William Shatner

Brent Spiner (0:00)

We get some comments on our videos. Do you read the comments? Sometimes I do.

I read them until they hurt my feelings, and then I turn them off. But a lot of comments say, not a lot of them, but there have been a few that say, hey, stop interrupting people.

Jonathan Frakes (0:16)

I know, but that's part of our game.

Brent Spiner (0:18)

That is the game. See, they don't get the show.

Jonathan Frakes (0:20)

Overlapping dialogue.

Brent Spiner (0:21)

And we're not interviewing people, we're chatting with people.

Jonathan Frakes (0:26)

Speaking of overlapping dialogue, what about Altman's movies?

Brent Spiner (0:31)

Yeah.

Jonathan Frakes (0:31)

What about Nashville? What about The Player?

Brent Spiner (0:33)

There have been no comments about that so far. Oh, you mean our? Oh, you're asking me? Yeah, I'm asking you.

I love Altman, period. When I was a youngster in college and just after that...

Jonathan Frakes (0:47)

I have a story about Bob Altman.

Brent Spiner (0:50)

Do you?

Jonathan Frakes (0:51)

Well, I lived with Steve Altman.

Brent Spiner (0:52)

Who?

Jonathan Frakes (0:53)

His son.

Brent Spiner (0:54)

His son?

Jonathan Frakes (0:54)

He was a production designer. And David Levy was his producer.

Brent Spiner (0:57)

Wow.

Jonathan Frakes (0:57)

I worked with Bob Altman.

Brent Spiner (0:59)

You did?

Jonathan Frakes (1:00)

That's exactly the reaction I'm looking for. Yes.

Brent Spiner (1:02)

You worked with Robert Altman.

Jonathan Frakes (1:03)

I worked with Robert Altman. Ask on what?

On what? On a Miller Lite beer commercial.

Brent Spiner (1:10)

Oh, no kidding.

Jonathan Frakes (1:10)

Shot in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Brent Spiner (1:12)

Huh.

Did you improv? I did.

Jonathan Frakes (1:16)

An overlapping dialogue.

Brent Spiner (1:17)

Did you?

Jonathan Frakes (1:18)

Yeah. But he was famously...

he liked pot.

Brent Spiner (1:23)

Yeah.

Jonathan Frakes (1:24)

Right. But I was such a fan of his. I thought, why are you directing a Miller... He said, Jonathan, the money in commercial is great. I've been trying to get a commercial ever since.

Brent Spiner (1:34)

Yeah.

Jonathan Frakes (1:35)

I need a commercial job.

Brent Spiner (1:36)

A lot of really great directors have done commercials.

Jonathan Frakes (1:38)

Tony Scott. Ridley Scott.

Brent Spiner (1:41)

Ridley? Ridley Scott's done commercials.

Jonathan Frakes (1:43)

I think Ridley and Tony both.

Brent Spiner (1:44)

Somewhere. I think they had a production company that did commercials. Did I mention that Ridley Scott, I think, is one of the great underrated...

Jonathan Frakes (1:51)

You have. I don't know why you call him underrated.

Brent Spiner (1:53)

Underrated in this sense. He's never listed in the pantheon of great directors. I think he is. I agree.

You look at his body of work and it's all so different. Every film is a brand new experience for him. He doesn't have an oeuvre necessarily.

Jonathan Frakes (2:10)

No. He has an oeuvre.

Brent Spiner (2:11)

Does he?

Jonathan Frakes (2:12)

I don't know. I think he might...

I don't know. I disagree.

Brent Spiner (2:15)

Like what? What is his oeuvre? Yeah.

Jonathan Frakes (2:16)

Good point.

Brent Spiner (2:17)

I mean Thelma and Louise. Blade Runner.

Jonathan Frakes (2:20)

Alien.

Brent Spiner (2:20)

So much alike. Yeah.

Alien.

Jonathan Frakes (2:23)

Alien. Aliens was...

Brent Spiner (2:26)

Alien. Yeah.

Jonathan Frakes (2:28)

Cameron was Aliens.

Brent Spiner (2:29)

Gladiator.

Jonathan Frakes (2:30)

That's an oeuvre already.

Brent Spiner (2:32)

Yeah. There's no oeuvre there.

Jonathan Frakes (2:33)

Yeah.

Brent Spiner (2:34)

His oeuvre is great movies. Yeah. I like the one... I've mentioned this before. The one that had Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and... Jodie Comer and Adam Driver.

It was a cruci... Like a French 15th century jousting... Wow. Yeah. It was that kind of...

Jonathan Frakes (3:03)

No Boston accents.

Brent Spiner (3:04)

No. They were both...

Ben Affleck was great at it. Really funny.

Jonathan Frakes (3:10)

Now he's a good director.

Brent Spiner (3:11)

He is a good director. That's why I'm saying... You know, I was talking to Jackson about this. Why hasn't he done anything recently? He said he's working on something now. Yeah.

Jonathan Frakes (3:20)

I bet he is. That wonderful thing that he did about the Canadian Embassy. He shot these...

Steadicam shots so close to people. I thought, how can you get that close to... What was that movie?

Brent Spiner (3:31)

Is that the one that won the Oscar? Argo? Yeah. It won the best picture.

Jonathan Frakes (3:35)

Maybe that's why...

Brent Spiner (3:35)

But he wasn't nominated. And it won best picture.

Jonathan Frakes (3:39)

It's crazy.

Brent Spiner (3:39)

That makes no sense.

Jonathan Frakes (3:40)