'Indiana Jones', IndieCast Podcast Host, Ed Dolista

0:06Ed DolistaBy day I'm a drama teacher, and I have been for about 16 years amongst other, various, different, careers. I was a professional actor for a while. I was a Captain Starlight at the Royal Children's Hospital here. We have, these, Captain Starlights that do, distraction therapy. So we're superheroes, and we go around the wards and I would travel in our, Captain Starlight spaceship, AKA a truck. We'd travel around to different, hospitals and use distraction therapy and, improvisation and things like that. So I did that for about five years. And before that, to start with, I was a b… a DJ. I had a disco radio show ca… called Ed Dolester's Hyperdrive, which then moved to, Ed Dolester's Disco Fever, and I did that for about, I think, 15 years on public radio. And that's actually what got me into doing, my Indiana Jones podcast because I had, taken a break from...

1:13Ed DolistaI was just getting really tired doing Saturday night radio and, you know, you never knew how many people were listening and I'd usually do, like, a four-hour shift on Saturday nights. And I was thinking, "I've heard of podcasting. I wonder if I can do,.." You know, if I could do my disco show on a podcast, I mean, I could record it at any time I'd like. I wouldn't have to give up my Saturday nights 'cause I do, amateur theater as well, and that's always, you know, I'd have to take time off for that sort of thing. So I would do that. And, I looked into it and thought, "Oh, it's too..." The complexities of getting licensed, you know, licensing music and everything like that was a little bit too complex for me at the time. And then I was listening to, the Force, the Forcecast I'd listen to, a lot on S… And they started to talk about Indiana Jones. There was, I think, inklings of, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and I thought, "Hang on a second. That's exactly what...

2:14Ed DolistaI should be talking about that." Because I love Star Wars, but I love Indiana Jones, and I think, you know, "They shouldn't be talking about Indiana Jones. I should be." So I sent in a, sort of like a demo, a little demo, tape, I suppose, to them and, they really liked it. And as a result I got to, you know, host the Indiecast and then we sort of kept going and building it up. And, Mitch Hallock from TheRaider.net, contacted me going, "Oh, look, I do stuff on TheRaider.net. Do you want to, do you mind if I contribute?" And I said, "Of course." You know, the more, the more the merrier.

2:48Jawad MirRight.

2:48Ed DolistaAnd that's where we are today.

2:52Jawad MirFantastic, man. So you started podcast in the very early days, 2007, right?

2:58Ed DolistaYeah. That's correct. November, I think it was maybe, don't quote me, November 16 or something like that. But it was pretty early on. A lot of people didn't know what podcasts were…

3:08Jawad MirYeah

3:08Ed Dolista... Or how did you know, how would, how do you listen to them? And in those days it was really just, I think iTunes was the main source of…

3:18Jawad MirYeah

3:18Ed Dolista... Of podcasts. And yeah, we've been continuously going for what's that, 15, 16 years now?

3:27Jawad Mir15 years.

3:27Ed DolistaWe used to, at the height, we were weekly but, we're all pretty time poor at the moment, so we moved, pr… must've been about, I don't know, a few years after that, after K… Crystal Skull came out and there was, a bit of, I suppose a lull in Indiana Jones, news and merchandise and things like that. We went to a monthly schedule. But, things are starting to ramp up a little bit more. While we haven't gone weekly again, our monthly shows are, I think, lo… longer than Lord of the Rings at this stage. The last one I think clocked in at, like, four hours and 19 minutes or something. It was like, oh my gosh, there's, yeah, there's a lot of Indy news out there at the moment.

4:13Jawad MirYeah. For sure. And when it comes to, that episode that you guys do nowadays compared to back then, how many guests would you have at a given time?

4:27Ed DolistaGosh, in the early days, I mean, they were very short episodes, I think. You know, they s… I th… you know, maybe about 10, 15 minutes, you know, we'd do something. And I, then I got to, I think my fir… our first guest official, well, official guest, was, John Rhys-Davies, when he…

4:44Jawad MirOkay

4:44Ed Dolista... Came to Supanova in…

4:47Jawad MirYeah

4:47Ed Dolista... Australia, just, in Melbourne. And I thought, "Well, I've gotta go get him." So I got a really brief, like, five or eight-minute interview with him. So he was our first guest that we got. Nowadays, with the great team that I have, we've all got, we've got, you know, a vast array of, you know, creatives on, a lot from the comic book world, from the Marvel days, also from Dark Horse as well. And then we've just had some... Sadly, Mr. Ford, Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Lucas and Mr. Williams haven't been on the show yet. I'm not sure whether that ever will happen, but, you know, we've had, Shaun Patrick Flanery and, Karen Allen. Drew Struzan was on

5:32Jawad MirOh, great

5:33Ed Dolista... As well, and we've r… I think that was for eth… don't quote me, but maybe our 300th episode. We've had a lot of great, talent, you know, onscreen and off-screen, and also to do with the merchandise and artwork and everything like that. So we try and make it interesting. And I know, Kevin Smith, has said, you know, when he w… he mentioned, I think, to Mitch mentioned to him that we would do a Indiana Jones podcast, and he goes, "What do you guys talk about?"... Talk about. You know, there's o… there, you know, there's only four movies. It's not, you know…

6:07Jawad MirYeah

6:07Ed Dolista... Like, Star Wars or Harry Potter and everything like that, and go, "Well, y… it's amazing. We've got a great fan community, and there's a lot of..." You know, everyone loves Indiana Jones, I think. It's, it's sort of like, it's like that James Bond, you know? I think it's a great, sort of, that great adventure that, you know, all the family can go and see as well. And, everyone loves to talk about Indiana Jones, and they all have their favorite Indiana Jones movie or Indiana Jones moment. So it's, not too difficult to get, special guests on the show.

6:42Jawad MirYeah. And I think Indiana Jones, I mean, nothing against James Bond, I love James Bond films as well. I think what Indiana Jones has to offer is the historical aspect of it… ... The archeology and all that stuff, while James Bond is more about, you know, cool gadgets and techy stuff. And people…

7:01Ed DolistaYeah, and I was just gonna say…

7:04Jawad MirThat's…

7:04Ed DolistaAnd the fact that, James Bond is really, you know, this, 6'2", all manly, you know, womanizing, you know, version of, you know, some spy. Whereas Indiana Jones is really a bit of an every man. You know, he does get hurt. You do get him see, you know, when he gets punched, he really gets punched. He doesn't win all the time. And, I think that's what, you know, he's still relatable. Even though he's this hero character, you know, there's an element that we can see in, you know, from, you know, maybe ourselves or our fathers or, you know, our uncles or someone we know or, you know, that we look up to.

7:50Jawad MirYeah, exactly. And that's exactly what's gonna be my next point as well, is that the vulnerability in Indiana Jones is unlike any other hero has. I think, I don't really, I'm not really a superhero fan per se.

8:04Jawad MirBut the only... Batman trilogy, the one by Christopher Nolan… ... Like, that had vulnerabilities. I mean, it's nothing like Indiana Jones, like, in terms of comedy and humor and adventure, but, you know, the whole film was an arc itself. Batman trilogy begins, Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rises.

8:21Ed DolistaYeah.

8:22Jawad MirAnd I think that's what connects with people, and it's so interesting that storytelling always has been, is, and always will be, people will be able to relate to it if there are vulnerable characters. And, you know, the films that don't do well, not all the time necessarily, but most of the time, are the ones where the vulnerability is not dug deep into characters as to what they're going through, why they're suffering. And that's, that's what makes Indiana Jones exceptional. Of course, it's not deep, you know, thought-provoking, philosophical character development, but still, there is that relationship with the dad, then there's a relationship with, Short Round. Then…

9:06Jawad Mir... You know, in the new, the last Indiana Jones movie, Shia LaBeouf, his son… ... Character. And, I would like to see what, how that plays in the next film, which kinda is a nice segue. Are you looking forward to it, aside being an Indiana Jones fan, based on what you have seen in terms of trailers and Super Bowl teasers?

9:27Ed DolistaOh, look, absolutely. I, you know, ever since, King and the Crystal Skull came out and did, you know, exceptionally well at the box office, I had assumed we'd be getting another Indiana Jones movie, you know, maybe in two or three years, and then hopefully maybe one more and then a final one. So we'd have, you know, at least, you know, six or seven maybe Indiana Jones movies. It would be fantastic. Unfortunately, that was not the case. So with the, well, since the announcement and then the shift in release dates, I think, Harrison Ford in between that probably had a plane crash or two, you know, that he's, prone to have. We're a little anxious of whether we'd actually get another Indiana Jones film. So when things seemed to be moving along, and the first trailer, and the, and the subsequent, final trailer and extended spots and things like that, I'm very excited. I think it looks great. I th… I like... What I like about the Indiana Jones movies is they're all, they're all a little different.

10:29Ed DolistaI mean, Raiders and Temple of D… Raiders, sorry, and Last Crusade are sort of similar… ... Not in tone, but in sort of structure. But, you know…

10:38Jawad MirYeah

10:38Ed Dolista... Temple of Doom is quite different. You've got King and the Crystal Skull, which I just, we just did a commentary track for that for the, Indy cast, and I watched it on 4K with my wife and then watched it again within the space of 18 hours or something like that. And, you know, I f… I feel like that film has a, you know, totally different look, but there's a lot to like in that film. There's, a lot of good thing, and it looks, it d… it lo… it looks and the story beats are different, so I'm really excited to see where they were, you know, they take Indy in this next film. I think, one of the lines, Mutt says, you know, to him, "What are you, about 80?" And the irony is that he is 80. He is 80 now when it, when this new film is coming out. And I think he still looks like he can, you know, tackle it with the, with the Nazis. The de-aging, effects that we've seen so far, albeit they're very brief and everything like that, you know, they look pretty darn good.

11:37Jawad MirYeah.

11:37Ed DolistaI think the story, it, I... You know, they've shown stuff, but you still don't know what exactly is it. Is there, is there time travel? Is there this going on? Is that device in, I think it's, like, an Antikythera, I think that's, or however you pronounce it, you know, to go back in time or what. You know, I'm very excited to see it. And James Mangold is a cracker…

12:01Ed Dolista... Of a filmmaker. He's

12:03Jawad MirYeah

12:03Ed Dolista... You know, he's proven himself time and time again. And we've got John Williams back for another score. What's, what's not to like?

12:12Jawad MirYeah. You know, one thing we… I talked about this to Mitch, I talked about this to everybody, but in King… Kingdom of Crystal Skull, one of the things that really,.. It didn't, it, that film didn't register with me when it came out…

12:29Jawad Mir... I'll be honest, right? And I think the thing that really ticked me off in the movie theater was, which a lot of people got pissed off about, was the refrigerator scene, right?

12:38Ed DolistaYeah.

12:38Jawad MirThe nuclear bomb going off. And looking back at that 15 years ago, I was thinking about that when I was talking to Mitch, is that it's possible, what happens is we outgrow sometimes the things that we like, right? Between the first and the third Indiana Jones, there was an eight-year window.

12:59Jawad MirSo there was always something coming up and you're, you know, most of us in our 40s or 50s, we were still in that m… timeframe in terms of mindset. But then the last film came out 18 years later. I wonder if most people didn't like it, including myself, I think I've concluded that was the reason I didn't like it, aside from other factors, is because I probably outgrew it and I didn't feel the same way about Indiana Jones as I did, you know, when the first three came out. The one thing that I loved about the last film was the relationship, the father and son relationship.

13:35Jawad MirAnd it was such a shame that wasn't, you know, extended beyond that because that would've been really cool, and I think Shia LaBeouf, and if anything else that can, who can not necessarily replace or fill in the same shoes, are Shia LaBeouf and Chris Pratt. I think there were some rumors too that Chris Pratt might, you know, take in, take on the whip. But…

13:57Ed DolistaYes

13:57Jawad Mir... My point being saying is that I feel that Kingdom of Crystal Skull is a good film. Certainly in my books it's still not, still at the bottom of the list.

14:12Ed DolistaYes.

14:13Jawad MirAnd for the excitement that I have of the next film, I still f… I hope that it still stays there because I don't want it, you know, the upcoming film to be like that. So really excited, man, and, you know, it's, it seems very interesting, and I think the age factor is gonna play a huge part in the humor. I really think so.

14:32Ed DolistaWell, I know that they were play… they played that up in Crystal Skull, and he was only what, about 65

14:39Jawad MirYeah

14:39Ed Dolista... At the time, and, you know, he's cons… considerably young and s… agile, you know, at that age, and they were playing it up a little, a little bit. I don't know if they will play it up that much, because the thing, yeah, exactly in, Crystal Skull, the, it was like the role reversal from Last Crusade, where he sort of became…

15:01Jawad MirYeah

15:01Ed Dolista... Henry Jones Sr.…

15:03Jawad MirYeah

15:03Ed Dolista... To Mutt's, you know, younger Indy, and I did like that. I think for me, one thing how you were saying, you know, you had sort of a maybe a bit of a disconnect after all those years, whereas we were, I've, I've been living Indiana Jones, you know, and Star Wars, you know, pretty much every day of life. Something, is Indiana Jones or Star Wars related in my life, and I think what I love about Crystal Skull is that it was the culmina… or how can I say it, is that the... It started off the podcast, and I think that will…

15:39Ed Dolista... Forever, I'll link that with, you know, making some amazing friends that, you know, lifelong friends from the podcast, all those listeners. So that's, that's really, where I love Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and to be honest, the fridge thing, I kinda, I loved it. The cinematography in that scene, you know, the wonderful doom town, the practical. A lot of people give Crystal Skull a lot of grief because of, they say, "Oh, it's all CG," and, "Oh, you know, it's not like the old ways." And, that whole doom town set was a model, okay? So it was done practically. We had John Bravo, who's one of the featured, stuntmen in the opening sequence of, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and a lot of that stuff was all practically done. And people again say to me, "But it was all CG," you know? And I'm going…... "Well, what are they, what are they going to, what are they going to do? They're not gonna go old school matte paintings, you know…"

16:35Jawad MirYeah

16:35Ed Dolista... "optical effects." They've, that's, that's how it is. ILM and Indiana Jones have always been on the cutting edge of visual effects, and, you know, those jungle scenes. Have you seen Black Panther? The jungle scenes in Black Panther are not fantastic. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I think gets a, you know, a pretty good pass on that.

16:56Jawad MirYeah.

16:57Ed DolistaAnd the fridge thing, he jumped out of a plane in a life raft and went over. So, you know, I think if I sort of go, "You know what? I'm okay with that. I can suspend disbelief and just go along for the ride." I can understand how people maybe, you know, it's, that was just a little bit, too much. But, for me, I quite enjoyed it and was just getting into the whole spirit of the adventure. If anyone can, survive a nuclear bomb, I would think it would be Indiana Jones to come up with a way to do it, so.

17:33Jawad MirYou know, I completely agree because having seen Kingdom of Crystal Skull in the last, d… like, during COVID time, I completely changed my mind. Because I think… ... Sometimes we as audience members, again, I think it's the fact of disconnect. We expect too much. And one thing that I love, there was two, among many other things, two things that when I think of Indiana Jones and Kis… Kingdom of Crystal Skull that stand out for me is the overall cinematography because it was…

18:01Jawad Mir... Janusz Kaminski, who is Spielberg's, you know, what, 30-year now partner.

18:06Ed DolistaYes.

18:06Jawad MirIt was his first indie film, because before that, I think at least one of them was done by Dean Cundey, and, I could be wrong.

18:13Ed DolistaThere were

18:15Jawad MirNo. What's the name?

18:17Ed DolistaD… Douglas Slocombe?

18:19Jawad MirYeah. And, And the scene where there is that entire chase sequence on the Jeep by the…

18:27Ed DolistaYes

18:27Jawad Mir... Cliff, like that is absolutely, to this day, you know, it's amazing. And I watched that sequence over and over again. The timing that you had to get right, and just everything, lighting and the comedy humor, action…

18:45Jawad Mir... Was top-notch, John. And I, and I really, I really like that film. I think Kingdom of Crystal Skull and Temple of Doom are similar in the terms of dark tones, if I'm not mistaken, at least for me. And Raiders…

18:58Ed DolistaYeah

18:59Jawad Mir... And Last Crusade has that Nazi element. So this would be interesting. I mean, this has, obviously has Nazi element too, but I wonder how much they're gonna play on the dark tone, if any, because Spielberg is not directing it, which I'm a huge fan of, but I'm kinda glad that he's not, and I think he's glad he's not either.

19:16Ed Dolistahuh.

19:16Jawad MirBecause, you know, you end up repeating yourself over and over again.

19:19Ed DolistaYeah. I think a good, a fresh set of eyes on anything is, you know, a good thing, and I think, this is gonna give it a bit of, a bit of freshness and sort of a bit of a, you know, re-energize it perhaps. And I think it's gonna bring out, you know, a little different performances in Harrison Ford as well. You know, a new director. You know, the director's gonna have a few different ideas. Harrison is older and has got his ideas. And, he's got, you know, a great cast around him as well. And I think the good thing with, Dial of Destiny, you know, the film, it's not all,.. With Crystal Skull, it was pretty much all filmed in the United States. You know, h… the jungle sequences were in Hawaii.

20:07Ed DolistaWhereas here they, you know, they're going to that globe-trotting. They're traveling all over the world again. And, I'm just really excited to see what they have come up with. I haven't... As someone who does an Indiana Jones podcast, I'm try… You know, I get, I... People send me, you know, things or rumors or this or that, and I'm trying to, get as, let's just say, I, as spoiler-free as I can be on an Indiana Jones podcast. 'Cause I know that, when, I went to see Return of the Jedi back in 1983, I had a friend who was American who had seen it. In Australia, it was released later. And he came to s… And he was telling... He was sitting next to me, and every few minutes he'd go, "Oh, Jabba the Hutt's gonna get strangled by this. Oh, this is what happens this." And it just ruined the experience for me. So…

20:56Jawad MirOh

20:56Ed Dolista... I don't want that. I, for the last Harrison Ford-led Indiana Jones, I don't want that to be, too ruined. So that's why I'm flying over to America, to see it as quickly as I can before I get any of the spoilers.

21:10Jawad MirThat's fantastic, and it's sad at the same time. And I…

21:13Ed DolistaI know. I know.

21:15Jawad MirI know exactly how that feels. I mean, forget about spoiling. I'm not even a fan of, you know, when, even in a, in a household when you're watching a movie and there's questions and there's commentary, it j… And if you're so, you know, immersed into a film, it just ruins everything.

21:34Ed DolistaOh, my gosh.

21:35Jawad MirAnd sometimes s… sometimes you just have, like an actor has to be in a character to p… pull a performance, as audience members, we have to be completely immersed and not to feel that it's a fake world, as whether it's drama or adventure.

21:48Ed DolistaAbsolutely

21:49Jawad Mir... And one thing I discovered yesterday, there was an article on Variety. I mean, I just wanna get your take on it, though I don't remember the exact dates of the release. I think Indiana Jones is J… June 28th or June 30th or July…

22:04Ed DolistaIt's June 30th…

22:06Jawad MirOkay

22:06Ed Dolista... That it, comes out. So I think it's, I think in the States it might, come out, you know, a day earlier. In the UK, I think it comes out June, 28th, so, a f… two days earlier.

22:20Jawad MirYeah. So on June, 9th, Transformers' new film comes out. And then July 14th, MI7 comes out. And they did this whole article, I think it was Variety or Hollywood Reporter, that how... Maybe it was neither. Maybe it was something else. I… I'm just trying to mix up. Anyways, the point was that the film Indiana Jones 5 is being released two weeks in the crunch time between MI7 and Transformers whichever…

22:51Jawad Mir... Number that is, and they're both huge franchises, especially MI7.

22:55Ed DolistaYes

22:56Jawad Mir... Obviously Indy as, itself is a massive franchise too. Do you feel it's gonna suffer in any way with the, especially with the audience of MI7? Because m… mainly, like, older audience, just like Top Gun, that is gonna take away from Indiana Jones, the audience?

23:13Ed DolistaLook, it certainly might. I mean, I feel like the Mission Impossible franchise has, taken over where the James Bond, you know, of old used to be. And, I'm certainly more excited for…

23:26Jawad MirYeah

23:26Ed Dolista... The Mission Impossibles than I am for the, current James Bonds or, you know, maybe the next one, whatever it form with the new James Bond it'll be. I don't, I don't know. Hopefully, there's room for all of them. Because I know that there's a Flash that is coming out, I think the week before

23:47Jawad MirOh, is it? Okay

23:48Ed Dolista... Indy 5. Yes. So, and that's got, you know, the buzz for that is, off the charts. And of course you've got Michael Keaton, another, you know, classic character from 1989. I mean, you know, they… ... It was, it was Michael Keaton as Batman and, Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford, in '89. And they're back again.

24:08Jawad MirThat's true.

24:08Ed DolistaWho knew all those years later? So yeah, I h… I, look, I think, I think in India… Indiana Jones will have the legs to keep going. And again, you know, maybe the people who don't go see Mission Impossible would go, those old, maybe older… people, older people, you know, maybe the older demographic might go to see…

24:31Jawad MirYeah

24:31Ed Dolista... An Indiana Jones movie. You know, like those grandmas and grandpas I think probably would go see an Indy movie as opposed to a Mission Impossible movie.

24:39Jawad MirYeah.

24:39Ed DolistaSo I would, I would imagine it would do pretty well, and I think it's gonna have long, you know, long legs this movie. And, it… I think it deserves to. You know, I think it deserves to do well based on everything that I've heard about it. And, you know, given it, given it's Indy or Harrison Ford's last, you know, last foray as the character until he signs away his digital likeness and they just do, you know, digital face replacements on him. I'm sure that'll, that'll happen at some... I'm sure Disney…

25:10Jawad MirOh, yeah

25:10Ed Dolista... Have a plan about that.

25:12Jawad MirYeah.

25:12Ed DolistaAnd why wouldn't you know, to, hold onto his likeness? I hope it does well, and I think it will. But it is a pretty crowded marketplace, and if, you know, 1989 has shown us, you know, things, you know, Ghostbusters did, Ghostbusters II didn't do as well as expected, in that year. Star Trek V did not do nearly as big business as, you know, the previous film in that year of 1989. I'm pretty sure Indiana Jones will prevail. Hopefully it'll be, you know, Indy, The Flash, and, Ethan Hunt all, you know, riding high at the box office for a long time.

25:54Jawad MirKinda going off topic from Indy, one thing that I find, well, it's kinda connected to Indy, everybody from little kids, right, like my kids, people that you see online, to the oldest person there is, everybody knows Tom Cruise, right?

26:11Ed DolistaYes.

26:11Jawad MirHe's just become a ridiculously... He's the only person I think that every generation knows about. And the type of... Any time I talk to anyone, like I have a friend, who's also my cinematographer for the films. He's a huge fan of Christopher Nolan, right?

26:32Jawad MirAnd he has a film coming up, Oppenheimer.

26:35Ed DolistaThat's right.

26:35Jawad MirAnd he told me the other day last week, he's like, "I'm more excited about MI7 than I am for Oppenheimer." bec… and I, and I find that interesting that how Mission Impossible, I mean, I remember when it came out in 1996, and then it tanked with the second one, and the third one kinda revived it. It just, film after film, it's one of those rare franchises, if not only franchise, where it just keeps getting better…

27:02Ed DolistaYes

27:02Jawad Mir... And better and better. And are you excited about MI7? And obviously there'll be a cliffhanger because Part One to Dead Reckoning, and there's gonna be Part Two.

27:12Ed DolistaOf… oh my gosh.

27:13Jawad MirHow excited are you? Go on.

27:15Ed DolistaOf course I am. I remember going to see, Mission Impossible in the cinemas like, in, '96, and we couldn't get, it sold out so we had to go the next, we went to the cinema.

27:28Jawad MirYeah.

27:28Ed DolistaWe had to go back the next day. And I l… I loved it from the first. What I love, because I wasn't that au fait with the TV s… the original TV series.

27:38Jawad MirYeah.

27:38Ed DolistaThey filmed, the second series, the 1980s series which still had, Peter Graves in it, in Australia. So I watched that second series, and I just love the, it was Brian De Palma who did the first one I think, wasn't it?

27:58Jawad MirYep. Yep.

27:58Ed DolistaAnd, I loved the opening cred, you know, I go, "Oh, this is like a TV show. Hang on a second."

28:03Jawad MirYeah.

28:03Ed DolistaYou know, where they had all the bits from later on and I think, "Oh, this is fantastic." And the score was great and everything like that. And I got more excited. I wasn't a, as big a fan of the John Woo one. The JJ Abrams third one I thought was really good.

28:19Jawad MirYeah.

28:19Ed DolistaAnd then it just started, yeah, getting better and better. A… and it's because I, of, you know, whether you love him or hate him, Tom Cruise, I, what I really admire about him is his work ethic…

28:31Jawad MirOh, God

28:31Ed Dolista... And his commitment…

28:33Jawad MirCrazy

28:34Ed Dolista... To, oh, you know, to doing that. And I, in fact, the other day in, I teach drama and DT and in digital technologies, and we're talking about how you have to plan for a project and things like that. So I showed my students the, they've got that eight-minute video of the current one where he's driving off the

28:51Jawad MirThe cliff

28:51Ed Dolista... The cliff…

28:52Jawad MirThe ramp

28:53Ed Dolista... To go into. And I was, I was saying that one thing I've gotta say though is they obviously are digitally, they've gotta digitally replace that bridge with something, because why would he be driving off a…

29:04Jawad MirYeah

29:04Ed Dolista... You know. So I'm really interested in that. But my students were absolutely gobsmacked. And we'll talk, and then we show the video of him hanging on the side of the plane and how they digitally remove that. And, there's a lot to be excited for because, you know, you know this stuff is real, I think. That's what's, that's what's really exciting about it. And what are they g… what are they going to do? And often those stunts that they do show are just like the opening gambit before, you know, even more. So, I think, I think that's gonna do huge numbers. And, I think Jam… the producers, the, Broc… what are they? Cubby, Broccoli or whoever they are, they pr…

29:47Jawad MirChristopher Maguire?

29:48Ed DolistaOh, no, I'm talking about the James Bond, people…

29:51Jawad MirOh

29:51Ed Dolista... Are probably a little bit anxious as to what, or thankful that the end of Mission Impossible is in sight, I think, because, yeah, I'm very excited for it, very excited.

30:03Jawad MirAnd I think after Mission Impossible III came out, and I don't remember the years, I, because it had, you know, the, one of the most amazing antagonist, Philip Seymour, Philip…

30:14Ed DolistaPhilip Seymour Hoffman, yes

30:16Jawad MirYeah. And the way he played all that. And then I think J… and then became an arc for Mission Impossible III all the way up to now, right?

30:24Ed DolistaYes.

30:24Jawad MirAnd if you see Mission Impossible, I think Casino Royale was the first one with, What's his name? Daniel Craig.

30:31Ed DolistaYes.

30:31Jawad MirI just watched it recently on a flight, and I was blown away that how much of a story there was in there. I completely forgot. It was not a... I mean, there was such a massive arc in that film, and I think they learned that from Mission Impossible.

30:46Jawad MirBecause before that it was all, like, you know, action sequences here, action sequences there, a little bit of dialogue here.

30:51Ed DolistaA few, a few witty remarks and a quip here and just…

30:54Jawad MirYeah. And Sam Mendes, I think he directed two of them, who directed American Beauty in 1970. He really took it up a notch. And I still watch James Bond films, but the level of excitement for MI7, I'm not sure if you read how they showed the first 22 minutes of it, at one of the, CinemaCons, I think, or…

31:13Ed DolistaYes

31:13Jawad Mir... Comic… I think CinemaCon. Like, I don't wanna... Like, you've read what it's about, right, the first 20 minutes?

31:19Ed DolistaI... No, I didn't. I, again, I've been trying to be…

31:21Jawad MirThen I won't say it.

31:22Ed DolistaThat's okay.

31:23Jawad MirI won't say it, but I was kind of s… regretting the fact that I re… read it, but it doesn't really give it away. But the first 20 minutes that they talked about, I mean, knowing that it's Tom Cruise doing that, it's probably gonna be in… more insane than anything he's ever done, to some degree.

31:41Ed DolistaYeah.

31:41Jawad MirAnd I'm so excited. I mean, this guy is just, anything that he does, like all these little videos that pop up on, you know, promoting the film, or he comes on, like, a late night show. I think James, Corden's late night show he came on and he played, Pumbaa at The Lion King…

31:56Ed DolistaThat's right, yes

31:57Jawad Mir... In the UK. He's just... I don't know what it is, man. The guy is, like, super talented. Like, he can pull off anything and everything you can imagine.

32:08Ed DolistaIt just shows, you know, if you, if you're committed and have good people around you and believe that you can do something. I mean…

32:17Jawad MirYeah

32:18Ed Dolista... My gosh. I mean, you know, isn't there, aren't they going into space for something

32:22Jawad MirYeah

32:23Ed Dolista... I think McQuarrie and him are going into s… you know. I don't doubt that at all. You know? It's, it's pretty amazing what he can do. I mean, you know, it helps to have a huge budget and production company…

32:36Jawad MirYeah

32:36Ed Dolista... And everything like that, but, good on him for actually doing it and not just doing face replacements and, you know, blue screen, you know, or green screen work. Because it just, it makes also... It's more compelling for the, for the audience…

32:52Jawad MirOf course

32:52Ed Dolista... Because if you believe that they're actually in some sort of peril then, you know, you're gonna be along for the ride…

32:57Jawad Mir100%

32:57Ed Dolista... As opposed to being, you know, Kurt Russell, surfing down a really horrendous, like in, Escape From LA. That's probably…

33:05Jawad MirYeah

33:05Ed Dolista... Not a good exam… What about, Pierce Brosnan? There you go, surfing. It must be surfing effects that are really bad because, when Pierce Brosnan was surfing in,.. Was that, Tomorrow Never Dies? I can't remember which…

33:17Jawad MirYeah

33:17Ed Dolista... One it was.

33:17Jawad MirYeah, it was Tomorrow Never Dies.

33:18Ed DolistaYou know, the f… it's just, you know. I could get... I'm a Roger Moore James Bond because that's who I grew up with, so…

33:26Jawad MirSame here

33:26Ed Dolista... I don't mind. I don't mind those, you know. I quite like that. Hopefully, actually, the next James Bond goes back to a few more gadgets and maybe is, I don't know. I'd like to see it a little bit more, you know…

33:40Jawad MirYeah

33:40Ed Dolista... Not camp, but a little bit more lighthearted, but who knows what'll happen.

33:44Jawad MirI think the cool…

33:45Ed DolistaEverything's dark these days.

33:47Jawad MirI think the coolest gadget, if you wanna call it a gadget, was the first James Bond movie that I saw was The Spy Who Loved Me.

33:53Ed DolistaYes.

33:53Jawad MirAnd that underwater car. I mean, that's the…

33:57Ed DolistaOh

33:57Jawad Mir... First thing that…

33:58Ed DolistaYeah, the Lotus…

33:58Jawad Mir... Comes to mind

33:58Ed Dolista... Esprit that,.. Yes.

34:03Jawad MirYeah.

34:03Ed DolistaThat was very cool.

34:05Jawad MirAnd going back to Tom Cruise, one thing about him among everything else is the guy, at least it appears that way, because if you had an ego you wouldn't be able to pull off all these things that you do. I don't think when it comes to work at least, he has... He just, you know, leaves the ego behind and that's what becomes, like, a team effort.

34:24Jawad MirAnd the great thing about Tom Cruise now, it's like, you know, we were talking about all that when you're watching something and you wonder if it's practical effects or CGI.

34:33Ed DolistaYeah.

34:34Jawad MirIf tomorrow Tom Cruise did something that's green screened because we have become so, or deep fake or whatever, we've become so accustomed to him doing real stuff we'll believe that it's real. That's…

34:44Ed DolistaThat's

34:44Jawad Mir... What kind of, you know, legacy he's creating for himself, that he's not doing…

34:49Ed DolistaYes

34:49Jawad Mir... Anything that's fake.

34:51Ed DolistaThat's, that's an interesting thought. That's right. He can just, he can just phone it in from his home studio now, and, he doesn't have to do it again, but I don't think he will.

35:00Jawad MirOh, he won't.

35:00Ed DolistaIt's ama… hopefully. I was thinking the other day actually watching that is, how, it's amazing how the Academy Awards don't, honor stunt people. I just cannot understand how it's such an integral part of, you know, most movies, yet they don't, they don't acknowledge it. I don't know why. But anyway, hopefully it'll get

35:23Jawad MirWell, I mean, I have a theory for that, but it's just a theory. I feel just like in any pa… any other time period there's always that, whether people, like, admit it or not, there's always this class system, right?

35:37Jawad MirThere is. And I don't think stunt people are looked upon in that way, that, you know, suit and making $20 million per movie and stuff like that. I genuinely feel, even though it shouldn't be like that because art…

35:53Jawad Mir... Is art. There's no, you know, exception to that. And I, and I also feel now, I think things are turning with the most recent Academy Award victory of Everything Everywhere All at Once. More movies are now, I'm noticing, are coming out, and I think Hollywood is kinda pushing it too because everybody's fatigued with the superhero movies and the same old franchise, and they're trying to push in now, or maybe I'm over… looking into it too much, what happened in the '90s with Miramax, Pulp Fiction, all those independent houses came in.

36:26Jawad MirAnd I feel now we're in the very early stages of that because people get tired, right? Like, people want new stuff, and I really hope that old cinema you know, is revived where it's about deep emotions, where there's about character development, and it doesn't have to be... Look, e… even a superhero film can have that, right? But…

36:49Ed DolistaOh

36:49Jawad Mir... The only film that was able to…

36:49Ed DolistaLook at, look at Christopher Reeve's Superman. My gosh.

36:53Jawad MirYeah.

36:53Ed DolistaRight?

36:53Jawad MirAnd Bat… the Batman trilogy with Christopher Nolan. Like… ... That to me, I don't consider a superhero film at all. Like, I just don't, because it's not about a superhero. It's just about an ordinary man, you know, in a, in a costume going through all these things in three…

37:09Ed DolistaYeah

37:09Jawad Mir... In three different films. And I really hope that comes back because I think I'm craving for it. And audience, I think if they're given a little bit of taste here and there, they'll jump back into it.

37:22Ed DolistaAbsolutely. Well, we'll see. You know, I think, with,.. Like, I'm a d… I'm a DC guy, not a Marvel guy. And I think that, I'm, I'm quite in… I'm quite liking the way that, the direction that, DC has been heading. I did…

37:38Jawad MirYeah

37:38Ed Dolista... I... Like, I was a huge fan of Zack Snyder's Justice League. I think that's absolutely amazing. I've, I personally loved everything about it. But I like where they're heading, and I think, yeah... I think that's just a bit too much. I think everyone's getting the idea, okay, let's not, let's not release one every three weeks, you know? Let's, let's spread them out a bit, make them more... I did read a thing that, Kathleen Kennedy was saying about, the Star Wars films that, you know, they don't work to deadlines. Let's release them when they're, when they're ready and make them a bit more of an event like the original…

38:16Jawad MirYeah

38:16Ed Dolista... Star Wars films. And, you know, we were happy to wait three years between each film or, you know, each... Well, the first Indiana Jones movies, so, and, you know, and then a little bit longer between

38:28Jawad MirYeah

38:28Ed Dolista... Temple of Doom and Last Crusade. You know, pe… people will wait, and if they're good films, you know, people will come and watch them, so.

38:37Jawad MirI mean, it... I was gonna say that about Star Wars too, because now there's, like, a se… every few months there's a new Star Wars series on Disney+, right? And it's like when you eat lunch, and if you eat dinner right away, you're not gonna enjoy your dinner, right? You have to have that break period, the appetite. I mean, look at Avatar. There was, like, what? 11-year time or 13 years break?

39:01Ed DolistaYeah, that was 2009…

39:02Jawad MirNine

39:03Ed Dolista... I think, wasn't it?

39:04Jawad MirYeah.

39:04Ed DolistaYeah.

39:04Jawad Mir13 years break, and look what it did, right? I mean, there are other factors obviously at play. It has to be a good film too. But it's just that people... There's this, you know, time period, that sweet spot that studios need to discover. You can't be too late like Indiana Jones 3 and 4 where there's, like, 17-year-old, 17-year-old

39:28Ed DolistaYes

39:28Jawad Mir... Gap, and you can't be too soon. You have to give people things in different, you know, as if you're having different meals, in a day. And I just feel that's happening with Star Wars too even though Kathleen Kennedy said that. Maybe they realize that now it's gonna down… play down the road, but in the last, what? When did The Force Awakens come out? 2015? 2014?

39:50Ed DolistaOh, gosh. It would've been 2015, I think, then 2017…

39:54Jawad MirYeah

39:54Ed Dolista... Then 2019, I think it was or thereabout.

39:57Jawad MirSo in eight years we've had three films, and I don't even know how many series. Three, four series and different… ... Seasons of those series. Mandalorian

40:06Ed DolistaTrue

40:06Jawad Mir... Boba Fett.

40:07Ed DolistaFor me, for me what I think with those though, the series, feel a bit different to the movies in with

40:14Jawad MirYeah

40:15Ed Dolista... You know, I... That's something I can get excited to watch every week, and I certainly, after the last season of The Mandalorian, I feel like there's a bit of a, there's a bit of a void in my viewing 'cause I really, it, you know, I felt for, you know, the f… the episodes as it went along, it got better and better, and then going, "Wow, that was fantastic," and then it's, it's gone. And, same with Andor which, you know, I th… what I liked about Andor, if we're all over the shop in this conversation, I apologize…

40:47Jawad MirNo, that's okay

40:47Ed Dolista... We, it was, you know, the different, the different,.. It was a different sort of Star Wars and the slower pace and everything like that. So I felt, you know, that was different enough from maybe, you know, The Mandalorian and…

41:01Jawad MirSure

41:01Ed Dolista... The Book of Boba Fett had its good, had its good moments. It had its, you know, not so good moments. But, I'm just one of these, maybe I'm not as discerning. I don't know. But I'm al… I'm just happy to see, you know, some new worlds and fun Star Wars, and, you know, I try and, I try and channel the seven-year-old and not the 52-year-old. You know, otherwise I'd just be, "Oh, look at... That's not the way I would do it," or, "That's rotten," or…

41:27Jawad MirNo

41:27Ed Dolista... "Who would do that?"

41:29Jawad MirIt's, it's not about how anybody else would do it. I think what the... And I agree with you. Like, you know, there is that... Like, for example, if they made... I'm just trying to think which movie would it be. If they took a lot of movies from the Ei… like Stranger Things, right?

41:44Jawad MirThey kinda reinvented Spielberg '80s but…

41:48Ed DolistaYeah

41:48Jawad Mir... With the original flavor, right? And my problem is not that certain films are being made the way they are. Actually I've heard Andor… Is it Andora, you said?

41:58Ed DolistaAndor.

41:59Jawad MirAndor. I've heard that's a great Star Wars series.

42:02Ed DolistaIt is.

42:02Jawad MirI've heard from so many people, and I should watch that be… But my only thing is the timing. Maybe there is... Maybe I'm a rare exception or maybe, you know, major… they have to go with majority obviously, and they alw… obviously have these surveys and data that they do to figure out…

42:21Jawad Mir... What kind of audience appetite there is. I just feel that what they do with all these series, whether it's Star Wars or superhero or Indiana Jones or anything else, and even Stranger Things. I think I'm burned out with Stranger Things too. Like, I think it should've been over at the end of season three, period.

42:39Jawad MirYou just need to... Because it always becomes about money at the end, right? Which, like, I understand too. It's a business. I run a business too. But it just has to be some sweet spot. Maybe they're realizing it. Maybe Kathleen Kennedy, like you said, has, you know, the fact that she said that. And I'm, I'm really excited about, you know, we're talking about Kathleen Kennedy, and we're talking about Lucasfilm. Young Indiana Jones, there's a lot of talk about that. You know, that came out…

43:05Jawad Mir... In the '90s, and now they're thinking about reviving it after the film. I'd be open to that. What do you think?

43:12Ed DolistaOh, look, I love the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

43:17Jawad MirIt was a favorite

43:17Ed Dolista... Or The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. I… it was different to what I was expecting, like I think most people were. But I did li… I like the, I like the mix of, historical information and adventure, and I was s… sort of probably, geared more to the Sean Patrick Flanery, adventures 'cause I, he was al… he was nearer to my age, I think, so I could connect with him more than the Corey Carrier younger Young Indy. But I think that would be a fantastic way to, revisit. I'd certainly recommend if, you know, people listening or watching, who haven't seen the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, if they can get them on the D… on DVDs, the supplemental materials on those DVDs where each episode, you know, he'd meet, maybe a historical, Albert Schweitzer or, T.E. Lawrence or some famous, you know, character from history. The documentaries would then go, you know, little 30-minute documentaries would talk about the history of the...

44:23Ed DolistaAnd it's fascinating. So, I really like the concept, and I think that would be a great way, you know, to, keep Indiana Jones going. Certainly, an animated series would be, I think, a no-brainer. There's that, wonderful, proof of concept by, I think it's Patrick, Schoenmaker, if I'm, if I'm not mistaken, who's done a animated, Indiana Jones, like, opening. And, you're going, "Wow, this would be fantastic," because I don't know if you've watched any of the Star Wars Bad Batch that they've been doing.

44:57Jawad MirI've seen pieces here and there with my kids, but yeah. I know what you're talking about.

45:02Ed DolistaYep. It's, it's really good. The storytelling…

45:05Jawad MirYeah

45:05Ed Dolista... Is fantastic.

45:06Jawad MirYeah.

45:06Ed DolistaEvery frame looks like you could, print it and put it up on the wall. It looks like Ralph McQuarrie has his hands all over it. You forget it's animation, and I think it would be great to see an Indiana Jones adventure done in, you know, maybe a bit of a stylized way. I think it'd be wonderful. But, we'll s… I suppose it, we'll see how Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny goes at

45:31Jawad MirYeah

45:31Ed Dolista... You know, at cinemas.

45:34Jawad MirBut you know what would be really cool in terms of Indiana Jones animated series? Drew Struzan style. That would be cool. Like, just the way…

45:43Ed DolistaI wonder if they could do that

45:43Jawad Mir... I mean, I'm, I'm not talking about, like, you know, the way he paints the real char… Like, just the artistry…

45:48Ed DolistaYeah

45:48Jawad Mir... The texture, the feel of it. If they did it, did that with a combination of computer technology, I think fans will dig it. I w… I would love it. I think that would be, that'd be super cool, and it would give it a completely original look than anything else. Kind of like how Spider-Verse is.

46:04Ed DolistaOh, yes.

46:04Jawad MirLike it's…

46:04Ed DolistaYeah, absolutely.

46:06Jawad MirYeah.

46:06Ed DolistaAnd certainly…

46:06Jawad MirYeah

46:06Ed Dolista... I don't know if you've watched the latest, j… only dropped, yes, on Star Wars Day, May the fourth, Star Wars Visions, the second, one.

46:16Jawad MirYes, I did see it.

46:17Ed DolistaThere's some, there's some really interesting, one that looks like it's all painted. There's some really interesting things that, you know, are pushing the boundaries, and, I think, why not? You know, each episode could be, could be a s… different, a, you know, a different palette or from, you know, from a different, you know, from a different country or wherever his adventure is or something like that. Who knows? I do think we will, though, see more Indiana Jones after this. I know that, you know, Disney…

46:48Jawad Mir100%.

46:49Ed DolistaYou know, it's not like Disney are gonna go, "Okay, that's it."

46:52Jawad MirYeah. Yeah.

46:53Ed DolistaYou know?

46:54Jawad Mir100%.

46:54Ed Dolista"We won't do that anymore." I think they will af… in a few years.

46:59Jawad MirYeah. I mean, they're, they're saying they won't because they don't want fans to be turned off for the film.

47:06Ed DolistaYeah.

47:06Jawad MirBut at the end of the day, understandingly so, you know, it's a business. It's art, but it's business, and they have to make money, and that's, that's just the bottom line, you know? And it's…

47:14Ed DolistaYeah

47:14Jawad Mir... There's nothing wrong with that. For Indiana Jones, and Dial of Destiny, I mean, you talked about how you're going to LA. Are you planning to go on the... You know, sometimes, I think the film comes out on Friday, but sometimes they release it two days before on a Wednesday, like, as a... I think they're doing that with Guardians of the Galaxy this week. Are you planning to go on, like, the very first show of, or is there, are you trying to get, like, into, like, an advanced screening if there is any, or what's your…

47:43Ed DolistaWell, I'm h… I'm hopeful to be there in LA for the, advanced screening or the premiere that they have, you know, with the red carpet and everything like that. So that is, that is, the plan. Whether that plan, you know, works out or not, does, you know, it doesn't matter because it's all, like, I was, I was saying to my wife when we're, when, you know, when we were booking this, it's sort of like Indy with, the leap of faith. You know, he's standing there in Last Crusade. We've got a book, but we don't know whether it's gonna happen or not, but you know what? If it doesn't, we're in, we're in LA. There's gonna be, we're gonna be doing lots of fun things. We're gonna be catching up with friends. And then, I'm gonna catch up with, Mitch Hallock, from, who you know

48:29Jawad MirYeah

48:29Ed Dolista... From The Radar, from The Indy Cast, of course, and Mitch and Ed's Excellent Adventure that I do my show with. And, we're gonna be catching up, seeing it. He believes that it's, it should be screening in IMAX, at least two days early. So we'll, so we're gonna be going to see it there, and then I'll probably see it one more time in New York with some of my other, fellow Indy Castes who we're gonna catch up with, while we're on the, East Coast. So, yeah.

48:58Jawad MirGood.

48:58Ed DolistaSo I, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I, as I, as I say, you know, it's gonna be the most expensive movie... Ticket I've ever paid for, but it's gonna be, it's gonna be fun, I think

49:10Jawad MirI don't think, I don't think it's the most expensive movie ticket you ever paid. It's the most expensive movie experience.

49:15Ed DolistaAh, there you go

49:16Jawad MirI think that's, that's, that's the key. And I also think that we…

49:19Ed DolistaBut I, and I suspect it's actually gonna be priceless, so it probably…

49:22Jawad MirThere you go

49:22Ed Dolista... Actually works out okay.

49:25Jawad MirI feel that being in LA you will, here's my prediction, you will most definitely be able to watch it, before it comes out, 100%. 'Cause, you know…

49:36Ed DolistaI hope I…

49:38Jawad MirY… y… you will connect to somebody through somebody that may have tickets, or you might be able…

49:43Ed DolistaYes

49:43Jawad Mir... To get a connection with Paramount or something. It will definitely happen. It's LA, so, you know, as long as you go there, magic will happen.

49:51Ed DolistaThat's right. I've heard. It's, it's where dreams are made, so let's…

49:54Jawad MirYeah, it is

49:54Ed Dolista... We'll let, our hotel view has got the view where we go, now we're getting the view of the Hollywood sign. I mean, you've gotta squint, I think, and have, you know, binoculars, but hey, you know, who knows what's gonna happen. I think, I'm just very excited to be there. It's been a long time. I think it's been 20, it'll be 23, 22 years since I've been spending time in LA, so, it'll be good to, h… head back there and see what's changed and, if anything…

50:22Jawad MirYeah

50:22Ed Dolista... Or, you know, it's gonna be great.

50:24Jawad MirWell, Chinese Man's Theater, is that still around, right?

50:27Ed DolistaYes. In fact…

50:28Jawad MirI…

50:28Ed Dolista... When I was there last, AI was showing, Steven Spielberg's AI.

50:34Jawad MirAh.

50:34Ed DolistaSo I remember seeing that on the marquee everywhere. So…

50:38Jawad MirI saw…

50:38Ed DolistaAnd the Dolby, yeah, wasn't even there.

50:41Jawad MirYeah, I saw War of the Worlds there. They had

50:43Ed DolistaOh, yes

50:44Jawad Mir... They had, it wasn't a premiere, but they had Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes come in, and then Tom Cruise did a Q&A at the end. But that movie theater, I hope, I mean, it's not IMAX, but just because of the history that movie theater has…

51:01Jawad Mir... I hope you get to see it there as well because that would be…

51:04Ed DolistaYes

51:04Jawad Mir... Re… I mean, it's nothing groundbreaking from inside, unless things have changed. I mean, that was, like, 16 years ago. But just the experience of in, on that street, being in that environment, I mean, you, even if they don't advertise a small movie there, everybody will walk in just because Chinese Man Theater.

51:23Ed DolistaYes. Oh, yes. And I'm gonna, I'll, I'll do exactly what I did last time, was, look for, C-3PO and R2-D2's, footprints, outside the front. Hopefully they're still there 'cause I remember watching that over and over on the, Making of Star Wars documentary that I had and looking at, all the w… all the Walk of Fame. But, yeah, there and the Dolby Theatre, there's all, there's, there's, yeah, there's gonna be a lot, a lot of good stuff to see there. So, hopefully, I'll, be able to bump into, Mr. Spielberg or Mr. Lucas, while I'm there. Hopefully, I won't bump into John Williams because I don't wanna bump into him. We want him for around for many years to come to

52:07Jawad MirYeah

52:07Ed Dolista... Keep scoring.

52:09Jawad MirYeah.

52:09Ed DolistaBut, that's another exciting thing to, be looking forward to, is John Williams', you know, final Indiana Jones score, so.

52:16Jawad MirYeah. You know what you should do, I'm sure that week they're gonna have all these late night shows, Jimmy Kimmel…

52:23Ed DolistaYes

52:23Jawad Mir... Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert. They're gonna have guests coming in. You should try to get into that or wait outside or something, you know. Just try to, 'cause you'll get…

52:33Ed DolistaI think so…

52:33Jawad MirYou might get to see Harrison Ford

52:34Ed Dolista... That would, that would be good. I have met Harrison Ford once before, when we were, it was the opening of Firewall. I think that was in maybe 2006, if memory, serves me right. And, I waited. They had a bit of a red carpet, and, he walked the red carpet and, I was absolutely terrified, but I got to have a quick, you know, said, "Thank you very much." Got to, got to shake his hand, and then he moved on, and I was, like, terrified. But it was a, it was a wonderful experience, so who knows. We'll, we'll certainly, keep an eye out. Hopefully the writers' strike is, all been sorted out by then…

53:16Jawad MirOh, it will

53:16Ed Dolista... And those late night shows will be, you know, will be back on track. We did get to see, when I was at, last in New York in 2017, 2016, we did get to see, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which was a great, fun experience. But no Harrison Ford. I think we got Mark Ruffalo. That was, that was as good as it got for us.

53:38Jawad MirI think, you're, you're talking about your Harrison Ford meeting story. I think nothing gets better than, n… no offense to you, than Mitch's story of meeting Harrison Ford.

53:45Ed DolistaYeah. Oh, yes, with, Kat, yes.

53:47Jawad MirI think that was just... And the way he told, he actually spoke about it on the podcast, and the way he told that story, it was like a 10-minute-long story.

53:56Ed DolistaYeah.

53:56Jawad MirAnd it was just amazing what happened with him. I think that was just amazing. It was cool. It was really cool.

54:03Ed DolistaYeah, it's the only way. It makes sense. When you know Mitch, you know, for that to happen you go, "Yeah, that'll, that'll be right."

54:10Jawad MirYeah. Just lastly, man, because you guys have Indy Cast, have you tried, approaching Paramount to see if you guys can get some sort of advance tickets?

54:19Ed DolistaWe've got, well, we know, we've got some friends at, Lucasfilm. So and, one of our, one of our early correspondents who was the official unofficial Indy Cast Fan Club president, Dan Z, has, he's, basically gone on to, great success with his, podcast. He started with us. He's doing Coffee with Kenobi, and he writes for starwars.com, has authored some Star Wars books. And, he's our, he's our number one contact. And we've got wonderful Laird Malamed who is, the ex sound editor on the young Indiana Jones, series and, is, you know, has good ties, there. So, you know, we're all hopeful, but, either way, you know, I'm go… I'm gonna be, a little bit more like, Mike Wazowski who's just excited to,... To be there. You know, even though his c… his face is covered by the barcode on the magazine.

55:16Jawad MirYeah.

55:17Ed DolistaI'm just happy to, happy to be there and, catch up with, all my, good friends.

55:23Jawad MirOne last bit. What's the audience, for your IndieCast like nowadays? Like, how many people tune in, and where can people find your, podcast?

55:32Ed DolistaYeah, so we're, we're... Look, we're still, I mean, Indiana Jones is a bit of a niche, you know, sort of topic. It's not as

55:40Jawad MirYeah

55:40Ed Dolista... You know, necessarily popular as, you know, Star Wars or the Harry Potters. But, look, I'm really proud of, we've got a really wonderful audience in the thousands, which is fantastic. In our, in our, I'm not gonna say heyday, but in our early days, you know, we w… we were in the top, I think, top 30 podcasts in the United, entertainment podcasts on iTunes on the Uni… in the United States, which is crazy to think about. And we've still, and we're still d… you know, doing really well, which is great. You can find us at theindiecast.com. The best thing to do, you can listen to us directly from there, or you can just, you know, iTunes or your favorite, you know, podcast aggregator. So

56:22Jawad MirYeah

56:22Ed Dolista... So that's been going really, you know, that's been going really well. And then, and then we've got Mitch and, my show with Mitch, and, that's Mitch and Ed's Excellent Adventure, which we'd started over COVID, because often Mitch and I would just talk. And you probably get the sense from my conversation here how I like to go on tangents, so I apologize…

56:40Jawad MirYeah

56:40Ed Dolista... For that. But, we're at, Mitch and Ed's Excellent Adventure on YouTube, where we talk about, you know, Indiana Jones.

56:48Jawad MirSure.

56:48Ed DolistaPHX1138, you know, pop culture movies from the '70s and '80s. The more obscure, the better, so.

56:55Jawad MirFantastic, man. I would love to have you on, again, talk about some other stuff. And, you know, thank you so much for joining in. I really appreciate it. Looking forward to Indiana Jones 5, of course. And maybe we can do an episode, sometime after the release when you're back in, Australia. That'd be really cool to do.

57:15Ed DolistaOh, I'd love to. Thanks so much for, inviting me on. I've had a great time.

57:20Jawad MirThank you so much likewise, man. You have a great day.

57:22Ed DolistaCheers. Bye-bye.