203 - The Substitute / The Promise / Pancho Villa
Added 2024-11-26 08:00:02 +0000 UTCQuentin Tarantino & Roger Avary go back to class in The Substitute. When an inner city Miami school teacher gets kneecapped after standing up to the school's gang leader, her spec-ops boyfriend goes undercover as a substitue teacher to take down the punk. Quentin and Roger discuss how the on screen chemistry makes this movie work, the excellent extras casting, and how this flick has no right to be this good.
Next up: The Promise. A rich student's fiancee has her face mangled by a car accident. Her future mother in law offers to fix her up on one condition: she never sees her son again. Roger and Quentin discuss how this movie mashes up two of Quentin's favorite genres, the smash performances, and some of Roger's speculations behind the true meaning of the film. And, on the last stop of the night, we've got Pancho Villa. Starring Video Archives favorite Telly Savalas, you'll have to see this paella western to believe it.
Comments
Seriously I thought I was watching the Hallmark movie of the week when watching The Promise. Wasn't horrible and the whole 1979 design and fashion and smaltzy Melissa Manchester song was so worth it. Unlike what Gala said you can find this streaming on a Russian website for free and the quality was pretty good.
Mike Lazzari
2025-08-12 16:58:50 +0000 UTCAh a nice dose of Fatherly Embarrassment at the end there, that was hilarious.
Raymond Conroy IV
2025-04-03 00:38:11 +0000 UTCI found a lot of similarities between THE PROMISE and VERTIGO...
Lambert Christophe
2024-12-23 08:22:06 +0000 UTCLIFE IMITATING ART?: I watched The Substitute last night, for the first time, after listening to this episode. Then I see this article about a drug-dealing principle in the NYT this morning: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/us/massachusetts-high-school-dean-cocaine-trafficking.html?unlocked_article_code=1.h04.CBIj.0M3ohRN4q58t&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
John Faithful Hamer
2024-12-16 15:57:42 +0000 UTCI agree with Roger now. It's a Masonic film hidden within a romance film. So many hidden things.
Ken SGV
2024-12-12 05:17:29 +0000 UTCI grew up always remembering the Substitute and having good memories about it. Now I need to rewatch it.
Teriq Mason
2024-12-11 21:45:53 +0000 UTCNice. Thank you
Ken SGV
2024-12-11 18:55:10 +0000 UTCSaw THE PROMISE but of course (even if I know ZERO about the Masons and Egyptian Gods) I did watch a few videos about it prior to viewing THE PROMISE. I do know that Ma'at is symbolized by a feather. And there was a few times where birds, feathers, or images of bird were near here. When she's taking photos by the water there are birds flying by,. when she asks the mother "do you know who I am?" Behind her is a portrait of a bird, then when she is driving there is a marching band passing her with plumes made of feathers. Then there is an obvious one around the hour mark where our main character is arriving somewhere in a taxi and the street he passes is named MASON. Roger is on to something with this one. Also, I noticed a lot of the number 2 used everywhere. Though, i do not know why.
Ken SGV
2024-12-11 18:51:47 +0000 UTCInstead of QT releasing another movie he is going to be recording all his favorite songs an releasing an album. Rumors are that the album title will be called, “Songs by the Heart”
Brandon Lee
2024-12-10 15:06:04 +0000 UTCYeah, I get it. You have a good point. Once he decided to essentially play himself in Pulp Fiction, he was typecast. I guess I just really enjoy seeing him as a performer. He was great in Dusk Till Dawn, I would have loved to see him play some more characters outside of him just playing himself. The different character voices he’s played for commercials and other stuff on this podcast really impress me as well. Remember, he was supposed to play Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs and if he had, I like to think that audiences would have viewed him much differently. I could even see him playing a supporting role in the original 1996 Twister film or one of the Ocean’s 11 movies. As an example, Todd Field is a writer/director who appeared as an actor in films but wasn’t typecast because he wasn’t quite the phenomenon that Quentin was.
Daniel Rangel
2024-12-07 17:00:48 +0000 UTCRaymond Cruz from blood in blood out !
Sonny
2024-12-06 16:07:11 +0000 UTCPancho Villa is like Compañeros meets 1941.
Jeremy Mullins
2024-12-06 13:47:07 +0000 UTCI think the promise could be a great anime remake
stmtpls
2024-12-05 04:00:58 +0000 UTCRoy Frumkes also made N.Y.C. classic Street Trash
Antonio Ferrera
2024-12-04 10:10:05 +0000 UTCyep i had seen the principal a long time ago which is why i skipped sub, figured it was a copy of that.
Pete
2024-12-03 16:35:57 +0000 UTCI lost a couple tears at The End of THE PROMISE and Liked it ! But it looked like in all the Car scenes after the accident they still were not wearing their SEAT BELTS ?
Matthew Booth
2024-12-02 22:13:10 +0000 UTCHe was the moon headed guy, in Nightbreed! 😆 He looks just like Tarantino. I don’t think he would’ve made it as an actor. Maybe on tv, doing a killer, or gang member #2, or maybe he’d have been the red herring character, at some point of most procedurals. At best he’d have been a character actor, with his face and personality. I actually think he’d have just made it doing some other job, whether casting, cinematography, whatever. His acting bothers a lot of people, even many fans, but he’s either great, as in Pulp Fiction, or terrible, like in Django. In between, or not needed, in other roles.
Jason Corbin
2024-12-02 06:36:19 +0000 UTCI’m sure people mentioned it by now, but the reason a lot of people I’ve known, think that The Substitute was a late 80’s movie, is because of The Principal, starring Jim Belushi and Louis Gossett Jr. from 1987. It’s a very similar setup, as far as the school, and a teacher(Rae Dawn Chong), who is harassed, with a “new Sheriff in town” story. I remember Esai Morales also being in it. I’ve had many friends and strangers, who I had movie talks with, who thought the Berenfer movie came out the same time as The Principal. I haven’t seen either movie in 20 years, but I remember it being similar, and just as good in a different way. It’s not a military team, and Belushi is doing Belushi, but it’s not just making an ass of himself.
Jason Corbin
2024-12-02 06:19:04 +0000 UTCI listen first then watch the movies then listen to the podcast again.
David Rozycki
2024-12-01 20:59:04 +0000 UTCThat other famous bald actor Yul Brynner played Pancho Villa in 1968 movie Villa Rides! Filmed in Technicolor Panavision co-starring Robert Mitchum and Charles Bronson! Yul had long hair in this version though.
David Rozycki
2024-12-01 20:58:00 +0000 UTC"is this new yawk or mexico? ehh who cares baby lets roll" - telly
Pete
2024-12-01 18:43:39 +0000 UTCAnother GREAT episode guys.
Phillip Duke II
2024-12-01 14:24:18 +0000 UTCFor the first time, I watched all three films before listening to the ep and I must say I think its the best method. It was fun hearing the praise for The Promise, as for me it was my least favourite.
Sexy Ghoulies
2024-11-30 19:51:03 +0000 UTCThe Substitute came out on video when I was in the eighth grade and I’m pretty sure the movie was made specifically for me. Hard telling how many times I rented it as a high schooler.
Herman faulkingham
2024-11-30 16:56:33 +0000 UTCI didnt mind it. The point was he was a crazy person. He did his job with his acting.
David Rozycki
2024-11-30 16:32:36 +0000 UTCThank you for another amazing episode! If you ever consider customer requests I would love to hear you discuss The Vanishing
Jonny Blaze
2024-11-29 17:45:41 +0000 UTCHas The Promise come up on the show more than any other film? Roger's take on it is a highlight of the series - makes me want to watch immediately. I share Quentin's love of 'turgid tearjerkers', which would be a fabulous Drama sub-section of a video store. I must mention a favorite dreadful film song written by the Bergmans & Dave Grusin, sung by Michael Franks - "Coming Home To You" aka "Milk & Cookies". The closing credits song from Author! Author!, possibly the strangest of all Pacino films. The poster is in my bathroom, facing the toilet. https://youtu.be/fBJGmRYm3d0?si=7ATx4PmzJ9VE3cYi
Craig & Friends
2024-11-29 00:03:03 +0000 UTCok, bad mans river theme is added to the q-tel compilation
Pete
2024-11-28 14:54:10 +0000 UTCLads, you mentioned the Dogs of War. You forgot who else played a mercenary in the Dogs of War? TOM BERENGER. His character gets killed off (and he's kind of a bad guy in the film, not a bad-guy, but he's like the undiagnosed psycho of the gang - he's the one who kills poor aul BBC Northern Ireland man Colin Blakely...)
George White
2024-11-28 12:46:30 +0000 UTCMan, Chuck Connors really is acting in another movie! He is by far the worst part of Pancho Villa.
Matt Evans
2024-11-28 05:26:41 +0000 UTCSeeing as how Artisan was behind all four of the movies in the series, and they can now all be bought in a 4-pack, I doubt there's any rights issues. My guess is that Part 2 was selling just fine by itself, but Part 3 was underperforming, so by bundling it with the popular first installment, it would get a boost.
Marc Heuck
2024-11-28 00:26:25 +0000 UTCAny insight on why the first and third ("Winner Takes All" lol) SUBSTITUTE films were packaged together via Artisan Entertainment? I always found it odd that those two were singled out as a double-feature package instead of the more obvious "School's Out" (Part 2). My guess is...rights issues.
David Chien
2024-11-27 23:40:20 +0000 UTCYeah so did I
Chris Bumbray
2024-11-27 23:24:57 +0000 UTCI enjoyed that.
David Rozycki
2024-11-27 23:24:08 +0000 UTCMan Roger went DEEP on The Promise with the numerology stuff.
Chris Bumbray
2024-11-27 20:58:39 +0000 UTCRe: THE SUBSTITUTE release - Live Entertainment had spent the first half of the '90s partially bankrolling so many well-received movies for the homevid rights that they ultimately wanted to get back into the theatrical business themselves. They fully produced a pack of movies that besides SUBSTITUTE also included TREES LOUNGE and THE ARRIVAL, and they enlisted Orion, who had just miraculously emerged from near-bankruptcy, to release them in theatres. They were happy enough with their box returns that they fully went it alone shortly after, beginning with SUICIDE KINGS, which is also when they changed their name to Artisan Entertainment. Trying to get a good copy of PANCHO VILLA has been a frustrating task for years. It was one of several films that producer Philip Yordan was involved with, along with HORROR EXPRESS and PSYCHOMANIA, which all technically had a proper copyright, but because his people were either lazy or stupid, got treated like PD for years until the DVD era, when another company who bought that package finally clamped down. Almost all of that library is now controlled by a company called Ignite, and while we've gotten excellent Blus of BAD MAN'S RIVER from Kino Lorber and PSYCHOMANIA just got a huge upgrade in Severin's 2nd ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS folk horror box set, PANCHO VILLA has yet to get spiffed up. Amazon streaming is particularly terrible and stupid in that with a lot of quasi-PD titles, they have a sort of "first come first dibs" policy, so if someone uploads a lousy transfer, it's difficult as hell for someone with better material to get theirs up and the other's taken down.
Marc Heuck
2024-11-27 09:12:40 +0000 UTCSo I love speculating on the “timeline” where Quentin became a successful actor after deciding that writing/directing was just too difficult. I love hearing about this very concept coming up during screenings with Roger as it did in “The Promise.” My question is whose career would QTs acting career most closely resemble? Is he a poor man’s David Strathairn? Or a 90s version of Harry Dean Stanton / Dennis Hopper? Or does he get into really intense, dark roles like Will Patton or Joe Pantoliano? Does he age into a Warren Oates or Burgess Meredith? Please discuss! 😀
Daniel Rangel
2024-11-27 05:37:12 +0000 UTCThe Substitute is also on the free Hoopla app, if you have a library card that uses it.
Bryan
2024-11-27 01:41:30 +0000 UTCGo on movie mindset with chapo trap house !
dillards dept.
2024-11-27 00:39:46 +0000 UTCI find it great that I’m not the only one who gets emotional talking about movies.
Corey Schjoth
2024-11-26 22:53:34 +0000 UTCThe Substitute: https://tubitv.com/movies/302505/the-substitute?start=true&tracking=google-feed&utm_source=google-feed The Promise: https://m.ok.ru/video/1361268902485 Pancho Villa: https://tubitv.com/movies/603945/pancho-villa?start=true&tracking=google-feed&utm_source=google-feed
whoreson welles
2024-11-26 22:23:21 +0000 UTCGreat episode, I enjoy some more modern movies being worked in and look forward to tracking down The Promise.
Rock nJazz
2024-11-26 21:11:02 +0000 UTCLoved hearing Faerie Tale Theatre mentioned - a huge staple of my upbringing. Pinocchio is my absolute favorite one, directed by Peter Medak. There are so many good ones and the Rapunzel one is really good. Coppola's Rip Van Winkle always really stood apart visually from the rest, almost like he had a bigger budget than the other directors to do some crazier stuff.
John Larkin
2024-11-26 21:04:01 +0000 UTCI also listened to half of the Promise discussion, BEFORE QT said Turgid aha! What a trip. When he said that I about spit my coffee out.
Clay McMullen
2024-11-26 20:07:27 +0000 UTCThe Promise sounds like a turgid turd. Good grief. I get I won't like everything all the time. But come on.
Clay McMullen
2024-11-26 20:02:52 +0000 UTCAgree. And it’s always fun to hear their take. I treat the podcast like a university course. The movies are required viewing. I’ll watch everything, even the stuff I know is not for me, it makes the podcast fascinating and super fun.
Jono
2024-11-26 19:31:15 +0000 UTCGreat episode. Always been a big fan of The Substitute and even watched the sequel more growing up which is a hoot. While I know Gala will share it on the socials in time, here's the Letterboxd list for this week's episode. Enjoy! https://letterboxd.com/vidiot1987/list/the-video-archives-podcast-28-the-substitute/
Mike Kenny
2024-11-26 19:14:32 +0000 UTCQuentin keep saying Verona instead of Venora kinda bugging me lol
Cameron Cole
2024-11-26 19:09:07 +0000 UTCMy dad's family is from Romania so when I was a kid I first discovered The Substitute franchise in Romania where they did a Substitute marathon on this Romanian B movie channel LOL it was definitely a mandela effect hearing about this movie again
Adriano
2024-11-26 18:29:45 +0000 UTCIf you want more villainous Ernie Hudson, check out Penitentiary II.
Kevin William
2024-11-26 18:18:30 +0000 UTCSide note, re: Clint Walker: when I was a kid back in the 80s/90s, whenever my dad and I would see THE DIRTY DOZEN (several times), Dad would point to Clint Walker and say "That guy would have been a great Superman."
Mark Ibarra
2024-11-26 18:17:37 +0000 UTCYou dont have to like the movie to enjoy the discussion.
David Rozycki
2024-11-26 18:13:05 +0000 UTCI feel like Ernie Hudson’s principal got shorted some much-deserved attention for his performance. His character is a sleaze and a murderer who betrays his own community yet you kinda are intrigued by him - at least I was - from the get-go especially the scene where he and Berenger size each other up — and his fight scene where he seems genuinely befuddled about why Berenger has done what he’s done. That “Mr. Likable” Hudson plays him with such menace is a credit to him.
Kevin
2024-11-26 18:02:21 +0000 UTCWhenever I revisit prime Tom Berenger in his full sardonic badass glory, it's usually a reminder that, yeah, he may have been a little underrated and underused in action. Just saw my (decent looking) DVD of SHOOT TO KILL and that was a great time too. Looking forward to Pancho Villa.
Mark Ibarra
2024-11-26 17:13:42 +0000 UTCI met Roy several years ago and gushed over Document of the Dead (Dawn of the Dead is my all-time favorite movie). Couldn't have been a nicer guy, he even signed my copy of the Anchor Bay boxset for Dawn.
Kevin William
2024-11-26 17:11:07 +0000 UTCExcellent as always!!!
Ghost Wolf 🐺
2024-11-26 14:54:15 +0000 UTCHearing QT tell the story of The Promise and describing the female character’s “face being ripped off” I wondered if it was an influence for the moment in Death Proof where we see exactly that happen.
Jordan Leff
2024-11-26 13:33:49 +0000 UTCsubstitute i liked because it seemed to be playing w/ genre trope expectations. after youve seen every revengeamatic youre looking for something fresh or diff takes on genre. i knew this film was gonna be diff when cliff deyoung shat his pants. pancho villa: wasnt expecting such a lighthearted comedic adventure. seemed closer to a film like sam whiskey than some serious biopic. telly is a fun actor. still need to see the promise. remembered it was discussed on q's 1979 list
Pete
2024-11-26 12:23:49 +0000 UTCV.A. has by far covered more movies from 1972 than any other year. Fun fact. (I guess)..
The Buffmaster
2024-11-26 12:17:56 +0000 UTCThe Promise is probably my least favorite movie covered by VAP so far. 🤷♂️cant love em all….
Jono
2024-11-26 11:28:41 +0000 UTCRoy will really appreciate both the coverage of The Substitute and the big shout out. As I can recall, according to Roy, Alan Ormsby’s contribution to the script was extremely minimal. Roy & Rocco were the main writing team and they wrote the scripts for all the sequels too, from scratch. Ormsby for some reason has a writing credit for “characters” on the sequels. Can’t wait to share this episode with him, thanks! - John Larkin, Managing Editor Films in Review
John Larkin
2024-11-26 11:04:08 +0000 UTCI'm about to start listening but thanks to many listener's guesses I already watched "Pancho Villa". Most bizarre out of formula comedy ever imagined. Telly Is unbelievable but so are Clint Walker and Chuck Connors (the fly in the soup scene Is slapstick at it's best)
Christian Font
2024-11-26 08:51:33 +0000 UTC
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