All language subtitles for The.Last.Drive-In.With.Joe.Bob.Briggs.S20E16.Perfect.Blue.720p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BFM_track3_[eng]

-You know what's
really strange?

There has only been
one Japanese movie

that ever won
the Best Animation Oscar --

"Spirited Away"
by Hayao Miyazaki.

And it's a story
about a 10-year-old girl

whose parents get
turned into pigs,

and so she becomes an orphan
and has to find a way

to go into the spirit world
and get them changed back.

And I guess the Academy
couldn't ignore that movie

'cause it grossed
$400 million.

But really, shouldn't Japan
own that category?

When you talk to filmmakers,

especially the big hitters
like Martin Scorsese,

aren't they always
going on and on

about some Japanese genius

who does weird-beard animation,
creating stories never imagined,

much less photographed
before now?

Anyway, I'm Joe Bob Briggs,

and I'm here with the second
half of Animation Night

on "The Last Drive-In,"
along with Darcy the Mail Girl,

here to field all your
missives and messages.

And you're animation crazed,
right, Darcy?

-Well, there's a time
when all I did was watch anime

hour after hour, day after day.

-Really? Yeah?
-Mm-hmm.

The first conventions I ever
went to were anime conventions.

At one time, I was even
gonna get

the "Fullmetal Alchemist" logo
tattooed on, like, my full back.

-Really?
-Yeah.

-What is it?
I don't know that one.

-"Fullmetal Alchemist."

-Who's the Fullmetal Alchemist?
[Laughter]

-It's the name of the series.
But...

-Is it a horror --
Is it a horror flick?

-It's kind of action...
fantasy...mythology?

I don't know. It's -- It's fun.
It's great.

[Laughter]

It's -- I don't know
how to describe it.

-Okay, well, that's true
of a lot of Japanese anime.

"I don't know how to describe
it" should be the genre

for Japanese animation.

-It's about two brothers
who are trying to

bring their mother back to life

through, like,
science and magic and stuff.

-Okay, so, it has
horror elements.

-I guess. It's just, like,
the coolest thing ever made.

-So, that's your
favorite anime?

-Yeah, and also "Inuyasha"
and "Death Note."

-"Inuyasha" and "Death Note."
-Yeah.

-Okay, I'm gonna
get your list later.

-Okay.
-But don't you think

it's strange
that all this rich cinema

is pouring out of Japan
every year, and we -- we --

Over here, we just have --
We have Disney, we have

Dreamworks, we have Pixar,
a few smaller players, but...

But really, I mean,
don't Disney and Dreamworks

and Pixar all work together?

Isn't their stuff
interchangeable?

Isn't a revolving door
for the animators?

They go from one to the other.

And isn't a large percentage
of it for children?

I mean, you would think

the Oscar would not be
exclusively for children.

-It's very true.

I think they kind of try to keep
the Oscars in America, honestly.

-You mean it's rigged?

You think it's rigged
to keep it in America?

-It's rigged because
of prejudice.

-Okay. That's another debate.
[Laughter]

We'll have that debate
for another time.

But Satoshi Kon,
the animator who wrote

and directed our next movie,
never won an Oscar,

but he was famous for the number
of American filmmakers

who stole from him.

Darren Aronofsky was such a fan
of one Satoshi Kon film

that he bought the rights
to the film,

worldwide rights
to the film --

not so he could
distribute the film,

but so he could copy
scenes from it

in "Requiem for a Dream"
and "Black Swan."

Christopher Nolan is also a guy

who says he's stolen shots
from Satoshi Kon.

So, the movie we're gonna watch
tonight -- "Perfect Blue."

Um, I would call it
a psychological thriller,

but it's really from

the "I don't know what to call
it, really" genre

that you just described.
[Laughter]

It has a huge cult
around this movie.

People literally analyze this
flick frame by frame by frame.

And there are controversies
raging all over the Internet

about what certain parts
of it mean.

It's kind of like
"Donnie Darko,"

if you're familiar
with that movie,

in that on the surface,
it's obvious what it means,

but then on a second viewing,
you're not so sure.

And you love this movie, right?

-I lovethis movie.
-Okay.

I should tell everybody
in advance

that I will not
be able to comment

on a lot of the movie
until it's over,

because anything I say
would be a spoiler.

This movie is like
a Japanese giallo.

It's a giant puzzle.

So I will not be revealing
how the pieces fit together

for those who
haven't seen it before.

What I can say is that
it's a sensitive story

of a pop idol girl

who decides to leave her
three-girl singing group

in order to pursue
an acting career.

Unfortunately, one of their --

one of her creepster
stalker fans

doesn't think
that's a good move,

and bloody hijinks ensue --

not to mention a spooky website
that seems to be reporting

on her private life
in terrifying detail.

Sure, we've seen it before,

but have we seen it with
an extended nude photo shoot

and the best chase scene
in the history of anime?

I think not.

So, let's look at those
Drive-In Totals

and get started.

We have seven dead bodies,
19 breasts,

six dead fish,
three icepick stabbings,

two knife attacks,

screwdriver through the eye,

screwdriver through the hand,

hammer to the cranium,

umbrella stabbing,

broken-glass-shard impalement,

one letter bomb,
one concert brawl,

one downtown Tokyo apparition
traffic-jam chase,

one stairway tumble,
one bus crash,

one breather call,
one terroristic fax,

one exotic dance sequence,

one faded, aging
would-be pop idol,

one extended sexual assault
for TV ratings,

three J-pop musical
production numbers,

one creepy mullet man
with a leer,

gratuitous superhero movie,

Kung Fu,
Aquarium Fu,

Stagefright Fu,

Dissociative Identity
Disorder Fu.

Drive-In Academy Award
nomination for Satoshi Kon,

the writer-director,
who teaches us

there's no way illusions
can come to reality...

or is there?

Four stars.
Joe Bob says check it out.

♪♪

One thing you should remember
as you watch this movie

is that it came out in 1997.

So, all the stuff
about the World Wide Web,

that is
brand-spanking-new stuff.

Many people don't have
home computers at that time,

and those that did have
home computers

were just finding out
what a website is.

So, and everybody
had dial-up modems.

But the main thing
you should remember

is that everybody thought
this new thing called

the Internet
was going to make life

so much easier
and so much happier.

And Satoshi Kon
was kind of the kid

at the back of the room
who raises his hand and says,

"But what if a crazy person
is using this technology?"

And so, he was the first to
realize that in some respects,

onlycrazy people are attracted
to this technology.

'Cause the Internet is like...

It's like taking a brain scan

of the entire world
once a day, you know?

And you're going, "Oh, wow,
3 million new tumors today.

That's -- that's too many
to operate, I guess.

I guess I'll just
turn the computer off."

You know, except for
the people who go,

"Hm, 3 million tumors?

There were 4 million on Tuesday.

Let's see
if I can inject some cancer

and get those numbers back up."
Am I right, Darcy?

-You're so right. [Chuckles]
-And what do you do with trolls?

-Block their ass.
[Laughter]

-Have people impersonated you
on the Internet?

-Yeah, like fake social,
fake videos,

fake e-mails, everything, yeah.

-And have people stalked you
electronically?

-Yeah, all the time.

-And yet you are a mail girl.

You hang in there.
You stick with it.

-Yes, because I'm awesome.

-You know, I should
make fun of you

for saying that you're awesome.

But this time, I am gonna
agree with you on this one.

-Aww! Why, thank you.

[Laughter]

♪♪

[Static]

♪♪

♪♪

[Whooshing]

[Speaking Japanese]

-[Groaning]

♪♪

-[Sobbing]

[Bell tolling]

[Cheers and applause]

[Cheers and applause continue]

[Energetic pop music plays]

♪♪

[Music fades]

[Train chugging]

[Upbeat music playing faintly
over headphones]

[Music continues faintly]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Easy listening music plays]

♪♪

♪♪

[Energetic pop music plays]

♪♪

[Men chanting]

♪♪

-[Gasping]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-[Shouting]

♪♪

[Cheers and applause]

[Song ends]

[Audience groans]

[Laughter]

-[Man shouting]
-[All gasp]

-[Grunting]
-[Crowd murmuring]

[All shouting]

[Feedback whines]
[Shouting stops]

[Shuddering breaths]

-[Sighs]

[Piano music plays]

[Camera shutters clicking]

♪♪

[Mima singing]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Crowd shouting]

[Shouting fades]

[Train chugging]

-[Sighs]

[Upbeat music playing faintly]

♪♪

[Telephone rings]

[Heavy breathing]

[Groans]

[Telephone beeps]

[Alarm beeping]

[Telephone rings]

[Beep]

[Ominous music plays]

♪♪

♪♪

[Music stops]

[Indistinct conversations]

-[Yawns]

-[Laughing]

[Gentle music plays]

♪♪

[All laughing]

♪♪

♪♪

[Indistinct conversations]

[Laughter]

[Voices fade]

[Loud bang]
-[Gasps]

[All gasping]

[Ominous music plays]

-[Groaning]

[Voices clamoring]

♪♪

[Train chugging]

-Okay, you see what I mean
about the Internet?

1997, and it's already
this dark, ominous tool

of people
with bad intentions.

The first question people have
about this movie is always,

"What does the title mean?"

And if you asked Satoshi Kon
what it means,

he would always say
that it had no meaning.

Satoshi Kon was
one of those directors

who would sometimes be
a misleading teacher

about his own work.
He liked to keep his movies open

to interpretations
that even he had not thought of.

So, the mundane reason
he gave for the title

was that it was the title of the
novel the story was based on,

and so he kept the title without
knowing what it referred to.

So, the novel came out in 1991.

It was written by a fairly
obscure writer

named Yoshikatsu Takeuchi.

And what we know about him

is that he writes
the equivalent of pulp fiction,

monster stories,
superhero stories.

And "Perfect Blue" was a fairly
straightforward slasher story.

Japan has virtually
no protections for writers

when it comes to adaptations
for the screen.

So Satoshi Kon says he was asked
to turn "Perfect Blue"

into a live-action film.

But he hated Takeuchi's
screenplay so much

that he drastically changed it.

And he started working
with his screenwriting partner,

Sadayuki Murai.

And so, the narrative
of the film

ended up having nothing to do
with the title of the novel.

Now, I don't really buy this,

and the reason
I don't really buy it

is Satoshi Kon was meticulous
about every single detail

of every single frame
of his movies.

And in fact, the people
who worked with him said

he was very difficult
to work with.

He could be super critical
of all his assistants.

He did not allow anybody
to take anything lightly.

So, is a guy like that
gonna ignore the title

and just say,
"Oh, who cares?

It was good enough for
the novel, we'll use it again"?

No, he is not.

So, actually,
the full title of the novel

was "Perfect Blue:
Kanzen Hentai,"

which translates as

"Perfect Blue:
Complete Metamorphosis,"

but it can also
translate into

"Perfect Blue: Total Pervert."
[Laughter]

So, as you'll see,

both subtitles would be
appropriate for this story.

But even more important,
I think,

is the color blue.

In Japanese culture,

the color blue is used
to represent purity,

clean, cleanliness,
stability, calm.

It's often worn by young women
to show their modesty.

So this is the journey of Mima
to find her perfect blue,

which is going to require
a total metamorphosis.

It's also a journey
of perversion.

But I want to -- I'm not gonna
go into that till the end.

I also want to mention
the opening scene.

This shows how wonderfully
strange Satoshi Kon is.

That little
short superhero movie,

that -- it stars what he calls
the Powertrons.

He's sort of making fun
of superhero movies,

but the story he chose
for his little satire

is that these green
and blue Power Rangers in masks

are all fighting against
a creature called King Bug.

And that's because the story
he's about to tell is about

Mima, the pop idol girl
being beset by a kind of bug.

A virus, you know,

that causes her
to develop bugs of her own

in her personality
and in her identity.

Now, there is no way that
any of us would understand that

from watching it as the
very first scene of the movie.

But Satoshi Kon says
that doesn't matter to him

because he put it in the movie
for his own amusement

and his inspiration.

He wanted to state the theme
and purpose of his movie

in a little allegory.

And then he implies
that the guys on the street

had been watching
that movie in the theater.

The Powertrons and King Bug
never come back.

They have served their purpose.

So, Satoshi Kon is not
a reliable narrator.

The plan was to make
"Perfect Blue"

into a live-action movie,

but after the rewrite,
it was cut down to an anime

because Satoshi Kon

wanted to study
dissociative identity disorder.

And I will get into that later.

We associate that mental illness
with stalkers.

But as this movie points out,

the stalker can pass that along
to the person being stalked

and they can both
become delusional.

And that's truly frightening.

So, back to the movie.

I know you have a -- you have
a reverse stalker situation,

or you did in the past.

-What do you mean?

-You had a very famous guy

stalking you
when you were not famous,

or at least you were not
as famous as you are today,

ever since you became
the queen of horror.

-Oh, my God. Shut up.
Do not say that.

-All right. Well, anyway,
normally the conventional wisdom

is that the stalker is trying
to leech off the celebrity

and become the celebrity or live
off their fame or whatever.

In your case,
the celebrity was the needy one,

and which probably happens
more than we know, right?

So, and goes right to the heart
of what this movie is about.

You know, it's in this movie.
-Okay.

-So, how'd you
get rid of him?

-Mm, some friends
had to "talk" to him.

-Wow, Darcy.
[Laughter]

That sounds sort of mafioso.

-I mean, you do what
you got to do, man.

[Laughter]

♪♪

[Upbeat music plays]

♪♪

[Woman screams]

-[Groans]

[Horns honking, train chugging]

[Indistinct conversations]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Breathing heavily]

♪♪

[Gasping]

♪♪

[Elevator dings]

[Ominous music plays]

♪♪

♪♪

[Laughter]

[Upbeat music playing
over speakers]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Laughs]

-[Laughs]

[Loud whoosh]

♪♪

♪♪

[Loud music playing]
[Audience whooping]

♪♪

♪♪

[Sobbing]

[Shouting]

♪♪

[Music stops]

[Loud music playing]
[Crowd shouting]

[Sobbing]

[Screaming]

-[All laughing, hollering]

-[Screaming]

-[All laughing, hollering]

-[Screaming]

♪♪

♪♪

[Screaming]

[Screaming, hollering continue]

♪♪

♪♪

[Voices fading]

♪♪

♪♪

[Audience cheering]

[Cheers and applause]

♪♪

[Music, sounds fade]

-[Sighs]

[Engine starts]

Mm?

[Door opens, closes]

[Gasps]

[Crying]

[Objects clattering]

[Breathing heavily]

[Sobbing]

[Laughing]

[Breathing heavily]

-Wow.

All those levels of reality
and illusion overlapping.

But we've seen
this story before, haven't we?

I always think
of Mark David Chapman.

We also saw it
with Robert Bardo.

We saw it with John Hinckley.

But Satoshi Kon says

that the single most important
shot in the whole movie

is the one we just saw --
the two fish in the aquarium.

Again, we can't always trust him

when he makes pronouncements
about his own movies.

But the rape scene is
the turning point in the movie,

but probably not for
the reasons you think it is.

Satoshi Kon even said later

that he thinks the rape scene
probably went too far.

The reason I think
of David Chapman,

the guy who gunned down
John Lennon,

is that when they finally
got down to his reasons

for doing it,
he'd been reading

J.D. Salinger's
"The Catcher in the Rye,"

which I guess everybody,
when they're young, they read

and they identify
with the youth--

youthful rebellion
in that book.

And he did identify
with Holden Caulfield's idea

that adults are all hypocrites.

And so he got agitated
when he discovered

there was a difference
between the public John Lennon

and the private
John Lennon.

He couldn't stand that
the guy who wrote "Imagine"

and talked about love
and idealism

all the time
turned out to be a guy

who had abandoned his family
to be with Yoko Ono,

and he lived in luxury

and he had a history
of beating women.

And I'm not saying
any of that was accurate.

I'm just saying David Chapman
thought that was the reality.

And so he couldn't reconcile
a flawed human

and the persona
of a saint.

And super celebrities all
understand this syndrome

because they have been
warned about it

by their agents
and managers.

And that's why anyone
exhibiting excessive fanboy love

or fangirl love is normally
held at arm's length.

Now, of course,
John Lennon was --

he was walking across the street

to Strawberry Fields
every day.

So, and he was one of

the most identifiable people
on the planet.

So it's not like it was hard
to get close to him,

even if he was aware
of David Chapman's existence.

Anyway, Mima seems oblivious
to the stalker phenomenon,

though,
partly because she doesn't

really believe
she's famous enough.

And you have to understand,
in Japan,

there are 10,000 active "idols"
at any given time

because it's a factory,
it's a business.

In America, how often
do we manufacture a boy band?

What, you know, once every
couple of years? I mean...

[Laughter]
But the scouts and the agents

and the managers who run the big
talent agencies in Japan,

they pick out girls
who are 12, 13, 14.

Mainly they're picking them out
on the basis of their looks

and their personalities --
has nothing to do

with any particular talent.

And then they put them
in groups, they train them,

and most of them end up having
a three- or four-year career.

And at the end of that time,
they go back to school

or into the regular workforce.

You probably noticed that
the two remaining girls in CHAM

are deliriously happy
because they made

number 83 on the charts.
[Laughter]

So, Satoshi Kon made this movie
when he was just 34 years old.

It was his first full feature,
after a career

illustrating in manga
and assisting in anime.

And the movie was actually
shocking in the anime world

because anime at the time
was all about giant robots

and fantastical landscapes
and ancient history.

And this one was
a violent thriller

full of very complicated
psychology,

and it was set
in contemporary times.

Okay.
-[Laughs]

-Let's get back to the flick.

You know, roll it.

One thing --
Now, one thing.

-Hee! Hmm.

-One hint I can give you about

how to follow the alternating
reality/fantasy images here.

Watch for the flashes
of white light.

And actually, watch
for white light in general.

-You know what,
I think we should ask Yuki

if anything you're saying
about Japan is actually true.

-Okay. Yuki.

-Yes?
-Can you come over?

Yuki, come over.

Um, Yuki Nakamura,
ladies and gentlemen.

[Cheers and applause]
-Yuki! Yuki!

-"Last Drive-In" art director,

better known
as the Tokyo Cowboy.

So, Yuki, are you a fan
of J-pop idol groups?

-Uh, that a new thing.

So, they didn't exist
when I was in Japan.

-Oh, you had left Japan
by the time

the idol thing
became a big thing.

Well, so what kind of music
did you listen to in Japan?

-I grew up with Donna Summer.

-Donna Summer?

Oh, the esteemed Japanese singer
Donna Summer.

Okay.
[Laughter]

So...
Well, anyway,

so I'll just ask you in general
about the Japanese people.

Do the Japanese people,
would you say most of them love

these teen girls
singing these simple songs

about love and dancing
in pink skirts?

-Yes.

-And are there
too many of them?

-No.
[Laughter]

-And do they make
a lot of money?

-Some of them, yes.
-Ah.

All right.
What do you want to ask, Darcy?

-Is Joe Bob saying any of
these Japanese names correctly?

-No.
[Laughter]

-That's what you want to ask?!

-Yep. I'm done.
Thank you, Yuki.

-Oh, my God.
[Laughter]

♪♪

[Energetic pop music plays]

[Keyboard clacking]

♪♪

♪♪

[Gasps]

-[Laughs]

♪♪

[Laughing]

♪♪

♪♪

[Siren wailing in distance]

[Car door opens, closes]

[Footsteps echoing]

[Pop music playing faintly
in distance]

♪♪

♪♪

[Silence]

[Music resumes faintly]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Gasps]

[Loud staticky music plays]

♪♪

♪♪

[Music continues faintly]

[Elevator dings]

♪♪

[Music fades]

[Sirens wailing in distance]

[Energetic pop music playing
over speakers]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Laughs]

-[Gasps]

[Gasps]

♪♪

[Horns honking]

[Camera shutter clicking]

[Energetic pop music plays]

[Camera shutter clicking]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Music fades]

[Knock on door]

[Gasps]

-[Laughs]

♪♪

[Audience cheering]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Cheers and applause]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Keyboard clacking]

♪♪

♪♪

-Well, if you're
paying attention,

at this point in the movie,

you're probably just as confused
and paranoid as Mima is.

And you're going through this
with her because Satoshi Kon

is a master of technique --
techniques like match cutting.

That's where you use
an image in one scene

in the transition
to the next scene.

It becomes the first image
of the next scene.

And sometimes you change
the meaning of that image

in the process,
in the transition process.

He also uses
a lot of intercutting,

which is, you know,

but -- but is he intercutting
reality with fantasy

or is he intercutting real time
with flashback time

or is he intercutting real time
with inner projections?

So, the reason
you're getting confused

is that he keeps
showing us things

and then referring back to those
things later in the film

in a way that makes us doubt
what we already saw

or what we didn't see.

And he's constantly
scrambling objective images --

you know, what's happening
today, right now

in contemporary Tokyo --
with subjective images,

meaning what might be wishful
thinking or regret or nostalgia.

Or he might just be intercutting
to show two events

going on at the same time.

It's different in every case.

And when he uses a dream image
or a fantasy image,

might be an image that's shared
by more than one character.

So, look out for that.

Are you fed up yet?
[Laughter]

You know, it's like
a perfect Italian giallo film.

He's about to reveal
the killer right now,

but you probably
won't notice the reveal.

So, what a manipulative,

conniving bastard
this Satoshi Kon is.

But we're still gonna let him
beat us up, aren't we?

So, go ahead.
Torture us some more.

Roll the film.

♪♪

Darcy, what do you do
at an anime convention?

-It's the same
as any fan convention.

-But you have no actors there
to get autographs from.

-All the voice actors are there.

-Okay, the voice actors
are there.

But the voice actors --
I'm just guessing here.

I'm guessing that the voice
actors don't look anything

like the animated characters.

-We don't care.
We love them anyway.

-So, if you have
a 60-year-old woman

doing the voice
of a 12-year-old girl, you...

-Yeah, that's still
totally cool.

We still want to talk to her,
tell her she's amazing,

get her autograph.
-And you get her picture?

-Yeah, like, they have, like,
pictures of their characters

or their headshots
that you can get signed.

-And which one do you choose?

-I mean, it depends
on the person, really.

-That's got to be
a reality displacement

for the voice actor,
you know?

-Once in a while, the actor

does actually look kind of
like the anime character,

and that's when
you get a real crush.

-Wait a minute.
So you have a crush

on an animated character?
-Yes.

-And that crush carries over
to the voice of the human

that's inhabiting
that character?

-Yes, I had a big crush on
the voice actor who did Miroku.

-Okay, who's Miroku?
-[Laughs]

He's a monk who's,
like, really horny.

He's always, like,
sexually harassing people

and going around
grabbing women's asses.

-He's a monk
who sexually harasses people?

-Yes.

-Was he doing this
at the convention?

He was grabbing people's asses?
-[Gasps] Oh, my God. No.

I'm sorry.

The character in the anime
does that, not the actor.

-Oh, and you have a crush
on that character?

-Yes.

-And then you go
to the anime convention

and you seek out the guy
who does Miroku's voice.

-Yes.

-And now you have
a double crush.

He's also hot.

-Correct.
[Laughter]

-So, did you want him
to grab your ass

and sexually harass you?

-You know I did.
[Laughter]

-Who knew anime
could get so kinky?

-Have you ever watched it?
Yeah.

[Laughter]

♪♪

-[Gasps]

[Rain pattering]

[Gasps]

[Breathing heavily]

♪♪

-[Giggling]

♪♪

-[Screams]

-[Giggles]

-[Grunts]

-[Laughing]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Screams]

[Sobbing]

♪♪

-[Laughing]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-[Gasps]

[Screams]

[Gasping]

[Doorbell rings]

[Laughter]

[Low rumbling]

[Engine revving]

[Gasps]

[Gasps]

[Doorbell rings]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Doorbell rings]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-[Screaming]

♪♪

♪♪

[Sobbing]

[Glass shatters]
[Screams]

[Sobbing continues]

♪♪

[Groaning]

-[Grunting]

♪♪

[Camera shutter clicking]

♪♪

♪♪

[Gasps]

[Whimpering]

[Telephone rings]

[Gasping]

♪♪

♪♪

[Doorbell ringing]

♪♪

[Door bangs]

[Indistinct conversations]

[Breathing heavily]

[Ominous music plays]

[Gasps]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[All cheering]

[Cheers and applause]

-You know, if you ever want
to go down the rabbit hole

of "Perfect Blue" criticism,
you have to answer the question,

who was that singing with CHAM
at that concert?

'Cause it looks like Mima.

But it's one of those
Mima images that are surrounded

by a strange light,
so it can't be her,

and the other two singers
look very confused

to be sharing the stage
with whoever that is.

Anyway, Satoshi Kon was
a prolific writer of manga,

but he only left us four films.

This was the first film,
in 1997,

a study of people
trapped by the horror of caring

about how other people
perceive them.

"Millennium Actress"
was his 2001 film.

Two filmmakers sit down
with an elderly actress

who's telling
the story of her life.

But the way she tells the story,
the plots of her films

get mixed up
with real events in her life,

and the two filmmakers start
appearing in her reminiscences.

So it becomes a study
of what's real

and what's unreal
and our memories.

And then in 2003,
he made "Tokyo Godfathers,"

which is a sentimental
Christmas movie

based on the biblical
Three Wise Men story.

Three people find
an abandoned baby in a dumpster,

but the three
are a middle-aged alcoholic,

a transgender woman,
and a teenage runaway.

And together, they set out to
return the child to her parents.

And it's a study of what one
critic called, quote,

"The thin gap between
disaster and miracle."

And then in 2004, he made
a much-admired TV series

called "Paranoia Agent."

And then his final film,
"Paprika,"

is about a psychologist
who invents a device

that allows people to experience
other people's dreams.

And the doctor
sometimes uses it

to enter the dreams
of her patients.

And she takes on this persona
called Paprika.

And then the device gets stolen
by somebody with evil intentions

and they have
to be hunted down.

Unfortunately, we don't have
any more Satoshi Kon films

because in May of 2010,

he was diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer,

and three months later,
he was gone.

He was just 46 years old.

And on the day the doctors
told him he was terminal,

he wrote a long statement
about his love for his family

and his friends
and his co-workers.

And at the end
of the statement,

he spoke directly
to two of his friends

and he wrote this --

"Could you help my wife send me
over to the other side

after my death?

I'd be able to get on that
flight with my mind at rest.

Now, excuse me, I have to go."

And so he was done.

Back to the conclusion
of "Perfect Blue."

-That's so sad.
-It's very sad.

You know, they face death
head-on in Japan.

-I'm glad we could do this.
-Me too.

I think it -- I think
that letter gets to me

because that's how much time
my dad had.

Three months
from diagnosis to death.

And that's kind of --

that's kind of not enough time,
you know?

-I get that.

-So, sorry to bring
everybody down with that.

-Yeah.

I mean, cancer
is the enemy of life.

Let's fricking defeat it
already.

-Yeah, Let's make it one of
our Christmas charities

this year. We haven't --
-Done. Let's do it.

-In honor of Satoshi Kon.
-Agreed.

♪♪

[Cheers and applause fading]

[Footsteps echoing]

-[Gasps]

[Footsteps squeaking]

[Engine starts]

[Sobs]

[Screaming]

[Breathing heavily]

[Grunting]

[Sobbing]

[Banging, screaming]

[Screaming]

[Screaming]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Grunting]

-[Screams]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Laughing maniacally]

♪♪

-[Whimpering]

-[Gasping]

[Lights clank]

[Cheers and applause]

[Gasps]

[Telephone ringing]

[Ringing continues]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-[Screams]

♪♪

[Screams]

[Grunting]

♪♪

-[Choking]

♪♪

-[Sobbing]

[Screams]

♪♪

[Screams]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Screaming]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Screaming]

♪♪

[Screams]

♪♪

♪♪

[Horns blaring]

[Screaming]

♪♪

[Sobbing]

♪♪

♪♪

-[Laughs]

[Glass shatters]
-[Screaming]

-[Laughs]

-[Grunting]

[Panting]

-[Screams]

[Sobbing]

[Glass slices]

[Screaming]

[Sobbing]

[Vehicle approaching]

[Horn honking]

-[Screams]

♪♪

[Audience cheering]

[Tires screeching]

[Men gasping]

[Sirens wailing in distance]

[Engine starts]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-You know, as I said before,
that chase sequence

is considered one of the
greatest in animation history.

And the big reveal
is that the killer

is not Mark David Chapman
after all.

It's Yolanda Saldivar,
the woman who killed Selena.

That idea is discussed
several times in the story,

but most directly discussed

when somebody says
illusions don't kill.

And but the answer is,

"But what if that illusion
found someone to possess?"

So, Rumi gets possessed by
the illusion of the only Mima,

the perfect pop idol girl,

and she has a Noh mask of Mima
so she can become her.

And she has a website
where she can become her online.

And she has a minion,
the creepster with the mullet

that she can manipulate
with her version of Mima.

But the idol Mima who floats
through the whole movie,

the ideal Mima with
the white light around her,

that Mima is triggered
by the rape scene.

At that point,
Mima has gone too far,

and Rumi is in danger
of losing her fantasy.

Rumi is about to fail
for the second time,

'cause she failed
as a pop idol herself.

And then she spent years
grooming Mima,

only to lose her
to an acting career.

But the ghost of Mima as a pop
idol star haunts both of them.

Mima is always thinking,

"Did I do the right thing
to leave that behind?"

And Rumi is always thinking,
"How can I reverse the past?"

And so they are affected
by the same ghost.

The movie is about
the difference

between the life
you imagined for yourself

and then the life
you actually end up with.

Can you deal with that?
We all have to deal with that.

But celebrities have to deal
with it

in a direct day-to-day way.

So, "Perfect Blue" is the story
of the real-life singer Selena.

And I'm not sure
which "Perfect Blue" fanatic

first pointed this out,
but it's an amazing parallel

'cause Selena was groomed
from childhood to be a singer

'cause her father was
a musician and he mentored her.

She hit the big time in 1987

when she won Female Vocalist
of the Year,

and she seemed to grow
in popularity

every year after that.

So, a woman named
Yolanda Saldivar

started a fan club
for her in San Antonio,

and she bombarded
Selena's father with letters,

e-mails offering
to help with promotion.

She eventually befriended
Selena's family,

ultimately became very close
to Selena herself.

The family trusted her so much
that they put her in charge

of managing Selena's
chain of boutiques.

But Yolanda,

she had pictures of Selena
all over her house,

along with posters, libraries
of every Selena video ever made.

She became increasingly
protective of her turf

and increasingly
jealous of anybody

who came into Selena's life
for any reason.

So, finally,
Selena confronted her

about her increasingly erratic
and obsessive behavior,

and Yolanda shot her dead

because Yolanda realized she was
losing touch with her idol.

She was not gonna have
the same life as Selena.

Dissociative identity disorder
is the name for that.

The other thing I'd like
to add about this movie

is that Satoshi Kon
was the first

to put on film
the dangers of the Internet,

everything from identity theft

to cyber stalking
to porn to voyeurism,

to the ways it could be used
to intimidate people

or even murder people.

There's a brilliant
horror critic named Meg Sipos,

who put it best --

"We're fragile creatures,
and kind of stupid."

And that's all shown
in this story,

where reality and fantasy
get mixed together

and everything becomes surreal.

Okay, Darcy,
you could sing in CHAM.

-Oh, you.
-I am impressed.

Stand up. I want to see.

-Oh, my God.
-I want to see the full --

the full, uh...

-The full Mima?
-The full CHAM, the full Mima.

You are the i--

You're the --
You're the idol Mima.

The ideal idol Mima.

-I had to rep her.
-Okay.

You want to say anything
about "Perfect Blue"?

-No.
You summed it up really well.

I just add maybe
that it's as close

as you're ever going to get
to a Disney giallo flick.

-A Disney giallo.
That's a great description.

-Thank you.
-So, what you got mailbag wise?

-Ooh. Hahaha!

I have a letter
from Tim Martin of Los Angeles.

And he included a sculpture,

but I'm not gonna let you see it
until you read the letter.

-A sculpture?
-Correct.

-Okay. Intriguing.
[Laughter]

All right.
"Dear Joe Bob, Darcy,

and --and the entire"...
Oh, I see.

"Dear Joe Bob, Darcy,
and the entire crew,

The best thing I've seen
since Freddie first sliced up

Tina floating half naked in
her bedroom almost 40 years ago.

My name is Tim Martin,
and for nearly 24 years,

I have been working
as a professional

special makeup effects artist
in Los Angeles.

I proudly grew up in the best
sci-fi, fantasy, horror,

and monster movie decade ever --
Yes, the '80s.

There. I said it.

And yes, Joe,
Tom Atkins fucking rules."

-Yeah!

-"But I digress."
You know how many letters I get

that have a part in the middle
where the person says,

"But I digress"?

-You started it, man.
-All right, whatever.

-"I must shamefully admit that
despite my lifelong obsession

with horror
and all things alike,

I missed the bus back
in the days of Monstervision,

to my great regret.
I discovered 'The Last Drive-In'

by accident on Shudder
during your triumphant return,

and I have been hooked
ever since.

I ravenously look forward
to every new season.

But here's the thing --
Watching 'The Last Drive-In'

isn't just about the movie
featured itself,

the witty banter between
you and Darcy"...

We are witty, Darcy.
-And we have banter.

-Banter is important.
-Banter.

-"...or the special guests.

Nor is it only
about the abundance

of amazing movie facts
and insights

that you so eloquently share,
though I love it so.

For me, it truly feels like
I'm watching these movies

with someone there
in the room next to me,

virtually hanging out
together on the front porch

or in your living room,

welcomed and invited,
a like-minded gang

watching the same good
and bad movies,

laughing at all the terrible
effects or goofy plot points,

reminiscing the days when
drive-ins were a real thing."

-Uh-oh.
-Hey!

[Laughter]

Be careful, Tim.

You know, I'll have you know
that Darcy and I

are the official spokespeople

for the Drive-In Owners
Association of America,

who are celebrating
the 90th anniversary

of the drive-in this year.

-Hell yeah, we are. Whoo!
-Yeah.

-You know, "when drive-ins were
a real thing."

You should come to our jamboree
in Las Vegas

this October --
we will show you a real thing.

Three days of drive-in madness.

-He means well.
Please don't be so picky.

It's a nice letter.
-Okay.

"I gleefully absorb
all the knowledge you spit out

and I laugh out loud often
at the way

you so lovingly drop
the f-bomb."

I do that too much.
-Nah.

-"The only thing it truly lacks
is the ability to chime in

and just say, 'Right!'

I find myself talking to the TV,

wanting you all
to hear my thoughts.

So"...
[Laughter]

I think "so" means

Tim is finally getting
to the point here.

-You -- You cannot say anything.
-All right. [Chuckles]

So, for all the love
you guys share with me,

allow me to thank you.

I made this one-of-a-kind
creature maquette

of one of your show's
titular beasties."

What is a maquette?

-It's like a model
for a sculpture.

-Okay. "A maquette of one
of your show's titular beasties.

This is my homage to the film

that I feel you get so much
undeserved grief for, Joe --

'Hogzilla.'"

-Hogzilla! Hogzilla!

Hogzilla! Hogzilla! Hogzilla!

Hogzilla! Hogzilla!

-Whoo!
-Hogzilla!

-Hogzilla!

-Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

"Why this, you ask?

'Cause there's no
fucking hogzilla in 'Hogzilla.'"

-[Laughs]
-Hogzilla! Hogzilla!

Hogzilla! Hogzilla!
Hogzilla!

-All right, I was not telling
you to do that.

That's the next line
of the letter.

All right.
"Where the hell is the monster?

This is what we were
expecting to see,

but we get only quick flashes
of nothing in the dark.

Some P.A. shaking bushes
in the middle of the swamp."

-Oh, God, it's true.

-"Oh, well, no movie
is perfect, except 'Aliens.'

But at least we all have
each other to suffer together,

our crazy tribe enjoying
what we love most,

sitting on the couch
or imagining

we can be back at the drive-in.
With animation and love,

Tim Martin,
Los Angeles, California."

And there he is, the fierce...
[Laughter]

...the fierce incarnation of the
wildest pig in South Florida.

But he said it was a maquette.

So, you know,

I presume this is just the model
for the full-size hogzilla.

-Hogzilla! Hogzilla!

Hogzilla! Hogzilla!
Hogzilla!

-The full-size one that
will be dedicated

when they unveil it in front of
the West Palm Beach City Hall.

Right?
-I think it's beautiful.

-All right.
And on that note,

I'm Joe Bob Briggs, speaking
for Darcy the Mail Girl,

John Brennan,
the "Last Drive-In" crew and...

Hogzilla?

-Hogzilla! Hogzilla!

Hogzilla!
Hogzilla!

-When I say that...
[Laughter]

-Hogzilla.
-When everything...

Whenever everything's
coming your way,

you're in the wrong lane,
headed in the wrong direction.

And the drive-in will never die.

Oh, man.

Two blondes are walking down
a hiking trail together.

-Oh, my God. Not again.
-You went blonde.

You have to live with the
consequences of going blonde.

Two blondes are walking down
a hiking trail together.

They round a corner, and
the first blonde points down

and says,
"Oh, my God, bear tracks."

And the second blonde looks
closely at the tracks and says,

"Those aren't bear tracks.
Those are deer tracks."

And the first blonde says,
"You clueless blonde.

Those are obviously
bear tracks."

And the second blonde says,

"It's you that's
a clueless blonde,

if you can't tell the difference
between a bear track

and a deer track."

And the first blonde says
bear tracks,

second one says deer tracks.

First one, bear tracks.

Second one, deer tracks.

And then the train hit 'em.

[Laughter]

-Hogzilla! Hogzilla!

Hogzilla! Hogzilla!
Hogzilla!

-[Laughs]

-♪ We are drive-in mutants ♪

-♪ Drive-in mutants ♪

-♪ We are not like
other people ♪

♪ We are sick ♪
-♪ Sick ♪

-♪ We are disgusting ♪
-♪ Disgusting ♪

-♪ We believe in,
we believe in ♪

-♪ Blood ♪

♪ And breasts ♪

♪ And beasts ♪

-♪ Yeah, we believe in ♪

-♪ Blood ♪

♪ And breasts ♪

♪ And beasts ♪

-♪ If life had a vomit meter ♪

♪ We'd be off the scale ♪
-♪ Off the scale ♪

-♪ As long as one drive-in
remains on the planet Earth ♪

♪ We will party like
jungle animals ♪

♪ We will boogie till we puke ♪

-♪ Boogie till we puke ♪

-♪ The drive-in will never die ♪

♪ We will boogie till we puke ♪

-♪ Boogie till we puke ♪

-♪ The drive-in will never die ♪

-♪ We believe in ♪

♪ Blood ♪

♪ And breasts ♪

♪ And beasts ♪

-♪ We believe in ♪

-♪ Blood ♪

♪ And breasts ♪

♪ And beasts ♪

-♪ Yeah, we believe in ♪