Species (1995)

Episode 453, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw Horror Movie Review Podcast

Todd: Hello and welcome to another episode of Two Guys and a Chainsaw. I’m Todd.

Craig: And I’m Craig.

Todd: Craig, it feels like for the last month or two, all we’ve done is tribute episodes. 

Craig: Well, and my goodness, we could do more. I mean, so many people have passed away in the last month or two. It’s insane. The last four 

Todd: or five days, 

Craig: I know just the other day I was in the.

Dentist chair, and Alan texted me that Hulk Hogan died. And I cried in the dentist chair that Hulk Hogan died. What? Why am I 

Todd: crying? You cried about Hulk Hogan. That’s hilarious. 

Craig: Well, I think I’m just a little emotionally raw. You know, I recently lost my dog. I’m serious. I recently lost my dog. And then I know you and I recently lost a mutual personal friend, you know, just this week.

And yes, Ozzy, uh, Theo, I mean, oh God. 

Todd: Gosh, it’s been a rough month. It has been insane. Yeah. At the time that we’re recording this, this has all just happened within the last few days. Michael Madson, who, uh, we are attributing in this episode, he passed away, uh, last month in July, just a day before July 4th, and just a few days before the 30th anniversary of this movie that we’re doing now called Species.

Craig: Isn’t that a wild coincidence? I read that too. 

Todd: It is a weird coincidence in this case because species seems to be one of his. Michael Madsen, by the way, has over 300 credits on IMDB. A lot of them are in movies that he says, literally, he says, look, a lot of people say are critical of the movies that I’ve been doing later in my career, but he is like, I got mouths to feed.

Yep. And my family of six kids expected a certain lifestyle around the time of species and Mulholland Drive and a couple of these other big movies that he was in. He said, there’s a lot of DVDs on the shelf that I’m in. 10 minutes of. But they bought my name to put on the DVD packaging for, and it feeds my family, and that’s what we do.

Right. I would do the same if I were him. Of course. Absolutely. Smart man. It doesn’t change the fact that this guy has had a really nice career. He has been in some big films. He was a favorite of Quentin Tarantino’s. He was in Quentin Tarantino’s debut. Debut movie. Mm-hmm. Reservoir Dog and, and he was an evil.

Evil guy in that one. 

Craig: Yeah. It’s one of his most iconic roles. I’ve shockingly, I’ve never 

Todd: seen that movie. You haven’t? Mm-hmm. It’s good. It’s a really good movie. It’s classic Tarantino. I mean, of course it’s his first one, but like he is a brutal, brutal guy who just gets off on torturing and killing people.

Right. That movie kind of was one of the earlier ones that really put Michael Madson on the map, I would say. And Species is another one that I think brought him right in front of our faces as well. These were highlights in his career for sure. He’s from Chicago. Did you know that? 

Clip: No. 

Todd: His mom was a filmmaker and author and at the urging of Roger Ebert, one of my favorite guys, he said, you know, you should, you should pursue your, your art.

She did. I think that was an inspiration to her son, Michael, who after he graduated from school in Chicago, started working at the Steppenwolf Theater Company there, and he was even an apprentice under John Malkovich. Hmm. And his first. Role in, in movies was a very small role in war games with, uh, was Matthew Broderick was in that right?

Craig: I think so, yeah. Uhhuh. So yeah, 

Todd: he kind of k kicked things off pretty strong, I would say. What, what? He was in Donny Brasco, he turned down the role of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction. That’s the one that Tom John Travolta eventually got. Right. But you could totally see him in that role too. 

Craig: I 

Todd: totally could.

Craig: He said that was the biggest mistake of his career. Like he actually, uh, he turned down for various reasons, availability, whatever, several pretty iconic roles, and, and that was the biggest one. But everyone that he turned down, I was like, yeah, I could see him in that. Right. Yeah. He was a, a really cool actor, you know, tall, dark, handsome, brooding.

He played a type most of the time. He, well, he said. I, I was looking at quotes from him and he said some, something along the lines of, I’m a leading man trapped in a bad guy’s body, and I get it. He does kind of, and it’s interesting that you say that he’s from Chicago, because now that I know that, I’m like, that tracks like right.

He’s got kind of that Chicago tough guy. Air about him, and he is kind of a tough guy, you know? He mm-hmm. He was, I was really surprised. I just learned today that acting wasn’t his only art. He was also a, uh, a published and award-winning poet. I had no idea. So he had a softer side too, and he talks about how, you know, he encouraged.

In his sons to, he encouraged them to try to connect to their softer sides and their artistic sides. But he also said that he wanted them to grow up to be people who didn’t take shit from anybody. So he also taught them. Boxing and stuff like that, which it, it, it, it just, it makes so much sense. It just sounds so much like exactly the guy that I see on the screen.

It does, but it, it also, I mean, I just said I was surprised and I was surprised, but in considering it, I’m really not surprised to see. That he had that softer side, the poet side, because he does also have kind of a quiet elegance to him. Hmm. I remember him from a million things. I’m sure you know who we’re talking about if you’re listening to this, but if you don’t Google him and you’ll recognize him immediately.

He’s been in a million things. He was in free Willie. He was in Belman Louise. 

Todd: Yeah, he was the dad. That’s the 

Craig: one.