You know before their 4.1.25 podcast starts that Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary are going to more or less cream in their pants about Steven Spielberg‘s calamitous 1941.

They love the Mad Mad Mad Mad World-style energy, and that’s fine.

Tarantino: “It’s not funny hah-hah, but it’s very impressive”

I tried re-watching 1941 a few years ago in the living room…no way. I started fast-forwarding almost immediately.

I’m vividly recalling a mid-November screening at Universal’s midtown Manhattan screening room, two or three weeks before the 12.14.79 opening. I could feel the disaster vibes less than 15 minutes in. At the very beginning Spielberg went with an homage to Jaws…winking at his own legend. I murmured to a friend, “Oh, God…this is bad, bad…really bad.” Sitting through the remainder was agony.

Michael O’Donoghue reportedly had some pin-on buttons made that said, “John Belushi — born 1949 — died 1941.”