Siskoid Cinema presents… No Escape from Kurt Russell, the show that explores the filmography of one of American cinema’s best leading men and tries to get a handle on his mystique. Why is it we’ll watch anything so long as Kurt Russell’s name is attached to the project? On this episode, Siskoid, Miss Inertia and Captain Entropy discuss 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2. A big MCU blockbuster, Siskoid? Yeah, Kurt Russell is in it!
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Credits:
Bonus clips: “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2” by James Gunn, starring Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, and Pom Klementieff, and featuring “Fox on the Run” by The Sweet; and “Brandy You’re A Fine Girl” by Looking Glass.
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First of all, congratulations to Miss Inertia on an excellent debut on the network. It’s interesting that all of the parent/child combos who have appeared on F&W have worked so well. Perhaps it is an example of the wholesome find your joy outlook of the network cascading through generations.
Considering Gotg vol2 is about family – in a more thought provoking way than Vin Diesel’s other major franchise boasts – kudos to Siskoid for sharing his past. It gave the this episode an interesting echo to what we saw in the dynamics of EGO and Peter Quill.
Taking of EGO, while I know a bit about Marvel Characters and I had heard of EGO I had no idea what his/it’s story was or motivation. So I certainly felt like Kurt Russell sold the good guy aspect of EGO. When the heel turn appeared and you realise he is the villain and not being set up to be a noble sacrifice type, I for one was really disappointed. Well not personally but I felt disappointed on Peter’s behalf. I suspect many who has no idea of EGO might too have felt that, so it was certainly clever to cast Kurt.
I know you listed off the other Actors consider for the role, but honestly there are few that could have come close to what Kurt brought. The role needs someone who is so confident in himself without ever showing a sliver of doubt, but in such a way that you can’t help but like him as he doesn’t seem too over confident or overbearing.
I’m of the option that Vol 2 is certainly the most fun of GotG I think the music usage is better here than in other vols as well. But that might because E.L.O. and Fleetwood Mac are my wheelhouse (at least their hits are). The Chain for example is without a doubt burned into my memory as the Theme music of Formula One on UK TV. It evokes a very different emotion perhaps for those of us who watched F1 than just music listeners.
Thank you for covering this film and with a great guest dynamic. I might recommend this pod to my wife to listen to as well… Or force the family to listen on a car journey… After all it works for Capt and Miss….
Looking forward to the next episode already!
Siskoid … is it possible the pyramid scheme your dad was trying to recruit you into in the 90s was Consumers’ Buyline (CBI) – the organization developed by Keith Raniere before he came up with NXIVM? I worked in the home office in upstate NY for about a year and that place was crazy! Texas was one of the few states that didn’t file a lawsuit against the company.
It wasn’t the cult that NXIVM ended up being, but looking back I can see some of the cult seeds being sown.
If it was CBI, I’m glad you stayed as far away from that weirdness as possible.
It was that old classic, Amway.
Great episode. Excellent commentary from Miss inertia, plus the 2 old blokes did okay.
Great episode, and a wonderful debut for Miss Inertia. She provided some great insights into GotG Vol. 2 that really opened up some parts of the film for me in a new way. Captain Entropy never fails to make a great impression, so always fun to hear him, and getting the family dynamic on a film about family was almost serendipitous! Or good planning. Also, thanks to you Siskoid for sharing a bit from your own backstory to help show how a film like this can resonate differently depending on people’s life experiences.
I love the GotG films. I know. I am very brave to say that publically. This trilogy never fails to get me crying like a baby. Groot reminds me so much of my son, who I’ve mentioned before as non-verbal, and the scene where he keeps coming back with the wrong object was so on point, that I tear up as if I’m seeing my kid on screen. Then there is that great moment with Drax and Mantis, that Miss Inertia keenly pointed out was probably the catalyst for Mantis turning against Ego. When she feels Drax’s pain and he sits stoically as she cries, never fails to make me misty. Yondu’s sacrifice, waterworks, and then, when I think I am finally safe, Rocket tears up as he realizes he found his own family with The Guardians….really, I’m just a big mushy crybaby.
I always saw Volume 2 as a film about allowing yourself to be emotionally vulnerable. Everyone is guarded (ha! pun intended!) in the film, pushing people away, and a lot of that has to do with the trauma these characters have been through. Even when we see Gamora and Nebula at the end, Nebula cocks a fist, and Gamora gives her a hug. It all seems to be rooted in this fear of being hurt, and how opening yourself up to love others can be treacherous for someone who has been hurt by supposed loved ones.
I feel like every character gets their moment to embrace this kind of intimacy with someone else, and it opens them up to each other, something that is kind of facile ground for them. And Gunn’s movie making superpower is that these emotional beats never feel manufactured and always have a sense of authenticity to them, which is probably why they can still hit me right in the solar plexus.
I also like Gunn’s use of music, his comedy, and how he can sometimes subvert tropes. The Gamora/Nebula relationship is a dynamic we’d usually see played by men. Brothers fighting and wrestling, but to have two sisters engage in that more physical representation of sibling rivalry was kind of genius.
As far as Kurt Russell – which is what this is all about, I think, if you stripped away all the cosmic stuff, and the MCU, and all those trappings, you’d still have this wonderful performance of a deadbeat dad who shows up to re-enter his teenage son’s life (and lets be fair, Quill is basically a teenager even if he’s forty). There was this cool, almost swagger about him in scenes, where he was self-centered and completely clueless as to the damage he had done to his kids, and assumed his charm and wit and whatever else he thought he had would be enough to win them over. Kurt played this like he knew father’s like this. Guys who showed up for the last few minutes of their kid’s game and expected to be treated like father of the year. I don’t know if any of the other names you listed could have given Ego that kind of grounded, relatable, almost human persona. So, while maybe this isn’t a Kurt Russell film, I think without him in it some of the beats wouldn’t resonate as well, because other actors might have played the grandiose nature of a living planet differently, or had been more menacing. And that would have hurt the film. So, yeah, this is a good Kurt Russell movie.
Great episode Siskoid and Captain, and fantastic podcst debut, Miss Inertia!
I think Guardians 2 is still my favorite of the trilogy, but they are all consistently great. I do agree with Captain that I’d have to think which is the best MCU franchise overall, this or Cap, but I’m more of a Cap guy, personally.
Cat Stevens’ “Father and Son” was a new one to me, but I absolutely love that song now. Not only because of how it plays in the film, but on the movie’s release, it particularly resonated with my own relationship with my own son. I’m not crying, you’re crying!
I can’t imagine anyone but Russell in the role as Ego. It was kind of hard to see him as the bad guy, but that heel turn was so well-executed, even if I knew it was coming.