FH Mini 15 - Tom Brokaw's Dune

Dan McCoy

[0:00] Hey everyone, and welcome to the Flophouse Mini, the off-week episodes where we're not

[0:10] talking about a bad movie, we're just kind of talking.

[0:14] I'm Dan McCoy.

[0:15] I'm Stuart Wellington.

Tom Brokaw

[0:17] And I'm Tom Brokaw, American newsman and author of The Greatest Generation.

[0:24] Some would say the definitive story of the Baby Boomers.

Dan McCoy

[0:28] Yeah, we've got, I mean, probably our biggest git as a guest, Tom Brokaw is here now.

Stuart Wellington

[0:35] Yeah, Dan, you're reading his credits, right?

[0:38] You're going to give all his credits to everybody.

Tom Brokaw

[0:40] Dan, I can tell you're a big brokehead.

[0:43] Name for me, what network did I anchor the lead evening news desk for 22 years at?

Dan McCoy

[0:50] That would be NBC, Tom.

Tom Brokaw

[0:52] Oh, wow.

[0:53] To be honest, I did not expect you to get it correct, and I felt a little silly for asking.

Dan McCoy

[0:58] Well, okay, well Tom's here, of course, stepping in for Elliot.

[1:01] I got a text right before the show.

[1:04] He was saying something about a butt rash, having just like a terrible, contagious butt rash.

Stuart Wellington

[1:10] And that's weird for Elliot, because normally he doesn't text.

[1:12] He really only likes to call when he's calling us about butt rashes.

[1:16] Yeah.

Tom Brokaw

[1:18] I've also received many calls in the night from Elliot for that particular malady.

[1:24] It's weird.

Stuart Wellington

[1:25] It's weird.

[1:25] You'd think you'd just go to bed instead of stay up all night with a butt rash.

[1:28] But I guess when you got a butt rash, you're like, fuck it up.

[1:31] I'm just going to make it all nighter.

Tom Brokaw

[1:32] Sometimes it's a matter of not being able to sleep.

[1:37] Oh, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:37] I didn't think about that.

[1:38] So, yeah, I mean, Tom just kind of swooped in.

[1:42] It was like, it was weird.

[1:43] We didn't even really ask him to come.

[1:46] He just heard, I don't know how, that Elliot was not going to be here.

[1:50] And he just jumped in.

Tom Brokaw

[1:51] Well, as I say, as America's favorite newsman for 22 years running, I have my ways of getting news.

[1:58] Now, I also wanted to take this opportunity because I do have something specific I wanted to talk about on the program.

[2:06] If I may, I'd like to introduce the topic in my own inimitable way, if I could.

[2:14] Uh-huh.

[2:16] Okay.

[2:16] Well, with your kind permission, I'll begin.

[2:19] He's like a vampire.

Stuart Wellington

[2:20] You got to invite him in, Dan.

Tom Brokaw

[2:22] I'll begin with a little excerpt.

[2:25] A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

[2:31] This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows.

[2:34] To begin your study of the life of Mardib, then, take care that you first place him in his time,

[2:40] born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV,

[2:45] and take the most special care that you locate Mardib in his place, the planet Arrakis.

[2:51] Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caledon and lived his first 15 years there.

[2:58] Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place.

[3:03] And that's from the manual of Mardib by the princess, Rulon.

Stuart Wellington

[3:07] Oh, I see why Tom showed up, Dan.

[3:11] Tom's a big Dune head, right?

Tom Brokaw

[3:13] You could say that that particular novel by Frank Herbert has been a little bit of a life manual for me,

[3:19] as anyone who watched me for years on NBC Nightly News would know for a fact.

[3:24] Yeah, they are.

[3:25] Now, I'm here because, as you guys know already, the trailer for the new Dune film was just released,

[3:33] and I have a few thoughts about it.

Stuart Wellington

[3:36] Oh, okay.

[3:37] I guess you might as well enlighten us.

[3:39] Should I pull up the trailer myself, or will you just paint enough of a picture that I don't need it in front of me?

Tom Brokaw

[3:45] It really depends more on the power of your imagination.

[3:50] The trailer begins, as all great Dunes do, with the Warner Brothers logo and the Legendary Films logo,

[3:59] looking very shiny, not at all what you'd expect on the dusty, gritty surface of the planet Arrakis.

[4:07] Next, we get to our hero, Paul Atreides, played here by Timothy Chalavad.

Dan McCoy

[4:13] He's saying—

[4:14] I mean, well, I'm not even going to address the problems you had with pronouncing his last name,

[4:21] but I believe it is Timotay, not Timothy.

Tom Brokaw

[4:25] Wait, really?

[4:26] To me, he's merely a vessel for bringing us the story of Paul Atreides.

[4:31] I don't really care how his name is pronounced, so Timothy Chalavad will continue to be.

[4:39] So, Paul Atreides, as you know, the heir to the house Atreides, one of the major mercenary and mercantile houses of the Galactic Empire,

[4:50] he says something is going on with his mind that he can't control.

[4:55] We hear this as he kisses Chani, played by Zendaya, who you may know as Michi, who we know is one of the women.

Dan McCoy

[5:04] I know Zendaya as Michi, but I didn't know that you would know her as Michi.

[5:10] That seems, you know, out of your purview a little bit.

Tom Brokaw

[5:13] I took my grandchildren to see that movie, and frankly, I only know Zendaya as Michi.

[5:20] I don't know what else she is.

[5:22] For a while, I thought Michi was the actress and Zendaya was the character.

[5:26] And so, I think, only seeing her now as...

Stuart Wellington

[5:29] I feel like that's what the director said about her performance, too.

Tom Brokaw

[5:34] We see her.

[5:35] She is, of course, the daughter of the Imperial Planetologist assigned to Dune, late Keynes,

[5:40] who I do not believe appears in the trailer.

[5:43] Anyway, we see Paul waking up, and he says, there's a crusade coming.

[5:47] He and, or rather, two silhouetted figures that I assume can only be Paul and Chani or Paul and Lady Jessica, his mother,

[5:56] look at fire and fighting on the desert plain.

[5:59] And now is when we get past the preamble and into the real meat of the story of Paul and Atreides,

[6:06] as he meets with...

[6:08] Yes?

Dan McCoy

[6:08] Would you say that this trailer is good at sort of introducing the story of Dune to those who may not already be familiar with it?

[6:18] Or is it just sort of a series of images more so than a plot-heavy trailer?

[6:25] To be honest...

[6:25] Because you say we're getting into the story of Dune that we all know.

[6:29] And I've read Dune once, and I saw the David Lynch movie as a very young man,

[6:36] and I still couldn't tell you much about the story of Dune.

Tom Brokaw

[6:40] Like many movie trailers, it starts out with a kind of foreboding, ominous thing.

[6:45] Then you get a little bit of the characters, and then you get a...

[6:49] You think the trailer's over, and then there's one last kind of special effects-heavy moment,

[6:54] and then the title.

[6:55] I don't really believe that you can summarize all of the majesty of Dune in a three-minute, 57-or-show shot story like this narrative.

[7:06] But to be honest, I've spent so many years of my life now living in Arrakis, in my headspace,

[7:12] that I wouldn't be able to tell you how a Dune newbie would take this kind of trailer.

[7:18] And so if...

Dan McCoy

[7:19] Tom, Tom, would you say that living in Arrakis...

Stuart Wellington

[7:20] It would be like a Fremen trying to teach a newborn baby how to survive on the dusty plains of Dune, the planet Arrakis.

Tom Brokaw

[7:29] Well, you mentioned Fremen.

[7:31] At a certain point, you forget that you're in the still suit, if you understand what I mean.

[7:36] And it just becomes like unto a second layer of skin.

[7:40] And that's what Dune is to me at this point in my life.

[7:44] Daniel, did you have a question about Dune or about my many years in national broadcasting?

Dan McCoy

[7:49] Well, I mean, they're kind of tied together, actually, Tom.

[7:53] I was going to ask, you said that you spent so many years living in Arrakis in your mind.

[7:58] Was that as a way of coping with the horrors that you had to report nightly on the nightly news?

Tom Brokaw

[8:04] No, it was merely because Frank Herbert has spun such an enthralling tale in such a fully realized world that from the first moments, from the first time that I read Dune,

[8:16] honestly, having picked it up somewhat randomly in an airport bookstore, intrigued by the cover showing a desert-type landscape,

[8:25] and I thought to myself, I would be so thirsty if I was walking along that.

[8:30] I wonder what happens there, and just being enthralled.

[8:34] To be honest, it had nothing—if anything, the national news is what saved me from losing myself in Dune.

[8:42] Now, if I can continue.

[8:44] It was only by telling America, my supreme honor of telling America for 30 minutes what was important enough for me to talk about,

[8:53] that I was able to anchor myself in this reality and not lose myself the way a spice addict would to the innumerable visions of an ever-unfolding galaxy.

Dan McCoy

[9:06] Okay, so the news was sort of your inception sort of top that allowed you to reenter the real world.

Tom Brokaw

[9:14] I think that much like the movie Inception, that is a thin metaphor overlaying not much.

[9:21] But I suppose, yes, you could say that.

[9:24] Now, here's where we get to the real meat of the story, as Paul meets with the Bene Gesserit mother, Reverend mother,

[9:31] Gaius Helen Moyham, played here by a Charlotte Rowling, and she is, of course, asking him questions about the visions he receives.

[9:40] This is interrupted by the name of the director, a Frenchman, Denise Villeneuve, who is, of course, the director of movies like Arrival and Sicario.

Dan McCoy

[9:49] You know, Tom, it's interesting to say that I think that you probably pronounced that director's last name as well as Elliot might if he were here.

Tom Brokaw

[10:00] We can only imagine, since he, as mentioned before, is dealing with a medical malady of a particularly sensitive nature.

[10:08] We see a storm over Arrakis.

[10:11] This shot seems to be more a filler, to be honest, and perhaps an example of special effects, but they're just building suspense.

[10:19] Building atmosphere, yeah.

[10:20] One of the key iconic moments in the Dune story, when Paul, of course, takes the test of the Gom Javar and has to see if his human awareness can overcome his animal instinct to pull his hand from a box full of pain.

[10:36] If he withstands the pain, then he understands that death is worse than pain and that all fear can be overcome.

[10:43] But if his animal instincts overcome his rationality and his human awareness, then, of course, he cannot take part in his fated role in the Bene Gesserit breeding plan to bring about the enlightenment of humanity in the role of the Kwisat Arrakh, who has access to the visions of the Golden Path.

[11:02] Not much of that is explained in the trailer, but you do find out that he sticks his hand in a very painful box.

Stuart Wellington

[11:09] Hey, Dan, do you think I would succeed in the test of the Gom Javar?

Dan McCoy

[11:14] Uh, oh boy.

[11:16] Yeah, I think you are the most likely to see...

[11:20] Well, I think I'm the least likely to see...

[11:23] Yeah, you get smoked, dude.

[11:25] Let's say that.

Tom Brokaw

[11:25] I have to, Dan, just as a listener of the podcast, I assume you would tap out before actually taking the test.

[11:32] They would explain to you that a poison-tipped needle would be held to your neck while your hand was put in a box, and that alone would be enough for you to say,

[11:41] you know what, I'm tired, and I don't need to have any of this in my life.

[11:45] Well, that's...

[11:46] And you'd probably go and watch an 80s horror or bikini movie that you'd already seen a few times.

Dan McCoy

[11:53] That all seems accurate.

[11:55] I didn't...

[11:56] Is that an option?

[11:58] Can you just say, uh, you know what, no thanks?

[12:02] Because, like, it seems like that would be a pretty good one.

Tom Brokaw

[12:06] It would end the book pretty quickly.

[12:08] Okay.

Stuart Wellington

[12:09] Do you think bikinis exist in the world of Dune?

[12:13] Because everybody seems to just wear, like, black leather.

Tom Brokaw

[12:16] I think in the universe of Dune, perhaps, but on the world of Arrakis, very unlikely.

[12:21] To expose so much of your skin to the harsh desert sun and the flying grit from the constant sandstorms would leave you with burns and abrasions,

[12:31] not to mention how much moisture you would lose from having such little covering in such a hostile climate.

[12:38] Now, speaking of that hostile climate, we now see a landscape of Arrakis, followed by a shot of Paul walking along a beach somewhere.

[12:46] I'm guessing Caledon because I don't remember a lot of oceans on Arrakis.

[12:53] We quickly get a moment of Paul training in the use of his energy armor and fighting knife with his weapons master,

[13:02] Gurney Halleck, played here by Josh Brola.

[13:05] Now, Josh Brola has...

[13:08] Sorry?

Tom Brokaw

[13:08] Josh?

[13:09] Josh who?

[13:10] Josh?

[13:10] Brola.

[13:11] Josh Brola.

[13:12] You may remember him as...

[13:13] Brola?

[13:13] You may remember him as Pano from the Avenger movie.

[13:16] Okay.

[13:17] Sure.

[13:18] When he took possession of the Infinity Gauntlet and was able to eliminate half the universe's population.

[13:28] A scope only matched by the thousands of years of timeline in the Frank Herbert Dune saga.

[13:35] Now, there is a voiceover stating that Paul has learned to rule himself, but he must now learn to rule others.

[13:41] A premonition both of his role as heir to the Atreides house as the son of Duke Leto, who we shall see is played by Oscar Isaac.

[13:49] And also, here's a real role as...

[13:50] Oh, wow.

[13:51] Nailed it.

[13:52] Nailed it.

[13:52] Nailed it one.

[13:53] Because his name is, to be honest, very easy to say.

[13:57] And his role as the Kwisatz Haderach, who will bring across a jihad throughout the universe, causing the death of billions.

[14:05] I assume they will save that for the second movie.

[14:08] Now, Duke Leto, as we know, played by Oscar Isaac.

[14:12] I got it the first time and for some reason could not stick the landing, the second pronunciation.

[14:18] He's at a tomb of some kind.

[14:20] We're told by a voiceover he rules a planet, but he's going to lose it.

[14:24] A quick shot of, I assume, Lady Jessica, Duke Leto's wife, and Fel's mother, who, of course, betrayed the Bene Gesserit plan by not having a daughter and having a son.

[14:35] Because, as any Dune head knows, the Bene Gesserit can control the gender of their unborn children.

[14:41] Now, off to the plains of Dune, where they are disembarking from some kind of huge tank or something.

[14:48] It looks a little bit like a Jawa Sandscrawler, but bigger and less featureful.

Dan McCoy

[14:54] Not since Stuart explained Warhammer to me have I been lost in a thicket of just letter soup.

Tom Brokaw

[15:05] Don't worry, because it's about to get a lot simpler and more complicated.

[15:10] Because Duke Leto and his family will be greeted by a hearty companion.

[15:14] That's, of course, Duncan Idaho, the other weapons master and fighter.

Dan McCoy

[15:19] Hold on, hold on, wait, wait, hold on, wait.

[15:22] Duncan Idaho, yeah.

[15:23] There's a character in Dune whose last name is Idaho, which is the name of a state in the United States on Earth.

Tom Brokaw

[15:34] Remember, Dan, this is set in the far future.

[15:36] Idaho is still a story land known throughout for its potatoes, the, some would say, life-giving essence second only to the spice in its importance to the galactic economy.

[15:48] Idaho, of course, taking an El Dorado-type position in the Dune-iverse.

[15:53] He is, of course, played by Jason Momoa, who is best known as, at this point I assume, Aquaman from the DC movies.

[16:02] Now, there's a brief shot of, so brief I had to watch it again to tell that it was, of course, Stilgar, leader of the Fremen tribe at Siecht Tabor, played here by Javier Bardem, the villain from the James Bond movie where he's the bad guy in it.

[16:18] Yep, that one.

[16:21] Okay.

[16:23] We hear from someone that Arrakis is a death trap over massed armies.

[16:27] Perhaps these armies are at the command of the next person we see, Beast Rabban, Count of Lankovil, and eldest nephew of the Baron Harkonnen.

[16:35] He's played by Dave Baderda.

[16:37] And, of course, the Fremen people of Arrakis, as you, I'm sure you know, know him as Mudir Nahia, which translates roughly as Demon Ruler.

[16:47] Now, of course, we only see him for but a moment before we are introduced to his boss and uncle, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who is looking very foggy and is played by Stalin Skarzagar.

[17:00] Now, there's a lot of fire and bad things.

[17:03] Jessica looks very concerned, but we've got more characters to meet in this trailer.

[17:07] For instance, Dr. Wellington Yu, played by Chang Chen, who, as we all know, will go on to betray the Atreides family, kind of.

[17:16] Now, I assume he is a distinct descendant of one Stuart Wellington, since, again, this takes place in the far future.

[17:24] We see some armored bad dudes, real badass fighter types.

[17:28] Bad dudes?

[17:29] They got to save the president.

[17:30] The video game bad dudes?

[17:32] No, there are, in fact, probably, I'm guessing, the Sardaukar, the fanatically elite fighting force of the emperor.

[17:38] Then we get a shot of Paul walking purposefully toward the camera.

[17:43] Duncan Idaho, again played by Jason Mama, says, let's fight like demons, and then starts fighting people in armor as they run at him.

[17:51] Back to the reverend mother of the Bene Gesserit, as she says, an animal caught in a trap will gnaw off its own leg.

[17:58] What will you do?

[18:00] There's a shot of Channy standing outside.

[18:02] We see Paul in his still suit, Channy in her still suit, spaceships, explosions.

[18:07] At this part, to be honest, it just looks like a bigger budget version of the David Lynch dune, but without the score by Toto.

[18:15] There's Baron Harkonnen, I assume, emerging from a sort of apocalypse now mud bath.

[18:20] And here is where we get to the portion of the trailer I call the walking purposefully towards the camera.

[18:25] Lady Jessica walks purposefully towards the camera.

[18:28] Led by Rebecca Ferguson.

[18:29] Led by Rebecca Ferguson.

[18:31] Duncan Idaho salutes with a blade.

[18:34] Paul salutes with a blade.

[18:35] Paul watches from his airship as a sand pit swallows a kind of sand crawler.

[18:40] Dr. Wellington U walks purposefully toward the camera.

[18:44] There's a Fremen lady, a dragonfly helicopter.

[18:47] Then Robin Harkonnen, the beast, walks purposefully towards the camera.

[18:51] Duke Leto looks kind of sad.

[18:53] And Paul says, I see you.

[18:55] I don't think he's referring to the shot from before.

[18:58] That's kind of a Kuleshov experiment in juxtaposition.

[19:02] We'll have to see the final version.

[19:04] Another quick shot of Stilgar.

[19:05] I assume Javier Bardem was not a big enough star to get his face in the trailer that much.

[19:12] Then there's some text that says, beyond fear, Duncan Idaho walks purposefully towards the camera.

[19:18] Then destiny awaits.

[19:19] Zendaya's hair in slow-mo.

[19:22] Paul yells in slow-mo.

[19:24] And now Paul launches into a shortened version of the litany against fear, which in the original book goes like this.

[19:33] I must not fear.

[19:35] Fear is the mind killer.

[19:38] Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.

[19:42] I will face my fear.

[19:44] I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

[19:48] And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

[19:52] Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing.

[19:54] Only I will remain.

[19:56] I, of course, recited this before every episode of NBC Nightly News for my 22 years of hosting that storied program.

[20:07] It was a little wink at Dune as if to say to the planet Arrakis, I'll be back to you in a half hour when I'm done dealing with this small, blue, pitiful planet of the distant past that we call Earth.

[20:20] Then there's some flying machines.

[20:22] We're almost done with the trailer, Daniel.

Dan McCoy

[20:25] Earth might have problems, but it's not built on an intergalactic drug trade.

[20:30] I mean...

Tom Brokaw

[20:31] Now who's being naive, Daniel?

[20:33] Okay.

Dan McCoy

[20:34] That's how you look at it.

[20:35] It's called oil.

Tom Brokaw

[20:36] There's a...

[20:36] It's not that hard to look at the metaphors.

[20:39] They're rich and thick like a good gumbo.

[20:42] Not unlike the exact opposite of Inception, which is sort of a killer's mask, a sociopath's public face, behind which lies nothing.

[20:53] Now, someone dips their hand in sand.

[20:56] Duncan Idaho kneels and calls Paul the Duke.

[20:58] Paul walks in slow-mo purposefully towards the camera, and you think the trailer is almost over when you're thinking to yourself,

[21:06] how have I not seen a sandworm?

[21:09] It's perhaps the most notable thing about Arrakis is these giant freaking worms that the Fremen ride and worship as the makers,

[21:18] when suddenly the ground erupts and people run away.

[21:22] It's a sandworm not looking unlike, say, a sarlacc that has been pulled inside out, like a prolapsed colon, if you will, of a sarlacc.

[21:30] Oh, it looks like a butt.

[21:32] We get the title.

[21:34] Dune.

[21:35] End.

[21:36] Of trailer.

Dan McCoy

[21:37] And much of this trailer is also scored to a cover of Eclipse by Pink Floyd.

[21:44] Now, how do you feel about that, Tom?

[21:47] What are your Pink Floyd feelings?

Tom Brokaw

[21:50] To be honest, if I had known, I think I would have been fine with it.

[21:54] But I was so in the world of Arrakis that I was actually humming the soundtrack I had composed to the book when I read it.

[22:03] And it goes something like...

[22:05] Dune Arrakis.

[22:18] It's got a very Thomas Dolby feel when the lyrics kick in.

Dan McCoy

[22:21] It certainly did at the end.

[22:22] Some elements of Danny Elfman in there.

[22:24] It started kind of like the Price is Right theme, and then it got a little more Thomas Dolby.

Tom Brokaw

[22:31] There was a period when, outside of hosting the nightly news, I was only reading Dune and watching the Price is Right.

[22:38] It was a low point in my life when I really lost track of who I was as a person and also reality.

[22:45] And, of course, a series of hypnotic suggestions had to be planted by the world's most noted hypnotherapists in order to snap me out of that fugue state for the 30 minutes it took to tape NBC Nightly News.

[22:57] I would repeat the words phonetically as they were read into my ear because, at that point, I had lost the ability to speak American English, and I only spoke the languages of Frank Herbert.

Dan McCoy

[23:10] Hi, my name is Graham Clark, and I'm one half of the podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself, a show that we've recorded for many, many years.

[23:19] And at the moment, instead of being in person, we're recording remotely, and you wouldn't even notice.

[23:26] You don't even notice the lag.

S4

[23:30] That's right, Graham.

[23:32] And the great thing about this...

[23:35] Go ahead.

[23:36] No, you go ahead.

[23:38] Okay, and...

[23:38] Okay, go ahead.

[23:41] And you can listen to us every week on MaximumFun.org.

[23:46] Or wherever you get your podcasts.

[23:49] Your podcasts.

Dan McCoy

[23:51] Hi, I'm James, host of Minority Corner, which is a...

S4

[23:54] Podcast that's all about intersectionality.

[23:56] It's hosted by James with a guest host every week.

Dan McCoy

[23:59] Discussing all sorts of wonderful issues, nerdy and political.

S4

[24:03] Pop culture.

[24:04] Black queer.

[24:05] Feminism.

[24:06] Race.

[24:07] Sexuality.

[24:07] News.

Dan McCoy

[24:08] You're going to learn your history, their self-empowerment, and it's told by what feels like your best friend.

S4

[24:13] Why should someone listen to Minority Corner?

[24:15] Why not?

[24:16] Oh my God, free stuff.

[24:17] There's not free stuff.

[24:18] The listeners of Minority Corner will enjoy some necessary LOLs, but mainly a look at what's happening in our world through a colorful lens.

Stuart Wellington

[24:25] People will get the perspective of marginalized communities.

S4

[24:29] I feel heard.

[24:30] I feel seen.

Stuart Wellington

[24:30] Like you said, you need to understand how to be more proactive in your community, and this is a great way to get started.

S4

[24:35] Join us every Friday on MaxFun or wherever you get your podcasts.

[24:38] Minority Corner.

[24:39] Because together, we're the majority.

Dan McCoy

[24:44] Well, you know, now that we've gone through the trailer, I know you've got more to say, Tom, but I feel like it's a good time to take a little break to thank our sponsor for this episode, Stitch Fix, who I'm sure is happy that they bought an ad on our most accessible episode.

[25:03] Like one that makes a lot of content.

[25:10] I think that's a good time to take a lot of content.

Dan McCoy

Tom Brokaw

[25:18] pronounce the name of the company correctly,

[25:20] since I don't believe that

[25:21] Fricks, F-R-I-X, is

[25:24] a word.

[25:26] Stitch Fix.

[25:27] No, but you're right, Dan. I'm the one

[25:30] who's at fault here.

[25:31] People should go to Stitch Fricks'

[25:34] website and use their

[25:36] fine product, or perhaps Stitch

[25:38] Fixed, who bought time on

[25:40] the program. Continue, Dan.

[25:41] Mm-hmm. Alright, well, Sticks.

[25:45] Again?

[25:46] Sticks? I don't know how that was

[25:48] going to end, but Sticks Fix and

[25:50] Sticks Fitch are also

[25:52] again not good things.

[25:52] I think he's just fucking with us, Tom.

[25:55] It's interesting that I didn't know how to pronounce

[25:58] Timothee Chalamet's name,

[26:00] and I was made the butt of

[26:01] ridicule, and yet you have trouble with

[26:04] Stitch Fix.

Dan McCoy

[26:07] Alright, okay,

[26:08] hold on.

[26:10] Take three.

[26:12] Stitch Fix.

[26:14] Wouldn't it be

[26:15] great if every

[26:17] clothing store you shopped at

[26:19] had only your size,

[26:21] what styles you like,

[26:23] and at the price

[26:23] you want?

[26:25] Well,

[26:26] Stitch Fix is a personal

[26:27] styling company that makes

[26:28] getting the clothes you love

[26:30] effortless.

[26:31] To get started,

[26:32] go to

[26:33] stitchfix.com

[26:34] slash

[26:35] Flophouse

[26:36] to set up your profile,

[26:38] and they'll deliver great looks

[26:39] personalized

[26:40] just for you,

[26:42] in your colors,

[26:43] styles,

[26:43] and budget.

[26:45] You pay a $20

[26:46] styling fee for each

[26:48] fix,

[26:48] which is credited

[26:49] towards anything you keep.

[26:51] Schedule at any time,

[26:53] there's no subscription

[26:54] required,

[26:55] plus,

[26:55] shipping,

[26:56] returns,

[26:56] and exchanges

[26:57] are easy and free.

[27:00] You can get started today at

[27:03] slash

[27:03] Flophouse,

[27:04] and you'll get 25% off

[27:06] when you keep everything

[27:07] in your fix.

[27:09] That's

[27:11] slash

[27:11] Flophouse

[27:12] for 25% off

[27:13] when you keep everything

[27:15] in your fix.

[27:16] I'll say it one more time

[27:18] because they highlighted it.

[27:21] Stitchfix.com

[27:22] slash

[27:23] Flophouse.

Stuart Wellington

[27:24] Nailed it.

[27:25] Wow.

[27:26] Okay.

[27:26] So now that we've...

Tom Brokaw

[27:28] That's what we in the business

[27:29] and broadcasting

[27:30] call a

[27:30] done-in-one.

[27:32] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[27:33] So now we've

[27:34] gone over the trailer.

[27:36] Yes,

Tom Brokaw

[27:36] and I do have...

[27:37] Thank you for asking.

[27:38] I do have some

[27:39] broad thoughts

[27:40] to relay

[27:40] about the trailer

[27:41] and this new vision

[27:43] that Denis Villeneuve

[27:44] has for

[27:45] Frank Herbert's

[27:46] masterpiece.

Stuart Wellington

[27:47] Can this be a new

[27:48] reoccurring segment

[27:49] called Broad Thoughts?

Tom Brokaw

[27:51] Sure.

[27:51] Or

[27:51] if it ain't broke,

[27:53] don't fix it.

Dan McCoy

[27:55] Okay.

[27:55] Yeah.

Tom Brokaw

[27:57] So in this episode of

[27:59] if it ain't broke,

[28:00] don't fix it,

[28:02] we'll get to the

[28:03] trailer of Dune

[28:04] and we're also brought

[28:06] to you by Stitch Fix.

[28:07] Sometimes

[28:08] stitches do need fixing

[28:09] and that's what

[28:10] Stitch Fix

[28:11] is for.

Dan McCoy

[28:12] Fixing.

[28:12] Okay,

[28:13] but if it ain't

[28:14] broke,

[28:15] don't fix it.

[28:16] So are you asking us

[28:18] to fix you,

[28:18] John Brokaw?

[28:19] Is that...

[28:20] Is this a cry for help?

[28:21] I think this

Tom Brokaw

[28:21] whole episode

[28:22] has clearly been

[28:23] a cry for help

[28:24] in many different ways

[28:25] and if you didn't

[28:26] catch on to it

[28:27] until now,

[28:27] that's your problem.

[28:30] Now,

[28:31] something that I find...

[28:32] First,

[28:33] I'll go with...

[28:33] I'll make a classic

[28:35] shit sandwich

[28:35] where I will start

[28:36] with a compliment.

[28:37] I will then have

[28:39] a criticism

[28:39] and then I will

[28:40] have a compliment.

[28:42] And so...

[28:42] Yeah.

[28:43] There's a lot of...

[28:45] Takes the sting out.

[28:46] So, yeah.

[28:47] Here's my first compliment.

[28:49] I love the walking

[28:50] purposefully towards

[28:51] the camera.

[28:52] This is a world

[28:52] of people with

[28:53] strong purposes

[28:54] and they've got

[28:55] to walk places

[28:56] and that camera

[28:57] is in their way.

[28:58] So I can't wait

[28:58] to see what happens

[28:59] when they reach

[29:00] the camera

[29:01] with that purposeful

[29:02] walking.

[29:03] Also,

[29:03] it's excitingly beige.

[29:05] It is a limited

[29:06] color palette

[29:07] on the planet

[29:07] of Arrakis

[29:08] and they have

[29:09] steered

[29:10] into the curve

[29:11] of that.

[29:12] Now,

[29:12] off of the compliments

[29:13] onto the major

[29:14] criticism,

[29:15] something I was

[29:16] screaming out loud

[29:17] while watching

[29:17] the trailer

[29:18] when it dropped

[29:19] a scant

[29:20] few days ago,

[29:22] where is

[29:23] Fade Rautha Rabin,

[29:24] the other nephew

[29:26] of Baron Harkonnen,

[29:27] some would say

[29:28] the better nephew,

[29:29] the handsome,

[29:30] cunning,

[29:31] and vain nephew

[29:33] that the Baron

[29:34] is choosing

[29:34] to make his heir

[29:35] and who figures

[29:36] quite heavily

[29:37] into the climactic

[29:38] fight between him

[29:39] and Paul Atreides.

[29:41] Now, Daniel,

[29:41] you may remember

[29:42] this character

[29:43] as the one

[29:43] played by Sting

[29:44] in the David Lynch

[29:45] version.

Dan McCoy

[29:46] I do remember.

Tom Brokaw

[29:48] He says,

[29:49] I will kill him.

[29:51] Yes,

[29:52] as mentioned,

[29:54] he says,

[29:54] I will kill him.

[29:56] That is his

[29:56] famous line.

Dan McCoy

[29:57] Do you want to know

[29:59] what the top

[29:59] three images

[30:00] I recall

[30:01] from the David

[30:02] Lynch version

[30:03] are?

[30:03] Yeah, sure,

[30:04] drop them on me.

[30:05] Number one,

[30:06] shirtless Sting.

[30:08] Yeah.

Tom Brokaw

[30:09] Number two,

[30:10] in his little,

[30:11] in his tiny

[30:11] space underpants.

[30:13] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[30:13] Number two,

[30:14] I think it's

[30:15] Harkonnen

[30:15] with all the

[30:17] boils on his face.

[30:19] Yeah,

Tom Brokaw

[30:19] that's the Baron,

[30:20] Vladimir.

Dan McCoy

[30:21] I remember that.

[30:22] And,

[30:22] of course,

[30:23] the big,

[30:24] like,

[30:25] brain-looking

[30:26] thing in the tank.

[30:27] The navigator.

Tom Brokaw

[30:28] The navigator,

[30:29] yes.

[30:29] The one who looks

[30:30] kind of like

[30:31] a cross between

[30:32] a fetus,

[30:32] a turtle,

[30:33] and a scrotum,

[30:34] but enormous,

[30:35] floating in a tank

[30:36] of some kind

[30:37] of amber

[30:38] sort of liquid.

[30:39] That's what happens

[30:40] when you take

[30:41] too much of the

[30:41] spice from

[30:42] Arrakis.

[30:45] It's not related

[30:46] to the

[30:47] Gom Jabbar.

[30:48] So,

[30:48] those are your

[30:49] two choices,

[30:50] Dan.

[30:50] You can either

[30:50] put yourself

[30:51] through the

[30:51] pain test,

[30:52] or you can

[30:53] be that guy.

[30:54] What's it going

[30:55] to be?

[30:56] I think we know

Dan McCoy

[30:57] which one Dan

[30:58] would pick.

[30:58] I mean,

[30:58] that guy seems

[31:00] like he's having

[31:01] a pretty good time.

[31:02] Like,

[31:03] it's just like

[31:03] floating in a tank.

[31:05] That's like

[31:06] his,

Tom Brokaw

[31:06] it is the closest

[31:09] that anyone in

[31:09] Dune gets to

[31:10] kicking back.

[31:11] So,

[31:11] I understand

[31:12] your choice.

[31:14] Also,

[31:14] not seen in the

[31:15] trailer is

[31:15] Peter DeVries,

[31:16] the evil

[31:17] Mentat,

[31:18] but,

[31:19] you know,

[31:19] I'm sure he's

[31:20] going to pop up

[31:21] possibly.

[31:23] And now,

[31:23] so,

[31:24] my rage

[31:25] at not seeing

[31:25] Fade Ratha,

[31:27] some would say

[31:27] the most

[31:28] intriguing

[31:29] non-Paul

[31:30] character

[31:31] in the book

[31:32] was a

[31:33] disappointment.

[31:34] But,

[31:34] however,

[31:35] and here is the

[31:36] final compliment,

[31:37] it was exciting

[31:38] to see

[31:39] Charlotte Rampling

[31:40] in the role

[31:41] of Bene Gesserit

[31:42] Reverend Mother

[31:43] Geis Helen

[31:45] Mayhem.

[31:46] It reminded me

[31:47] of,

[31:48] in some ways,

[31:48] maybe an older

[31:49] version of her

[31:50] character of

[31:51] Consuela

[31:52] from the movie

[31:53] Zardoz.

[31:54] A similar film

[31:56] in some ways

[31:56] and perhaps one

[31:58] that I will draw

[31:59] connections to

[32:00] when I'm watching.

Stuart Wellington

[32:03] Wow,

[32:03] that's a pretty

[32:04] exhaustive summary

[32:05] of this trailer.

[32:07] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[32:09] That's the

[32:10] exhaust.

[32:11] I'm a fucking

[32:12] professional.

[32:13] I'm a broadcast

[32:14] pro,

[32:15] you son of a bitch.

[32:15] So,

[32:16] Dan,

Stuart Wellington

[32:16] how excited

[32:16] would you be

[32:17] if you were

[32:18] just hanging out

[32:18] on like a

[32:19] sandy beach

[32:20] or a desert

[32:21] or something

[32:21] and a giant

[32:22] worm

[32:23] popped out of

[32:23] the ground

[32:24] and it had

[32:24] a giant

[32:25] gaping

Dan McCoy

[32:25] butthole

[32:26] for a head?

[32:26] It is a real

[32:27] anus of a face

[32:29] for this worm.

[32:30] I gotta say,

[32:31] sandworm-wise,

[32:32] this is my

[32:33] third favorite

[32:34] That's the face

[32:34] of God

[32:34] you're talking

[32:35] about,

[32:35] Dan.

[32:36] This is the

[32:36] third favorite

[32:37] sandworm

[32:38] I've seen

[32:39] after the

[32:41] Beetlejuice

[32:41] sandworm

[32:42] and the

[32:43] original

[32:44] David Lynch

[32:45] sandworm.

Stuart Wellington

[32:47] Any other

[32:48] sandworms

[32:49] kind of fall

[32:49] by the wayside

[32:50] for you?

Dan McCoy

[32:52] Who didn't

Tom Brokaw

[32:53] make it

[32:53] into the top

[32:54] three,

[32:54] Dan?

Dan McCoy

[32:54] Why are the

[32:55] graboids

[32:56] not in

[32:56] there?

[32:57] There's a

[32:57] worm I saw

[32:58] in the

[32:59] sand when

[32:59] I went

[33:00] to the

[33:01] beach as

[33:02] like a

[33:02] two-year-old

[33:03] when I

[33:04] visited

[33:04] California

[33:04] for the

[33:05] first time.

[33:06] Oh,

[33:07] man.

Stuart Wellington

[33:08] You know,

[33:09] we've had a

[33:09] lot of fun

[33:10] here tonight.

[33:11] Dan,

[33:11] Tom Brokaw,

[33:13] me,

Dan McCoy

[33:15] dude.

[33:16] Yep,

[33:17] that's the

[33:17] only three

[33:18] people who

[33:18] are here.

[33:19] You,

[33:20] me,

[33:21] and Tom

[33:21] Brokaw,

[33:22] and no one

[33:22] else.

Stuart Wellington

[33:24] Well,

[33:25] Tom,

[33:25] thanks for

[33:26] coming out.

[33:28] I'm sure

[33:28] you probably

[33:29] have something

[33:29] really important

[33:30] to do later.

[33:32] Where are you

[33:33] in New York

[33:33] or L.A.

[33:34] right now?

Tom Brokaw

[33:35] Well,

[33:35] you could say

[33:36] that mentally

[33:36] there's only

[33:37] one place

[33:38] I ever am,

[33:39] no matter

[33:39] where my

[33:40] physical body

[33:41] is.

[33:41] New York

[33:42] or L.A.

[33:43] as Arrakis.

[33:45] Physically,

[33:46] of course,

[33:46] I'm on my

[33:47] compound in

[33:48] Bozeman,

[33:48] Montana,

[33:49] as I ride

[33:49] out what I

[33:50] think is the

[33:51] first stages

[33:51] of the

[33:52] apocalypse,

[33:53] and I

[33:53] continue through

[33:54] the middle

[33:55] and final

[33:56] stages as

[33:57] they lead

[33:58] inevitably to

[33:59] the future

[33:59] foreseen by

[34:00] the Kwisatz

[34:01] Haderach.

Stuart Wellington

[34:02] Oh,

[34:02] that's great.

[34:03] So,

[34:03] normally,

[34:04] whenever we

[34:04] have a guest

[34:05] on,

[34:05] we ask if

[34:05] they have

[34:06] anything they

[34:06] want to plug.

[34:07] You got anything

[34:07] you want to

[34:08] plug,

[34:08] Tom?

Tom Brokaw

[34:09] Just the

[34:10] novel Dune

[34:11] by Frank

[34:11] Herbert.

Stuart Wellington

[34:12] Sure,

[34:12] yeah.

[34:13] I didn't

[34:14] write it

[34:15] myself,

Tom Brokaw

[34:15] but at

[34:16] this point,

[34:16] it's hard

[34:17] for me to

[34:17] tell where

[34:18] I begin

[34:19] and Dune

[34:19] ends.

[34:20] We have

[34:20] become so

[34:21] much one

[34:22] mind and

[34:23] one body.

[34:24] Not so

[34:25] much the

[34:25] sequels to

[34:26] Dune,

[34:26] which trail

[34:27] off quite a

[34:28] bit, but

[34:29] the original

[34:30] novel, yes,

[34:31] very much so.

Stuart Wellington

[34:32] I mean,

[34:32] I've been

[34:32] watching your

[34:33] Instagram account,

[34:34] Tom, and I

[34:35] keep seeing you

[34:35] posing wrapped

[34:36] up in a

[34:37] sleeping

[34:37] bag like

[34:38] you're the

[34:38] sandworm on

[34:39] the cover of

[34:39] God Emperor

[34:40] of Dune.

[34:41] Is that

[34:41] intentional?

[34:42] Is that a

[34:42] little Easter

[34:43] egg for the

[34:43] Dune heads?

Tom Brokaw

[34:45] I'm glad that

[34:46] you got that

[34:46] reference to

[34:47] it.

[34:47] That was

[34:47] very much

[34:48] how I

[34:48] intended it.

[34:50] In fact,

[34:50] I've been

[34:51] doing a

[34:51] series of

[34:52] photos,

[34:52] only some

[34:53] of which I've

[34:53] shared with

[34:54] the public,

[34:54] in which I

[34:55] reenact

[34:56] scenes and

[34:57] iconic images

[34:58] from Dune

[34:58] playing all

[35:00] of the

[35:00] characters

[35:00] myself.

[35:01] And

[35:02] occasionally

[35:02] I put on

[35:03] silly clothes

[35:04] and pretend

[35:04] to be the

[35:05] dogs from

[35:06] William Wegman's

[35:07] photography.

[35:08] You know,

[35:08] when there's

[35:09] the two dogs

[35:09] that wear

[35:10] human clothes.

[35:11] But those

[35:12] photos just

[35:12] come out as

[35:13] me wearing

[35:14] human clothes,

[35:15] which doesn't

[35:15] have quite the

[35:16] effect of a

[35:17] dog wearing,

[35:18] say, a

[35:19] human trench

[35:19] coat and a

[35:20] hat.

[35:21] But you're

[35:21] holding a

[35:22] sign that

[35:22] says you're

[35:22] a dog,

[35:23] right?

[35:23] Yeah.

[35:24] To make

[35:24] it clear,

[35:25] I had to

[35:25] put a

[35:25] sign around

[35:26] my neck

[35:26] that says,

[35:27] imagine I

[35:28] am a dog

[35:28] right now.

[35:29] And at a

[35:31] certain point,

[35:31] the concept

[35:32] becomes slightly

[35:33] muddy.

Stuart Wellington

[35:34] And you hired

[35:36] Bobby Moynihan to

[35:37] stand in the

[35:37] background of

[35:38] every picture

[35:39] dressed up

[35:40] like a

[35:40] dog catcher?

Tom Brokaw

[35:41] Not every

[35:43] picture, but

[35:44] many of them.

[35:45] Yes, just to

[35:45] help drive home

[35:46] the point.

[35:47] Just help to

[35:47] drive home the

[35:48] point that I

[35:48] am a dog,

[35:49] and also

[35:49] to have a

[35:50] little bit of

[35:51] fun.

[35:51] Bobby is out

[35:52] here on the

[35:52] ranch with me

[35:53] in Bozeman,

[35:53] and together

[35:54] we will begin

[35:55] a new

[35:56] civilization when

[35:57] the current

[35:58] one falls.

[36:00] Would it be

[36:01] based around

[36:02] the teachings

[36:02] of the

[36:03] Princess Irulan

[36:04] in the book

[36:05] Dune?

[36:05] Well, I think

[36:06] you could

[36:07] probably guess

[36:08] the answer

[36:08] to that.

Dan McCoy

[36:09] Well, I'd

[36:10] like to thank

[36:11] you for being

[36:12] here.

[36:13] So I guess

[36:13] you're plugging

[36:14] your Instagram

[36:14] and one last

[36:16] question before

[36:17] you go.

[36:17] Yeah, my

Tom Brokaw

[36:17] Instagram

[36:19] if it

[36:19] ain't

[36:20] Brokaw,

[36:21] Dune

[36:21] fix it.

[36:23] That's the

[36:23] full handle.

Dan McCoy

[36:25] Very confusing.

[36:27] But before

[36:28] you go,

[36:28] I just

[36:28] spelled in a

[36:29] very complicated

[36:30] way, I think.

[36:32] Before you go,

[36:33] I did want to

[36:34] ask if

[36:35] there's one

[36:37] character name

[36:39] from the book

[36:40] that you

[36:40] didn't get to

[36:42] say that you

[36:42] just would

[36:43] like to throw

[36:44] in here at

[36:45] the very end.

[36:47] this would

[36:47] be the

[36:47] time.

[36:49] But if

[36:49] there's

[36:49] nothing,

[36:51] don't feel

[36:52] pressured by

[36:54] me, the

[36:55] Tom Brokaw

[36:56] Dune fanboy.

Tom Brokaw

[36:58] I mean, it

[36:59] doesn't, no one

[37:00] in the characters,

[37:01] but if you'd like

[37:02] me to go over

[37:02] the cast of the

[37:03] film again,

[37:04] of course, that's

[37:05] Dune coming

[37:06] out this year

[37:08] starring

[37:08] Timothee

[37:09] and of course

[37:11] there's Dave

[37:12] Bautista,

[37:13] Stellan Skarsgård,

[37:15] Charlotte Ramplin,

[37:16] Oscar Isaac,

[37:18] Zendaya,

[37:19] Harvey Abadha,

[37:20] Josh Broder,

[37:21] Jessica Boller,

[37:23] and

[37:23] Shane Shane,

[37:25] Rebecca

[37:26] Ferber.

[37:27] So that's the

[37:28] cast of the

[37:29] film Dune.

[37:30] It was, of course,

[37:31] directed by

[37:32] Dennis Villanue,

[37:33] and the screenplay

[37:34] is by Dennis

[37:35] Villanue,

[37:36] Eric Roth,

[37:36] and John Spine.

[37:37] There's music

[37:38] is by Hans Zimmer,

[37:40] with Sam

[37:40] and John

[37:41] and John Spine.

[37:42] And it is

[37:43] by Joe Boller,

[37:44] which is

[37:44] kind of

[37:44] legendary

[37:45] version

[37:45] of the

[37:46] world of

[37:46] Brunsville.

[37:46] It will come

[37:47] out in December

[37:48] and in multiple

[37:49] days,

[37:49] produced by

[37:50] California,

[37:51] Joe

[37:51] Califuna,

[37:53] Mary Parent,

[37:54] Dennis Villanue,

[37:56] the make-up

[37:57] and concerts.

S4

[38:05] MaximumFun.org

[38:06] Comedy and Culture

[38:07] Artist owned.

[38:09] Audience supported.

FH Mini 15 - Tom Brokaw's Dune

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