We kick off our block of cult movies with Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's The Endless.

Watch the The Endless Trailer Here

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The Endless - Cult Movies Part 1

[00:00:23] Scott: And just what the hell is a good movie anyway? I'm Frank Rolle. I'm Scott Haran, and we're the last video store clerks. What? Started some things, and I'm just Still watching some things.

[00:00:57] Scott: Kinda feel good, kinda quirky. Futuristic sci fi. Cool. It's like, yeah, you die and you get uploaded to a digital heaven where you live out your life, and people can come visit you in VR. It's in its third season.

[00:01:20] Scott: Or, uh, Wonderfalls. Is there a guy for daisies kind of feel, like dark, but light. That's good. That's good. Yeah.

[00:01:30] Frank: well. Is the pilot of the ship, was he formerly known as Anders?

[00:01:37] Frank: Does he spout off random phrases?

[00:01:39] Scott: perfect face. The perfect lace. Perfect end for Carrot Thrace.

[00:01:50] Frank: They are. Had no idea. I've talked to this guy for a while

[00:01:58] Scott: It's been years. Uh, years now. It's disappointing. But when that person comes along who notices, gonna be a special moment. It was annoying at first.

[00:02:14] Scott: Uh. I feel like the next time, Either that or it's gonna be the worst. Just the worst. Like wearing a tool shirt and some guy comes up to you talking about Danny Carey.

[00:02:27] Frank: Did you do any movies?

[00:02:33] Scott: Yeah. I took

[00:02:39] Scott: What is

[00:02:42] Scott: Why is this ringing a bell? It's got a Scarsgard. Okay.

[00:02:50] Frank: Yes. Yeah.

[00:02:53] Scott: them Scarsgardes. Eric Northman from True Blood.

[00:03:02] Frank: guy. Like I I put it on when I was sleeping.

[00:03:06] Scott: looks good. Don't It's a long fucking movie. Yeah. I'll

[00:03:10] Frank: I'm a fan of his. I like that creepy look he gets. He he has crazy face. You know, like, in the infinity pool episode when we talked about, You know when he contorted in that one scene?

[00:03:20] Scott: And he's, like, running like a dog. So

[00:03:31] Frank: When

[00:03:39] Frank: You know, it's just one of those ones, uh, I I was watching it on DVR. You know what I mean? Like, it was when DVR was the thing, so I DVR the new episodes.

[00:03:48] Frank: Yes.

[00:03:56] Frank: Little newer than

[00:04:06] Frank: Well and then just because it was newer on Netflix, I didn't even you know, I'm sleepy a lot, so I'm like, I don't give a fuck.

[00:04:16] Scott: yeah. Alright.

[00:04:28] Scott: You know that Tom Cruise loves science fiction. It's He has his numbers are high in the sci fi department. His

[00:04:35] Scott: shit. It it says a lot about that guy's writing, to be perfectly honest. Like, L.

[00:04:53] Frank: be too controversial.

[00:05:03] Scott: Nope. Yeah. So this week. This week, we start doing movies about cults. We could do the really obvious ones or the ones that have really make us sad, but I think we picked ones that are really fun.

[00:05:16] Frank: No. And, yeah, I mean, yeah, like, we're in Texas, but we're not gonna do that. No.

[00:05:21] Scott: If I were to join a cult, it would have to be so fun. Like, lots of, like, aliens. I mean,

[00:05:32] Scott: I I hope that it has something to do with tug of war. With the sky? Sir, what did you think? I take it you like

[00:05:42] Frank: You know, um, we were into their movies. We did a lot of indie movies there for a minute, and I feel like lately we've been doing bigger budget stuff. And so to go back to a more indie film, I was like, oh, yeah. This is different. But then I remembered who made it, who was in it.

[00:06:00] Scott: going? Do you see what I'm saying with the first time I watched this movie, I was like, uh, I don't know about the acting when I first saw them, and then I thought they got it. Oh.

[00:06:20] Scott: Mhmm. One was the more assertive, and They kind of switched it up because Levi wasn't as absurdive as Justin, older brother status.

[00:06:34] Frank: Yeah. What the fuck was his name?

[00:06:40] Scott: In this movie? Yeah. You didn't catch that they have their their own

[00:06:45] Scott: was Justin. Yeah.

[00:06:51] Frank: I love their approach to shit and just things you've never It's pretty fucking original to me. Like, a lot of little

[00:06:57] Scott: I felt like this one had, like, a touch of documentary just at the beginning of it. Like, there was a little bit of interview afterwards, but, like, they never picked it up again.

[00:07:10] Scott: know? Yeah.

[00:07:29] Frank: wild.

[00:07:30] Scott: good too. Yeah. Pretty good. Pretty good. In this one, brothers Justin and Aaron receive a videotape from the cult they escaped a decade earlier.

[00:08:00] Scott: When they arrive at the desert compound, they both find that neither of their memories are quite reality, And even stranger, the members of the group are exactly as they remembered. They haven't aged a fucking day. But a staying one night turns into two and then three. Justin and Aaron start to witness events that defy the laws of physics and are possibly caused by an entity leaving them clues. When Justin attempts to get out, he finds the strange inhabitants of the area surrounding the compound stuck in different time loops, And making his way back to retrieve Aaron ends up being more difficult than escaping.

[00:08:41] Frank: Like, leave the fucking dome light alone in the car,

[00:08:44] Scott: Aaron is kind of a little, like Like, he was kinda sheltered, but he also made, like, dopey, fucking stupid ass decisions. Yeah. Like, he was a child. I do feel like they talk to each other like they're brothers, though. Yeah.

[00:09:05] Frank: Mhmm. Something in the Dirt.

[00:09:11] Scott: you know, more. I really enjoyed rewatching this because I've only seen it the one time, like, shortly after it came out. I had not seen

[00:09:23] Frank: I was gonna watch it by your reaction. Like, I'm going for you were like, yeah. He's doing it. The Endless was produced, directed, and stars Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson. Benson wrote the screenplay for the film while Moorhead served as cinematographer.

[00:09:52] Frank: He was, man. Because he was just a ray of sunshine. You know? So what? It was a brain injury.

[00:10:00] Scott: Inflicted trepanning or Is it trepanning? That sounds good. Yeah.

[00:10:08] Frank: good story. And when somebody's telling you that and they just tell you that after you met them and you're like, Okay. That's why I

[00:10:13] Scott: Yeah. It's it's

[00:10:16] Scott: Was it just on that loop, though? Somewhere

[00:10:19] Scott: different? Yeah.

[00:10:25] Frank: think so. I don't think it went that deep.

[00:10:28] Scott: I feel like is what we're gonna talk about the most Yeah. Is it just didn't go as deep, and that's why it was good. Well,

[00:10:54] Frank: If you joined us watching something in the dirt, you may recall the Levi and John smoking the same red flowers as

[00:11:12] Scott: Well, like, they show up in that movie as younger cult members. And then Smoking the red. Yeah. Smoking the red flower.

[00:11:22] Scott: something in the dirt.

[00:11:29] Frank: it. But did we talk about it?

[00:11:33] Scott: in the movie. It was in both things.

[00:11:43] Frank: at Tribeca in twenty seventeen and was released theatrically In April of twenty eighteen. And

[00:11:52] Scott: Like, maybe few months or something. And then I saw it. I think it was Netflix originally. That's fucking amazing that they all tie in together. And it's just the ones they're, like, like, they're in them, and they wrote them.

[00:12:12] Frank: definitely see one of them driving an element. I bet that was one of their cars. Was

[00:12:17] Scott: Yeah. I thought it was, like, some Scion or something Like

[00:12:22] Scott: Yeah. Or a soul.

[00:12:29] Scott: Yeah. Man, cars look fucking boring. Have you seen the new Prius? Does it look boring? It's a little more aggressive.

[00:12:39] Frank: the new Civics look like fucking spaceships. Yeah. We were so into their movies And these types of movies for a minute, and then we got away from it.

[00:12:52] Scott: this. I feel like the the deep dive into Hulu did that. Mhmm. Because this was definitely on Hulu for a while. I think when we initially were talking about it It was on Like, when something in the dirt came out.

[00:13:03] Frank: yeah, the start of this, obviously, they're struggling. There was not that much resistance to go

[00:13:17] Frank: Superman

[00:13:32] Scott: I mean, what else are you gonna do? I mean,

[00:13:36] Scott: When you said that I could only picture Clifford, though, dingo. Stupid fucking dinosaur. Oh.

[00:14:08] Frank: ridden Yeah. Ridden, like, uh, shit everywhere, debris?

[00:14:13] Scott: there? I don't remember if they found a tape or they found, like, a device or something. I need to watch it again. I know.

[00:14:25] Frank: Uh, no. I mean, they definitely did Something at the place.

[00:14:29] Scott: it coordinates? Yes. It was coordinates that Something took them there. Thing.

[00:14:40] Frank: a billboard or am I moving

[00:14:48] Frank: across.

[00:14:50] Scott: no billboard. That's from something else. Um, unsure.

[00:15:03] Scott: I think they both felt like their memory like, he felt like his memories were validated, and something was still weird. Like, neither of them were totally sold right away.

[00:15:17] Frank: and then, I mean, the first one we see is smiling Dave, fucking welcoming com committee at the gate.

[00:15:27] Frank: Dude, give that guy a sign a spin. Yeah. Fuck me. I bet he'd

[00:15:32] Scott: I like the running man through it first. You're just like, what the fuck? I kept like I think I wrote it down a bunch of times. Oh, walking man. That's what I called him.

[00:15:46] Scott: But I like when they show up and they haven't aged. Something is

[00:15:50] Scott: happening? They didn't jump right into something's off. And I thought that, like, he, like, revealed it Well, they saw that, like, little memorial, and he was like, well, that it's really held up.

[00:16:03] Frank: Was that the first big one, or was there something before that? I think

[00:16:14] Scott: And there was some sort of weird reflection happening

[00:16:19] Scott: markers, I guess you could call them. Yeah. Did that start earlier?

[00:16:28] Frank: well, I mean, the first one was when they were at the memorial On their way there. There was one on the side of the highway away from the compound, I guess you could call it. Oh.

[00:16:43] Scott: I think it what he he was saying that one of them didn't.

[00:16:48] Frank: crazy. They even like, yeah, said that. Um, no.

[00:16:55] Scott: it. It It wasn't one of the things I was looking for. There's, like, a thousand things.

[00:17:01] Frank: It it'd be like rewatching something in the dirt. Who knows what I'd pick up? And then now knowing that they all tie in together, what

[00:17:10] Scott: Was it Resolution? They're not the main characters, but apparently, they're in it. They're in a same character. So direct sequel almost.

[00:17:19] Frank: I would love to be a running guy in one of the next movies.

[00:17:32] Frank: and how about them being, like, sustainable?

[00:17:39] Scott: be, like, Desert around San Diego.

[00:17:45] Scott: Cult beer. Cult

[00:17:55] Frank: This does seem Like, they didn't

[00:17:56] Frank: guns. No. Nobody's, like, forcing all the women to sleep with one guy. No red flags right off the bat except for, like, yeah, it's these people On a compound, so you're skeptical knowing what we all

[00:18:08] Scott: It doesn't really get overtly weird until They start playing tug of war with the fucking sky.

[00:18:17] Scott: that was tasteful. How did they slip in that it wasn't Dave? I think Justin

[00:18:31] Frank: Try it. Try it. Come on. Try it. Fails.

[00:18:42] Frank: You know what I mean? Because Justin's trying to play it off like, dude, they're fucking with us. You know, they're trying to make you feel comfortable and awesome. It's

[00:18:59] Frank: So we talk about sometimes they show us the monster too

[00:19:11] Scott: Yeah. Yeah. Showed me the monster at the end. Mhmm. You fucked it up.

[00:19:33] Scott: Or even

[00:19:42] Scott: Or the more extreme of that is ten Cloverfield Lane where you just you don't even know if there's anything outside.

[00:19:51] Frank: Shit. Dude, it's I've only watched that once. I tried to watch it again, and, like, I had to stop it for something never went back. So I've only seen, uh, ten Cloverfield

[00:20:00] Scott: If you watch it again, pretend that it's him from The Big Lebowski. Like it's Walter? Walter just ended up in a bunker. It makes it even scarier. Because would you wanna be in a fucking bunker with

[00:20:15] Frank: Well, what would be crazy is Mary Elizabeth Winstead in in a Moorhead and Benson

[00:20:26] Scott: Yeah. I think they're directing episodes of Loki or the show running or something. That's

[00:20:33] Scott: Uh, it's time travel, so I think it's their wheelhouse. Like,

[00:20:40] Frank: Do it real weird. Dude, that's fucking sweet. I had no idea. Yeah.

[00:20:44] Scott: Yeah. They did that movie with one of the Avengers, the falcon guy, Captain America now.

[00:20:51] Scott: I did sync synchronicity. They did that?

[00:21:01] Frank: it was a little long.

[00:21:04] Scott: maybe later. I like watching them more than I liked watching Them use an a list actor. You know what I mean?

[00:21:23] Scott: I know you can just show me. But in this one, they don't need to show me. Like, the mystery of, like, what the fuck is this? Like, is this some H. P.

[00:21:37] Scott: Yeah. And then it was like a daylight An unknown quote. Horror sci fi thing. How about the guy in the Tent. Uh.

[00:21:45] Frank: worst nightmare. What? The same three to five seconds over Over. Over.

[00:21:51] Scott: And him, like, warning him to get the

[00:21:56] Frank: Right? Oh, I'm sure. K. So wait. How many Splatters, were there in that movie too?

[00:22:00] Scott: people splatters? Yeah. Uh, I think there were two splatters. There was the the guy in the cat in the little shed. Yeah.

[00:22:16] Scott: I love the conversation about how she's a pedophile because she was, like, looking at you like that.

[00:22:28] Frank: of characters, how about the chick from the mental facility?

[00:22:35] Scott: fun. What was up with that? That was the cultiest thing there was. When he was like, I'm gonna give you this lady.

[00:22:52] Frank: And then, I mean, it was such a relaxed posture against the door frame. Like, he was gonna chill. Like, that wasn't a have fun. I'm out. That was, uh, I'm

[00:23:01] Scott: Have fun. Have fun. I'll be looking at you from mhmm. We were there. We were gonna have that painting with the

[00:23:08] Frank: Well, then I was like, is this like a cable guy moment? Like, he get you know, he gave it a test drive before. You know Uh, no, man. And, You know, normally, movies like this where it's you know, you're trying to figure out what it is, how it works, what is it, Um, normally, I would take a ton of notes. I wanted to just watch.

[00:23:43] Scott: You know what I mean? The lady who'd been waiting for her husband To come back?

[00:23:57] Frank: her best option was to trust this guy who takes her back to a commune in the woods. Yeah.

[00:24:17] Frank: Fucked up, but they're harmless. Yeah. Yeah. Hey. I feel you.

[00:24:27] Frank: What was up with that? Was that just him being jaded? Was Aaron Wright about him wanting to be the alpha ten years prior? That's why he really left because He would never have the alpha role of the group?

[00:24:46] Scott: Maybe there's supposed to be, like, twenty and eighteen or something like that. Their hair was different. It was dark.

[00:24:59] Frank: It's fine. I'm I'm not gonna Not bitter whatsoever.

[00:25:07] Scott: They kinda look like Jehovah's Witnesses. They're like, Hollywood Mormon missionaries.

[00:25:17] Scott: might have

[00:25:19] Frank: So check this out. Hold on. I just put something together, I think. So Mike is one of the the more straight edge guy in the cabin. Right?

[00:25:36] Frank: What she tells him the husband has only been missing for x amount of time that was short,

[00:26:04] Frank: Time was ten years for Justin and

[00:26:10] Scott: How did they get that? The woman

[00:26:14] Scott: Maybe she came in after the husband, but at the same time. So you're doing the explaining tonight. Like, they went in at the same time, but they're In the present at different times.

[00:26:44] Frank: So they've got a kid who's ten years older than when she left. Think about

[00:26:53] Scott: Woah. I haven't seen the other movie. Woah. So I can't tell you. I did not

[00:26:59] Frank: That's a whole different layer to that story. And if I'm not just making it up, but I think that that works out what we just worked out. Yeah.

[00:27:17] Scott: Well

[00:27:23] Scott: movie. Check it out. Yeah. Man,

[00:27:28] Scott: But, also, like, there's the fucking lost monster out when he's going hunt for that run, and it's, like, knocking buildings around and

[00:27:38] Scott: Yeah. What is that? I wanna know.

[00:27:44] Frank: I mean, anything that can rock a shipping container, stir up a mini dust devil, and fucking knock a tree down.

[00:27:55] Frank: stopping bullets? When they were doing target practice?

[00:28:02] Frank: down almost. So something was, uh

[00:28:08] Frank: bottles. What's up?

[00:28:25] Scott: That's adding a lot, but I like it. Yeah.

[00:28:33] Frank: Who was, like, Groundhog Day it up? You know? He was Bill Murray status right there. He's fucking over it.

[00:28:44] Scott: they had a day or two. I think he had minutes or something.

[00:28:53] Frank: Well, if we are in a simulation, that's me because I'm always in a hurry.

[00:28:58] Scott: Did you hear him right after he shot himself where he's like, god Damn it. Or something like that. Like, he's, like, pissed, and then he comes right back. He respond already.

[00:29:14] Frank: he'll turn into temp man if he's not

[00:29:19] Scott: Who were they giving their beer to? You have to

[00:29:29] Scott: In a

[00:29:32] Frank: I I mean, it's April. They will they go ahead and go October on the stamp. Don't worry. I mean, I could set them up all day. Give me a computer.

[00:29:43] Scott: just just put the month and hope no one asked about anything else. Yeah. October. I really, really liked That this had sort of a better, happier ending than something in the

[00:29:55] Frank: They made it. There was no flash before the credits. There was no, uh, Dave standing on the side of the road after they think they're free?

[00:30:04] Scott: They

[00:30:07] Scott: The loop. The loop loop. Yeah.

[00:30:14] Frank: When they get back close to the door and they Past that, what, the power a light pole in that mailbox and stuff? Oh, yeah.

[00:30:25] Scott: fisherman. Oh, right.

[00:30:30] Scott: road about the fisherman. He's just in it for, like, a, like, a few minutes.

[00:30:35] Frank: then he was in the movie we

[00:30:42] Frank: See what we did there? See what we did there?

[00:30:52] Scott: None of these felt like they needed a sequel.

[00:31:06] Frank: The next

[00:31:09] Scott: The Benson and Moorehead extended universe. The JMCU.

[00:31:18] Scott: Oh. Fucking nailing it.

[00:31:25] Frank: is man, hopefully, they do something at, like, a south by or, like, if that, uh, ATX film festival is still a thing and we can hear about it, That'd be nice. I'd try and go.

[00:31:38] Frank: Man, or, like, you know, You'll see a movie at that Austin Film Society theater again? Man, I'll have to keep an eye out. That seems like the prime place for something like that to go down.

[00:31:48] Scott: There aren't a whole lot of art theaters anymore. That's why old stuff. As soon

[00:31:55] Scott: it kinda like Theaters might end up being more that than anything else at some point in the long run. Yeah.

[00:32:06] Frank: there's that whole thing with

[00:32:09] Frank: thing. Sometimes you're gonna do some sometime you're gonna do something for the last time and not know it's the last time. Sometime you're gonna go see a movie in a movie theater, and before you know it, it's gonna be gone.

[00:32:25] Frank: We worked at video stores. We knew they were dying. And then one day, they're just fucking gone.

[00:32:34] Frank: And, I mean, I did go visit the last one.

[00:32:38] Scott: there. I'm not gonna lie, though. I had moments where I was like, hunt. Maybe it deserves to die. Mhmm.

[00:32:59] Scott: The mail did.

[00:33:05] Scott: yeah. The streaming was the final nail in the coffin, but The thing that kicked the whole thing over was just the fucking US mail.

[00:33:21] Frank: I mean, come on, H E B. You knew what you were doing. But, I mean, think about it. I'd go into work, dude. I'd grab a Mountain Dew code red, Snickers bar, ring it up on my employee account to get the discount, pay with what you know, the cash I had, my wallet get changed.

[00:33:47] Scott: face on

[00:33:47] Scott: day. It's a good kind of pain.

[00:33:58] Scott: Those were the good old days. Yeah. You like that?

[00:34:12] Frank: feel like, why did I do that?

[00:34:17] Scott: it. I'd be like, Yeah. I'd probably be drunk too. I'd throw up immediately.

[00:34:29] Scott: Yeah. So next time, we're gonna watch the sacrament.

[00:34:46] Frank: What are we doing this

[00:34:48] Scott: The the sacrament. The sacrament. Oh, yeah. Found West. It's a it seems to be a VICE documentary.

[00:35:05] Scott: Or did

[00:35:10] Scott: Idea anymore.

[00:35:11] Frank: know, back in the day, like, when I could just find a bunch of their shit on YouTube, I got really into it. And then one of those, like, cofounder guys, The white dude with the beard. There was an episode that was, like, mutant animals in Chernobyl or something like that. This was a trip for him to go drink in these small towns around there, and then, like, this tour guide takes him on a tour. We're like, they See nothing.

[00:35:39] Scott: episode. Well, also the other founder became the, Like leader of the Proud Boys, basically. That's him. Gavin McGinnis? Yeah.

[00:35:53] Frank: But I know now. Yeah. Oh, I didn't put that to get oh, I'm damn. For somebody who knows some random, Like Yeah. You know, trivial pop culture shit.

[00:36:03] Scott: me. Yeah. Doesn't it kinda seem like all those guys are just failed stand up comedians? Oof. Yeah.

[00:36:12] Frank: reminds me of the, uh, up and coming stand up comedian that gave us a tour to the Hollywood sign in LA. I hold no grudges.

[00:36:22] Scott: Hold a grudge like a fucking doorstop. Somebody might be listening.

[00:36:36] Frank: You know, we were talking about the monster reveal. I think I told you before I watched the found footage Docu went about a a real Frankenstein, and they go out in the woods in the middle. That reveal, Well done.

[00:36:50] Scott: Sometimes that's what you're waiting for. Mhmm. I think that the endless starts like, Oh, we're gonna make you wait for a while. But I think it gets crazy enough so quickly. It doesn't need to, like, give you what it is by the end of it.

[00:37:07] Frank: shit. Did you just

[00:37:11] Scott: Like, how did they all die in the end? They

[00:37:20] Frank: Um, because it's so that's like the fire pit. Right? Yeah. And that was in the video that looked like it was, like, aerial video at the beginning Yes. That they were sent.

[00:37:36] Scott: way. Were they turning into the red flower and then smoking themselves Over and over and over again?

[00:37:56] Frank: I'm not saying it was that. But maybe it's aliens. But You know, let's just say, like, they were transported different timeline slash dimension realm, whatever.

[00:38:14] Frank: Well, maybe that the red flower, let's call it, Is, uh, like, a part of a human's, like, soul perhaps or maybe, like, just part of their being is left behind when It occurs.

[00:38:36] Scott: to.

[00:38:41] Frank: Well, I mean I mean, it showed him, like, there

[00:38:46] Frank: be? Yeah. I remember, like, weren't they, like, watching them drive

[00:38:51] Scott: Yeah. From, like, the hillside. Yeah. Like an elevated

[00:38:54] Frank: You know, like, oh, we can

[00:38:58] Frank: Scarf is like, until next time. I'm watching

[00:39:05] Scott: Then

[00:39:14] Scott: night. Yeah.

[00:39:20] Frank: I was like, are they, Crime scene cleaners.

[00:39:26] Frank: all of a sudden, Amy Adams shows up in a van.

[00:39:33] Frank: you go. Yep.

[00:39:39] Scott: I did there? Anyway, the sacrament. The sacrament.

[00:39:49] Frank: Spicy nacho or cool ranch?

[00:39:56] Frank: Well, then you got jalapeno creeping in the corner.

[00:40:01] Frank: everyone for joining us for the last video store clerks Be sure to leave a rating and subscribe.