Morgan Neville's documentary on Lorne Michaels

I. I'mand this is the big Picture A conversation show about the movies we missed in May. and man, we are so back. What we saw at the box office this weekend is nothing short of extraordinary. We will break down the remarkable sensations of obsession in backrooms. Amanda and I will also dig into ten new movie releases that we overlooked while we were traveling last month. The movies are having a crazy return to relevance But we don't want quality work slipping through the cracks, so we've got some recommendations for you today. But first Let's talk about what the whole movie world is talking about right after this Sock good, so good so good New summer arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. Get ready to save big with up to sixty percent off brands like Rag and Bone, Levi's, Adidas, and Free People. Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack I'm Arch Manning.'madison Skinner, I'mv Yovich. I'm Coria Mooore. W want to train like a Red Bull athlete. Tell us your fitness goals this summer to enter the Red Bowull Athlete challenge. You'll get to try each of our workouts for a chance to win an ultimate Red Bowull experience. D you have what it takes issue with returns relevance. Well to the rest of you. from our perspective. Yeah, we never left. Exactly. Well, that's not true. I have really waxed and we over the years. I've had some real doubts post. So you never left, but your emotions went up and down. They did, they did. They did. I as I've said recently, in twenty twenty four after Furiosa did not perform well, I changed my mentality. I wasn't going to be doing this emotional roller coaster, but it's hard to not overreact to what's going on. And you know, this is also amplified by a couple of other things. The New York Kicks are in the MBA fininals. Yeah. When does that start? The first time in twenty seven years starts Tuesday And uh That's I don't know what to do with myself. I'm trying to not no, not Tuesday. It starts Wednesday. I better get that date, right? Right? Wednesday, Lucas. Why Why don't you have everything You've not put them in the calendar like in the family I do actually have them in the calendar. I have them and I did. Yes. I have no screenings planned for any of the nights of any of the potentially seven games. Okay I would say I'm nervous. I fear Wemby. Yeahre you're familiar with. Yes, V very tall and also something about the burden of carrying his emotions or anxiety around and that's other people. I saw half the quote. Okay. don I don't know know about this I don't know. He seems like a very evolved young man. He is and he's very young and he's very tall and he's very gifted. The Knicks did take two of three games from the sppurs this year anythingthing can happen. Sure. And if it does happen, This will be also a June for the agges after a May for the agges. The other thing, of course, is that Steven Spielberg is on the reatch this week. and I would encourage people to check that out. We talked about two thousand one S space Odyssey s just one of the great times of my life. The Christmas card this year is just's coming together. It's really, really going to be beautiful. Who should be and who's left? I mean, Wh who are we going to pose with next? Really honestly, just a very, very special conversation and just letting Spielberg just extended about that film for a long period of time was really cool For all those things to be happening alongside this thing that is happening with for sure movies you know, for our purposes here is just genuinely thrilling. Now, when we recorded on Thursday, the conversation about backrooms We knew that the movie was going to be a big success and that it was going to far outpace the twenty million dollars projected opening weekend. Yeah. I know you probably don't spend a lot of free time thinking about this, but were you thinking like This could happen that obsession would go up again in its box office performance that you know, the Mandian and Grogu would come in third place this weekend signaling at least I don't know, metaphorically a kind of shift in the movie culture. I mean, yes, because in the Barbenheimer way, this narrative took on a life of its own. And so I think people became aware even if they weren't pre ordering tickets for backrooms, even if they haven't watched everything on YouTube, even if they're not. twenty and like familiar with Curry Barker's you know, internet work they're aware that like something's going on and it's not Mandalorian and Grogu Yeah. And so It became the center of culture, right? a and people who pay attention to like, ooh, what's the what's the big thing? started looking in and so it sort of has a self fulfilling prophecy. So yeah, by Thursday you could feel like, oh, this is a phenomenon. You know, D definitely felt that way. And people like a phenomenon. They do.. That's the thing is that there's obsession is obviously a huge word of mouth hit.. Backrooms is a kind of internet discussion point hit. Mandalorian and Grogu is a heavily marketed Star Wars movie. So you know, even though that movie is, I would say relatively underperforming at this point, it's still a big thing. And we were in a movie theater on Friday, We saw two movies on Friday in movie theaters And when we walked in, it was, I would say, not very crowded. but by the time we walked out, the beginning of the afternoon the lobby was buuzzon. Yeah. Clearly something going on later that day on Friday. I was out with my family and my daughter and one of her friends and her friends's dad. probably talk about movies for an hour and a half. Now, obviously part of that is because people are talking to me and they're like, this guy likes movies, but also there's just Sometomet's happening I went out to dinner on Saturdayight with friends I hadn't seen since college. And again, we were like talking about movies, but E of them had seen obsessions in backrooms, but they both had opinions on which ones they wanted to see and why. Yeah. And then I was in the position of being like, no, no, obsessions' not that scary to all of the people that gathered to the table. But' not. You know, I would say to your normy non horror fan, you've been in to the experience. I guess so There are different shades and different flavors and it's not Texas Chainaw massacre. It's a little bit gross out and I think pretty funny. Now, you know, if you think emotions or emotional unavailability are scary, then I suppose it is real night beare. But for me I was just like I think this is insightful. I'll tell you what I thought was really scary in that movie. Yeah early in the possession Mhm when Nickki wakes up in the middle of the night Yeah and is just watching Bam. And then when she's in the distance in the corner of the room and watching there, That was actually scary to me. That was actually, you know, I wasn't like crying or anything, but I felt a kind of discomfort And that hadhing to do with gross out. It didn't have anything to do with violence. It was more just that that that actress. Let's thow that a little. Yeah. let's goow that a little.. Does that make you afraid because you think that's gonna happen in your own life? No. Well, I'm a married forty three year old man, so no. I don't know what Eileena is up Eileen's a light sleeper. She is a light sleeper. would say staring at me, not something she's interested in these days I think more specifically, there's something about being watched that is very unnerving, especially if you're being watched by someone who's dangerous And We don't really know what's happening with that person. that's something you can experience in any walk of life, You know, you're just walking down the street and you encounter somebody who's clearly doesn't have it all together. That's a bit of an intense feeling. That's a scary feeling. So like to me, the movie isn't, it does have some of those core horror strategies. but I think that that's part of what is working. And now I've seen the movie go into the like the take cycle, you know, where it's like, actually, it's misynistic. Actually, it's this. and I'm like I think When a movie gets that this big and this popular it tends to refract in a lot of directions. Before we get into any of that, I just want to some of the numbers on the board what happened this weekend because of how crazy it actually is. So Backrooms, which is in its first weekend of release, made eighty one point four million dollars domestic in three days That is the highest grossing opening weekend in A twenty four history. almost I think in more than tripled civil War. It already outgrrossed everything everywhere all at once in three days, whichich was, you know, kind of a landmark movie for that studio Um On opening night I made thirty six point four million dollars. Yeah. That's like Marvel movie shit. I mean, that's like pretty crazy. A lot of people had the dates circled on the calendar and by people, I mean, young fans Yes who were aware and I preordered their tickets Yes And good for them, you know?. They deserve a night at the movies. They deserve to learn the magic of a night at the movies. Yeah, I did, I saw plenty of reports on social media about very bad behavior in the movie theater during this mov more.. Well, just that there were a lot of people young people talking and kind of talking through the lore and talking through what it meant and people having their phones out during the screenings We didn't experience that. We went to a screening of the movie. I do like to see movies like this with people, you may recall my Minecraft experience last year, just to kind of get a sense of what it's like and I think I can push back against my own enthusiasm by saying, you know, maybe this backrooms thing in particular is a kind of unreplicable one off Yeah because of the huge amount of people that are were already interested in this this this IP that pree existed. And then the movie over the course of the weekend It went down on Saturday in terms of a box office, it went down on Sunday in terms of box office. What do you make of the B minus cinema score I think for any horror movie, cinema scores are usually a little bit lower Right, but this is, you know, obsession has an A. This is a movie with like a very, very passionate fan base and with expectations of lore. And I was thinking a lot about Chris's, you know, honorary nieces. Mmhm. knew everything about backrooms and were kind of worried that backrooms, the movie would not honor their culture. I think some people feel that way. I think some people feel like there's And as we talked about in last week's episode The more the movie tries to movevie The less successful it is and the more it backrooms, the more interesting it is. And I think most people are feeling that way, E those people who come to it without any experience, that there's something kind of singular about what he's capturing when he's inside of the experience of the idea and then trying to build narrative around it doesn't totally work as well. And so I noted this morning that It has a three point four letter boox prettytty low. Now it's been viewed Half a million times already. It's been logged on the app. Okay, whichich in like three days is just absolutely bonkers. Obsession, by contrast, has a four point two on letter boox and has also been logged, I think, in a somewhat similar vicinity. That movie made Actually twenty seven and a half million dollars this weekend. It went up again on its third weekend of release And this is the first film outside of the Christmas window Since nineteen eighty two's ET, perhaps you've heard of it, to have second and third weekends bigger than the first This is crazy It's wonderful. Obsession. It's good. It is good. A lot of movies are good you. And it's interesting The word of mouth actually leading to people going to the theater rather than, you know, earmarking it and being like, sureure, I'll check it out when it becomes more available which I do think you know, is aided by backrooms and the pres sales and this kind of going to the theater moment like especially for horror movies. Yeah. You're not going to wait, but it is no, it's it's wild and Cool. And I'm glad that it's happening to a fun movie. I agree. So it's made one hundred five million domestic now, one hundred fifty million do worldwide. S seemems like it could legitimately be a three hundred million dollars movie. This movie was made for seven hundred fifty thousand dollars.. So it's gonna end up becoming one of the most profitable movies of all time U I think the real comp here in terms of how successful it is is weapons and that there are a lot this kind of a movie now If you can get if you can create a story with a hook like this with a couple of performances that are Kind of unforgettable. Yeah And you can build that word of mouth, and that's how you can find the success in this kind of a story Looking at the films together. Do they feel like a Barben Barbenheimer style blip Do they feel like something that will be heavily exploited and rung out quickly. Do they feel like a guide path to a new era of movie going? Like I'm genuinely curious if what you think the impact of this is going to be I mean, it is already you know, been discussed and exploited at least in a media sense. It was wonderful to watch everyone rushing out their think pieces over the weekend. Everybody who is even the tiniest bit related to either of these is hitting that media tour. and you know, good. You picked a good one.. I guess that's what you do in Hollywood. You take the credit So so much credit claiming. So So many people were not participating in the production of these movies who didn't take the chance on these movies beforehand.. So That's fine and that's how certainly the trade industry works in this town. No, I think it' a thing that is studied and I do think able becomees sort of a shorthand like Barbenheimer was for a certain type of, you know theatrical event going movie experience. And we talk more and more about how going to theaters is like an event you know, activity now and Barbenhyber has been the prime example. Like this is another one. It's a different audience, different types of creators. It's not, you know huge studio led IP multib billion dollar, you know international press tours, but there is a formula for both of these. that people will certainly try to recreate and probably not successfully. And I don't think that, you know, we always talk about like what will the lessons learned be? and will the studios learn the right lessons? And you know probably not, but also It's not just about learning lessons. it's that phenomenons like this are sort of are not replicable, you know, and that is Part of what makes it so amazing is that like nobody saw it coming on this level. Nobody really engineered it on this level. and you can make all of the same decisions again Pents not get to this particular moment because it's just I don't know, it's one of those things. It is one of those things. I think um Sros was a little bit more predictable, not at this scale, but as recently as a year ago, I had people who know things say This is this is going to be a thing. Um, Obbsession is completely different. Now, Obsession did play gangbusters at Toronto and it was acquired for fifteen million dollars. by focus. So it's not like it was It isn't like nobody knew it had potential The fact that it is doing it opposite the Mandalorian in Grogu, which dropped seventy percent in after two weeks. It's at two hundred fifty million dollars right now, box office Pro probablyably going to settle like between three hundred fifty and four hundred. I don't even remember what we picked for someovie preview game. We could talk a little bit about some of the things we got right and wrong there. But even solo, which is the The biggest bomb really of the Star Wars history got to three hundred ninety three seven years ago, eight years ago Apparently it's losing IMAac screens to Masters of the Universe this weekend. First of all, congratulations to you. I'm very excited. and you know what? the early reviews are very positive about Masters of the Universe and I'm seeing it tonight. I'm excited for you. It's all coming up me I agree with you that I don't think it's gonna like radically change things. I do think that when we talk about how the studios will react We tend to just think of them as like Faceless morons, right? That' that's the perception of the people. Most of the people that I know who work in the kind of like middle class of movie executive. loveove when shit like this happens. They cheer. They're super excited. The problem with their jobs is they bring stuff like this to their bosses all the time and their bosses tell them no And so it's like, it's more like, will this wake the bosses up? Will this wake this sort of like actualual corporate overlords, the sort of like larger corporations that own these companies that employ people who like movies who get into the movie business to make movies, and then to get them off of the IV drip of only trying to make four quadrant, two hundred fifty million dollars movies that could potentially make two billion do, but probably won't To me, that is the issue. The issue is like the whole strategy can't be maximize every single movie If that's what you try to do. You're going to miss. likeike you're going to miss and it's going to be more costly than Finding ten Curry Barkers and trying and being like, oh, we lost ten million on this one instead of we lost one billion dollars on the future of Star Wars because we misplayed our hand for ten years. And honestly playing the middle because obsession Um is a huge, huge hit. like fooccus is biggest ever. It is. And backrooms, this is going to be a twenty four' biggest movie, but you know, backrooms still made less in its first weekend than Mandalorian and Grogu did. and its first weekend. you're they're not playing two hundred thousand dollars, but yeah. Yeah, but like but still and I think that there is. They aren't playing for a billion dollars. They're playing for you know, two hundred million and maybe they're going to get to five hundred million, which is but most studios and the way they are organized, which Unfortunately, it's not just wake up the studio heads, it's wake up the shareholders and or the multim media conglomerates that are being reorganized by you know hedge funds and private equity on a regular basis I'm They are constructed to only make the billion dollar or two billion dollar play. And it takes a long time to unwind that. And we are not seeing that unwind. We are seeing that at least on a bigig studio level U consolidate Yeah in the form of, you know, Paramount and Warner Bothers. Totally right. And the other thing that is starting to happen this year and one of the reasons why the box office is up is eleven percent is because not just because there's been New movies and exciting movies and movies that people like and also franchise movies that people still like and there will be this summer Spider Man Toy story, like, those movies are still. guess what a man is seeing ton What are you seeing tonight?inions and monsters, baby. Wow. Oh wow, that's right. Oh so excitited. This is so exciting. Oh He's been reenacting the trailer. That's also going to be He shited. But it's about double whammy of The COVID and the strikes, slowing down production for a long period of time. and then the lack of movies being made and in that interim time, a lot of movies going straight to streaming One of the things I was thinking about this weekend as I was watching a movie on Netflix was This doesn't make sense The idea of putting a one hundred million dollars movie directly on Netflix, it never made sense to me. I wrote about this as far back as like twenty seventeen on the Ringer. Yeah. I never understood what this was all about. TV, of course, Netflix's desire to take over television completely and now YouTube, I fully understand it. It's a great business model, they've been killing it. Their movie strategy for twelve years. I just don' I have no idea what they're trying to do. They're try to win Oscars but they're also trying to make three hundred and fifty million dollars movies And now more than ever, seeing what a movie like Backrooms can do And also seeing what a movie like Spidererman Brand new Day is gonna do That is the whole business model. That's the only business model that makes sense and I think it's okay like for documentary, it makes sense for stand upp comedy, it makes sense for I don't know, maybe like even an experimental kind of thing. and of course, for licensing old movies. Right That period of time That like eight or nine year period of time where huge movies would go direct to a streaming service. going we're going to look back on that as a complete oddity. likeike one of the strangest choices in the history of the business. Yeah, well also, none of them are very good. That's been a problem as well.ing a lot this weekend. But we're more unforgiving of those movies when they go straight streaming. That's the thing is they immediately got kind of like tained. They were like, oh, that's streaming movie. That doesn't's not as. I mean, it didn't help that they all looked like streaming movies and they were all edited and scripted and put together aesthetically to according to like streaming markers of how a movie should play pacing, you know, anyone but you did that. Chris talked about this last week, and they put it in theaters and it made three hundred million dollars, right? So it's like you can change your perspective if you just put a movie in a movie theater and see it with a crowd on a big screen. If you just put it on your TV, it's like it feels less than. Yeah. though anyone but you became a TikTok sensation and that's how it got people to the theaters, which that happens for, you know, gentle minions and one out of every twelve meetings, that movies that help happens for Meghgan onene, but not Meghgan two You know. So sometimes sometimes I do think that it's We can tell when a streaming movie is made for streaming because it is made in a different way. That's true. I was thinking a lot about stranger things this weekend in terms of backrooms and just and really feeling at a distance from But you know, a young person phenomenon, you know, just like a very something that kind of hit instantly, made well made, plays a nostalgia, you know separate worlds and clearly speaks to to young people in a way that we're all trying to like keep up with and be like, yeah, like isn't that cool Right. But and that was on Netflix, but that of course was a TV show. And there is just something about the basic building blocks of they have figured out how to make things in a longer and stretcher and more immersive way at home, but it does not fit for movies. It just doesn't. It really has never. It doesn't mean that there haven't been successful Netflix movies. There've been plenty of them. It's just they don't feel as baked into the long term culture because of the way that we receive them and because a lot of them just aren't very good. And you know, we see this year, Amazon is now putting all their movies in movie theaters and it's working, you know, Project H Mary, we'll talk about the she detectives. Th movies are doing well Masters of the Universe we'll see. But nevertheless they're trying So I'm very curious to kind of chart in the aftermath of Cliff Booth and Narnia, what they end up doing because it feels like they're on the outside looking in of something that is changing again in a culture. And this is maybe not a permanent shift These things are always evolve and maybe the backrooms obsession thing will be over in three months and we'll think about it again. That's in play It might we might just have a really bad second half of the movie here. We don't really know But I don't think so And I do think that teenagers are switched on to going to movies now. you can tell based on all the market research, and you can also tell just by going to movie theaters. That's the other thing I wanted to say is We talk about this stuff all the time on the show. I think about it all the time. It's become a weird obsession of mine to chart this over the course of history. in movie theaters all the time, and I also talk to people who make movies. Most box office analysts only talk to executives You can't listen to those people. They don't know what they're talking about. They're only listening to what people who are financially motivated and are using their previous experience are telling them to talk about. You have to talk to real people who go see movies all the time. because that's actually what indicates where things are going to go ultimately. So it doesn't mean that we're without flaw in how we analyze it. I make mistakes all the time. We can talk about our I mean game we fucked up a million things. How percent. you can frequently tell when something is shifting when you're in the space with people. Um I was thinking about one other thing too, which is like the young person component of this making the movies Cane is twenty aboutout to be twenty one Curry is twenty six. Yeah And I was trying to think of who's the youngest person who ever made a movie for Disney And the youngest I could think of was Dome Shi for turning red, which was just a few years ago. thirty three when she made that movie And I don't want to pick on Disney, but like when she when it came out, when she started it, when she I don't know. I would imagine she was probably in her late twenties when she started It's significant. It is. I think those movies go through the like long life cycles too. so maybe like as she got I wasn't trying to a shame her. I was just trying to point out that those take her process and also the difference between twenty seven and thirty three a lot changes It's very true. Saturn return. It's gonna to be okay. Yeah, you guys will be fine. You guys got him. So Kyle Buchan noted in his profile of Cane that Josh Trank, who made Chronicle at twenty seven years old, was the previest youngest person to have a number one movie in America. Obviously, Cane shattered that. I'm not sure that we need to like let every twenty something make a movie, but there is something also interesting about How will older executives headads of production, Uh even movie stars open their mind to working with younger people. It's yet to be seen How was PTA when he made booy night Definitely twenty, right? Seven, twenty eight. How old is your close personal friend Spielberg when he started? He was famously very young. They are famously over time. He lied. I think he lied about his age down of the studio a lot.. know lotots of young people and then there are the older people U L us who are trying to hang and maybe not totally getting it and also trying not to be too embarrassing about it, you know? Like I can't Yeah, I'm too oldld to be like, yes, I'm in the backrooms., you know? Like I just it's embarrassing for everyone. I just think if you're enthusiastic about this stuff, then it doesn't matter how old you are. But historically there have been people who make movies and are willing to make movies will be who will hang out with young people? Yeah, you just cited like two absolute comments in the history of the movie business. Sure. No disrespect to Criry Barker. I don't know if he's going to become Paul Thomas Anderson. He might, he might. But usually when this happens, it kind of augers a really big change It is the newew Hollywood. It is the nineties Sundance of tours arriving on the scene. couldould be that This could just be leveraging Oline fandom and a genre that is very applicable to the moment It's just interesting that there's not a lot of studio examples of people getting a chance to do this. It has to be more of a renegade thing and you're right that I mean, Ryan Kugler's not forty yet, right? He just turned just turned forty M started H happppy birthday. Ryan He was twenty eight when twenty seven when he made Fritvail too. Yeah. R. againgain more along and and Creed, he would have been much younger. so Yeah, he was, I think thirty or thirty one when he made greatesust saying You've named three of the most amazing filmmakers in the last hundred years. Like part of the reason why they are who they are. And I think this is another thing also to keep in mind and to like have some respect for both Kit Parsons and Curry Barker Everyone is going to be a genius, right? And we know that studios and producers and everyone who has any money to spend is going to be like hunting on YouTube or hunting on TikTok for the next great like Zoomer sensation. They will. And many of those people are talented, but not everybody is going to be really great. And so I think to just reduce it to the age is unfair, you know? I hear you. Al also just like don't think that the next person you watch on YouTube is going to be a star. L it takes more than that. Y.. That is that why we're not on YouTube anymore A couple of other things about this. I've given this quite a bit of thought. Just a pure horror movie culture moment. something er exciting as somebody who's spent his entire life obsessing over the genre for it to be at the absolute center of movie culture. And this has been the case ten years, I would say. It's been about a ten year stretch where We had the quote unquote, elevated horror moment and that dovetailed into a kind of mass consumption moment. And I think that those two things are very connected Um, And a lot of it was kicked off by Studios like Neon and A twenty four taking chances on younger, more ineperienced filmmakers who hadn't done stuff before I don't think this moment is necessarily like a problem for Universal. They have Blumhouse. It's not a problem for Warner Bothros. They have N line I am really interested to see if like Disney or Sony or Paramount or Lionsgate, or especially Apple and Amazon like start to care about this because it's a genre that most of those studios don't have not spent a lot of time on. Sony has, of course, with screen Gems and some other things that they've done over the years, Disney doesn't really make horror movies. They don't really make scary stuff at all they have in the past, but not really very often. Paramount, it's kind of come and gone. They did make Sile, which is a really important movie to this moment What does an Apple horror movie look like? I don't know. Widows Bay their TV show is fucking awesome. It's like one of the best horror things that's come out in the last ten years. So I'm curious about that. And ironically, neon and A twenty four like, Maybe not is at the center of this right now. Now obviously Backrooms is in a twenty four movie, but I don't think they have any more horror movies planned for twenty twenty six. Well, you and Chris talked about this a bit on obsession. Why are there no more horror movies in October? What's going on I really don't know. I mean, I'm sure some stuff will also get slated in there at this point, but it's weaker now. I thinkle of September. I don't understand what's going on with Fall Box office I don't understand September is January. The new Q four whatever they're all doing is not according to the rules that we have learned in the last to twenty years. I agree. And I don't I don't know what to make of it And maybe they have better information than we do or maybe they're only talking to executives. Yeah, I feel like last October was kind of soft too last year, whereereas October's past have been really strong. I'm not sure. Hey twenty four does have three movies on the slate, four movies on the slate that are all really exciting. I don't know if they're coming out this year.ne is Kyl Edward Ball's new movie that's akiming filmaker called Land of Nod. One is Ponos Cosmatos is Flh of the gods, which is vampire movie I think with Kristin Stewart U Charlie Pollinger who made the plague who I met a canan, who' a lovely guy. hisis new movie, Mask of the Red Death is coming. and Arkasha Stevenson who made the the first Omen, her new movie is also with A twenty four. So like they're still doing that thing, obviously.. I made a quick list of the movies that had to happen for this to happen. Okay. Here's what they are Okay The first one is The Witch, the Robert Egers movie I remember, which I think was a Sundance pickup F may twenty four. And I think probably kicked off this era. And then in quick succession, you get get out and hereditary and getet outut wins an Academy Award Hreditary is a box office sensation for r twenty four. How old was Arie Astor when Hreditary came out? He was in his early thirties? Yeah U Sam twenty years old though I mean, Well, listen, this is what I was trying to say you' under twenty five. Is that like Kain is and the twenty year old thing, it's just the exception.'re you're not gonna get another It's amazing. Congratulations. to him, but like you know, but so often it's like Barbarian is a movie that I wrote down, I think Peel and Crager are worth citing because they had entire careers as sketch comedy performers before they started making horror movies. And then Curry, who also was making sketch comedy, but then like cut out the eight years in between. It was just like, I'm just gonna to make a horror movie right away Mention smile, Terrifyer, Terrifyer two. those movies are a huge part of this skkinnamering T talkk to me, The Philippo Brothers, obviously being YouTube guys as well Five nights at Freddy's I remember that There's a big deal in this because that also was kind of like you know, Gen Z young millennial online culture I saw the TV glow you cited when we talked about the movies, Long Lgs and just the marketing campaign of long legs and getting people excited about that. And then last year, the double shot of Sinners and weapons. And then this year earlier this year I think we're going to get to the end of the year and we're going to overlook Iron Lung a little bit Markip Plyer Probably not because people are already putting together their end of year YouTube packages. So I would hope that his phone is ringing. Yeah. mean or his how do you message on YouTube? His might be the craziest because it wasn't distributed by a studio. Yeah and it cost fifty million dollars. but anyway Um, May was just amazing at the movies, and we went to Can J loved. We you know, just a lot has happened. Everything's going really well. It was great Do you want to check in on the summer movie game stuff We have one month of re. Sure, I don't think it's going very well for me because well about even. Not to spoil the greatest film of May pressure, but as we learn, u comps do not make for good weather. Oh yeah. And they do not make for good box office predictions or maybe for business in general, which like I kind of knew. I just didn't know where else to get numbers. I think you had some major misses, but you had some hits. And same same for me. Listen. And the other thing that I did was I I'm My strategy in general base on last year was like either really big or really small. And you know, backrooms is a sensation, obsession is a sensation, but they're not Minecraft and Super Mario Galaxy, numbers yet So The middle just in terms of like actual Dollar amounts a little bit more and that was just not my reading of the situation and I was wrong. That's okay. But luckily I've seen pressure now, so I know. Did you every hear that? I was wrong. You know what? If we went back, I'd challenge you honestly What you try me Lucas, anyone at home? Ducas is time for this. When I am wrong, I say it proudly. and cleanly on the podcast. And every time you're like, did everyone hear that? And they did because I that before. Okay. So the game we play you on the other hand. wont turn really red in the face. I'm so angry. Even when we know that you turned to me in Las Vegas and you said, Ray is not a skywalker Uh, that didn't happen. The summer movie preview game, did how do we play? The quickly the rules, domestic box office total we guess, metetacritic score we guess. If your guess comes within one point One point if it falls within five points of the metacritic prediction, five points if it's exactly right, one point, if it's within fifty million dollars of the box office prediction, five points within ten million, ten points within five million twenty points for an exact correct guess Dvil War' Prada I don't I think it's not set settled yet. Okay. So this is interesting. So you guessed two hundred ten million for the box office. I guessed one hundred eighty four. Yeah. I guessed fifty seven for Metacritic, you guessed sixty eight. Yeah. Metacritic score sixty three. so we're more or less right in the middle. You got a little closer. And then the box office total right now is two hundred nine million right on the money However The movie made six million dollars this past weekend and it's gonna keep making money. So it I could be losing points. Yeah. so you have eleven points Douil Wars product, which is really great. Yeah. this is a game where we want points. We want to get points. Yeah. I only got one point here because I underbid, but it's going to probably end up going on like two hundred twenty five, two thirty So then you're going to get a little further away. Yeah'd be closer to six points. Yeah How's it going your coach? Hokam We talked about, ye, feeling good about this one. My box office guest was eighteen. Yours was ten I guess seventy eight for Metacritic, you guess sixty two. It came in at seventy six on Metacritic. It's at sixteen point eight. That's great There's a chance that I'm getting right on the money here. I might it might get to eighteen with what's lingering in the box office Now this one's really fun. So I have eleven points. This is fine. This is the screwed up. This is the funniest one. It It's not both of us. It's very funny. Billy Eylish hit me hard and soft the Tour live, a movie we'll talk about momentarily on this pod I guess forty two million you guess won sixty. Once again, I used the Taylor Swift compom because I am told among the young people that Billy Eilish is as important to the youth as Taylor Swift. Yes Metacritic seventy one for me sixty five for you It's currently sitting at nine point nine million dollars. That's tough. Here's the other thing, co eirected with James Cameron. This is a brick. for Cameron. Yeah, a brick. Uh Meticric score was seventy three So I was pretty close on that one. I got two points. you've got zero points. Congratulations. Mortal comombat two. You know, this didn't do what I thought it was going do. I guess one thirty seven. You guessed sixty. I guessed forty four for Metacritic. You guessed forty six. you nailed the metacritic score Exactly. Well done. The box No science to this whatsoever. just yelling numbers. It's a game, which is much like most box office track. Yes. So this is seventy seven million dollars total box office right now, which is like fine, I think worldwide.'s biggest mortal combat movie for whatever that's worth. is God is, we talked about briefly on the show. I guess twelve million, you guessed eleven it came in at four point six Metacritic seventy four for me, fifty seven for you came in at seenty seven. I got six points. you got five Obsession. I guessed forty two million and I was nervous that that was too high You guessed fifteen million I guess sixty nine million for met sixty nine for metacritic, you guess sixty six for metetacritic. It's currently sitting at one hundred five And in S Medacritic score seventy seven. we both get zero points. Bye. We are rewarded with obsession in the world in the gray This is a movie. this over This is the guy Rich movie starring. Okay. Jake Gyllenhall And Henry Cavill. Wow. No humans have seen this movie. I'm learning about this honestly You predicted a fifty two metac crritic score. I predicted thirty seven And I'm surprised to learn that in the Gade made it to fifty three. It did, but the movie was in theaters for two weeks and now apparently it's coming to VOD on Tuesday of this week Um So yeah, I guess thirty seven, you guessed eighteen. It's sitting at five point six. I got two points. you got one. Okay. I love boosters. Interesting one, a little early to be coming in on these next couple because these movies just came out a week ago, but I guessed eighteen, you guessed nineteen million. Metacritic, I said eighty one, you said sixty four. Interestingly, it's only at a seventy. I thought it was going to do much better. and the box office is at' seven million. so we both get a point Passenger haven't seen this movie horror movie that's actually doing okay business right now. It actually exceeded both of our guests, I guess twelve, you guess nine. It's at fifteen million do after two weeks And I guess thirty four I'm in a critic. you guess fifty two is it forty one. I got ten points for this I't know if that's gonna h Um Mando and Grogu. Yeah Tough one Tough one. I guess two hundred seventy five for the box office. You guessed four twenty one It one third seven. I already explained that I had a flawed strategy The metacritic scores fifty three, I guess fifty two, you guessty forty eight. You know, it was interesting This made more sense in Cannne where it's about, you know the power of highyebrow cinema, but then I was in Paris afterwards Oing weekend of Mandalorian and Grogu which you would think would be an international. I saw nothing. I saw absolutely no mention of Mandalorian and Groo Paris In Paris.? Was it at the same time? I would assume so. And sometimes they open a little bit later. Still you, there was plenty of marketing, No marketing whatsoever, and there was plenty of Dvil Wars P product left over. I assume that all of those shows are streaming France as well that I'm honestly not sure. The next few are all may twenty ninth, so like a little too early to check in on them pressure, the breadwinner tuner. I did just want to point out that our guesses for backrooms are pretty crazy Uh, you guessed sixteen million Total, I guess sixty seven million has already exceeded that. I did guess eighty two on a metacritic score. It'sitting at seventy seven. You guess sixty four two points, but we're definitely going getting any points on the box office on that. R right U Currently the point totals, which will probably change pretty dramatically over the next few months, you've got forty three, I've got forty five Let' check back in at the end of July on this. I just thought it was useful because Backrooms and obsession just changed everything. And you know, like in my movie, u fantasy Vague that I'm in, which was a flutter with a conversation over the weekend. Ill bet. you know, I didn't pick obsession in backrooms. And if you picked obsession in backrooms you're wning cooking right now. Yeah. And so I think I was in like third place and now I'm in like eighth place because I just didn't have either of those movies It happens, you know, what can you do Okay. That's the closest we'll get to you admitting any sort of error. I'm wrong all the time. Okay. It's frequently whenever I'm speaking to my daughter.ose are the times I'm most wrong Dad, the no No dad. That's I hear that No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah. W. Okay. Okay, let's take a quick break and then talk about ten or so movies we missedight Hey, I just speMmo you for Rnt. Nice. Now I can instantly spend it whether I'm checking out online with Vemmo or using a Vemmo debit card Say more more exactly, because the more you do with themmo The more you get Like earning up to five percent cash backack with Veno Stash on a bundle of brands. So order more pizza? The math demands it. Get the Venmo debit card. Veno Stash bundle terms and exclusions apply. See terms of VenMmo. me slash dash term. Venmo check out notot available all merchants. Venmo Master card issued by the Bangcor Bank NA. This summer soccer is here And so are the watch parts Noober Eats has your Game D essensors covered Every you need to keep your crowd happy, deelivered straight to your door. Get wings, pizza, chips, dips, fresh ingredients, and more. Keep the soccer going, and all your game day essentials flowing. Order in so you can lock in for the games. Only on Uber es for a limited time. It's me the We don't need the jingle twice. Stop it. This is about vacation inflation and how priceline negotiates amazing deals on hotels, flights, and rental cars. Yeah, but I didn't mention that you can save up to sixty percent off hotels in the prriceline app. Timeline Fine. No one deals more deals than Please stop. Do you want to start with the sheep detectives? Yes Some begging and pleading for a discussion of this film. whichich we saw before we went to Cann. Yes. And then full disclosure opted to save until we got back from Can. We did. This is a nice movie that I think everyone is maybe losing the plot just like a little bit. Yeah. Well, okay, so' let's describe the details of the sh detectives just recently crossed one hundred million dollars in the box office. It's directed by Kyle Balda, who you may recall is one of the directors of films in the Despic Wable Mian Minions series. Okay. It's written by Craig Mazason who' of course the creator of Chernobyl and the adapter of the Last of Us and one of the you know celebrated screenwriters in the game right now. It's based on three bags full. This is a novel by Leonise Swan cozystery. a cozy is that subtitle of the film I No, thats that's the genre. that's a thriving genre. Gotch you. greatreat number of stars in this film.. In human form we meet Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Gallaton, Moy Gordon, Hong Chao, and your beloved Emma Thompson In voice form, Julie Louis Drefus, Brian Cranston, Chris O'Dowed, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey and Bret Goldstein Here's the plot. George Hardy is a shepherd who loves to read murder mysteries to his sheep never suspecting that they can understand him. When George is found dead under mysterious circumstances, the sheep decide to solve the crimes themselves, even if it means leaving their meadow for the first time and facing the fact that the human world isn't as simple as it appears in books You and I saw this with a fear that we were not doing right by the show by having an immediate review of the film And then we both saw it onn the eve of our trip to Europe And we were like, I think this can waade. Yeah This is nice, but yeah. and it is nice. and I don't want to ruin anybody's good time. I had a perfectly pleasant time at the film I thought of you a bit while watching it because of course you you love a mystery and I'm a connoisseur of this genre. Y. But you know, even on the cozy mystery spectrum that I just referenced. I I tend towards the Richard Osmonds and the Anthony Horowitz', those and the little more real life base. Okay. a little bit harder edge. Fewer talking animals And the other thing about this is that this is a This is a mystery that is also if not a parody than a send up or a comment on genre of their murder mystery and it's very self aware and the sheep are making jokes about how a murder mystery works because they've learned all that from Hugh Jackman, the Shepherd. R. And they learn their they use their reading habits to apply the trades of like the detective craft to the mystery in question and to assemble everyone at the end to do the big reveal. You know, they hit all the beats and they are aware that they're hitting all the beats You know, appreciate the medadness of it. They've definitely read a lot of murder mysteries. I don't need a comment. I still just like a murder mystery where it all happens and then at the end you are gathered together. And if you're gonna to be meta, I think I prefer something like Anthony Horowitz, who in addition to writing like four different mystery series, he does the continuations of the James Bond novels. and I think he makes British TV, he's very busy. They are The Medanness is way more structural and Congratulatory, but also clever as opposed to like whimsical. I'm not a whimsical person. Is I think what it comes down to? Yeah, I understand that. I'm not sure if I saw this so much as a send up as much as a mash up Like I think it's really like Babe meets Agatha Christie. You know, like that is really what it's trying to do. Now it is very remedial in terms of its mystery quality. It's not the most sophisticated. I will say About halway through the ro. this is pretty clear what's happening here shocking for my five year old. She had no idea that this was coming. And this was and that in a way I appreciated hearing from her. I didn't see this with her. My wife took her while we were away, but I liked talking to her about it because I watched her get interested in this kind of storytelling. and she was very confused why a person would even be murdered You know, and that's complicated to explain to a young kid. but The movie is very warm. It's very kind. Yeah, you know, even though it's about a murder It made me think about, did you read or watch the adaptation of Encyclopedia Brown at all when you were a kid? loved reading Encyclopedia Brown. I don't remember why I think there was a TV series as well, but the book I read so every single one of them I know. And if it brought me back to the feeling of reading Encyclopedia Brown where you're kind of like, so this is riffing on Arthur Conan Doyle kind of like doing the kid version of it. And like every kid needs that. And I think it's a cool movie for fourteen year olds. And if you like a cozy mystery, it's nice too. It's a very pleasant movie Um, The jokes are fine Yeah necessit' a kind of like goofy performance style that like Nicholas Braun is great at Um I don't know. it feels a little overstated the enthusiasm for it. but I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to ruin anyone's dayay. I'm glad everybody had a nice time. Yeah, you know. And it's It's for me before we went to Canon, before obsession and backrooms This was like, a wow, can you believe that people are going to the movies and like crying about talking sheep in a detective story that's definitely either for eighty five year olds or five year olds? Yes. Quite a few old people in my screening. R. There was no one in my screening. Oh, really. Yeah I texted you because there was no one else there, so I was allowed to get out my phone and say there's no one here Yeah Yeah. you know, it's doing it's doing well. It's doing well. Andce again, Hugeackman undeated Sure, I can do anything Sheep talking to sheep, belieievably Reading to sheep I thought it was good. Yeah. Any other thoughts on the shep detectives Will there be a second film Probably. Feels like is this part of a series? I don't, you know, I don't know because I have not read any Leon Swan, even though I do own some because my husband You know, when he travels, we'll go to the local bookstore and buy some like Joke comean a coded books. Okay. And I did get a Leonei Swan to me, I only realize this after the fact. not the last time in this list that I will say, o, I didn't realize that I accidentally own or consumed part of this novel. Okay. let' Let's stayirm firmly in your comfort zone here Let's talk about pressure. S sorry like you didn't have the time of your life. I had a great time. I didn't have as great a time as you did though. I've not seen you vibrating out of a movie theater like this in some time. but we'm talking about pressure whichich is in the new film directed by Anthony Marris. It's Pressure Colon, the untold story of D day Is that the actual title? That is the title. Well, no pressure is the I think that's a tagline I don't know. What are we calling? it's like the subhead? I don't think movies have subheads. I think on the poster as the subhead, okay? And also in all of the commercialing during the NBA playoffs Yeah It is definitely on the it is pressure the untold story of DJ just like it's topop gun Maverick No, that's not correct, but okay. Maybe they should have made it the title. They definitely have untold story of D day at the end of every single commercial showuring B. I think theyd need to explain what it means because pressure is a kind of a vague title, but it is an appropriate title and a kind of double entendre. The story of pressure is as follows, the fate of the free world hangs in the balance as General Dwight D. Eisenhower and meteorologist Captain James Stagg. Face an impossible choice, launch the D day invasion, or risk losing World War II altogether. First of all premise. just absolutely You know, And if you like a certain kind of cozy dad movie, Yeah, this is the the Npe Pluss ultra of Dad movies. It is so perfectly calibrated for what you want from a movie like this. Exactly. So it stars Andrew Scott Brendan Fraser, Kare Condan, Christmasine and Damen Lewis and a whole horde silver foxed A stern Britishmen having serious conversations in war rooms. They've taken over a country home.. I believe Suffolk Couse. Okay. And they everything is wood paneled I think there is actually like a spinning globe like there is in Inglorious Bastards. They don't open the top, but you you know, you like to think at some point that'll happen. Churchill invoked, but not seen in this film. Yes And There is a lot of yelling. There are a lot of weather maps. Lots of maps. The most thrilling part to me was The first title card or within minutes They give you like a time and place and they say seventy two hours until D day. And then they yell Day will be june fifth, like forty five thousand times. And of course, we all know Day was in fact june sixth Yeah, so you turned to me immediately. Did you not know that it was June thir? I know that because it's also Ruthie Baron's birthday. Okay. So it's and Rich Baron father in law would never let you ignore the fact that the They was also Day. So what's the implication there that that's when she took over the shores of the baron family. history dad. Okay So I mean, are' we all You got to mix all of us You' got to know that june sixth is also a D day. Yes. That's helpful to know because the tension is there and they just yell about june fifth for at least ninety minutes. Yes. And then there iss the climactic moment when Iike Dwight D Eisenhower as played by Brendon Fraser, who the first ten minutes, I was like, this is an unmitigated disaster. And then by the end I just I was like, this is this is a man in crisis who doesn't know what to do. Let me just say Brendon Fraser is not Ike. Like that's just this is not good casting. and it's not a bad performance. No. It's a good performance because you're fully invested in the story and his ye kind of frustration and confusion, but his also his willingness to hear out Stack who was played by Andrew Scott is the centerpiece of the narrative of the movie. Right. It's the primary conflict, it's the primary relationship Have you looked at a photo of . I've se I agree. And I also you know, the accents against the very like uptight British accents. Andrew Scott is playing stag as British Miranda Priestlely. Yes. He does like the no, no. he does, that's all. There's there's a clash, which is intentional because that sets up one of the major tensions of the movie. T two pressure systems colliding. But but also you're like, oh no, this is going to be really, really awful and then they settle in and you become really invested in pressure systems and Northern Ireland and weather stations and balloons. You need atmospheric pressure as well as, you know, they're not checking all the right data And I just I mean, just a couple electric moments, including when Andrew Scott yells when he finally loses it in one of the great cabinet meetings and he's like, what is And it' was just like, yes. You're screaming about I predicted hurricane, it was great. And but that is like the true peak of the drama is Andrew Scott just yelling about like a heretofore unmentioned weather system. But why has he not mentioned it? I' think u til that moment in the movie. It's like his big reveal It called drama Yeah I mean, I just And so Chris Macina's character just completely overlooks nineteen Yeah. So he's cherry picking the data As we know that statisticians do. I know, I know. And thats what that's what obsession can go to number one The Ns can be in the finals, like this this data is meaningless. All we need to do is follow our hearts and our instincts as Stag does here. Andrew Scott, just one of the guys right now just will watch him do anything. This is a very odd part about a very recessed man who's having a lot of difficulty. His wife is pregnant. he's left her at home so that he can work as the chief meteorologist in Northern Europe during World War two. Yeah. What a very strange job that is. I never would have thought you could build a movie here on this character. This movie very effectively does that. They sure do I have to be honest, when it's time to dramatize the weather, they dramatize the weather That was a nice. certainly do. Extremely exciting The view of this movie is great. is literally biblical. Beautiful. This is a fun movie. It's a very particular flavor. You have to like this kind of World War two storytelling, this kind of men in rooms kind of barking at each other about the fate of the world as we know it. You have to channel your inner history, dad. Yes And we did also see it at one PM on a Friday, which I also was many old people, many retirees. Some young people. S met. We did. and they were also fired up. It's a fun time with the movies if you dig this kind of movie. I would recommend people check it out. Any other thoughts on pressure No, but maybe I'll just yell. What ing throughout the rest of this. That's really really. There is a Sircinian moment in the movie Kare Condan, once again playing the gal who makes sure the guys are okay becoming a bit of a thing here. Banches have as sharon one. She keeps popping up is like Oh you're a weak cool. But you'll be allright. There's one more. Oh, train dreams Train dreams. Yeah, yeah ye ye Yeah. She's being typecast, my beautiful Carrie Condan Okay. Why did she and the wife look so similar? And then they did they did some intentionally rel. I think that's onurp but he needed a kind of a female support system. Okay. A woman who believed in him. Right. But the way that they edit it suggests for a little while that Carrie Conan is gonna replace the wife U I didn't see it at that. was were shipping them. I wasn't shipping them. I was a little concerned that the editor was and I was like, I don't know. Let me ask you this. Yeah. A lot of these movies they have this trope of the man has the answers, but he's so he's so stormy inside. needs a woman who can look him in the eyes and say I believe in you. Fllow your follow your light, follow your path Do you feel that you need a man who believes in you Be great I have one. Yeah. knocks, who is it Also the other, the other half. is that they need a woman to believe in them to be great Yeah alsoso to like handle all plans and logistics. That's the tr. You know. And she's just like here's how you're gonna get from A to B. And I handle all the correspondence and I know when you need to eat and when you need to beware And I don't have anyone doing that for me. I'm still the planner. It still when it's you know Not on this show. Well, no, not on this show, but when we travel. That's true. You know, It's like whereere are you eating? Exactly.. Where do we go? What's gonna be the I believe in equality among genders. Okay that's beautiful. That's how I see things. We both do things very well Okay, let's try what I love boosters. Okay. so U This is the new film from Boots Riley, his first movie since Sorry to Bother You Boots was on the show for that movie, a movie I really liked Um On my way to the office today, I was listening to the coup which is a Boots' hip hop group that he was in starting in the early nineties that I was a huge fan of in the nineties and two thousands and The first line of the first song on his first album. Presto read the Communist manifesto. and I love boots and I've always loved boots. I'm fascinated his career and the way that he has like. creeped into the mainstream Yeah in a way that I never would have guessed when he was making his albums are called Steal this album Genocide and Juice, like he he really is like an on the edge genuine progressive artist who has made a new movie with Kiki Palmer, Naomi Aki, Taylor Page Poppy Lou, Aa Gonzales, Lake Heeath Stanfield Will Polter, Don Chheetle, and Demioo The movie is about professional shoplifters who embark on a wild adventure as they target a cutthroat fashion mogile This movie has more creativity in it its rightite sum Almost any movie you'll see this year. and yet I don't think this movie works at all And so it's like a fascinating right seeing and I'm like ready to pull apart with you I say this is somebody who roots for boots, but I was like, this didn't hang together for me Well, that's the thing, right? It doesn't hang together. I think it works beautifully in details and in moments and whether it's a specific image or a color or a joke or you know, a political observation that are all threaded together notot even scene by scene, but really kind of twenty second clip within twenty second clip. There is so much that is smart and funny and insightful and unlike anything you've ever seen and like visually memorable, which is very memorable. you know, respectfully to pressure, not something that I can really say. No Pressure looks like every other movie made just like it. This movie looks like no other movie. Yeah, but I would say much like backrooms, the what the more like movie it tries to be, like the, you know, the basic Fot the of the film and the character arcs, quote unquote Don't donon't really gel, donon't seem to matter as much as all of them much smaller but bigger ideas nestled within the movie Yeah. And, you know, I didn't really understand like It's cool to make a movie about fashion and again offers a lot of visual possibilities, but I was like, why is Demi Moore as a fashion mogul the The villain of this Wh you a stand in should you should talk about that. I mean, I'm interested in it. So You know, in the nineties in New York, like boosting was a real thing. R. You had kids, kind of ripping and running polo gear and Tommy Hill figure gear. That was a huge moment You know, in hop culture, the kind of spread out wide Um, And some of it was considered like this kind of mischievous rebellious culture, some of it was considered a political statement.ight. There's a long history of this. The movie has like I think a lot of the mischief and the kind of blow it up detonation quality that a lot of Boots' music has It's interesting that he Every character in this movie is a woman and that he is completely position this story to be about women seizing power, but against other women who are participating in a much wider culture of capapitalistic brainwashing effectively.. I really want to know what you think. We didn't we saw this together and did not say a word to each other about it because I'm super interested in situating the world of fashion. as the epicenter of kind of misdeeds of capital culture And I mean, it's perceptive and In some ways, I do think, I mean, you know literal. it's that Jeff Bezos you know, started retail operation and you know, started with books and buying like all of the junk that you either don't need or could have previously gotten a target. And now he's gotten a huge amount of money and is like buying his way into the M Gala. And you know, Devil Wears predit too has a Bezos like character. It was it's sort of like the pinnacle of a certain kind of performmentative of wealth and that it is a And also that It signifies, you know, quite literally like you can see the money. And it sets the expectations of how to spend money. and, you know, embedded within that is the idea that the money is the goal. So I think it's savvy in that sense I didn't but but this is the thing and obviously like, you know, the boosting culture and the political impmlications of that are also They're smart, but as the movie plays it out, it kind of like gets away from those ideas. I didn't really understand all the specificities of the particular fashion company that Demi Morre is running, which is like You know, they do drops, but they're monthly drops and They're all one color. There's like a So it's not really a supreme type thing and there's also like an American apparel quad quality to it, I didn't really understand what it was trying to also in terms of the consumption and like a high fashion quality too where it was like Christy Smith, I think is the name of the brand. Moore's label is like the most expensive label, which is why target her label for all this boosting, which is like One part kind of Social terrorism, one part. statement making, one part Tour acquisition, you know, like and it's kind of all of these things. and so He's kind of digging into I think a really interesting psychological collision, which is Even if you want to make dramatic change in the world, you still like fly shit. Like that's a cool idea You know, if there's something that even even for boots, who we ran into in Vegas, right? And still like, you know, he is a very fashion forward person. Like he is somebody who's thinking about the way that you present and that's baked into this idea. But he's everything that he does is undergirded by the power of collectivist social change. And the movie ends with like a very literal explication of the way in which he wants to see the world change And I would say that I found it a little boiled down ultimately, like how he saw the world changing. but and a little bit like oversimplified to communicate the message I agree with what you're saying, which is that in the in the minor moments, like in Kiki Palmer's performance, right. The movie is a lot of fun. And like in the Grace notes of all of the The media coverage of Christy Smith and the boosters and just, you know, the political social world at large are very funny and it's a media, you know, media criticism baked into like B role within a movie than a movie. So it's there is so much there's so many ideas, right? And and it's jamacked, and there's always something to look at. But I agree that likeike on a macro level falls a little flat. Yeah. think There's like a couple of other movies I thought about like John Carpentererss they live. I feel like there was a huge influence on this movie that has like a big reveal kind of in the second half of the film that I thought was Clever and that's certainly not a subtle movie either. Like the message that that movie is sending to you is pretty profoundly like we're being tricked, and there's only one way to break the code here. as a movie watching experience I just felt myself outside of it a lot of the time. And it wasn't because I disagreed with the political point of view or anything like that. It was more like, you know, what a movie is trying to have a tone, and there's an absence of pacing, and you can feel it kind of moving in a shambolic way. When Popy Lu's character comes into the film opens up this other huge global perspective on what is actually transpiring in the world. But it also introduces a technology that is sort of confusing and a bit elaborate. And we don't quite know what this kind of McGuffin type machine does and it does a lot of different things and maybe too many things to make the movie as coherent as I want it to be. I will say Isisa Gonzalez in the movie as Rory Cochrane from Dazays to Cfuseed was amazing. I loved her doing this. It was so nice to see her not just be like eye candy bombshell girl holding a gun, like to be a complete stoner was very entertaining. Um I just I walked do I feeling like a little limp I completely agree. I will say Clothes are good and interesting and creations on their own, which is not always true in a movie about fashion and this for being a movie about the line between fashion as art or commodity or you know, how that intersects It had ideas. I thought it like looked really good and also was done in a way that it understood. like the color tones and everything really did speak to speak each other compositionally, which I thought was great. and then Like a lot of the effects were practical, which I enjoyed that. I appreciated it. Yeah. It felt very handmade, felt very Jim Hensony at times. a lot of the stop motion animation being used. That st was cool two yards a score, I thought was really cool. It was like, I don't know if that score totally worked in the movie, but I'd like that he made that choice to do something that is like that has Sonic cues that are wildly different from any other movie. Like it does feel like a completely different kind of a thing and I have to tip my cap to it, even though while I was watching it, I was like, this is such an on paper thing that didn't totally convert. Sort of speaking of, Billy Eilish hit me hard and soft Colon the Tor parentheses Live in three D. That's a lot of words for one movie. I didn't see this movie in three D. Okay. I did You saw it in three D? I did No kidding. Well, listen, I do the work. Wow. You really showed out. I the guy who does his job? you must be the other guy. Well, I think we know that's not true So I saw this moie with my daughter who likes Billy Irish, but I wouldn't say it's like overwhelmingly familiar with her one U She's not a scholar. When I was sitting there watching this in three D, I did think a lot about how you said that your wife and daughter are both big Billy Isish fans. and I was like, I wonder how this is gonna to go down with Alice. Yeah, Eileen loved it becausecause she loves Billy Eilish's music. So she had a great time, but I mean, this movie is very standard So the idea of like James Cameron being attached to a dramatic mind blowing Billy Eish movie, like, it isn't. It's a concert movie. Sure. It's a very straightforward concert movie. This seemed like a cool concert Yeah. Bys well filmed. I liked that there was a little bit of like that when she was off stage, you went with her. And so you know, you spend a decent amount of time under the stage as she's moving back and forth and you either are the camera sometimes or you're, you know, following closely with her. I thought that was a cool way. It was it was filmment also especially since there is like no choreography to film show That's true. Well, I thought, especially at the very beginning of the film, when you see her in the box before the bigger rev, that was very cool. And I was hoping for kind of more moments like that. It was a de to Katy Perry part of me Oh, is that featured in that where she's Well, yeah, you don' remember and then she gets the text from I mean Now she must be very thrilled that she got a text that Russell Brand was divorcing her. And then And then she like puts on her Katy Perry face and rises up. which s more the box. Yeah, but she's like down below. Will Charlie XX go in a box in the moment? feel like she might have also done something like that maybe I was thinking of a harness. I think that she's like in some sort of below the stage thing and then she has to rise. This is a tricky one because Billy Eilish was the subject of a pretty long and expansive documentary about her life five years ago that R.J. Cutler made. that Apple put out. Yeah. So like she's already had what I think would have been the most interesting component of this. and you know, weve just talked about Madonna and Madonna movies on our friend Yasi Holic Show Banceway, which is coming out I guess later this month, and we talked about Truth or Dare And of the all time G. Truth through Dare has what this movie has, which is like incredible live performances. and then the backstage stuff is amazing. It's what makes the movie?ight The movieiess backstage stuff is okay It's fine. It's nice. I thought it was amusing when Billy Elish taught James Cameron about Eyeliner J When she's like, seeee, when you go it out like this, he's like, wow, you can really see it from a different distance. likeike, yes, James Cameron. That's somethingomething tells me he knows about makeup, having been making movies for roughly forty years. I think I wanted a little more from this. I think I was hoping for a little bit more depth. It's ulimately just the concert film. It's not aad concert film It was okay to see in a movie theater Maybe the three D was the did that impact you in a? No And in fact, I thought it was it was cool in the concert moments, but everything behind the scenes, it was kind of I was sitting on the side so and not the best three D technological production, so everything was a little blurry. Okay I as someone who is lightly familiar with Billy Eish, appreciated it just as a primer of like, what's going on here? Oh You know, I mean, I know some of the music, but It was interesting to think about her in relationship to All the other pop stars are who have made these types of movies and even what they're putting on stage is so very different from what she is. So that's cool. I mean, that also means that my brain had the time to be thinking about those things. But that's fine. you know, we like an intellectual exercise. I will say that I noticed I immediately came alive this second her Charlie XCX clab started playing and I was like, all right, so I'm just a Charlie girl in a Billy world. Yeah Eileen and I were talking about this. Do you think Charlie is in the number two spot generationally behind Taylor Swift where it's, you know, h No, I don't think so. I would love for her to be. Staticallyue for me. You think so? you think was that big? No, no, no, I meant Belly Eilish Oh, you said Charlie is number two. So I was like. And I was like No, I wish. Yes, I do.. I mean, that's why I guessed however much money I guessed, which it made none of, which what happened there No one went to I don't I don't know. I just don't think that the u Maybe the audience just don't went to the show and we're satisfied with that. Maybe the love for the most recent album is lower than where she was before. I mean, if her spotify numbers are bombed. I know. That's why I several billion stream song. I understand. Yeah. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Maybe this isn't just something people wanted. Maybe it was the time of year when it released. I don't know. the movie goes out of its way in a very similar way to the Taylor Swift movie spe a lot of time on the faces of the young women at the show singing along.. And obviously Billy is very inspirational to a lot of girls because she kind of rejects a lot of the expectations of a traditional pop star. whichich I liked my daughter being exposed to that too. I like the way of showing that like Billy dress the way that she dresses and does what she wants to do in that respect. But the songs are still like Pure pop songs.ike they're pretty working in a very similar tone and style as you know, some combination of Charlie and Taylor and Chapel Roan and Sabrina and D Lipa and like, you know, it's all these kind of things mixed up in in a blender. So U I don't know why it didn't hit, but it didn't really hit that hard. Okay, we're going to introduce a new segment This is Amanda's Geopolitical corner. Yes. Are you ready? Born ready Okay, so I have seen two filbs that you have not firstirst I saw Nine months ago in Venice Italy, while jetlacked with Yasis Soalk, speaking of fans play. It's called The Wizard of the Kremlin directed by Olivia Assas, screenplay by Olivia Assas, and Emmanuel Carer based on a novel, The Wizard of the Kremlin. that I bought in a bookstore in I believe Charles De Gal Airport and read three chapters of in translation. let's be real not reading. was this I think I must have bought the book in twenty twenty four. Okay because it was a it was a sensation. And so then it was translated and then it was sold at like the, you know metro, whatever store and let terrible terminal. to yourself, I want to read a fictionalized account of Well it wason's Kremlin. Well, it was built as a thriller, a political thriller. It was sort of the toping person. Tom Clancy of, you know, France, Germany and' And then you read Tom Clancy novels I I don't think I've read any, but I've seen all of the films. We'll get back to that. when you were like, exxcuse me,. have you seen the film Jack Ryan? And it's like, Well I mean in the series Jack Bran and I said I checked out a couple episodes, because I like to know what's going on with Jack Bryan. do like these know Hunnt and Prad October,arrison Ford, Clear and present danger. Shadow reccruit, of course if that's the Ben Halflick one? No? Listen Ben some of Shadow recruit is Chris Pine. Chris Bryan. Right, all our guys have been Jack Ban. So some any one of your guys No. I mean, I liked the office, you know, back it was I feel like you and Krosinski were like pretty close in like twenty fifteen and it's gone a different paths. And I have to say, you should be happy. you know I like because people said I resembled him in. And you were also doing like the directed camera like We we had a tonal vibe. And you've diverged a little. And tell you, John Krasinsky, a very complicated reputation in Hollywood. He was on this show once for aQui placelace He was lovely and actually completely upended a lot of what you hear about him out in the world. Right. Maybe he was just performing, you never know, but he's still a big star with this show. A quiet place good. I like it. I'm a fan. Yeah Anyway That's the next movie. This is Wizard of the Kremlin, which is a film in which Jud Law plays Vladimir Putin And Paul Dano plays his spinctor who is loosely his name is Vadim Barnoff in the movie and the book, but he's loosely based on real person. Okay And it is about Um, he's time working for Putin and really working in Russia after the opening of the Soviet Union and the rise of Vladimir Putin. And it's from the perspective of the guy who the cynical kind of left hand man who or right hand man who Five makes everything happen and then kind of sees Putin getting beyond his grasp. You know, I've created this beautiful monster. then and then here's how it goes. Once again, it features Jud Law as Vladimir Putin in terrible orangish short like cropped wig and shirtless, if I recall a fair amount. Jude laaw was great in this. And I is that not just your Jude laaw bias Part of it is it's the only exciting part of an otherwise kind of weirdly paced Olivia As ass movie where people just like explain things to you in large blocks of text in questionable accents. And I just want to say that this came out before the whole Tarantino Paaldano thing. And or I saw it before the Tarantino Paaldano thing. And I thought then to myself independently that Paul Dano was misscast in this. But that does not mean that I don't value his work other places, and we've all learned many people appreciate Paldano In this one, it's a weird accent. I don't know what's going on. That's so funny because that's the most exciting thing to be about this on paper is Paul Dano doing a Russian accent. I texted you last night I was I'm just downright mad. I haven't seen this. This This is a very specific kind of thing that I enjoy. Yeah, which is like a preposterous political docy drama. Right. The problem is that it is more It's not as preposterous as you want it to be or it's preposterous in the wrong ways. Okay It is a doctor dram. It's not a thrill And some of it is is plotting and is now let me read you This you know, political text that's been translated through like four different languages by the time it's being spoken to you. Yeah. I had a decent time. I don't think it totally works weird situation here where Oliviia Oas I think really one of the great European filmmakers last fifty years. Yeah. has been in a real downswing since this show started. So we haven't had as much opportunity to talk about his work. We didn we both lik nonfiction, which we talked about in twenty eighteen And then in twenty nineteen, he made WAp network which went Netflix, which I don't think we' ever even discussed And then he made a film in twenty twenty four suspended time that I haven't seen U which is I think an animated movie Um You know This is someone who he made Ermap and Bording gates, summer hours, you know, clouds of Sills Maria, person sh right before we Some great films. So I'm still holding a candle for him. I think me too And when you're able to watch this at home It'll be like a it'll be a real little it'll be a pressure type treat for you in a different way. I'm looking forward to it. All right, so you've already teased that you did see. Sure. Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Coolin Ghost warar. No ghost war Now there's two ways to think about ghost warar. Yes. Now presumably ghost to sort of like like a spook, like like like a spy who disappears gost protocol situation whichich I understand, but what this made me think of is like what if ghosts had a war? Like what if there was like a Lord of the Ring style movie about warring clans of ghosts Wouldn't that be great? That seems like a very you thing that I would support you in. And wait, I tell a story. Yeah. I'm gonna amanda you right now.. I went shopping with my family yesterday. We're having just a lovely ear Uh, well we went to get we were going to get brunch at a restaurant Pasadena A forty minute wait, we went across the street to a breakfast burrito place called BBad. It was fucking amazing. Order our breakfast burrito, walk to the back to wait for our order. It is revealed that BBad is connected to the Pasadena Hotel, and then you can just sit in the lobby or in the atrium of the Pasadena hotel and eat your burrito there and play chess with your family as I did. That's for great. We had a wonderful time.way just went a mile down the road after we did that and went to H and M, just got some clothes for Alice, you know, going to school next year. Sure the summer stuff. Sure at the Piseo at the Piseo. Yeah the movie. I walk by that H and M often. We're sitting in the in the laza area outside of the recently redone.' very beautiful. Yeah. Alice is jumping off of things and terrifying me. Behind us come three men dressed up. One man is dressed as Jason Vores. he's got a hockey mask on. One man is dressed as some sort of Ax mododa And another man is dressed as theart unspecifiedy Unspecified, Or maybe I just didn't catch the reference. the third guy was wearing the Heart's Eyes mask I remember remember H Heart'sy, the horrorvie that came out last year? Yes And he was dressed as that killer And I was like, that's weird what are these people doing here Why are they terrifying my five year old daughter in the plaza of the Regal Piseo And we get in the car out of the parking lot, we're pulling out and I see in the local convention center to the right, mononster Pallooa is happening. It's been a three day convention full of monster stuff. And you only found out And I didn't know it was happening and I missed it. And then that led to a long conversation about ghosts and what are the best kinds of spooky things in movies my daughter that was great. And I'm thinking about ghost warar and I want to see A war of ghosts. Okay Well, maybe this could just be Jack Ryan Col and Ghost War without Tom Clancy. and it could be the ghosts of all the people that Jack Ryan has killed over the years.redible. I know. said amazing things are happening in the big ficture.ways. Anyway, this was not that. This was sort of like the Down Abbey movie version of Jack Ryan, which after four seasons of Jack Ryan, which I did not see and did not know that there were four seasons U They've made a film Well, wouldn't you you will be shocked to learn. So Jack Ryan as played by John Krzinski. since we last met him has Left. The CIA He's a civilian. He's on Wall Street. He's trying to make it work as a normal person, but they need him for just one more job. Okay so he's drawn back in. It turns out that the job that they need him for is that it' it's basically a born identity in reverse where there is like a Tas What was the Borne program called Taskmaster, something? Do you remember this? I don't. Anyway, the program that creates Jason Bornes, it's a similar thing. One of those exists. and has gone rogue. Okay. But you're on the side of Joan Allen trying to get everybody down. A see. I feel like I'm watching Spielberg talk about two thousand one the master cook Anyway, at some point, Sienna Miller shows up because she's at my six and it's a joint task force to defeat whatever this program is called. Okay. And this guy who's just running around London, Dubai New York, I forgot to say guys that the way that Jack Ryan is recruited back into the CIA is that he is on a jog on their West Side Highway. And's all this is clearly all they shut down many parts of New York City in order to film him running outside. He crosses the Westide Highway pring. He's on Greenage Avenue for at some point. and then he does an evasive maneuver through bookmark, the Mark Jacobs store in the West Village. O course justust featured prominently U and then it turns out that it was just Wendell Pierce and and the CIA trying to get him back Uh, things things work out You know, there ares some setbacks. there's some ghosts added and then u I think that I think John Krzinsky is going to and Jack Ryan are going to stay in the CIA again. Civilian life, not for him He's working on Wall Street Yes. Is that Canon For Jack Ryan? I actually didn't look that up. I was too busy because there's an allusion to like a relationship that didn't work out. So then I went back and read all of the descriptions of episodes for seeason four to find out if there was like more to the love interest story. couldouldn't pin that down on Wikipedia. So I moved on Sounds like you should watch all four seasons of this series.. I'll never see this I'll never see it. There's no shots, anybody involved. So but you know, so I saw one I saw what's going on in Russia. I saw what's going on in the US, London, and then the, you know, various global communities that they terrorize Just in general, not great you know. That's my geopolitical report. You know, there's timimes are tough. There's a real one to one here with the Mandalorian and Grogu though because that is also a movie that is based on a streaming series and that very much I assume that this movie feels Kin to the series Y having seen episodes of the show that it doesn't feel dramatically different. Maybe the stakes feel a little higher. No a little more action. The opening set piece is a bunch of actors, you know, in a gun battle. all look just enough like more famous and more expensive actors that I kept being like, wait Is that, you know, is that so and so and it's and it's it's nobody. Well' just a bunch of mayaybe to the point hard working men that I was making about u stream movies and movies going straight to streaming L like maybe this continues to be a coherent way to do this This is a TVv It's a TV movie. exxactly. in the Mendolor and Grou, in many ways, is a TV movie. And it's probably going to do really well in Disney plus. Yeah, but we say that, but you and I saw all three Downon Abbey movies in theaters and loved them. I did love them, but I don't know if they were cinema Like they would have hit just as. The second one was cinema because you aren't going to get to the French Riviera on on that PBS budget, you know I guarantee you, ghost workork cost a shit ton more than any of the downtowny. Everywhere. It was so crazy And and poorly, it looked quite bad That's too bad Anyway Thanks for watching this. This episode. You shocked me last day when you told me you watched this. shhocked me. Well, I detected you while I was watching it because again I had some time for other things, went real deep on the real realil. So I'm up to date on all my things, and I know it's up with Jack Ryan. Okay, you're not up to date on Powerbell and I'll tell you about it quickly. Interesting movie, not a successful movie. Directed byohn Carney probably best known for once movie musical that I like quite a bit. This is a movie that he and Peter McDonald I think wrote some years ago and there was in a drawer and got pulled out of a drawer and they were able to sell it and make it. And it's about a guy named Rick Power, who's a wedding singer living in Ireland. And he is at a wedding one night and he meets a kind of aging sort of washed up boy band singer who's played by Nick Jonas. He's not playing himself, but maybe lightly inspired by some of his experience and Buds, they become quick buds and they have a little jam session together. And while there, Danny, who's played by Paul Rudd in a very liable performance starts playing one of his songs that he's written And it's an undeniably catchy song And Nick Jonas who' trying to kind of relaunch his career, goes back to the States And he effectively adopts the song. He takes them a piece of what the Danny character or the what the Rick character has done and he expands upon it and it relaunches his career and it becomes a huge hit And then Rick who has no documentation of this moment and no documentation of this song recorded anywhere in the past. tries to reclaim ownership and reclaim his own sense of personal . So yesterday in reverse Sure. Yeah. There's something to that. A little bit less fame. Nobody else remembers Well, but including, you know, the song There's a beautiful component of the movie. But just who Rick wrote the song for and what it means to him and what it means for the song to be taken from him. And that won't spoil for people who haven't seen. Is it a girl thatad I'm not going to say yes And I liked that. Yeah, I bet. Like this is not really a movie. And like the way that it resolves is not satisfying. I don't think. Okay. So copyright does not revert back to Paul Rud. It's complicated U that's what that's it always is. Yeah I will say it's really sold by the fact that Paul Rudd is just winning. He's just it's just fun to be around. It's nice to see him not in Sandex. It's nice to see him not in anaconda movie, justust being like a normal person for the most part, evenven though there's some curiosity about why this American guy is heading up in Irish Wedding band Sure. But they kind of sell it, you know, as they filmed up with an Irish girl moved there Yeah and had a kid. That's better than asking him to do an Irish accent. I agree with that. People someone who attempted one twelve minutes ago and failed. But just I mean, in general with movies that are set in the present day, I think we could just be a little more you know, understanding and accepting of this global community we've built. like sure Pople do move other places and they can just keep their normal accents. Yeah. It's o. sureure, I agree. So you're pro immigration is what you're saying. Yes. Yeah, me too. Yeah, this hasn't stuck with me. Okay. I saw it was. How is the song H right now. I don't remember how it goes, but I honestly really like it. And it's kind of like the only reason to see the movie. Okay. Okay, what's next? remarkably bright creatures. Y. Watch this morning. This is a Netflix original film Do you know the premise of this? I don't Okay So here here's the premise, which is that Sally Field is an older woman and living in the Pacific Northwest and down on her luck in life thingsings have not gone her way. And then Lewis Pullman comes to town thingsings have also not gone his way in life. And they not it's not a romantic thing. don't raise your eyebrows like that. They just they strike up a friendship and they teach each other things about the world. you know, in like a quirky small town in the Pacific Northwest Here's the twist. is narrated by an octopus It is straight up today she works at an aquarium and she's friends with this octopus Named Marcellus And then obviously, Louis Pullman's character also comes to work at the aquarium and becomes friends with Marcellus. Obviously. who? is voiced by Alfred Melina and narrates everything that's going on. So you are watching this from the perspective not the movie's not shot entirely from the perspective of an octopus obviously Be but he does escape his cage or I'm sorry, his tank more than I thought it was capable for aquarium creatures to get out of their tanks Um Yeah, he knows a lot about the town and the world because as you have well What is the title of this movie, Shan Fetes? Well I respect the octopus's intelligence, but is he absorbing the conversations that are transpiring in the aquarium? why and Sally Field asost war situation. He's having a lot of conversations with him He's sort of like a silent but supportive therapist. You know, it's like an emotional support octupist. It' based on a novel I think so. Okay. Yes twenty twenty two novel. I haven't read it. Anyway watched this film You know what Parts of it wereere like the town and the little characters were a little funnier and sweeter than they needed to be. Once again, this is a movie narrated by an octopus as performed by Alfred Melina. so You know, I don't know What, um Louis Pullman Watch. Yeah. How's it going with him as a leading man was he was charming in this. This I kind of put in the I loveem lessons in chemistry box of streaming probleabblem that no one will talk about And things that he signed on to probably before the, you know, the glow up But maybe that's where became the future of the MCU. I guess so. He wasn't bad He performers a radio head song. What? Yeah, because he's a he's in a bit he's in a bit hold on. It's from Pablo Honey. I forgot to u I forget the name. He performs a Pablo honey song Pablo honey song It's not Mike night. No, it's not creep Um And hold on, the internets out. Anyway so he's in a band called mash sausage or something with a sausage. Yeah, but they any such names. they they dumped him, you know, So his band's done His family life is not solid, but but he does like the local, he meets a local woman who runs a paddleboarding shop And saddleboard. Yeah and Sally Fields helps Paddlebbard Yes, and it is it The point of contention is that they are paddle boards and surfboards and it's embarrassing that he doesn't know that Um Sally Field facilitates a romance. paddleboard the one you stand on Yes, what do you think it is? I don't know. I'm just double checking And want get to do this pullent situation. It like a great core workout Oh, great. Okaykay, cool. Yeah, becauseuse you have to, you know, I'll get right on that Okay, so you would recommend remarkably bright creatures. You That is my report of remarkably baky joke.. That's interesting that we spend time on that. You saw a propeller one way night coach. I did. yeah. Okay, let's talk about that. I want to talk about mortal comomat too, but let's talk about proropeller first Thisvie is directed by Johnravolta, premiered at Ken Fil Festival. We didn't go. You talked to bigig game about going. No, I fucked up because I went with you to the the Stehven Soderberg John Lennon documentary, which I shouldn't have done. Like we were there to hold Stehven accountable. okay? So now we could say I guess so. The AI experiment did not work Don't do that again. of course I agree with that. John Travolta directed a movie. This is his first film as a director I can't is the Poplo honey song Oh, I can. Yeah. That's not a bad song. I thought he did a very hous job. but I' never guessed that in a million years. Travolta wrote and directed this movie. It's based on his children's novel, which is called Propeller One Way Night Coach. This film is sixty two minutes long. It's on the Apple TV plus streaming service right now Um It's about a little boy who goes on a couple of flights one night with his mom. Yeah, That's the whole movie.. He just keeps going on planes and talking about what it's like to be on a plane and talking to people on planes. Right What was this? I mean It is actually very sweet and kind of well made, but I this is a not a form of entertainment. Again, a lot of attention paid to production design. Yes, there was. looks and I think they used in a way at least part of the exteriors of the the TWA hotel Y at JFK, which you stayed No. I being staying at in August. That's right with my two airplane obsessed little boys. So didid watch this withith Kox in mind. Okay But not with him. No, not with him. He was asleep. Okay. And this would be way more appropriate than most things you show him This a boy being, excuse me dazzled by being on a plane. You just said that as if I'm just like showing Yeah. you're showing him hardcore porn. and you could be showing him this beautiful film. irect by John watch was Center stage. Are they dancing at home? Yes. Anyway, this but it's just really little boy being like, which Boeing do you like the best and why? And I was like, I relate to this Yeah. And he doesn't want to eat the chicken. But so there's a blue There's aue chicken cornut love in the world, but I do like fried chicken anchies. See, the chicken corn andblue preparation in this movie is not To me, I've had it as grilled chicken, not as as fried or even u like baked with the breadcrumbs. But I guess there are multiple preparations. But my stepmom makes wonderful chicken corn bu. I've had it many times. But it's dairy, but the dairy is baked, so it's gonna be okay for you. It's dairy, What do you No no, it's cheese. It's like melted cheese Well, I I'm just checking in, you know, like weekly status reports on where we are Cner and Blue I'm Pro. That's what I'll I've never had it, would love to try it This just felt like a movie made by my four year old with like slightly better artistic vision. Though he's really he's really coming into his own drawing bunnies with eyebrows now. Your son. Yeah. the kid in this movie. Not the kid in this movie.ed shhotwell. First of all, shot Wellell,' that's a hell of a last name Is that a real name? I don't know. Shan Shotw. Could you imagine? S I pivot That's like it's a little too much allilliteration. Shot Well, like a filmak. I get it. Yeah. O shot well like Jalen Brunson I'd I saw while I was running around the Rose Bowl this week and I saw woman in Jalem Brunson like irt and I like almost and it was very cool. Jayalen rununs a shirt and I almost like, you know did what's up, But then, you know, I'm not allowed to hop on the bandwagon And that's what it be. ye Yeah, you'relcome as far as I'm concern U I'm not, it's just it's very complicated in my house right now. Yeah. The appeal of the NX to a four year house also like the airplane Fers would be despicable Absolutely despable. If I find out that that's the case, we're going to have big problems. listen. The Spurs have plenty of titles. They don't need another title. Weemby is twenty three. He's going to have plenty of time to win This may never happen again for the Kicks. I'm fucking in my forties. This is like in can, remember when I told you Another Philly sports related fact that was just My husband doing something Philly sports related and you started yelling at me For twenty five minutes. Yeah, well. okay. Th feelings run deep. Anyhow One way propeller Propeller one way night coach.'s it's a good movie for children Is it? No, because it's It's just a cute who keeps going like and then this happened and then this happened Travolta is narrating the much like Alfred Melina. Yes. Remarkably bright creatures is narrated by an octopus. Propeller O wayay whatever is narrated by John Travolta, just reading his own book Yeah, it's a very curious thing. I've thinking about Travolta, you know obviously his beereret and mustache combo that he was rocking in canan was memed very quickly. Travolta has kind of occupied this really strange place in the culture for the last fifteen years where He's kind of become like kind of a meme, kind of a punchline And he's already gone through, he's already had his Renaissance and his return to greatness in the nineties And now if you look at his CV, He's made more movies since twenty ten. to today that I think he made in the nineteen seventies and eighties combined But the movies that he made in the seventies and eighties were so iconic, especially in the seventies and Most of what he does now is this kind of red box straight to DV like action thriller stuff And don I don't know, it's like we're back to thinking about him the same way that we did before Tarantino resuscitated him with pulp fiction where he's like kind of a punchline. But he is a very winning character and even just hearing his voice narrating the movie somethingomething calming and nice about that, but he's just got such an insanely uneven filmography. Perhaps the most uneven filmography in major movie star history And yet I still want to do a haall of fame frame. I still want to go back and watch all the movies. When are we gonna to do that includluding all of the Red Box movies. Yeah I don't know This is what it's all about. You're going to have to that's going to be like maybe after podcast ends, you start another podcast that's just Jon Trouble to Hall of Fame That's a whole separate other show Well, I just I'm not going to have any times until after the four Beatles movies, you know, That's a lot of movies. So we'll do it in twenty n. We'll do the Joh Travolt Hall of Fame. What How old will he be then? U Okay, let me tell you about Mortal comombat too.. Like the first film directed by Simon McQu, written by Jeremy Slater Carlrban is here Johny Cage. Are you familiar Moral C combat at all? Do you know any Can you name any characs bes Johny Cage now that I've said his name? Isn't there something about like the finisher or something? Well, you're thinking of fatalities. Fatalities. Yeah. fatalities are here. That's when you win a match and you get to Kill someone, kill your opponent. What I know I have learned from you talking at me like this on previous episodes. First Mortal Kombat movie is all about like establishing the lore in the world of mortal Kbat. Movie is a complete waste of time. Just who gives a shit. Mortal Kombat is a fighting game. it killing people? Is a movie? Is it in this world or another world It's in like an outer world and they travel all over the place There's like all kinds of experience I don't let's just's realms. There's all kinds of realms. Okay. U But no humans. No, they're human. Johnny Cage is a human. Johnny Cage is an action movie star. K kind of a Jean Claudean Dam meets Kiano Reeves type figure who is brought into the moral combat world to use his movie only martial arts skills and becomes a great warrior. and that's kind of the pitch on this movie. Johny Cage was not in the first moral comomic film. He's in this one. Carlman's kind of the star of the movie and he gets thrust into this tourament of Battle And every time The characters that I know and love from nineteen ninety seven or fighting in the movie. I was like, this movie is a ten out of ten. Anytime anything else is happening, it's a zero out of ten Anytime characters are speaking to each other. I want to throw myself off of a bridge, but if they're not, if they're throwing razor tinged hats at each other and slicing each other's heads off, it's the best movie ever made. That's my review of mortal Kbat too. I was gonna ask like a clarification question, but I'm not. keepeep it moving Okay. Mal comat two, I highly recommend it. alsoso never watch it That's my review Okay, let's talk about Lauren Lauren is the second Morgan Neville documentary about a world Titanic pop culture American figure this year He's getting into the habit of he's infiltrated a friend group of sorts as I understand it. Well aren't Aren't Laorde and Pul McCartney friends Oh, well, they certainly are. I wonder if there's, you know, some some connectivity going on there. The Paul McCartney documentary we talked about a couple of months ago, manan on the runun about his Life in the nineteen seventies after the Beatles Maybe Morgan will make one about our life after the Beatles. and what happens when the show ends? This new one is about Lauren Michaels, who is the famed Canadian producer who created Saturday Night Live and has been at the helm of that show for most of its fifty years, though not all I know a lot about Saturday Night L. Yeah. read all the books, seen all the documentaries cast all the casts, I have affection for every era of the show. Yeah Big shared passion of Bill Simmons and I, big early connecting point for us when I started working for him U, Lauren famamously imppossible to know I don't really know much better after this movie. Yeah. I didn't dislike watching it Completely agree. And the movie, I think wisely and cheekly makes the unknability U part of the movie within the first five minutes and you know, uses a lot of funny constructs in order to get around the fact that most of the footage that you have of Lauren, both sitting for multiple interviews and wandering around both his office and his like main blueberry farm is him just avoiding the camera and being like, I don't want to do this and and doing his own version of the Lauren impression that we have gotten from every single Saturdayight Lve cast member for fifty years. Yes R right Like I thought it was funny. I thought it was It was entertaining.lever. It's definitely entertaining. and I think if you're more of a surface level fan of this stuff, then I think it will probably be enjoyable and informative And there's a couple of moments that are amazing. John Mulaney explained Lauren telling him why he always receives material people. I was about to say that Thats that moment is amazing. 's so funny, you know, where he's like Terry Milcher failed to accept Charles M Samo T. I understand. And that's why he was murdered. That's that's why Sharon Tate was murdered. And kind of like how you interact with people and the various people that Lauren has mentored and have been on the cast of the show, they're talking about their experiences with him. That kind of thing is just cracked to me and I always enjoy it. Pretty much everybody is in it except Will Farrell Yeah, that's weird. Yeah. why wasn't Will Farlling? I don't know. And I guess McKay is also Yeahah, he's not as well, but as well. But the vast majority of Lauren and his famous friends, Steve Martin, Paul Simon, they all sit for it. They all kind of tell different versions of like, Lauren's never going to tell you that which is it's entertaining, but it's also kind of annoying. There was a Lauren biography by Susan Morrison that came out last year That is amazing. And she is like very briefly in it.. And that is that to me is like as definitive an acc countount as you can get. She doesn't get so much farther beyond the surface, but there's so much detail in the book A movie like this is so weird because Neville is really good at getting underneath cultural meaning of someone. Even if he doesn't explore truly who they are in their soul because it's hard to do that in a documentary He has been most especially, I think with Mr. Rogers, but he's done it many times in his career capturing why a person person cracked through to something deeper to what we love I don't know if this movie does. Yeah I know, I agree with you Um maybe its thesis is just ultimately that it's a learn thing The funniest of all the interviews is the Steve Martin interview because it's Steve E Luren together at one of the three restaurants that Lauren Michels goes to, but it's filmed like at a distance basically like across the rest of. It's TMZ video. Yeah. Soly like it's obvestly not that much fther from this if we were sitting there and they are we were talking like this. They are seated together like this. And Steve Martin is like asking sort of perfunct really like expositional questions, but also being Steve Martin about it Um I think Lauren says to him I think it's Steve Martin who has to be again retire. And Lauren says, no, he's like like The show the show's from another time and as soon as I go, like it will not It won't be what it is.es anymore. whichich is something that many people have suggested would be true. Yeah. And it was but it was interesting to hear him say Exactly. Yeah. But you know, but that is delivered as an matter of fact aside at a weird dinner in a turquoise dining call filmed from across the way Steve Martin. Yeah. You know what? I'll take back what I said somewhat. The one thing that I thought was revelatory, which I don't think I'd really seen before in any of the other documentaries about Saturday Night Live was the camera being trained on him while every sketch is playing out and the way that he reacts, his kind of restlessness and the The exhaling, which indicates, you know, a sense of unsuccess in a moment That stuff I thought was really insightful and that's for the real super fans who pay close attention to this stuff. I wanted more of that. Maybe that would not have made for as entertaining or Um, coherent movie, but a little bit more of that observational stuff, I think would have gone a long way. Yeah. And it's interesting that he did let them film in that way, but he also wouldn't talk specifically about his childhood or what informed hisight Which amic taste? They still spent too much time on his childhood, but whatever Yeah. I guess I don't usually like that as much in movies anyway. but I don't like that also, you know, it's the third section of the New Yorker profile. I know I don't care about. Lordren is one of those people who just feels like he just landed on Earth. Yeah. He doesn't feel like a person who like had experiences that then informed who he became. Right. Th those alien people are very special. They usually tend to make something very amazing. and their lack of internality is very powerful and I don't relate to it You know, I feel differently. So I guess I'm always going to be interested in them even if it makes for ultimately an unsatisfied portrait. But it had enough It had the observational stuff. It had enough candy, like the The talking head stuff had so many people. the Chris Parneell narration was funny. It was funny. You know, was it felt like papering over like how we didn't really get Lauren to tell us what we wanted to. Sure. But but like in a clever way. it was you know, I agree, I agree. It was kind of like the Ferrell Lego Dock whichich I also thought was kind of fascinating and fun candy, but I'm still like I don't understand what makes for all tick at all. After seeing this, but I had a lot of fun watching him in a world of creativity. So love I love like Morgan's whole project. I think it's really interesting. It's just so funny that you have to watch him like contend with the subject that he agrees to take on. and they're all because they're so powerful They they're also they're fighting a battle even though they've agreed to be portrayed and, uh It's an interesting thing. Okay. Um I just want to give a quick shot it' a tun whichich I would love to see and I just I didn't make time. I had to watch Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Ghost warar. Yeah, mayaybe we can talk about it more after you check it out. I feel like it's a movie that people are going to really find on streaming. It did pretty good this weekend actually. It was in semi limited release, like in a thousand screens And I made a few million bucks. I had Daniel Roarr on the show last week to talk about it. It's a movie about a piano tuner to is identified by a criminal outfit because his piano tuning skills, which are extraordinary allow him to crack safes. And he enters a criminal world doing that work and then things naturally go awry. Leia Woodall Dustin Hoffman Leor Rz, Vaner Rose Lou Um old fashioned and wonderfully entertaining movie I think people should check out Leo W all I don't you think that's gonna to happen perercolating. This would have been a nice breakthrough if it were bigger. What else to see? Whats else is on the onn the docket Yeah. Well, he's in Tony. He's got a supporting part in Ch, which is coming in August. He's in film called Nomad which is about a mysterious loner who has a bizarre condition that takes him to another place on Earth every twelve hours with no ability to control his destinations. Okay That's right up my alley. Oh yeah, he's in custom of the country Sydney Swweeney Wow Yeah. What? Yeah. Oh, and also he's apparently Wait a minute. He's join the heart for Gam Sney mean he's to be in the custom of the country. I told you about this on a podcast before. Yes. Soopia was Sofia Cla was developing it for years I for Apple for and then basically she was like There's not enough money to do this the way I want to do it or this is too de. doing an English accent So now Sidney Sweeney has taken it on. I don't know. So this is directed by JoseieZ Work, L longtime theater director who made Mary Scotts. Yeah, but custom of the country is Borden, so it would be an English accent That's what I said an English accent. No, an American accent. Oh. Okay. Okaykay, American. Okay Yeah got it. gotot it. gotot it. My mistake Um, Still I have some questions. Think about whethero Wood all and Matew Good in and and Hugh Dancy in the cast made you think that this is going to be we sure this is not going to be like at least like kind of I the Atlantic. You know, that kind of upper crust. Well, sure. I mean, it's of the time, but it's Edith Wharton and she's Undine Sprag, who I believe is I mean, I know she's American let's find out where in the United States she's from Okay Midwestern young woman. Okay, okay I mean, I wish her well Did you happen to check in on the series finale of Euphoria? No. Thumbs up, thumbs I haven't seen it. Okay I watched two episodes this season and I checked out. I know what happened in the Penultimate episode And then I saw that Sam Leavson went on popcast to say that there will be no more euphoria Yes Is that where he announced it? Apparently. Yeahah. that's great. Or at least that's you know, I foollow Joe Cost Ger on Instagram. Prob also because of what happened in the finale Maybe it didn't need to be explained But I'm no spoilers here. Okay. U Wish those people well Cast of Euphoria. Yeah. I think they're doing great. They are. Seems like they're doing wonderfully. They are the future of movies. Yes. Quite frankly. And this has been the future of movies. this entire conversation. How do you feel He, I love cinem Yeah I just're. was nineteen sixteen, it was nineteen seventeen and I'm going to feel really bad but I think it sixteen. I think you got it right. You know's just id you see the bread winner No. I followed me many any more on Instagram How's that gone? Well, so she's Eastide mom. She's an eastide mom, but she's, you know, she's part of the viral mom chat Did you follow this at all at the beginning of the year? No The viral mom chat? Yeah. was that like a zombie movie situation? No, but like once again. that's. keepeep making the movies that you want. No, this was okay. so A Tisdale, Is that right? everyone? Yep. Thank you, Sarah in the booth. Ashley Tisdale wrote an essay for the cut. first for her own blog and then for the cut about how she was excommunicated from a mom group chat friend group. she felt that it was very mean and then everyone realized that it's the mom friend group featuring Hary Duff, who is incredibly famous. Do you know this? Well, I certainly do and I'll tell you why. Sure. Yeah, Lizzie McGuire. No, she's insanly hot,'s why That's a whole thing. Yeah, that's a whole thing. You I I know, but like that's your flavor This is a little h is just like a little bit of like a Kayley Cucoco situation for, you know, me, but okay, that's no, a beautiful young.'re mistaken. I'm not going to get into describing people's personas in that specific way. Okay. However You got to learn up on Hillary Duff, right in her forties right now. what's happening there Now listen, I am aware. There's a lot happening because she keeps being reblogged on Mann Moore's group chat because what happened is is that reblogged Yeah, because I'm not following Hillary Duff because I rebluggged. I Well re like posted on Instagram They all went to her opening in Las Vegas. They had like a girls weekend. Basically through the mom chat That was identified as the mean momom chat has responded by just doubling down on like being out in public and posting and doing girls trips and being like, we love our life without Ashley Tisdle and Hill R Duff has an album and Hillary R Duffph's in Las Vegas And Manny Moore's in the breadwinner and Manny Moore' doing this. So I'm up on what they're doing. Yeah, but I did not see the breadwinner We can really do anything on this show. There are no boundaries. It's extraordinary. and you got to wait until you get to minute s one hundred and twelve before you can get into this kind of conversation. but I' really proud of us. Proud of mov Yeah, good job. Good job. Good job to the youth for going to see it. You have no regrets about sitting out the next episode Well, I can't go tonight to see the film. Yeah. And I it's gonna to be the little nerdiest episode of life. And but like I don't don't want to infringe on your time. You know, it's going to be a safe space for the two of you. The real question is, will I listen to it? I think I know I think I will, but I I still gotta do Spielbergy W watchables. That's a fair question. I gota prep for Mondays up, you know? Like I got I got movies. Yeah.. We're going to do a Disclosure Day episode obviously in June, and then there's another episode that will come after Disclosure Day comes out where we'll talk about Spielberg. Now we've done top fives, right? I think we did in a full did we do a full ranking or no? D just me you and Joe did our top fives I thought that we did a ranking, but I thought we did too. I thought we did both. Yeah, because I just remember having to be like ET and Jurassic Parks should be higher, what's wrong both of you?'re and over and over again. I know but you're not an AI person and this is a big problem for us historically. The film or the technology. You're not into the technology, nor I. The film though, which is a five star masterpiece. Well, I was assigned at a summer school, Not summer school homework. Let's be clear. I do not go to summer school, but I went to God forbid someone ever went to summer school, everybody U Listen, I have a homework, you know reputation to maintain. So what are we going to do with Spielberg? What are we going to talk not with him the man? So we're not reranking I't know I'm try to figure it out We've seen Disclosure dayay and I love the idea of putting it in the context of his career, for sure. but we'll probably do that in the episode that we do. Yeah. I Imagine it would be hard not to Very hard. Let's give that some thought. Okay, what would be the best way to do it? Okay Uh, but anyway, Later this week Griffin Newman will be joining me to talk about Masters of the universe. Perhaps you've heard Griffin on the Blind Check podcast One of our buds He knows a lot about him, man And he knows a lot about toys Yeah. And he knew was a lot about fantasy films And those are the things we'll be talking about in this episode. And I think that's beautiful. I need this movie to be good because if it's bad then I'm going to be not happy. I'm going to be sad. Yeah I'm going to be mad. You're gonna be sad I'm just gonna be sad And I'm having such a happy time. in my life And I want it to continue. Hving a will. I'm rooting for you. Okay. Early buzz is good. mayaybe can your heart is open right now, you know, You're entering from a space of positivity Yeah and That's if you were already dead in the ditch, if like if we had to talk about the Mets for a while, then M Wing streak. Oh, congratulations. Things are looking fine. Okay I don't think're going go to the playoff, but they're f. It's again. Wan Sooto is him. It's june first. It is June first,'re I'm rooting for you. Thanks. I appreciate your support There was a tweet that I saw on the internet, an X. com post that said, Damn really seems like Travis Knight loves Jane Schoonbrun's movie after seeing Masters of the Universe. Okay, so I just want to let you know that that's the vibe. Okay Cool We'll see. See you at the movies. See you at the movies later this week. And thank you so much to Lucas Kavanugh and Sarereti for their work on this episode We'll see you later this week to talk about Masters of the universe