Welcome back to "Your Favorite Movie," where we discover the joys of a movie through the eyes of a friend who considers that movie THE BEST.
This past Friday night, Pam and I sat down with our good friend
Casey O'*****. Casey and I have been friends for almost three years now. She had palled around with Pam back in high school, but didn't enter my life until she returned to Philly from a nine-year Lake Tahoe sojourn. Casey is one of my favorite people, a like-minded soul in the matters of chill attitudes and blackout drunken antics.
In true Casey O. fashion, we sat on my backyard deck and had a few too many drinks while discussing her favorite movie,
Big Fish. It's a tale about telling tall tales, and we in turn spun our own tale, shaggy dog style, and only slightly incomprehensibly (and, of course, it's lightly edited here for clarity). Like
Big Fish, it is up to you, dear reader, to decide what is true, and what is fiction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joe: Alright, so something that I did not do with Pam, that I figured we could do this time, is kind of run through the plot a little bit? Just briefly.
Casey: Yeah, sure.
Joe: To give the readers [who] have never watched the movie, and don't care to watch the movie, a clue as to what we're talking about. So you can kinda start us off, and we'll jump in if we need to add in some details.
Casey: So basically, the plot is: an older man is at the end of his life, and his son, who wants to understand more about his father's life.
Joe: He hates his dad.
Casey: He hates his dad based on the fact that his dad was away for a long time growing up, because he was a salesman, he was on the road a lot, and the stories that he told his son, [the son] thought were fabricated. When he was younger, they were great stories, but when he became an adult, he started to realize that maybe these weren't stories that were real.
Joe: I guess the movie is basically these stories—
Pam: A retelling of these stories
Joe: He's telling the "Big Fish" story at the wedding
Casey: The last time they spoke was at the wedding, because the father, Edward Bloom's speech was based around how he caught the big fish with the gold ring. And that was the day that William was born. And William was kind of offended because, basically the story revolves around the father a lot. Which, I don't really understand
why he was so offended? Three years is a long time not to speak to your father!
Joe: For plot reasons?
Pam: To build tension.
Casey: But we'll get back to why I really care about this story. So that's where it starts—they don't speak to each other for a while, and his father gets very ill, and then he comes back to figure out what stories were true and what stories were fabricated.
Joe: I think that's a good plot summation. Why do you think this adds up to your favorite movie of all time?
Casey: This adds up to my favorite movie of all time because—so I guess it was the time that I saw it.
Joe: Which was when?
Casey: Freshman in college, 2003.
Pam: Is that when it came out, 2003?
Joe: 2003.
Casey: So I went to the movies with Brittany G***** and Ashley McN****, two of my best friends from high school, and, it turns out, college.
Joe: At Penn State.
Casey: Yeah. We innocently saw a movie,
Big Fish. We all liked Tim Burton, so we wanted to go see the movie, whatever. I had zero expectations. It really got me emotionally. I held in my emotions the whole entire movie. The movie finishes, I held in every emotion I had. We're at the bus stop for the loop to go back to our dorms—this is like a half hour after the movie ended—and I started bawling.
Pam and Joe: [laughter]
Casey: And they were like, "Casey, what the hell is a matter? Are you okay? Is it too cold out? What's the matter?" And I was like, "Oh my god, that movie, I was just holding it in, you guys," I really couldn't hold it in any longer. So what got me was, the whole storyline reminded me of my Pop Pop and my Grandmom. My Pop Pop passed away from cancer in his mid- to late-60s, which is early, if you think about our parents now.
Joe: When was that? What year?
Casey: 1997. It broke my Grandmom's heart, to the point where I felt like she didn't want to live anymore. She kept smoking cigarettes, and we kept telling her, ya know, this is terrible for your health. And she ended up passing away in 2000. So their whole connection—Edward Bloom and his wife—like really touched my heart. It reminded me of my grandparents. How it was true love. They had met each other when my grandparents met each other, when they were in their teens, and knew it was true love. My Pop Pop pursued my Grandmom, and they ended up together. And my Grandmom truly [did], I felt, die of a broken heart. So that whole situation reminded me of my grandparents, I think goes to factor why it is my favorite movie, how their relationship was very similar. There's some scenes throughout that movie too between the two of them which were really sweet—
Joe: So you saw the movie as a romance movie.
Casey: Hmm...
Joe: I know there's other aspects to it, but—
Casey: I wouldn't categorize it as a romance.
Joe: Okay, but the thing you took away from it, the thing that made you cry at Penn State... would you see yourself as a "Will"? Based on your relationship with your Grandpop? Or is that separate?
Casey: Yeah, not toward my grandparents, but... this was the first death in my life, my Pop Pop, and I took it very hard, I was probably twelve, eleven or twelve years old. And I just remember all my other little cousins who really didn't—weren't affected by it, but I was... I dunno, I don't even really feel I was that close to my Pop Pop, but that was the first death in my life, and I felt very impacted by it. And then the fact that I started, once my Pop Pop passed, talking to my Grandmom, and hearing how they met, at a school dance when they were in middle school, and fell in love. And then how she kinda died of loneliness, I felt, like,
so Jessica Lange. [laughter]
Joe: Okay, so your Grandmom was the storyteller in that situation after your Grandpop died.
Casey: Yes.
Joe: Do you mind if I ask you what the story was? If you remember if it had any fantastical elements to it?
Casey: My grandparents?
Joe: Yeah, so after your grandpop died, and your grandmom was telling you about how they met, did it feel like a
Big Fish-type story? Or—
Casey: It did kind of feel romantic, like, who meets their significant other at a middle school dance?
Joe: Honestly.
Casey: And then marrying that person, and still be in love with that person for the rest of your life until they die, and that's all they care about.
Joe: Kind of like that feel that you know when you see them... which was a big point in
Big Fish.
Casey: A big point! It's one of my favorite scenes, when they freeze everything—
Joe: I forgot about that part!
Casey: —"That moment in time, was when I realized," I don't know what he says—
Pam: "When you see the woman your going to marry, time stands still. Freezes," or something like that.
Casey: And literally, brushes away frozen popcorn, like, the imagery—
Pam: That was a good Tim Burton moment.
Casey: I love Tim Burton, and I love his art that he does with his films. And that was one of the best scenes in the movie, when he sees his wife, and time fast forwards, because when time freezes, it has to catch up. Also, Danny Devito, as the fucking circus ringer.
Joe: His first of two circus ringer Tim Burton films.
Pam: Yeah, there were some Tim Burton characters in there, like the guy who also works in the circus, he was the Oompa Loompas in—
Casey: Oh yes yes yes.
Joe: His first name is "Deep"
Pam: He has a really long last name, right?
Joe: No, it's short, it's like "Deep South" or something.
Casey: Yeah, he's like one of the clowns—
Joe: "Deep Park"? Or
something...
Casey: So this might be a nostalgic factor... I don't know what would attract us to see that movie in 2003. Like, the last Tim Burton movie—
Joe: Was it like a Friday night in college? [laughter]
Casey: No! It was during the week.
Pam: [fancy voice] "It was a Friday night at the movies!"
Casey: It was a chill night that we decided to go out.
Joe: You weren't missing anything back at campus.
Casey: I liked Johnny Depp at that time, but there was no Johnny Depp in this film.
Pam: Helena Bonham Carter though.
Casey: Yes, and that is... something I'd like to talk about.
Joe: We'll get there.
Casey: She's like me.
Pam: Oh yeah? As the witch?
Casey: With the cats!
Pam: [laughter]
Joe: So you don't see yourself as the "Will," you see yourself as the "Jen" slash "Witch"?
Pam: Every time you came to her house it was like [cat noise] cats running.
Joe: That was like, the cue—this is the same house, because there's cats.
Pam: That cat sound effect!
Casey: Do you remember in the circus scene, though, they have that whole trick where a cat jumps—
Joe: Oh my god, yeah.
Pam: We actually said that!
Joe: We looked at each other, like, "Is THIS why Casey likes this movie?"
Casey: Stop!
Pam: That cat looks like Beanie!
Casey: Rewatching it last night...
Joe: The cat definitely looks exactly like Beanie. Okay, so we were talking about why it was your favorite movie.
Casey: Okay, so the whole reminding me of my grandparents and their relationship, my Pop Pop's death and how that hurt my Grandmother so much. But also, how it tied the whole storyline together—"Man of the Hour." At the credits, a Pearl Jam song.
Joe: [laughter]
Pam: I dunno, I wasn't really with that song though.
Joe: Well they wrote it for the movie.
Casey: Did they?
Joe: Yeah, according to
Wikipedia. What's his name, the Pearl Jam guy—
Pam: Eddie Vedder?
Joe: —Eddie Vedder, saw [a portion of] the movie and said, "We need to write a song for this."
Casey: It tied it all together for me, when I was really holding it in, the first time I saw it, trying my hardest. So the whole emotional factor was when the father is on his deathbed, and he says, "You tell me how it ends." That whole story—and then it goes back to him talking to his dad in the hospital, and then it goes back to the story that he's telling—that back-and-forth moment pulled at my heartstrings.
Joe: Yeah, that was a powerful scene.
Casey: And then the lighthearted scene when they're all at the funeral, and you're realizing that, wow, all these characters that he was talking about were true people, they're here and they loved [Edward] just like Will did... and then that song.
Pam and Joe: [laughter]
Casey: Because you get a break from the real intense moment at the hospital, the dad's dying, and he's talking about how he's dying, and, it's over. So the funeral scene is kind of a relief. And then that song plays.
Pam: So did you know that song before—
Casey: No! And you know I definitely went on Napster after I heard it!
Pam and Joe: [laughter]
Casey: It broke my heart. So... it brings us back to the bus stop, trying to hold it all in, I couldn't, and I just cried my eyes out. Brittany and Ashley thought I was a crazy person.
Joe: They didn't feel the same way?
Casey: No.
Joe: Why do you think that is? That you—like, what was the difference between you guys?
Casey: I guess because I related it back to my grandparents, those were the first deaths in my life. And plus Brittany and Ashley are assholes who don't show any emotion.
Joe: [laughter]
Pam: Can we strike that from the record?
Casey: Just kidding. No, who knows, it affected me in a different way. Everyone thought it was a good movie, but they weren't crying about it. And honestly, I do get emotional like that about a lot of movies, but this one was really different.
Joe: My chest got a little tight at the river scene.
Pam: Yeah, because you knew he was dying—
Casey: His lady in the river. "Your love is so pure." Okay, another favorite moment—when old Edward Bloom is in the bathtub, because he's so dried out, he's in the bathtub [wearing] his pajamas, and then Jessica Lange, his wife, decides to get in the bathtub with him. And does the little chin thing to her.
Pam: It was a sweet scene.
Joe: Okay, so as far as the theme of the movie, or themes, plural—
Casey: This is what I was scared about.
Joe: No, so we're touching on one, with true love, and fate and whatnot, and I think that's a legit theme of the movie. Is there another theme of the movie, in your opinion?
Casey: Not that this is a theme, but knowing that our parents—when we're growing up, you think, "they're annoying, they're too much for calling, their stories are dumb" or whatever. But we take them for granted, basically, because when it comes down to it, nobody is going to live forever, and the first that are gonna go are our parents, and they're the wisest people that I know, we need to take advantage of that, and often times we don't.
Joe: That's legit.
Casey: I guess.
Joe: So in that same vein, on a less personal note, do you feel like Edward Bloom did his son wrong by exaggerating the stories?
Casey: No, not at all. And this is also a [plot hole] in the movie. So if your husband is telling your son all these stories, exaggerated, wouldn't you chime in being like, "Well, ya know what, it wasn't actually a witch."
Joe: Meaning Jessica Lange's character.
Casey: Yeah.
Joe: At the end? Or—
Casey: No, throughout his life. There are [plot holes], like, why was Will so mad at the end? Because everyone loved his father so much.
Joe: I mean, Edward was definitely excessive with his tall tales, to the point where I thought that he was in the
wrong. Will was definitely in the right. Not the wedding part, because, like, this is your classic tale, you're telling it at your son's wedding, and it is a tale of romance, love or whatever, but just like, even on your deathbed, constantly interrupting dinner with stories about how parrots speak French in the Guinea jungle? Like, c'mon. It felt like he went too far, and it... pissed me off a little bit, personally. Not that that ruined it...
Pam: I think it reminded me of—did you ever see
Life of Pi?
Casey: Yes I have, that was a very good one.
Joe: Yes.
Pam: And it made me think of that, because
Life of Pi is all about this crazy story that he tells about being on a shipwreck with these animals, and you come to find out at the end... did that really happen, or no? But what story would you rather hear?
Casey: That is what the doctor says, Will says, "I kinda like your version. The normal version." So a happy medium. But at the same time, it's like—this is what I get from it—appreciate your parents and your family while they're still here. And live more in the moment.
Joe: Do you think—I felt a lot about the power of storytelling in one's life. Putting aside my personal issues with how far Edward stretched his stories and... how unnecessarily far he stretched them, to the point where I got upset about that. Just the power of bringing people together, in that we as humans appreciate a good story. And if that means exaggerating a little bit, or maybe telling a white lie or whatever, then that's worth it in terms of making those connections with people.
Pam: And I think to connect both of your themes of storytelling and appreciating your parents, at the end it did say, he's going to live on in his stories now. When they were in the pool at the very end and the grandkids were telling his stories. That's how we remember people is telling stories about them.
Joe: I guess the way that I want to think of it, in terms of the movie, is that that's the way the dad
wanted to live on. Did you guys, personally, would you want to be known for tall tales? After you die? Like, the only thing that exists of you is the lies that you told?!
Casey: I don't think he was worried about that—
Joe: Right, Edward wasn't, for sure—
Casey: —and one comment that Jessica Lange makes when they, when she says "I don't have the energy to go through this stuff," and she finds an old letter, and it said that her husband was dead, basically. And Will was like, "That was true, Mom?" "Not everything that your father said was a complete fabrication."
Joe: So maybe "lie" was too strong of a word.
Pam: Right, and at the funeral, didn't we find out that a lot of of his stories were probably
not lies because all those people showed up?
Joe: Sure.
Casey: And also, can I go back to Danny Devito... turning into a werewolf?
Joe: [laughter]
Pam: That was unnecessary. [laughter]
Casey: Well...
Joe: That was Edward Bloom at his child's bedside being like, "I gotta bring this up a notch. I gotta add some crazy shit to this."
Casey: Hilarious, because it was fucking Danny Devito.
Pam: His little butt.
Joe: Did you picture him crawling out of a leather couch at Dennis's Christmas party?
Casey: The cast of characters. Danny Devito, Jessica Lange
Pam: Miley Cyrus!
Casey: Stop. Was she Jenny?
Pam: No.
Joe: [laughter]
Pam: She was in just the beginning, when they're going to the witch's house, she's one of the children. And [she's] also at the church.
Joe: Her birthname is "Destiny Cyrus," that's how she's billed.
Pam: You don't like Miley Cyrus?
Casey: ...Have you seen that new
Black Mirror? Trash.
Joe: What?!
Casey: Trash. That one of Miley Cyrus was ridiculous, are you fucking kidding me? That was awful.
Joe: Wait. Hold up. Not every
Black Mirror episode is good, but I wouldn't classify that one as "bad."
Casey: I thought... okay... Joe, I really just thought the whole episode was horrible. I don't even know what to say.
Joe: You're being recorded right now. Explain why.
Casey: No, we're not being recorded about
Black Mirror! Can we go back to
Big Fish?
Joe: Sure, let me go to my notes.
Casey: Let me go to
my notes.
Joe: Okay, so, do you feel like Edward—
Casey: Oh! As an overall, I feel like the movie was very lighthearted, with a lot of humor. But also very heartfelt and emotional. Anyone can be emotionally connected to that film. Those are my closing statements.
Joe: We're not even close to being done.
Pam: [laughter]
Joe: Putting aside the fact that Edward's stories were clear exaggerations, and Will, in my opinion, rightfully thought that he exaggerated too much, did you feel uncomfortable at all when Edward in his stories, casted himself as the "noble hero" too much? Like, he was the sports star overall, he was the best man in his town, and these were stories he was telling his son, like, "I was the best, I was so good I had to leave town, and I was so good that the dude [who] was second best, I had to steal his girl"??
Casey: No, I don't feel like those were wrongfully told to his son, because, I mean, life is fucking hard, so hearing about your dad being a great hero—plus, there's only so many hours in a movie, you can't really... get into what really happened. I'm sure he was a hero, those were true stories.
Joe: I think your first point was more—
Casey: Okay, then cut out the second part!
Joe: No, bullshit, I like your first point better, in that he was saying these things because he was sometimes a shitty dad.
Pam: Well, he was away a lot.
Joe: Exactly! And when he came back from those year-long sojourns, he would tell his son stories about how he was better than he actually was.
Pam: Maybe the whole movie's about trying to be a good dad.
Casey: Honestly, I don't feel that Edward Bloom
did fail at all, in that time period, in the '60s, '70s, when he was making a living, he was on the road. Did he... cheat on his wife? No. Did he always go back to his family? Yes. You're trying to analyze the details in between, but you can't really, because—
Joe: Well, listen to "Cats in the Cradle"! Isn't that what that song's about? About how—
Casey: Are we literally talking about cats and cradles? So cute.
Joe: They love each other, but it's a matter of finding time for each other. And the dad never found time for the son.
Casey: You're right, the dad did miss out.
Joe: Note how none of the tall tales he's telling involves a young child that is his biological child! It's all shit that happened before Will was born. The most recent tall tale he's told was fish on the day he was born, and that's it. Everything else's before that.
Casey: So now this is bringing us to... [sighs]... the witch. And this still confuses me, and I hope you guys might have an understanding on it. So what's her name, Tim Burton's wife?
Pam: Helena Bonham Carter.
Joe: I forgot they were married!
Pam: Yeah, that's why she's in all of his movies.
Joe: Shit.
Casey: She's a great actress by the way.
Pam: Bellatrix Lestrange!
Casey: So she shows up first as the old witch, and it circles back to where she is actually Jenny, the little girl that he met in that town...
Joe: Spectre.
Casey: Spectre. And then Edward Bloom comes back late, wants to rebuild the town, so they connect, and he rebuilds her house, and then finally she gives him the ownership rights. So when she meets with Will, and tells him this whole story, and says, "Your dad helped me build this house, helped rebuild this town, and I
was attracted to him, but he denied, because he loved your mother." How does that connect to the witch from [Edward's] story as a young child? Because she
is the witch, and I never understood why.
Joe: I was confused a little bit about that. They said something about "circular storytelling." So, according to Jenn, she became the witch in the eyes of the neighborhood children around her, as she grew into a piano cat lady. And—
Casey: Maybe I should learn how to play piano then.
Pam: Maybe you should get an eye patch!
Casey: Master's degree? Fuck that! I need a glass eye and a piano! And a ton of cats! And my house will just become decrepit. And some guy will save my house!
Pam and Joe: [laughter]
Joe: I saw it as Edward coloring his past stories with new knowledge. Like, she's considered a witch, and, oh, this gives me a good idea for an old story.
Pam: Maybe.
Casey: It was far-fetched.
Joe: THAT was the most far-fetched part of that movie?
Casey: Yeah.
Joe: ...Fair.
Casey: Also, I do like how they incorporated the giant, who actually is a real person who—
Joe: Was a real person.
Casey: —with gigantism, and he is passed. Because it was sixteen years ago.
Joe: For me, [he] looked like CGI or something when he first came out of the cave.
Pam: I think they made him look taller.
Joe: In certain scenes. It's called "forced perspective." Where, like, when they're receiving the medals, you can tell that actor was standing way in front of the other actors, but then the camera was zoomed in on them the same, so it looked like he was taller.
[bathroom break]
Casey: I was thinking about it when you asked to interview, I'm like, damn, you guys are all theater majors [laughter]. I don't really think about stuff that hard. But I know that it did impact me when I saw it, and it's always been a timeless movie for me. And I love Tim Burton, I love all the shit he puts out.
Joe: All of it? Is that a blanket statement?
Casey: Actually, so let's talk about that.
Joe: I liked his style in this movie, particularly, like... he has a style.
Casey: It was good, right?
Joe: Has there been Tim Burton movies since 2003 that you thought is, like,
too Tim Burton? Because I have.
Casey: I can't even think of any. Like, name—
Joe: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Casey: I was attracted to it because of Johnny Depp, but, nah. It was a little too much.
Joe: But maybe I think that because
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory—the first one—one of my favorite movies of all time. How about
Alice in Wonderland from 2010?
Casey: Barely remember it. It was fucking weird, those fucking, those fucking little... dumplings. What are they fucking called?
Joe: I was gonna say "oompa loompas," but—
Casey: I know! That's what I wanted to say too, but, uh...
Joe: Tweedledee and Tweedledum?
Casey: Scariest thing I've fucking ever seen in my entire life. Scarred for life.
Joe: Sara B******, when she turned 21, for her birthday, we went to see
Alice in Wonderland in 3D, and we snuck in Hurricane 40s. I was blackout drunk by the middle of that movie.
Casey: Well, I don't even think you need to see it.
Joe: I mean, it was a very typical Tim Burton movie. He just has a style that he hasn't deviated from at this point. In this decade.
Casey: But I felt like
Big Fish, the imagery and story connected... are we still recording?
Joe: Yeah, we're still recording.
Casey: Goddamn it.
Joe: The Tim Burton style in
Big Fish wasn't as obtuse[?].
Casey: Also, I had to see the new
Nutcracker with my niece and nephew.
Pam: Wait, was that Tim Burton?
Casey: No, it was some bullshit.
Pam: Disney, right?
Casey: It's already on Netflix.
Pam: I'm never gonna watch it.
Casey: The most horrifying thing was the, like, Gingerbread Queen, and her little men, who were, like...
[unrelated
Nutcracker discussion while Joe uses the bathroom, that somehow turns into talking about Casey's cat, Beanie]
Casey: ...I have to put an apron around her waist. Caring for a cancer patient, basically. But she's doing good.
Joe: She's not jumping [off] any circus tightropes?
Casey: No. I don't support circuses in general.
Joe: Okay.
Casey: Circuses are the devil.
Joe: I mean, there definitely was that joke in the movie, where he was like "Do you know what 'indoctrinated servitude is?" "No." It was kind of dark.
Casey: Well, Tim Burton. Dark. More questions, because I'm spent, I gave you all my feelings.
Joe: Sure, just a couple minor details that you might have an opinion on. Did you know that there was a
Big Fish musical?
Casey: [laughter] No!
Joe: Yes, on Broadway. Me and Willow listened to about half of the official Broadway cast [album].
Casey: Was it horrible?
Joe: Maybe it's just me, but does every Broadway musical sound the same?
Pam: No. [laughter] That's just you, Joe.
Casey: Why did they feel the need—?
Pam: They make Broadway musicals out of every movie now.
Joe: Honestly. It's like a joke.
Pam: Beetlejuice: The Musical was just nominated for a Tony.
Casey: So does that mean that there is a cult following for
Big Fish?
Pam: Probably not as big as
Beetlejuice.
Casey: Oh! And also, Steven Buscemi. Oh my god. Classic. Love him. He is part of the reason why I like that movie.
Joe: That was slapstick, when you saw his poem, that he's been working on for thirteen years.
Casey: And the scene when they're do-si-do-ing, everyone's up in Edward's face, and then fucking Steve Buscemi, his eyes are like popping in the background, like doing the best moves ever, the best facial expressions ever... So can I also make a comment, about the fact that, alright, he tells a story at your wedding that's a little selfish... really, you're gonna not talk to your parents for three fucking years? Without the mom saying something, like, alright Edward, let's talk to your son, it's not a big deal, life is short, you have to wait till he's dying before... I know it's a story, I know it's a movie, but... three years not talking to a father, that's a long time.
Joe: No, that's fair. That's definitely not a reason why I wouldn't talk to my father.
Casey: But again, it's a movie, and I watch a movie to feel escape from life. But then again it connects you back to life. So it
shouldn't be that realistic because we're trying to escape from life but we're also trying to reconnect back to our life. I love Jessica Lange, I think she looks beautiful in that movie, and they did a spot-on job with the younger version.
Joe: Do you feel like Jessica Lange often plays unreasonable characters?
Casey: No!
Joe: I do.
Casey: She does a beautiful job. For the short time she was [in] that film, she was, she did great.
Joe: Do you have a guess as to what Oscars this movie was nominated for?
Casey: That's a good one. Can I go to my lifeline? Pam K***?
Joe: Sure, but first what's your guess?
Casey: Again, you guys are all theater majors...
Pam: I'm going to say none. Or maybe makeup or costumes.
Casey: Something that has to do with imagery...
Pam: Like editing?
Casey: ...imagery? Is that a category?
Joe: Cinematography?
Pam: Well, sorry Drew, for when you read this!
Casey: Final answer. Not soundtrack. Soundtrack, I wanted to say impressed me, but it didn't.
Pam: No, and the acting was fine.
Casey: I liked the acting.
Pam: But it wasn't Oscar-worthy.
Casey: No?
Pam: No. It was good, like Ewan McGregor is awesome, but...
Joe: So the final answer...
Casey: Something with imagery.
Pam: I think makeup, maybe.
Joe: It was nominated for one award... Best Soundtrack.
Casey: [screams loudly while the baby sleeps in the bedroom right above where we are]
Pam: I'm going to kill you.
Casey: I will die.
Joe: Danny Elfman.
Pam: Wait, was it "Soundtrack" or "Score"?
Joe: Oh, "Score." What's the difference?
Pam: Well, the soundtrack that they release from, like if they released a CD from a movie that has all these curated songs—
Joe: That's fair.
Pam: —and a score, Danny Elfman wrote it, because he writes awesome music.
Joe: So, it's 2019, there are sequels to everything. Could—or should—there be a sequel to
Big Fish, and if so, what would it be?
Pam: No.
Casey: No. The story concluded, and impacted us all in different ways.
Joe: But let's imagine a sequel to
Big Fish. Let's tell a tale about it.
Casey: So maybe Will grows up, has children who—this is gonna get dark—I can't imagine living in our day and age, unless... Joe, I'm getting drunk, I can't do this anymore.
Joe: I'll edit as appropriate, don't worry.
Casey: Well, I just feel very jaded, as an adult, like, I can't storytell anymore. So this goes back to the whole story I guess. Um... you are an adult, you have experienced life, and you wanna make it easy for your children, so you do try to fabricate stories in life, to make it feel like life is gonna be okay, but you're telling your children bullshit lies. [laughter]
Joe: That's how you would classify Edward's storytelling?
Casey: No I don't! I feel like it's innocent, like he's...
Joe: You feel like his stories were
so fabricated that it was clear that it was fabricated, and that made it less immoral?
Casey: No, I just feel like, versus our day and age, that was just an innocent time.
Joe: [laughter] Back in the early aughts?
Casey: No, William, I feel like he would do the same as his dad, maybe his stories won't be as exciting, like—this is a bullshit answer—
Pam: And his kids would just all be on their phones.
Joe: Like, "don't you care at all about my stories?" "What, dad?"
Pam: [laughter] "What's a story?"
Casey: Basically, that's what we're going to be telling Will Bloom, we'll tell Will Bloom, "get those space phones out of our faces."
Joe: ...That's the sequel? Okay.
Casey: The sequel is: "We don't have time for your stories."
