Put down that smartphone and listen to me. I'm Matthew Milligan, professional musician and lifelong Weird Al fan. Each week, I'm joined by professional podcaster and close personal friend Matt Kelly to take a dive off the deep end into the vast career of pop culture icon Beard Al Yankovic on our show, Weird Al Rhythm. Along with some very special guests in the world of music and comedy, we tackle every song, every television appearance, and every bit of sketch comedy Al has produced in chronological order, covering the good old days of My Bologna and Eat It, the fun zone of tacky and white and nerdy, and everything in between.
As we go, we're ranking the songs, albums, and music videos in the hopes of creating the ultimate guide to a career bigger than the biggest fall of Twine in Minnesota. So the next time you're having one of those days stuck in a traffic jam wondering why does this always happen to me? Just kick off your sneakers and stick around for a while because we've got it all on Weird Al Rhythm, available wherever you get your podcasts. And now you know.
Was that enough references? Hi, friends. The world got you down. Don't be sad.
Listen to $2 Late Fee with Zach and Dustin. $2 Late Fee is the podcast that celebrates the best decade of entertainment. The 1980s. We pick a movie and soundtrack from our youth that we loved and see if it holds up today.
We also review your favorite celebrities from my era. All in the spirit of positivity and togetherness. Check us out at $2LateFee.com. Put down that smartphone and listen to me.
I'm Matthew Milligan, professional musician and lifelong Weird Al fan. Each week, I'm joined by professional podcaster and close personal friend Matt Kelly to dive off the deep end into the vast career of pop culture icon Weird Al Yankovic on our show Weird Al Rhythm. Along with some very special guests in the world of music and comedy, we tackle every song, every television appearance, and every bit of sketch comedy Al has produced in chronological order. Covering the good old days of My Bologna and Eat It, the fun zone of tacky and white and nerdy, and everything in between.
As we go, we're ranking songs, albums, and music videos in the hopes of creating the ultimate guide to a career bigger than the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota. So the next time you're having one of those days stuck in a traffic jam wondering why does this always happen to me, just kick off your sneakers and stick around for a while because we've got it all on Weird Al Rhythm, available wherever you get your podcasts. And now you know. Was that enough for references?
Hey, Horror Movie Night, we're back with another bonus episode just before Halloween with an old favorite guest of ours, Mike James, of multiple different things, but more importantly right now, of his short film Smiley. Oh, thank you so much. It's Smiley's, by the way. Oh, it's plural.
Yeah, Smiley's plural as if, you know, Smiley owns something. He owns the spooky machine that we're talking about. Well, and you told us a little bit about this way back when when we made you watch Neon Maniacs with us. Yeah, which we're recovering from, so thank you.
But how about you remind the listeners what the premise of Smiley's is? Yeah, absolutely. So the premise of Smiley's is about Mitch, who is a college student that is in a study group, and they go to take a break when they're studying, and they go out into the middle of nowhere, and they see a vending machine, a soda machine. And Mitch becomes obsessed with this soda machine, and he kind of has a dark downward spiral from there.
And you told us when you were on the show, but I want to reiterate that this is at least semi-based on an actual vending machine in your hometown. Yeah, the whole thing is actually kind of based on a true story that happened to me. So I went to Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, which is just about 30 minutes south of Indianapolis, and there was kind of a time-honored tradition that you kind of drive around the country road smoking weed because you're in the middle of nowhere in Indiana without a whole lot to do. So kind of just driving around, listening to music, talking to your friends was one of the main activities.
And it was just very well known that down this road, Greensburg Road, probably about seven miles outside of town, was a soda machine. And it was at this little store. It was called Smiley's. And the Smiley's store had this soda machine around outside of it, and one of the options was potluck.
And you just put 25 cents in, and you could get a random flavored soda. And it was just all over the place. Like sometimes it was just like knock-off cola. Sometimes it was Dr.
Pepper. Sometimes it was Hawaiian Punch. Sometimes it was root beer. And so the game would be, or while you're kind of stoned with your friends, is everyone has their quarter.
They yell out the kind of soda you're hoping for. You hit the button and see if it's your lucky day where you call out what you got. And the first time that I visited this machine when I was a freshman in college, I got a package of pencils. Yeah, true.
And it freaked me out. And it just kind of always stayed with me was how unique and odd the whole thing was. And it was just always in the back of my head if I ever had a chance to do a short, I would want to tell this story. Well, and the thing that's amazing about this, and a lot of the listeners obviously know you from your work with Five Second Films in Dubrow Party Massacre 3 is that the premise is a goofy premise, but the movie is not that much of a comedy.
It actually goes into some really like David Lynch-y weird dark places. And I was talking to Tom of Five Second Films last week about this with his film is that I love seeing that all you guys have like really branched out from doing the comedy. Because I guess, you know, when you've been making 10 second films for however many years, you kind of get sick of doing comedy a little bit. And you guys have been making these incredibly well-made dark horrors and dramas and thrillers and et cetera.
Man, thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. Yeah, it's kind of a thing where these were all doing our solo albums now.
Yeah. where I kind of think like part of the magic of Five Second Films was our collective personalities. So it's like you get this really weird stew where it's like we all are kind of playing by the same rules, but we all bring something different to the table. I think that if you were to go back and see the individual ones, with individual 5SFs, it might be hard to differentiate who exactly was the brain behind it.
Because so often we all just kind of contributed a bit of ourselves to make what Five Second Films really was. Also, especially with Dude Bro, that was such an intricate thing that we all created our own characters. And that's why it was such a good mix because it's just all of us kind of playing together as a band. But I think we all had, you know, very different tastes and different definitions of comedy and different kind of like, you know, how we wanted to prove the stories that we wanted to tell and how we told them.
And so now it's really kind of an exciting time for all of us to kind of have the opportunity to branch out and say, you know, this is who I am. This is the kind of movies that I want to make, which is still absurd. I think that no matter what, no Five Second Films member is going to be able to not be absurd. But it is all these, you know, essentially the best example I save is just like there are solo albums.
Yeah. And I mean, this is going to, there's no way that this next sentence doesn't come off like I'm kissing your ass, but much like The Beatles, you know, like you didn't really know who was doing what in The Beatles until they all branched out and did those solo albums. And then you go back to those Beatles records and you're like, oh, this is definitely a Paul song. Oh, this is definitely a John song.
Oh, this screams that this was written by George. I mean, like you learn those individual pieces from them being a part, or I guess a little bit more appropriate would be watching movies from the state when they all split apart. And then you go back and went on back in summer and you're like, oh, this part's definitely a Michael Schwain concept. Yeah, yeah.
Man, I really, feel free to kiss my ass as much as you want because any comparison to The State really flatters me. But yeah, I do think a little bit that it is, you can kind of see which one of, you know, each film's kind of best represents us. I think I always, in 5SF, I always kind of tried, I was always trying to find a part of the space that was like free. You know what I mean?
Like there's like so many people did so many great things, you know, with like a Brian Ferenczi or Michael Rousselet, they're just like comedy powerhouses. So it's like you kind of needed to figure out, well, what can I contribute that is a little bit different? And one of the things I always would try to approach things with somewhat of like a childlike sensibility of just like this kind of naive child wandering into the middle of a theater. You know what I mean?
Like what's going on? Oh, is it kind of what happened to me? I did just kind of wander in and I was just like, wow, you guys are really funny and make great films. And so I kind of tried to just personify that character of like, well, no one else here is kind of has a, I guess like a little kid who's in over his head.
And so like a lot of my 5SS, I think was kind of from that point of view, but like a little kid in over his head. And so now I, I know with my films now, I'm really kind of trying to push that in a way of saying of like, I want to make stuff that is really accessible, but also it makes you feel good. Like you feel like you're in on the joke where it's just like, hey, we're going to play pretend together for a little bit and we don't need to take ourselves too seriously. And I think that like, if you can kind of drop whatever perceptions you may have of what horror or comedy needs to be, I hope that like with Smiley's you can really enjoy it.
It just makes you feel good on the inside as if you're like playing pretend with a friend in the backyard. Yeah. And so I do want to ask you, because I make the obvious comparison to Lynch in the sense that there's a lot of surrealism and you know, what is the reality of the situation in Smiley's? But I'm curious if, I mean, Tom Jacobson was the director of photography.
That's like both of, one of our favorite films. So it's like we very purposely even like framed up some shots that would be like, you know, frame for frame direct ripoffs from Evil Dead 2. Yeah, because even now that you say that, I'm even thinking about when they first pull up to the soda machine, it has almost that pulling up to the cabin vibe of Evil Dead 2. Yeah, exactly.
That's awesome. If you hadn't said that, I wouldn't have pieced that together, but there is, you know, there. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I didn't want it to be like blatant.
I'm like, I kind of feeling a lot of like what we did with Dude Bro, where, you know, when you watch Dude Bro, Party, Master 3, I think there's so much stuff. You're like, whoa, that is from a horror movie. That is from a horror movie. But it's never like super overt of like, oh, this was directly ripped.
Like, I think we did a really good job of playing into the tropes of horror movies. And that's kind of, I think something that I'm going to take with me. And that is these like kind of odes to some of my, you know, some of my favorite stuff. I've always like, I really like psychological stuff, you know, of like, you know, I love Cronenberg and I love Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Like, I love Terry Gilliam films and I like anything that gets like really super heady. So kind of like, I think anything that doesn't, it doesn't, I always think that the scariest thing is ourselves and that it doesn't really need to have anything chasing us. So really like any movie where the killer is the protagonist or like the great issue that has to be overcome is like dealing with the protagonist's own mind. Those are the things that I always think resonate with me because I'm probably because I'm crazy myself.
So how much did you love The Lighthouse? I actually have not seen it. I just had a conversation with a friend who just saw it and did exactly that. They're like, you are going to go berserk over this movie.
You're absolutely going to love it. I mean, I love The Witch. You know, I think that, who's that guy? Is Eggers his name?
Eggers, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I love The Witch and so I have no doubt that I'm going to love The White House. Yeah, I won't say too much. Listeners definitely go check that out too.
Sorry, we're not doing it in theaters now on it. But yeah, it's, I actually think in a lot of ways it's a little bit better than The Witch for me. Oh, cool. Just because I'm like a huge like old school film geek.
So like the technical aspect of just trying to make a Bergman movie in 2019 is like an impressive feat that I was just like captivated that someone was able to do it. So there's more than just a reason for you being on here to talk about Smiley's. You know, listeners, if you're saying, man, this sounds cool. I wish I could see this short.
Well, good news, because you can now. So Mike, how about you tell them how they can watch Smiley's? You can go to Amazon Prime. Just go to Amazon.
You can stream it on Prime. You can download it. You can rent it. If you enjoy it, I really appreciate you leaving a review.
That is the main way to help me. If you didn't enjoy it, still write a review. Tell me why you didn't like it. You know, this is my writing directing debut.
So this is my first narrative short that I've done as a writer-director. I have since shot another short actually featuring Kelsey Gunn. So maybe we're going to have to come back when I've got that thing out and going. But that, too, is also kind of a psychological horror.
It's about a wannabe Instagram influencer that becomes obsessed with a Kim Kardashian-type character and essentially chases her down and confronts her and it gets really gnarly. And Kelsey Gunn gives this just incredible performance because no one does crazy like Kelsey Gunn. But yeah, this is my first one here that I'm venturing out is on Amazon now. It's called Smiley's.
But yeah, please leave a review. Give it a rating. And any listeners, I'd love for you to engage with me on social media. My handle's at heymikejames.
That's H-E-Y. And I would just love to hear what people think, man. Yeah, so go check out the short. Rate and review it.
Go follow Mike on all the social media. And he's a cool dude. He's come on our show more times than he really needs to. So I'm humbled to constantly have contact with someone who made a movie that I adore.
So that's really fucking cool as well. Man, I really, really appreciate it. I think it's just a really exciting time really for all of us because there are a bunch of there's a bunch of projects popping off. And Brian Ferenzi now has a Kickstarter or an animated horror short that looks absolutely insane.
So we're all kind of starting to spread our wings and get other projects going. So, I mean, we've always had such a cool fan base and I just have so many stories of engaging with fans of five-second films that was just so incredibly inspiring. And it's, you know, I appreciate you guys. I really appreciate you giving me a platform to talk about this and to stay relevant.
Of course. All right, guys. So go hit on Amazon Prime, find Smiley's, watch it, do all of that. And Mike, you are always welcome to come back whenever.
Man, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Hi, friends. The world got you down.
Don't be sad. Listen to $2 Late Free with Zach and Dustin. $2 Late Free is the podcast that celebrates the best decade of entertainment, the 1980s. We pick a movie and soundtrack from our youth that we loved and see if it holds up today.
We also review your favorite celebrities from my era. All in the spirit of positivity and togetherness. Check us out at $2Late Free.com. Put down that smartphone and listen to me.
I'm Matthew Milligan, professional musician and lifelong Weird Al fan. Each week, I'm joined by professional podcaster and close personal friend Matt Kelly to take a dive off the deep end into the vast career of pop culture icon Feared Al Yankovic on our show, Weird Al Gorilla. Along with some very special guests in the world of music and comedy. We tackle every song, every television appearance and every bit of sketch comedy Al has produced in chronological order.
Covering the good old days of My Bologna and Eat It, the fun zone of tacky and white and nerdy and everything in between. As we go, we're ranking the songs, albums and music videos in the hopes of creating the ultimate guide to a career bigger than the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota. So the next time you're having one of those days stuck in a traffic jam wondering why does this always happen to me, just kick off your sneakers and stick around for a while because we've got it all on Weird Al Gorilla. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Now you know. Was that enough for references? Hi, friends. The world got you down.
Don't be sad. Listen to $2 Late Fee with Zach and Dustin. $2 Late Fee is a podcast that celebrates the best decade of entertainment in the 1980s. We pick a movie and soundtrack from our youth that we loved and see if it holds up today.
We also review your favorite celebrities from my era. All in the spirit of positivity and togetherness. Check us out at $2LateFee.com. You're listening to the Geek State Network.