talked about when we did Daisy Clover.
Speaker A:But who else has been in our favorite.
Speaker A:Our favorite franchise there?
Speaker A:Matt.
Speaker B:Well, believe it or not, it was who we were just talking about, Mr. John C. Reilly, who.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:He appeared in Star Trek the Next Generation in an episode known as the Outrageous Ocono.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:And it's interesting because we've had a number of people that we've talked about been in that episode, so it was.
Speaker A:Very weird that that episode of Next Generation stands out to me because it was in one of the earlier scenes.
Speaker A:Seasons and he.
Speaker A:The character in that episode, not who John C. Reilly played, but the character Ocona, was sort of a swashbuckling type and he had his shirt off almost as many times as Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker did in some of those earlier episodes.
Speaker B:I didn't mind.
Speaker A:So, Matt, which of the characters in Dolores Claiborne would you want to hang out with then?
Speaker A:Why, of course, it depends on what time frame of the movie you might not be able to.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't know if I'd want to hang out with any of them, frankly.
Speaker B:I mean, now, Vera, when she was younger.
Speaker A:Uhhuh.
Speaker B:I. I think she Would have been pleasant to hang out with and for a while, but otherwise, no, thank you.
Speaker B:Wait, did I say Vera?
Speaker B:I meant Dolores.
Speaker B:Dolores when she was younger, when she was still kind of trying to make the.
Speaker B:Be a happy homemaker.
Speaker B:I. I think she would have been fun to hang out with.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:As I say, you stole my line.
Speaker A:I wanted to be the one that hung out with Vera because she's got money and.
Speaker A:And when you've got friends that have money, they spend it on you too.
Speaker B:Oh, I don't know.
Speaker B:With Vera, she'd spend money on anything.
Speaker B:I mean, she's only paying or made $40.
Speaker A:So weak.
Speaker A:Yeah, in the 70s, but you never know.
Speaker A:People running in small social circles.
Speaker A:She might have known Jackie Kennedy's cousins that ran their estate into the ground.
Speaker A:That would have.
Speaker A:That would have been an awkward dinner party, huh?
Speaker B:Well, she probably knew them before that, so that might have been fun.
Speaker A:True.
Speaker B:So, mother dear.
Speaker A:Yes, this is.
Speaker A:This is the best outfit for summer.
Speaker A:Was there a character you wish had more screen time?
Speaker B:Not really.
Speaker B:I. I think they did a really good job with all of it.
Speaker B:I mean, the only one you could say got the.
Speaker B:The least amount of.
Speaker B:Of time was.
Speaker B:Was the John, the Riley character, the Officer Frank character.
Speaker B:Yeah, and even him, he was there.
Speaker B:There for what he needed to be there for.
Speaker B:And that was enough now, wasn't.
Speaker B:Was it Elliot?
Speaker B:Elliot Gould?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Who.
Speaker B:Who played her boyfriend?
Speaker B:The publisher guy or the editor guy?
Speaker B:Oh, it didn't list him, but he's very well known.
Speaker A:That's a good question.
Speaker A:Eric Bogosian?
Speaker B:No idea.
Speaker A:And when I look at Eric Bogosian, it says that he's been in 143 things.
Speaker A: And from: Speaker A:Give it.
Speaker A:I have to see what the plot is of that.
Speaker A:Helmet performs in the music video Give it from the album Meantime.
Speaker A:Oh, so it's a music video.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:Let's see.
Speaker A:He was in something called Talk radio in 88, and talk radio in 88 had Alec Baldwin in it, so no idea.
Speaker A:Stinky feet perhaps.
Speaker A:But yes, it reminded me of Elliot Gould, as you were saying.
Speaker A:So for me, a character that had more screen time.
Speaker A:Well, probably characters that didn't exist.
Speaker A:I probably would have had like a teacher that called to tell her that her daughter was missing school.
Speaker A:Or maybe there should have been a social worker because somebody at school noticed that their dog.
Speaker A:That her daughter was being abused.
Speaker A:Although they didn't have physical signs yet at the time, just certain family heirlooms that were given in payment.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So did you see yourself in any of the characters?
Speaker A:We always have this question.
Speaker A:I swear this is the third rail.
Speaker A:Who did you tell your therapist you felt like you were in this story Worry?
Speaker B:I. I kind of felt like I was a little bit of.
Speaker B:A little bit of Dolores and a little bit of Selena.
Speaker B:Yeah, probably a little bit more of Selena.
Speaker B:But yeah, because my.
Speaker B:My father was abusive in a number of ways.
Speaker B:So, I mean, I definitely built those walls and I understood why she had her walls up and why she was.
Speaker B:Was so acerbic.
Speaker B:Constantly battling the.
Speaker B:Because that was all the keeping those walls up.
Speaker B:But I also can see myself in Dolores in that you just power through what you have to and you put up with a lot of stuff to protect the others around you and to get.
Speaker B:To just get.
Speaker B:Get through.
Speaker B:Just get through it.
Speaker B:Working for.
Speaker B:And working for people that are absolutely absolute horrific work.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, and.
Speaker B:And I don't.
Speaker B:And Vera wasn't even like a horrific person.
Speaker B:She was just one of those people said like.
Speaker B:And she knew that when she was driving those maids crazy with all little things.
Speaker B:And I want only three leaves on every rose.
Speaker B:And these leaves have to be.
Speaker B:And I mean just like the most insane minutia of the stuff.
Speaker B:She was doing it.
Speaker B:She knew what she was doing.
Speaker B:She was doing it to drive them crazy.
Speaker B:She didn't really need it.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The sheets hung out to dry rather than in a dryer and stuff like that.
Speaker B:She was doing it to be controlling.
Speaker A:And I think if you're to put yourself in Vera's shoes in this, I think that she was venting her frustrations, to put it mildly with his.
Speaker A:With her husband's potential mistresses.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker A:So each of the women who worked for her was a potential outlet for.
Speaker A:I can't do anything to this woman that he's horn around with, but I can make other women suffer.
Speaker B:Yeah, I can.
Speaker B:I can.
Speaker B:This is something the.
Speaker B:The maids and the.
Speaker B:The things that she was having them do was something she could control when she couldn't control anything else.
Speaker B:So anyway.
Speaker A:But yeah, so for me, I identified with Selina not from the perspective of abuse, but from the perspective of convenient memory because she was a young person when things were happening under her roof that she wasn't aware of.
Speaker A:Now, this is going to sound odd, but it's just simply the transition that your mind makes from childhood to adulthood.
Speaker A:As you get older, you have more associations that have nuance.
Speaker A:You sight, smells, experiences.
Speaker A:And to that point where I'm going with this Is that as an adult I understand that there is no abuse in my parents relationship.
Speaker A:However, at a certain point you get to where you realize your, your mother or your father could have ended up with a different type type of person.
Speaker A:And there are situations where you think to yourself, well they're not suffering but certainly mom might enjoy it if they went out to fancy dinners more often or maybe they went to occasions where there were social outlets like you go to, I don't know, an award show or something for the hospital she works at.
Speaker A:You'd get to meet the boss and some of her co workers.
Speaker A:My dad was a very stay at home person because he had a learning disability and he didn't have above a high school education.
Speaker A:So they didn't travel.
Speaker A:He was a homebody.
Speaker A:And as a result of that, unintentionally my mother suffered because she didn't get to spend time with more intellectual people.
Speaker A:She didn't get to have adult conversations.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was watching a show last night where somebody had to tell their partner that they didn't want to be with them anymore.
Speaker B:And the way she, she phrased it was you don't make me happy anymore.
Speaker B:And some, and sometimes it's that sometimes it's not a relationship is not abusive, but it's not happy.
Speaker B:And, and that's just not good.
Speaker B:And your child can pick up on that and it, it comes off as a very negative vibe anyway.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:All right, so just some little tips tidbits here before we tell you what else you might enjoy in this film into Dolores Claiborne.
Speaker A:There are moments where you get to meet Selina in her native habitat where she's the big girl in the city.
Speaker A:And the aerial view of New York building scene early in the film was actually footage that was used for Godfather Part three from a handful of years before.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, and you won't believe this, but during the filming of the scene on the ferry, ferry boat, the big ferry boat where Dolores and Selena are, are on there together.
Speaker B:Jennifer Jason Lee became so seasick that they actually had to find a student from a local high school that was pulled out of class to act as a stand in for her.
Speaker B:Oh, so the, the scenes where you see Jennifer Jason Lee on the, on the boat, especially most of it from like behind was not her, it was somebody else.
Speaker A:I've never spent that much time on a boat, so I feel for her.
Speaker A:That's, that's, that's one of the things about, I mean not that I have ever had the means to go on a Cruise or anything like that.
Speaker A:But that's one of my fears, is that someday I will get to the point where we've saved and we decide to do something extravagant like that.
Speaker A:And I won't be able to enjoy myself because I find that I don't cope with it.
Speaker B:There's ads that.
Speaker B:That will help you.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So while according to the press that.
Speaker A:Oh, sorry, according to the press pass that Dolores finds in Selena's purse, supposedly her daughter has done quite well for herself at certain points in her career, including working for Vanity Fair Affair, which.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, that.
Speaker B:That's really something.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:And the scrapbook, of course, also pointed out her daughter's accomplishments.
Speaker A:She had interviewed all sorts of who's.
Speaker A:Who's.
Speaker A:Including Nixon.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that's why when she was.
Speaker B:She's on this.
Speaker B:The whole.
Speaker B:In this.
Speaker B:In the movie, she's on the hot trail for like, what sounds like some sort of criminal investigation or something like that.
Speaker B:And I'm like, well, okay, if she's working for Vanity Fair and she's interviewed all these big wigs like this, what is she doing with this?
Speaker B:Which is basically a newspaper type story.
Speaker B:So I was just like, I don't get that part of it.
Speaker B:But having been in journalism for so long, maybe it was just me overseeing over reading.
Speaker A:I mean, there is such a thing.
Speaker A:And I'm sure you.
Speaker A:I mean, you're all well aware of this, but freelance.
Speaker A:So in other words, she doesn't necessarily work for one publication.
Speaker A:But that.
Speaker A:That's a bit of a stretch because in that day and age, it was more common that somebody had a regular gig and then occasionally get other jobs.
Speaker A:In this day and age where we have the ability for people to work from home and you sort of are your own business.
Speaker A:That's more the freelance this day that the modern age gives us.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Well, and.
Speaker B:And for.
Speaker B:For writing, when you're trying to be a published writer, it's called string singing.
Speaker B:So you string for different publications, but like the Vanity Fair one.
Speaker B:Well, okay, so it.
Speaker B:Back then, especially you look at Sex and the City.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Carrie, Carrie Bradshaw, apparently she turned in like one article a month to a publication.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But it was.
Speaker B:She was paid so much that she could live in the.
Speaker B:She could live in the States, United New York.
Speaker B:She could afford designer shoes and designer wardrobe.
Speaker B:And like, I'm going, honey, no, you're lucky if you're gonna get 200 bucks.
Speaker B:So I don't know what she was being paid, but she's.
Speaker B:I'm like, that That's a cushy job right there.
Speaker A:Right, so, okay, well, here's the point in the show where we tell you other things that you might enjoy.
Speaker A:Something that's similar to Dolores Claiborne, maybe something that you might enjoy if you're a fan of Stephen King, stories that have been turned into movies or TV shows.
Speaker A:So I'm gonna go first.
Speaker A:I'm going to recommend a film from more recent years, although not terribly recent.
Speaker A:It was actually within a decade of Dolores Claiborne.
Speaker A:So the beginning of the new.
Speaker A: new century, anything in the: Speaker A:Or the knots, I guess, is what it's called.
Speaker A:But anyways, so the tragic murder of a 19 year old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston.
Speaker A:The victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.
Speaker A:This is a film directed by Clint Eastwood and it features Sean Penn, Timothy Robbins and Kevin Bacon.
Speaker A:So you've got quite the star power there.
Speaker A: es Claiborne, you might enjoy: Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, okay, sorry.
Speaker B:Lost my.
Speaker B:Lost my place.
Speaker B:Here we go.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:For.
Speaker B:Well, for me, actually, I'm going to suggest a movie about a novelist named Paul Sheldon who is rescued from a car crash by his number one fan, Annie Wils.
Speaker B:I know you don't have any clue what this movie is, but what begins as apparent kindness quickly turns into a sinister adventure when Annie discovers Paul has killed off her favorite character in his latest book.
Speaker B:So she holds him captive and forces Paul to write a new novel that brings the character back to life.
Speaker B:And Paul must rely on his wits to survive and find a way to escape before it's too late.
Speaker B:Another Kathy Bates film.
Speaker B: It's: Speaker B:Oh my gosh, that scene was just shook me, girl.
Speaker B:Shook me.
Speaker A:Yeah, it shook me to the point where I haven't watched it more than just the clips.
Speaker B:I know, right?
Speaker B:I think I've seen, I've seen.
Speaker B:I think I may have seen it twice.
Speaker B:Yeah, but once was.
Speaker B:Yeah, but I think I may have seen it twice.
Speaker B:But let me tell you that that scene alone has been like, oh, no, no.
Speaker B:I mean, I want to watch that.
Speaker A:I'm sure.
Speaker A:And this is the wonderful thing about the world we live in now, where you can find everything out there that's similar that you might like because it has something in common with it.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's, that's one of those types of movie that sort of skeeves me out because you're identifying with the character who's being held captive.
Speaker A:Captive.
Speaker A:And part of the story is them trying to escape and you're experiencing it with them.
Speaker A:So you're wondering, oh my God, what's gonna happen?
Speaker A:When's the other person gonna come around the corner and say, not right now.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Let me tell you, when she does, she does that one thing.
Speaker B:Oh my gosh, that was so scary.
Speaker A:They say love hurts.
Speaker B:Was that love know.
Speaker B:And, and the fat.
Speaker B:And when she burned.
Speaker B:When he burns the book or whatever he does after she.
Speaker B:Oh, that was.
Speaker B:Anyway, I'm wondering what we're going to end up watching next time.
Speaker A:I'm wondering that myself.
Speaker A:In fact, I was just going to open a window for breath of fresh air here.
Speaker C:Next time on Matinee Minutia, strap in for a high altitude disaster where the sky isn't the limit.
Speaker C:It's just the beginning.
Speaker C:When an unexpected rocket forces Starflight one into space.
Speaker C:What begins as a historic maiden voyage becomes a fight for survival.
Speaker C:With no heat shielding for re entry and oxygen running dangerously low, the crew and passengers face the impossible.
Speaker C:Lee Majors and Hal Linden star in Starflight, the plane that couldn't land.
Speaker C: The: Speaker A:I don't know what we're watching next, but I'm sure that it's going to have something to do with one of these low budget movies that's in the pile of returns here.
Speaker B:Oh, that would make sense.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And we got some tapes to rewind and before.
Speaker A:Yes, and I guess we ought to go check to make sure that those folks that were using the other arcades shade remember to pick up their bleach wipes on the way.
Speaker B:Let's hope.
Speaker A:Oh yes, it's, it's, it's not, it's not yet Easter, but there might be an egg drop.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:And that's why I always insist on wearing shoes back there, maybe even the steel toed ones because all you gotta do is take the, the hose to the bottom of your shoes.
Speaker A:Kind of like coming in from the beach.
Speaker A:You just rinse them off and you're good.
Speaker A:So the, the, the Easter is coming up there and people are dying the eggs and maybe having some egg salad and spring is, is actually starting back.
Speaker A:We've had a few more Consistent warm days.
Speaker A:But besides the.
Speaker A:The Ostara being here, anything you're looking forward to?
Speaker A:Because April's coming.
Speaker B:April?
Speaker B:Um, so April.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Maybe pool.
Speaker B:Pool parties.
Speaker B:Um.
Speaker B:Oh, Mayday.
Speaker A:Oh, true.
Speaker B:First is another.
Speaker B:Another big witchy holiday I can't seem to remember.
Speaker A:I don't think that you have to wait for Easter to find Cadbury eggs.
Speaker B:They changed.
Speaker B:I. Oh, man.
Speaker B:I used to love Cadbury eggs, but they changed the recipe in them.
Speaker B:I think it was like they started using corn syrup or something.
Speaker B:And I just.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I don't like them now.
Speaker B:I'm pretty sad about it.
Speaker A:I'm sure that I've told this story before, but since we're leaving, folks, maybe they'll hear this again here.
Speaker A:So, ages ago, I was at this job and I had a co worker who'd grown up in Japan.
Speaker A:So understandably, meeting somebody who grew up in a different culture.
Speaker A:Culture, you sometimes compare notes what you had as part of your childhood.
Speaker A:And of course, in Japan, Easter is not as big a thing as it is here.
Speaker A:So I. I mentioned to her some of my favorite things from that time of the year and come to find out she had never had a Cadbury egg at the time.
Speaker A:So on my.
Speaker A:On my lunch break that day at that job, I decided to go to the convenience store across the street, and I was going to bring back some Cadbury eggs for her to have.
Speaker A:Have one.
Speaker A:Well, don't you?
Speaker A:That was right about the time they started introducing the other varieties of the Cadbury eggs.
Speaker A:Not the classic traditional yellow centered and white egg, but the chocolate cream and the caramel ones.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I thought that they were both vile and disgusting, and I couldn't find any of the originals, so I just gave up on that experience.
Speaker B:Now, are you.
Speaker B:Are you a Peeps person?
Speaker A:I enjoy them.
Speaker A:I know that some people think they're more enjoyable when they've been left out to harden.
Speaker B:My.
Speaker B:It's funny.
Speaker B:My.
Speaker B:My grandmother, my step grandmother just said that yesterday.
Speaker B:She said she likes them when they're stale.
Speaker B:But my.
Speaker B:Be my.
Speaker B:One of my best friends.
Speaker B:He likes them when they are fresh.
Speaker B:I like them away from me because I don't like.
Speaker B:Although I've had a Peeps that was covered.
Speaker B:The Peeps that are covered in chocolate are not.
Speaker B:Not horrible.
Speaker A:Well, I guess I could say that I like my Easter candy.
Speaker A:Like my Stephen King characters.
Speaker A:Old and hard.
Speaker B:Well, dead in the bottom of a well.
Speaker A:No, old and hard, but not bitter.
Speaker A:Bitter is bad for candy.
Speaker A:You should throw that out.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:Enjoy your spring and we'll be back in a couple of weeks.
Speaker B:All right, bye.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening to Mad Name Minutia.
Speaker B:Our show is released on the first and third Friday of most months.
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Speaker A:DJ is at DJ Starsage.
Speaker B:Matt @sbamatt.
Speaker B:Send us an email at mattnamenutia at gmail com.
Speaker B:Giddy up.
Speaker B:The only place I found.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
