To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

I'm so happy Stanger reappeared in time to contribute the Beverly Hills Clothing Club Shirt Labels-rating system

We’re seeing a new—and excited—generation of film enthusiasts who are just getting into the classics, and it’s a weird spot to program and discuss movies these days because there are younger folks who have never seen To Live and Die in LA and old heads who have seen it a million times. I went to an Action movie marathon and the 20-something next to me had never seen Predator, Bloodsport, or The Killer, and I was pretty psyched for him and had to try really really hard not to get into years worth of trivia and follow up films and just let him enjoy the ride.

No dudes, if you use the kids urinal it will shrink your dick. True story

Ok, bullshit it was 2 pages long. Sorry, I copied and pasted it off of imdb. DC CAB fn rules.

Watched this for the first time and was not disappointed. Every Freidkin movie the boyz have introduced me to has become a favorite.

I want to jump on the bandwagon Gabrus started and proclaim that I got BUTTFUCKED last weekend when I found out my only son got into the university of Florida, the only school he applied to. I will probably saying it in the 90s fashion when I have to pay for it.

“Christian Dior bed linens by WAMSUTTA”

Gabrus next time you're back in NYC I got you covered on any of those tattoo ideas (@ganjtattoos on Instagram)

This movie ruled! You guys have been talking about this one since the beginning and about a year ago somebodies uncle passed away and gave his collection of movies to the Blockbuster down the street from me. (Yes it's 2026 and I have a blockbuster card and go there once a week, it rules) Anyways saw a 4k copy of To Live and Die in the huge collection he donated so I picked it up hoping you would cover it. Glad I waited to watch. Kiss Stanger.

If you’re interested in an artistic process similar to what I would assume counterfeiting is like, you should try screen printing! Lots of mixing of chemicals and paints, plus layers of work that create a lot of thought into what you are making.

Was in Rome with my wife two years back. Walking through a back alley and saw Dafoe exit a side door and walk our direction. An Italian kid working as a restaurant host asked for a picture and Dafoe obliged happily. The kid was star struck, it was pretty cool. Realized how old he was seeing him in person.

Dang Stang, you were missed bruther. The gym/sauna shit, I wanted to hear if those cable reps from Petersen and Pankow were legit or not and thank god you came back to throw some comment on the Quintin Dailey basketball tangent. Such a classic boyfriend rambling about sports to his girlfriend who could give a fuck scene. I assume Friedkin wrote all that cuz he was a hoop dork and Jordan/Bulls/Chicago and Dailey would have still been on the Bulls when they made the movie

So thankful this podcast doesn't have hosts reading ads and shilling for the fucking man

I’m from Michigan and in 1999 we went to NYC. Ended up at Jones Beach for a day and went to buy a Pop from a vendor. This tiny woman said WHAT the F&$k is a pop?? Oh you mean soda you idiot?? I felt stupid but not as dumb as my buddy who accidentally gulped a bunch of salt water and barfed 3 times waste deep in the water. We also went to a mets game and saw the craziest fistfight about fifty feet from us in the upper deck. Fun trip

Is this calamari urban legend just common knowledge?

If you told me there was full frontal male nudity in this I would have watched sooner

Wow. First time. I thought I'd seen it. Nope, I just continuously get it confused with "Never Too Young to Die". Another L.A. movie titled like a knock off James Bond title. Will not be confused anymore, great watch.

Sex (or at least starting) with shirts on but no bottoms is such an awkward yet universal "how did we end up here?" experience that you never see on film. Friedkin is a genius.

Sorry Stanger it was Stratford, Ontario not Toronto. I spit taked when Friedkin says “the beautiful grand river” as I drove down the 85

A really good episode, but I did notice something. You guys have always used the running “Leave Stranger alone” bit, and I’ve never quite understood that joke, until now. But quite frankly, Stanger deserved some of the pushback here. He disappeared for most of the last hour. Which I can understand if he’s gotta do personal stuff. But when he gets back on the mic, all of a sudden he wants to turn back the clock, and cover the parts of the film that you guys have already done. At that point, I felt bad for Gabrus, and Rodgers. Thankfully Rodgers did steer the podcast towards the end of the movie to help finish the pod. Stanger will just have to accept that he sat out part of the most important episode of the series history.

Gabrus can I please help you and Betsy design your Taco Bell tattoos? Check out the “suprematism” abstract art movement of the 20th century then imagine an abstracted logo with the old colour pallet using some key shapes and lines from the older logos, maybe even the angles from the old in-restaurant benches and seats

lesbian here to tell you we do indeed say “strapped up” to refer to having strap ons, “i’ve got that strap on me” isn’t used as much except as a (somewhat corny) joke.

This is the Carch soft launch we’ve all been screaming for

I’ve driven by yard signs in my area, and I have to believe it was unintentional, but it is for the Delaware Valley Dance Academy, which it then shows the letters in a big abbreviation “DVDA”

As for money forgery being dead: I was SHOCKED to get a notice from my local (Danish) police that there are fake coins (!?) in circulation at the moment. Similar to the US, almost nobody uses cash anymore, especially not coins. For reference, out highest value coin is around 3 USD. Somebody out there has like a fucking smelting machine and is just going to town somehow.

Maybe I've heard the guys mention it in passing but I've not come across this movie before... stopping 16 minutes in here to go watch it first... brb

To the boy heroin thing. I was a junky piece of shit from 03-14, and the only time I ever heard someone refer to it as "boy" was after the movie "ray" came out and some dipshit I bought dope from must've seen it, thought it was cool, and started calling it that 😂 but outside of a william Burroughs book, that was the only time

is it possible Peterson is wearing his own jersey in that scene?

If it’s not Gary Cole in this movie then there’s some guy who looks more like Gary Cole than Gary Cole

Buddy buddy buddy The scene after the chase where Chance seems coked up, he references the two Chicago Bulls players who were busted for cocaine back then Quintin Dailey and Orlando Woolridge and says they're better than Jordan I'm obsessed with this detail and gotta get it on record before bill Simmons pisses on it on the rewatchables tomorrow 0 out of 200 found this helpful

This is a milestone episode for The Action Boyz. 🎉

*sauna guy voice* John Turturro played Carl Cody in To Live and Die in LA, the character in the book is named Carmine Falcone. Turturro later played Carmine Falcone in The Batman.

I bought the 4K Blu-ray and watched for the first time for this episode. What a cool movie. Looks amazing in 4K too

Ben likes to make money 💰!!! Fake money !!!! Not real money!!! I also heard fools gold!!! My god!!!!

Herzog mentioned and I was just watching Ghost Elephants.

Good Goalie Butt Holie is why we listen

Balls peeling off each other like Velcro

If we’re taking suggestions for the next communal “bother the boyz about covering for years on end” movie I’m throwing my vote in for My Lucky Stars

Re: gangbanging pockmarked redheads in cop bars... I worked with police for over a decade. "Not all cops" but a higher than you'd expect amount are into group sex, hot-wifing, cucking, etc. so I don't think the redhead had to work too hard to find four participants. No shame to whatever kind of boat you like to float. I'm just reporting facts as I have observed them.

I am begging you, please let the next live show be Friedkin Tonight

First time watch. Loved it!!

As someone that was holding off on watching this film until y'all covered it, I am very happy. I even bought the Blu-Ray years ago.

really blindsided that Ben prefers this to Marvel movies, I've been listening for years but nothing could have prepared me for this

This movie remains in my mind as a rare example of the theme song including the name of the movie itself. Others examples: Lethal Weapon and, of course, The Neverending Story

I gotta work on my script, “to live and die in PA” go birds

William Petersen… a bow legged legend for sure. For another fun use of Dance Hall Days, fans of DTV action should check out Blood and Bone if they haven’t already. It is Top Five Michael Jai White.

Counterfeiter by Charles Black is a really good book about the most infamous British forger, who lived with his parents the whole time that was a big-time nerd and just did it for the love of the craft.

Well, they finally covered it. Guess it's time to cancel my membership.

Hell yeah! time for a rewatch before starting to the pod.

That “galactical warrior shit”/“scifi” line rocks because it just reads as Friedkin taking potshots at Star Wars for crushing Sorcerer. Elite pettiness. I'm living for all the Friedkin impressions in this episode. Saw Petersen give a Q&A after this film last year and apparently most of Chance's wardrobe was just his own clothing at the time. The cuban heels were his own and he ruined them kicking out the windshield. RE: his career, I've read a lot of interviews with him and he does genuinely seem to be a theater guy who didn't want to be a movie star. There's some AV Club interview where he says the only role he was disappointed not to get was Bob Hoskin's character in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Also how crazy is it that Friedkin made this for only $6 million.

First time watch for me. Loved it. But the thing I most wanted to hear the boys talk about was the final shot of the movie. Except Rodgers said the final shot was a freeze frame on Ruthie's face. The final shot I saw (watched on Hoopla) was Chance's blue truck driving into the grassy area behind Ruth's apartment with what appears to be Chance behind the wheel. But it is a long distance shot so it is ambiguous. I have a couple of different ideas what it might mean but I found it to be a really bizarre ending.

“Boy” ❄️

I can’t believe the William Friedkin School of Intimacy Coordination never took off.

My personal opinion: all cops should drive a Ford Taurus because if it was good enough for Robocop, it’s good enough for anybody. Great episode!

There’s a great bit of reminisence in an interview with Dafoe, about my fave line - “18th century Cameroon… yes, you’re taste is in your ass” He says that the line was improvised when he picked up the statue, and Friedkin was happy on set and it’s in the movie. But Dafoe later found out that the statue actually belonged to Friedkin and was part of his own art collection used in the scene.

On cars all looking the same: kudos to Volvo who have brought back their 90’s angular shapes which make them stand out among other cars and embraces the iconic look they abandoned in the 00’s. I don’t know if it was Swedish designers or Chinese owners that pushed for it but they are the most distinctive cars I see these days.

Willem Dafeo as a disturbed artist turned criminal idk if I buy that casting…

Hey when are you guys finally going to do Thief?? 😆 Caan, Mann, no-brainer....

Fuck yes

In Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) , one of the strategies to get clients to not get so consumed by their thoughts is to observe their thoughts objectively by using a funny voice or an accent. I always do this in the voice of Billy Freidkin.

When are you guys gonna do To Live and Die In LA again?

WANG CHUNG!

I mentioned it in the clues post - but I just watched this for the first time a few days ago and the last 20 minutes had my jaw on the ground

Back of the Net!!!

Can’t wait to listen to this.

Call me basic but this is the episode I’ve been waiting for. Thank you boyz!

Hell yeah man

I hope it's 3 hours of Freidkin impressions 🤞