A House of Dynamite

10:10David Sims:Yeah. But this is that era where you're just like, maybe she needs to stop working with Bull and switch. Oh, yeah, this guy. He was held by the Taliban. Yeah. Okay, I remember this. Sorry.

10:19Griffin Newman:She did Detroit instead. Yeah. But then, yeah. I don't, I mean, COVID happened. She's getting older. She's in her 70s. It's not like, yeah, I need Catherine Bigelow to be pedal to the metal, but it is.

10:32David Sims:Yeah, I mean, she did an Apple commercial. You're right. Triple Frontier was 2010. She was going to do it with Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp. I also remember a version where Tom Hardy and Will Smith were attached. I mean, it's a movie with a bunch of guys. A lot of guys could fit in it. Miraculous Year was her HBO pilot, but that was also 2010. And she had a stacked cast and it wasn't picked up. But you're right. There hasn't even been.

10:59Griffin Newman:I think she's mostly just chilling.

11:01David Sims:Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what she's. Netflix. She had a film called Aurora that was an adaptation of David Koepp's novel. I mean, it's even just like reading things like this. Of course, she was offered the first Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man. She was offered Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Okay.

11:18Griffin Newman:She also Mogadishu, Minnesota. That was an HBO thing that sputtered. Yeah. Something called the. The Vikander Tomb Raider. Okay, you know what? Okay. All right. I have a bunch of things to say. One, I don't like, we've introduced the show, right? Yeah. Yes, House of Dynamite. I don't like the film, and I do feel like it is on the same track, a track I wish she'd leapt off of, right? And so in theory, I want her to make Tomb Raider, right? Because I'm like, Catherine, high octane action. You used to be the queen of this. Like, what happened? Like, let's do this again. Let's do something goofier.

11:50Griffin Newman:Let's do something more fun. But then, like, it is like, I guess the option is like, do you want to do Tomb Raider? Right? It's like you can't go and make probably an original giant scale action movie with ease. You can do Tomb Raider and try and, you know, have fun with that.

12:05David Sims:Here's the thought I had like halfway through this movie. And you're right that it'd be more depressing if we were just like, wait a second, Catherine Bigelow directed Extraction 3. Right. And they're not even promoting her.

12:15Griffin Newman:Right.

12:16David Sims:Here was the major thought I had. up until this year when the train came off the rails i was excited by the direction mission impossible had gone in being a macquarie driven franchise but if we run an alternate history in which it remains a new director every time she would have been great i feel like we almost definitely would have gotten a mission impossible directed by bigelow at some point in the very least the call would have been made yes i mean or a bond or like any of these things where you're like, can we at least give her like the caviar franchises as depressing as that is? Maybe that's what she should have done in 2017.

12:53David Sims:That's like, put me up for the most adult sophisticated franchises.

12:58Griffin Newman:I not to psychoanalyze her, but I don't think she wants to do that. Right. She wants to do really serious stuff.

13:04David Sims:It seems to be what interests her. I liked, but I'm like something like born is the most serious version of a franchise movie. You know, there are versions of this she can do.

13:13Griffin Newman:look she tried to make a movie called Mogadishu Minnesota about jihadi recruitment you know I just feel like she's just like on this path of like no I want to do like docudrama stuff I want to do stuff about right now like you know what's happening

13:27David Sims:here's my bigger take right off the bat I said right off the bat 15 minutes into an episode I like this movie more than the three of you while admitting it's pretty fucking wonky it is not a great film also courted

13:39Griffin Newman:to direct a reboot of Planet of the Apes at one point I said that already oh sorry You said she was, was it Rise? Was that the reboot?

13:47David Sims:Rise was the first. The James Franco one. These were the things she was offered post Oscar. Right. There's that list that Deadline posted that I love to reference where they said they have four candidates to take over Spider-Man. This is Sony's dream wish list. Pascal has hand selected of who she thinks is up to the task of rebooting Spider-Man.

14:09Griffin Newman:And that movie was 2012. so like early 2009

14:13David Sims:2010-2011 announcement right? Yeah, so right after Hurt Locker. The names were Catherine Bigelow Okay. David Fincher who of course met on the 2002 on the first Raimi film Wes Anderson What? who was kind of at like a bad career point signed to new management and they clearly were like It was kind of like post-Argealing but no, Fantastic Fox Fantastic Mr. Fox flopped.

14:36Griffin Newman:Yeah, but It did?

14:38David Sims:Yes, but Moonrise really did kind of like swing him back. That pulled him out, yeah. He got new reps and there was this moment of like, is he going to director for hire? Can he not do his thing anymore? And then Moonrise was so much smaller budget, right? And then the fourth name on the list was Mark Webb. And they went with Mark Webb. Was that because his name was Webb? I think that was a big part of it. And I think the other thing was the other three directors went no fucking way.

15:03Griffin Newman:Yeah, I mean, right. Is that like me saying like, I'd like a 10-year, $400 million contract. Right. But like my actual desired salary is Mark Webb.

15:15David Sims:But look, you watch this movie and I'm like, this is like kind of a gentleman six to me. It has high highs. It's got some really dumb shit. I didn't find it not enjoyable to watch. I also didn't find it frustrating as much as its failings are annoying. If she waited eight years and made this, I'm like, you could have made like an OK movie every two years. This felt like a COVID movie, which is really depressing. This feels like her doing, like, a Netflix series. I'm like, if this is the level, if you weren't taking the time to really be like, it's got to be the right project, then, like, fart a couple of these out.

15:52David Sims:I'll never complain about having one of these every 18 months on a streaming service. It feels really Netflix-y.

15:59Griffin Newman:Is there, like, an interview with her, like, where she explains, like, yeah, I just, you know, wasn't that excited about anything. You know, I just, I wonder, like, what, you know.

16:09David Sims:It's also interesting to me that I feel like a lot of filmmakers who are getting older and were in this, like, am I retired? Do I really have that dog in me anymore? Do I want to hunt the big projects? In 2020, like, flipped out. A lot of filmmakers talked about this. In 2020, they're like, fuck.

16:28Griffin Newman:Right, right.

16:28David Sims:It could all end tomorrow. If I never get to make another movie again, what am I making? and then they like launched projects right out of 2021, you know, end of 2020. She still waited another like five years. It doesn't feel like this movie comes out of fuck. I'm tired of sitting around. I just got to do something. So I'm reading an interview with her deadline. That's what I'm reading right now, too.

16:50Griffin Newman:And she generated this project. Yeah. And was she was like, who could I, you know, like just the very basic idea of like, what does it look like if a nuclear bomb gets launched in America? and someone connected her with Noah Oppenheim who of course has screenplay credits, you know, to his name obviously. He wrote Jackie. Yes. He wrote, what else did he do?

17:09David Sims:The movie I like a tremendous amount but it's also very silly.

17:13Griffin Newman:David's making stinky poop in the face. I like that movie a lot. The script is dog shit. Everything else is good in my opinion. I'm not disagreeing with you. No, I know, I know. I'm seeing my opinion of that script by Noah Oppen. It's very silly. Yeah. He wrote Zero Day, which I think is sort of a House of Dynamites stuff. TV show. Like it's very similar. I mean, I didn't watch it. Don't people not like that? Of course. Yeah.

17:36David Sims:Of course they don't like it. Yeah. I'm seeing here that viewers called it bad.

17:40Griffin Newman:Oh, Oh, out of 10. Like, you know, it was just like, you know, it was, it was, it's so exemplified what Netflix is now where they're like, we made a show. Robert De Niro, Jesse Plannons, Lucy Kaplan, Joan Allen, Connie Britton, Bill Camp is a president. It's like a huge fucking thing. We cost so much money. I assume to make it. It's about all this shit. Right, there's like a terrorist attack or something. Angela Bassett. Right, and people are like, oh, is it any good? And they're like, no, no, no, it's bad. And you can't watch it. You'd fall asleep. No one will ever watch it. Robert De Niro will go on Off Menu to promote it.

18:12Griffin Newman:Sat on a shelf for like two years. Right. Yeah. So, like he did that. He did Allegiant and the Maze Runner. Of course. That's weird. But, you know, he has this news background. Okay, Zero Day is... And she calls him. Excuse me, Zero Day is cyber terrorist countdown. You know, what if something happened? But yes. Another what if something happened movie. And so she calls him and is like, you know, you do the research or whatever. Like, you know, so what would that look like? And so she did commission this script basically from him.

18:44David Sims:If I got this script, lands on my desk, I read it. My immediate email back to Noah Oppenheim is like, hey, great start. Here are great research material, essentially. Of notes.

18:59Griffin Newman:there's stuff in this Griffin you don't know maybe this was after years of edits and back and forth

19:08David Sims:it's possible but that's what this feels like this feels like a decent first draft for something you could really what I want to know is the structure of the film is that something that was present from the beginning or is that something when they were like hey actually we don't have a if we don't want to show the effects of the bomb We don't want to show it going off. And we also want to like plant you in media res. There really isn't that much we can do. So I guess we have to repeat it.

19:35Griffin Newman:This is exactly what I want to say. I'll say it and then I'll be done. This movie, right. As you mentioned, does the same thing three times. It's showing you 18 minutes. It resets the clock. Somehow the movie is an hour 50 minutes. So I guess the 18 minutes is kind of stretched out. But right. You're seeing it though. This incident from three perspectives. Yes. You do not know.

19:56David Sims:but each perspective also kind of contains four or five perspectives within it it's three different and they overlap but the first act you're seeing characters only on zoom the second act you're in the office with them whatever you don't know who launched the nuke

20:14Griffin Newman:and you don't know what happens when it hits as Marie says you've stripped away basically all story right out of I guess necessity because that would make it another movie if it's a movie about we're at war with Russia we're at war with North Korea that's a different movie right it's just about the agony of human decision making in this like instant

20:39David Sims:which is what I like about this movie and the spurts of it that work for me are capturing that but yes it is a movie that doesn't really have a political axe to grind it is more saying we live in a world where at any moment this could be activated you know we're sitting in a house full of dynamite

20:55Griffin Newman:Here's this movie's take. That would be hard. That's it. Yeah. That, my friend, is a New Yorker article. It's not a movie. And it's not a particularly good one. That is just not enough. And I was arguing with someone I work with who works in national security stuff. You know, it was like, oh, it's so realistic. It's so good. And then, yeah, it's about how hard those decisions are being made. I'm like, that's fine. I can read about that. I don't need to see Idris Elba going, what fucking bangers and mash? What should I pick?

21:21David Sims:It is weird that he keeps ordering bangers and mash. At a cricket game.

21:26Griffin Newman:Oh, fucking hell. Yeah, quick cricket. He's just the most British guy. Greg sausage roll. Should I do, you know, option 18 and 19, mate? You're starting to sound more like ussy-ass porn. Oh, fucking remote, mate. Sharon. Sharon. I have a third child who's not in this show. You ever think about that?

21:52David Sims:Three kids, only two of them are in the show. I'm watching this movie and it was like first wave of response out of Venice was Bigelow's back, right? At a Venice of... A very strange Venice.

22:05Griffin Newman:Like a mirror verse Venice. Everything that was like there kind of faltered out of Venice. Everything that wasn't like there is kind of, you know, had a bounce back after Venice. It's so weird.

22:15David Sims:You were recently on The Big Picture and talked about the flop fall that we're living through.

22:20Griffin Newman:Yeah, yeah. The festival season has been very like odd and aberrant.

22:24David Sims:Like a calamitous festival season. But I also feel like every first wave of responses I've heard for a movie, the second wave is the exact opposite. And the third wave evens out to, eh.

22:34Griffin Newman:Like there's been this weird. Yeah, that's true. It arrives like fully cooked on your plate and everyone's like, yeah, I don't know, C plus.

22:40David Sims:It was okay. But I was hearing like Hamlet doesn't have the juice. And then I was hearing like Hamlet's knocking people out. Hamlet BP. Hamlet's okay. Everything's leveling out to okay. Jay Kelly is like, oh my God, embarrassing disaster. Great movie. The first wave I heard was Sims and 10 other people telling me it bombed back to back.

23:00Griffin Newman:But then that movie debuted in Venice, partly because that's where Netflix debuts its movie, but partly because it does have scenes in Italy. Yes. And I imagine they were like, this rocks. It's set in Italy. It's a movie star in Italy. Let's bring a movie star in Italy. It's about an American movie star. Debut that movie in America. Whatever. Nobody listens to me. I really liked what you said. You said basically that verbatim. What do you think? And I'll be like, Tiff! I love this idea of you just being some sort of Wizard of Oz type figure behind a curtain. I'm like, yep, sounds like Tiff. See you later.

23:35David Sims:I'm just running.

23:36Griffin Newman:It did feel like things were underwhelming at Venice.

23:39David Sims:Go for Sims. And two of the only things that came out with really positive responses were no other choice. The Park Timber film, which we will cover on this podcast, I think, in the new year. Yes. and House of Dynamite, there was a sense of relief of like, it's not a masterpiece, but this thing's really gripping.

23:55Griffin Newman:Everyone was basically like, it's, you know, it does what it's trying to do. Yeah. It's tense. It's thrilling. It's about something real. Right. We've missed you. And this movie has been sort of ensconced on all the best picture prediction lists, right?

24:09David Sims:And then the second wave of responses is, is this thing really fucking dumb? We start hearing that from a lot of artists.

24:15Griffin Newman:I started hearing like, people are laughing. Like, you know, and I'm like, wait, I thought it was an incredibly tense docu-film about fucking nuclear war. I was getting texts like, my screening erupted in laughter at the end. Did your screening? Yes. We had a very, the vape guy. Yeah. This Cape Fear guy, he was like, ah, ha, ha, ha. No, he didn't laugh when the movie cut to black at the end. Are you fucking kidding me?

24:43David Sims:Here's my impression of what happened when the movie ended. The vape guy sent bars from vape guy. directed by Catherine Bigelow comes up and here's my impression of the sound we heard

24:52Griffin Newman:it was a collective there was like an 80s comedian

24:59David Sims:like in front of a brick wall we saw the smallest screen at Nighthawk but it was pretty packed on a Sunday night

25:06Griffin Newman:but it is very much obviously just sort of been wedged into some theaters by Netflix in their usual way no fanfare it was packed and it was basically the smallest movie it's like 20 seats

25:16David Sims:But I will say, like, they have it playing simultaneously. This is very New York. But playing simultaneously at the Nighthawk, Angelica, and at Paris. The Paris theater, which is... That's a little more than they usually... It's a little bit more.

25:28Griffin Newman:I saw it at the Angelica. Yes. And the movie... I wanted those realistic subway rumbles to... Did it add to the experience? Of course. Yeah.

25:36David Sims:The movie ends, and there was this collective... Every person in the theater had to go through all three stages of grieving, which is laughing, booing, and scoffing. Right.

25:47Griffin Newman:All at once. All in one noise.

25:50David Sims:It was, like, so weird. And I'm watching it, and I'm like, okay. You know, Bigelow's kind of a person with high highs and lows. She doesn't have much of a middle tier. She's got a good amount of masterpieces, in my opinion. That's a good point.

26:02Griffin Newman:There's not a lot of, like, it's just okays from her.

26:05David Sims:And I was like, this is one of her only it's just okays, and I'm just happy that she's back. The ending happens. Directed by Catherine Bigelow comes up. I'm like, that immediately just went down from like three and a half to three for me. And I'm being generous. I feel like for most people, it goes from three to two and a half or lower.

26:23Griffin Newman:I guess here's my question, because this is the debate I had. And we can just get right to it, you know, because why not? What is the ending we want, right? Because I was debating this with my coworker. And I'm like, I understand that there's no good ending here. Yeah. It's a fucking nuclear war movie. Like, what are you going to do? I would like to see the film melt. Okay. That's all folk style. And just disintegrate. That's cool. That's kind of like post-modern, meta-textual.

26:50David Sims:And then the gremlins, you see their shadows in the projection booth, and they're making bunnies with their fingers. They launched it. And then the Hulkster comes up.

26:59Griffin Newman:Because this is what I'm saying. You've stripped out, again, where did this come from? What's it leading to? So I don't know what your ending can be. I think they should just repeat the ending of Oppenheimer. Just put it in there. Oh, like literally cut to Killian Murphy. Yes. And they're like, see, this is what he was worried about. Yes. Okay, I want to add to my idea. Then a piñata comes out and we are handed bats and we all smash the movie. Work your frustration here.

27:27David Sims:The piñata is the poster for House of Dynamite. Or it's like the film canister. Yeah. How about this? The movie ends with James Cameron direct address to camera and being like, this represents the cowardice of American filmmakers. showing the after effects. Yeah. Wait, speaking of, guys, I'm going to Hiroshima this month.

27:50Griffin Newman:Did you guys know that? I love how she's segwaying to this now. Just the tone in which she said that, Marie. You're going on vacation, Marie, on honeymoon. Ben and I are both going on separate honeymoons to separate destinations with separate spouses at the same time. It would be weird if you were going all together. Freaky Friday. Yeah, exactly. Maybe David would have a blast. Yeah. I mean. Not me, to be clear. Marie's husband. Yeah, my husband, who's also named. Oh, okay. All right. I'm pretty fun. But no, I'm going to Japan. Ben's going to Italy. We love it. Classic places to go. But we just booked a one day or one night, two day little excursion to Hiroshima to go visit the memorial and the museum.

28:33David Sims:It's a lovely city. You made that transition. It's like, oh, that reminds me. You know where we're going? and I thought you were going to say Tokyo Disney Sea. It was that level of excitement. I understand that you and your husband love history. We do love history. And I am like, I was very disappointed in this movie because I am fascinated by like the what if, similarly to Catherine Bigelow. I'm very fascinated by the what ifs of nuclear war. I think when this movie works for me, it weirdly works better at like giving us kind of interesting character glimpses than really outlining for you exactly how this would go down.

29:10David Sims:Like, it does feel like it's lacking in even some of the, like, brass tacks, like, hard, hard details of a Zero Dark Thirty.

29:18Griffin Newman:It is because I think this is such a brief thing in a way that there's actually only so much detail.

29:24David Sims:Right. And, like, I think there's stretches of it where I'm like, I'm actually enjoying watching this through this character's perspective. This performance works. I'm getting a little glimpse of their struggle. in terms of the ending the problem with the ending is you're watching it and you're going like how the fuck is she gonna end this thing and the ending feels like an actual like admission of defeat like the ending of the movie feels like I don't know I got nothing it kind of feels you're right sorry we didn't come up with an ending it's just full spoilers for people this movie has these three acts right and every time where you're getting to like one second left on the countdown it cuts to black there's a sustained like black And then new title card comes up and we reset the clock.

30:08David Sims:Right. And then the third act, we're with the president in the back of his fucking SUV. And the second count on happens. We cut to black and I go like, so what's she going to do now? Finally, the three timelines. Right. Right. We end on the president. What do you do here? And then it gives us like four random like images, like a soldier like kneeling, you know, people running to the bunker. Right. You get stuff like that where you're like, oh, fuck, something's happening. And then it's like directed by Catherine Bigelow. There's like 15 seconds of like MOS footage of characters we don't know reacting to something.

30:45David Sims:And I'm like, the movie actually is better if when it cuts to black at the end of Idris Elba, the credit comes up there. It's worse to even give us 15 seconds of something else. Sure. And have those 15 seconds be like, I don't know. You know what I even would have preferred? What? Like just a giant wall of text. Sure. This is a thing. This is what I was going for with this movie. But I'm like, if you don't have anything. Just like, hey, this is like, you know. This is just one scenario. This is one scenario. If you want, you know, we need to focus on nuclear disarmament. Like some sort of like, I don't know.

31:19Griffin Newman:It doesn't sound great. It just says we're fucked. We're fucked. I don't know. Just some sort of like, I don't know. It's just whatever it is now is bad.

31:29David Sims:When they come back up from the black, I'm like, oh, so there's like a bonus act. They're going to do some kind of fallout thing. David, what sound is that?

31:39Griffin Newman:I'm in Gettysburg right now, so you might be hearing that on the audio. I love that. I love that. That's the other thing. You watched it. I'm in Gettysburg. Okay. Why? Well, it's history. Okay, so does North Korea have nuclear capabilities? Yeah, maybe good, maybe medium. You're like, it should just be a fucking series

32:04David Sims:where there's a whole Greta Lee episode or something.

32:06Griffin Newman:Well, but now you're talking about what I don't like, of course. But there would be stretching it out more when there's less. God, every fucking episode is the same 20 minutes.

32:16David Sims:But then I'm like, do you get to focus on the characters more if each segment isn't loading in like 15 perspectives?

32:22Griffin Newman:Well, let me do a great impression of a character in House of Dynamite right now say there's a nuclear bomb coming to Chicago. There's a nuclear bomb. It's going to Chicago. I have a family member who lives possibly in Chicago. Maybe not. I have a pregnant person. I'm like, yeah, everyone's got this isn't very bad. Yes, everyone would be stressed out. Can I ask a question? What if there's one guy who's like, eh, who cares? I ain't got no family.

32:51David Sims:I hate my family. I'm kind of a lone wolf. Can't time me down.

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34:12David?

34:13David Sims:Yes? Got any big summer plans? If you're traveling, you got late nights, packed weekends, zero structure, any of those, keeping AG1 in your routine helps you stay consistent. That's a loaded word right there. Consistent. Yes. When everything else gets, and here's another loaded word, unpredictable.

34:32Griffin Newman:Oh, I don't want that. And I know you don't either. Look, it's a daily health drink with a multivitamin. Yep. Pre and probiotics. Yep. Superfoods. Mm-hmm. And antioxidants. It's an all-star lineup. One scoop, eight ounces of water. You just shake it up. There you go.

34:47David Sims:That's it. You drink it. It takes 30 seconds. I know you drink it every single day. What's your favorite flavor right now? Right now, I'm actually really big into berry. I've been cycling through them, and I've really been enjoying this berry phase. I will say this as well, David. You said it wherever you are. I'm about to go away for six weeks, and you better believe I just ordered a whole box of travel packs so that I don't have to travel unarmed. I had no doubt.

35:13Griffin Newman:So visit drinkag1.com slash check to get your free morning person hat and free AG1 flavor sampler. I'm so excited for that hat. In your welcome kit with your first AG1 subscription. That's an$82 value. That's drinkag1.com slash check.

35:32David Sims:When I wear that hat, it's going to be so ironic. Yes. I don't like the mornings. No. But I love AG1.

35:38Griffin Newman:Yes.

35:51Griffin Newman:Why is Angel Reese in this movie? Because that to me felt like, oh yeah, remember when Bush was teaching a classroom of children on 9-11? What would the president plausibly be doing during some crisis? But when she actually fucking showed up in the movie, I started laughing. Is Jason Clarke in this movie by law? Every movie like this just requires, I know obviously she's directed him before in Zero Dark Thirty, but like, like just, it's like, where's Jason Clark? It's a punch car.

36:22David Sims:It's a punch car. He's one away from a free sandwich. Would we say he's getting like cucked by employees at his job because he doesn't really do anything? He certainly is not, yeah.

36:33Griffin Newman:He gets to be in the bunker, but then he has. Producer Ben, confirming DEF CON 4.

36:39David Sims:We're at DEF CON 4. Oh, fuck. Shit. Do we have to reset the episode? Do we have to go back?

36:48David Sims:You were asking about, oh, Angel Reese. They never named the president in this. There is this scene where he shows up to like do a meet and greet with children, right? And the jumbotron says like Angel Reese in big letters above the court. And I was like, oh, Angel Reese is a cool name for a president. Because I didn't know this was a real athlete. And I thought they were saying. Why don't you care about women's sports? Excuse me, I went to a Liberty game. Congratulations. Griffin talks about this like he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Because if you're like the percentage.

37:22Griffin Newman:He lives, not to dox him, within walking distance of where they play basketball.

37:27David Sims:The percentage of live sporting events I have been to in the last 20 years, going to one WNBA game makes a pretty big sense.

37:37Griffin Newman:You went to a Mets game last season, and I know you've been to some Paris basketball games because your brother works there. I really enjoyed how on the True Grid episode you were able to participate in the conversation about basketball. Yeah. Has that episode come out yet?

37:51David Sims:Good question. Yes, by the time this episode. Just came out. Right, yeah. I got into the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets minor league team, because they do theme nights. So I went to Seinfeld night and hot dog day. unfortunately missed Toy Story Day but did get some of the merch for a markup on eBay who's Angel Rees? I don't know anything about Angel Rees is probably like the second biggest star in the NBA

38:17Griffin Newman:I would disagree with that excuse me obviously the most famous WNBA player is Caitlin Clark because of her national fame even I know that Asia Wilson is way let's not disrespect the MVP I'm not saying that that she's like the best player. I'm just saying in terms of like people I see in my feeds popping up with endorsement deals and appearances. Because Angel Reese is also very big in college, much like Caitlin Clark. They were rivals. They still have a rivalry.

38:48David Sims:There's a bird magic kind of thing going on, maybe?

38:51Griffin Newman:Well, yeah, but Angel's team sucks. Okay. That makes it tough. She kind of motherfucked her team this year. like publicly she was like my team sucks i don't like the players i play with i think she soft pedaled it only slightly more than the way i'm putting it right now so she's you know she's working it out uh where her future lies uh whether she leaves the team or gets better play i don't

39:15David Sims:know but she's a famous player do you know that angel reese was born after the first ramey spider man came out to keep using that as a demarcation as as a fan of pro sports doesn't surprise it's

39:25Griffin Newman:One of those things where I'm like, where it's like, LeBron James is like a year older than me. I think I said this on an episode. LeBron's older than you? I think he's a year older than me. Oh, yeah, because I guess he's like my husband's age. Right. I think he was born in either late 84 or early 80s. December 30th, 1984. And, you know, like in the NBA, people are like, a medical marvel. He walks the court. This man wizened a skeleton practically. I'm like, right, he's my age. And like there are guys who are like 29 or guys like getting a little long in the tooth. veteran like and I'm like right that's just I'm only gonna get older we did

39:58David Sims:George Lucas talk show recently with Chloe Trost and Emil Joaquim former SNL cast members both lovely people incredibly funny people yeah and at some point we got into like you know Connor as George was interrogating them about their relationship to Star Wars and what age they were when they came out and we realized Chloe was born in 97 and Emil was born in 98 and I was like and they've already been fired from SNL. That was the part that flipped me out was I was like, you're under 30 and you're already like in your post-SNL career.

40:31Griffin Newman:Well, they've got the new, you know, right? Like the Veronica. All right. She was 95. Baby Gonzo, Baby Fosse, Baby Skeeter. Jane Wickline was born in 99. That is cutting it close. Has SNL had a single cast member? That was my question. A 2000s. All right. Tommy Brennan, 94. I want to say... Jeremy Culhane, 92. Fucking ancient. Get out of here, old ass.

40:52David Sims:Pam Patterson, I want to say.

40:54Griffin Newman:He's young. I mean, that kid's young, right?

40:55David Sims:Was he born post-millennium, post-willennium? April 10th, 1999.

41:00Griffin Newman:Phew. Woo. Thank God. He witnessed 9-11. Like, I have coworkers. I've said, my coworker, Rose, I love her to death. She's a grown person. She runs to the Atlantic.

41:09David Sims:The 9-11 line is really tough. I said to her, like, were you born after 9-11?

41:14Griffin Newman:She was like, no. I was in a crib. And I'm like, oh, my God. Okay, by the skin of your teeth. Oh, Jesus. Ashley Padilla. oh no no year listed for her it's a mysterious do you know ashley padilla was a diane keaton's

41:27David Sims:personal assistant for many years and she co-wrote a book with her she had some very touching uh tribute posts um we have so much to say about r.i.p diane keaton no we don't be funny if um

41:40Griffin Newman:uh diane keaton in like classic diane keaton where all right peter her this was her swan song that the zoom screen is black for you know and then the third act is her with like a big hat being like i I don't know what to do. She would have been an incredible president. This is what I'm saying. It just feels a little rude one. It's like, yeah, very, very handsome, esteemed. Okay, yeah, yeah, sure. But what about, like, who's like a weirdo we could put in there? Bobcat Goldthwait. You know, like, who's the president? You could have anybody. Wait, they actually showed a trailer for, oh, my God. Well, it's a Bobcat movie about horses.

42:14David Sims:There's a Bobcat? Oh, Hot for Trot. Yeah. Because they're screaming that soon. They showed that trailer at Nighthawk before. I believe it's Hot 2 Truck.

42:22Griffin Newman:You're right. Hot 2 Truck.

42:22David Sims:That is the infamous talking horse movie that my father always uses as an example of how to not structure your career. Dabney's in there. And John Candy's the voice of the horse. I think so.

42:32Griffin Newman:I just love in the 80s where they're like, who should play the boss? I'm kidding. I already called Dabney Coleman. He's already on his way.

42:38David Sims:Dabney quietly was like the fucking Samuel Jackson of the box office in the 80s. Yeah, exactly. He was reliable. They like, you know, try to make their pre-shows at Nighthawk specific to the movie they're playing. They did not do that for House of Dynamite. Yeah, what are you going to do? Some bummer shit? You're going to play a podcast? So the fucking Hot for Trot trailer starts playing, and my husband's like, wait, what is this movie about? Like, is there going to be a horse? Is Bobcat in House of Dynamite? Are these spoilers? Here's a question for the group. I want to hear each of you weigh in on who you think delivers the best performance in this movie.

43:15David Sims:Oh, good question. Because there are good performances in this, but there's not an obvious MVP. I don't think there are good performances in this. I don't think there are great performances. I think there are good performances. Well, I think Rebecca's my personal favorite, but I also feel like people like Rebecca and Tracy could do this shit in their sleep. Yeah, I don't. I'm going to say let's go. What about Grand Elite?

43:43Griffin Newman:Let's go what? I'm just going to say let's go. Let's get out of here L-E-T-T-S

43:49David Sims:Let's go Mets That's why I tried to start the applaud Let's go Mets

43:54Griffin Newman:Let's go Mets Let's go Mets If everyone else in this film cares about Their pregnant spouse, their child Their mom, but Tracy Letts Cares about Francesco Lindor He does shout out Francesco Lindor In what was undoubtedly My favorite part of the movie Which is funny because Tracy Letts was on the big picture and motherfucked the Mets quite loudly to the point that I got kind of annoyed.

44:21David Sims:How great would it be if in this movie they went like...

44:23Griffin Newman:It started like texting Sean being like, Tracy Letts is a completely exaggerated idea of the 80s Mets. Go ahead, yes.

44:30David Sims:It's heading towards Chicago and they just push in on Tracy Letts and he goes, I have a basement in Chicago with 20 ,000 blaze.

44:39Griffin Newman:If we take my steelbooks and put them all around Chicago or in a sort of dome, perhaps we can protect the city.

44:46David Sims:Kino Lorber, first run with slipcovers. Arrow, L-E, with booklets. I think Gabriel Basso's really good in this movie. Oh, okay, this is Jake. Yeah, it really surprised me. You know what? He's totally solid, but I thought he was like kind of the heart of this. I am not familiar with his work because I did not see Hillbilly Elegy. Hillbilly Elegy. Oh, you didn't want to check that one? I wasn't interested in that. You weren't rushing to that one. I wasn't rushing to see it. He had his first wave.

45:15Griffin Newman:COVID-19 has swept America. J.D. Vance biopic bubbles up on Netflix. You know, he's in Super 8, though. And he was in Kings of Summer. I don't remember that movie at all. He was kind of like Puppy Fat Kid, you know, Cutie Pie.

45:29David Sims:Night Agent is his Netflix show that's a hit that I will never watch.

45:32Griffin Newman:Right, that's what he is. Is that with Tom Hiddleston? No, that's The Night Manager. Okay, well. What if there was a Night Manager? This is a newest show. It's been on Netflix for two seasons. Created by Sean Ryan. A third is coming. It's Sean Ryan, The Shield, and The Unit, and all those shows. I remember him as a Super 8 kid.

45:50David Sims:Then it's like, he's J.D. Vance and the new Ron Howard Oscar. Now is that like a Toys R Us kid?

45:54Griffin Newman:Yeah.

45:55David Sims:I want to be a Super 8 kid. And then, right, the J.D. Vance thing becomes like a fucking albatross around his neck. And I, like, Night Agents a hit. And I kept hearing people being like, he's good. And I'm like, I don't know. I immediately locked into what he was doing in this film.

46:11Griffin Newman:I think he's pretty good, yeah.

46:12David Sims:I wasn't as pumped up about this. I don't know if it's a performance thing. I thought I just kept his character stuck with me. Mostly because I'm like, oh my God, the one person who kind of knows what's going on in our government is like a millennial. Here's what I also think he plays very well. This guy's fresh enough and passionate enough. He's not been burnt down and jaded by all of this, right? That he's kind of the sharpest tool in the drawer here in terms of how to address and analyze this problem. And you can tell that he's been like prepping his entire life for this moment. And yet he's having the performance anxiety of, holy shit, every word I'm saying actually matters.

47:00Griffin Newman:Isn't he thrown into the situation because like his superior is not available? Or he's like late to the meeting. Right. Yeah. There's something like that.

47:09David Sims:But the thing about. He knows his shit though. But it's like terrifying when you're suddenly like every word I say could have like a humongous effect on humanity.

47:18Griffin Newman:But he's playing the like he's overwhelmed.

47:20David Sims:He's playing it like very authentically. There's a little Rick the intern that I am inclined to, you know. Wow. A like. I'm not saying he's pulling for me. I'm saying this character type. Sorry, I'm just imagining Rick the intern like on the phone with like the Russian defense. The last place coffees need to get dropped.

47:38Griffin Newman:Here's the thing I'm going to say, because Basso's only job in this movie is to inform everyone that the sort of missile interceptor thing has about a 60 % chance of working. And so you have Jared Harris, again, really, really trying with the American accent. It's fucking coin toss, ain't it? Pie and mash. I got a daughter in Chicago. I heard this news and I was like that tech is at six I thought that just didn't work right I was like this is good

48:09David Sims:news it might work I did think because there's so much ramp up of him not wanting to say

48:13Griffin Newman:the number they really stretch it out because this movie has a lot of time to fill I thought it was going to be like 15 % right right like actually if I admit it it's like a one in a million bullet with a bullet

48:23David Sims:point in the movie we're in the second chapter so you know it doesn't work So why is this the crux of your second act? Can I ask a question of you two, of you three?

48:33Griffin Newman:The Angelica popcorn was very good. Thank you for asking. Good, I'm glad. The structure of the film, deciding what to reveal when, what characters to focus in which section, what is the organizing principle? I understand the president. Is there one? I mean, it's just, I guess you can think about it this way. Is it like proximity to power? Not really. It's sort of like the stages of reaction. So it's like Ferguson and her team are the team that notices and sends the alert up the chain. Letts and his generals are the guys who make the military decision to try and counteract and then have to decide what's next.

49:12Griffin Newman:And then the decision lands on the president's plate in the third act, which is like, OK, this is happening now. You have to open the football, which is actually a briefcase filled with documents and pick a retaliation. and you have Let's going, we have to do something. You have Basso going like, I talked to the Russians. I don't think it's them. We could try to defuse this by doing nothing. Kind of the fail-safe, you know, debate, like in that movie.

49:36David Sims:I love fail-safe. We talked about this in fucking Final Reckoning. Anytime a movie is able to capture 15 minutes of fail-safe juice, you got me. Sure, you love it. Which is the first, like, what, 20, 30 minutes of the movie, which I would...

49:50Griffin Newman:Certainly the first act is the strongest because that's when you're in what's happening the most and it's the most tension.

49:57David Sims:I'd also argue that Ferguson has maybe become an automatic two stars person for me. I love her. If she is in at least a third of the movie, you're already starting out at two stars just from her presence. This movie, unfortunately, doesn't add a lot on top of the auto two.

50:12Griffin Newman:I mean, but except for The Snowman, Troy. I know you haven't. I haven't seen The Snowman. You haven't seen The Snowman, but we have merch inspired by The Snowman? Wow. I mean, that was JD who, that was his creation. Who's out of control, let's be honest. Next year, I'm worried about, for a little bit. Next year, she's got Mercy, which is literally like the Tracy Morgan, I filmed that in my car. I have not been able to get myself to watch that trailer. Is that the Chris Pratt thing? It's like, this January 2nd, as early as possible, we are dumping this out. What if you were in a chair? Like, that's the movie?

50:49David Sims:Is it a like, what if emotions were robots movie?

50:52Griffin Newman:What is the premise? Let me see what the log on. In 2029 Los Angeles. Oh, future. Okay. A detective stands on trial, accused of murdering his wife. That's Chris Pratt. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced AI judge he once championed. Jesus. Before it determines his fate. Not an AI movie. While Rebecca Ferguson is playing the AI. Oh, no. It's directed by Timur.

51:20Griffin Newman:Beckham Tov I'm sorry it's not a screen life movie though right no but I think it is I think it's like him being like what if I did screen life on a bigger scale where I think it's going to be a lot of screen you know what I mean no one wants this well he is insistent that people want it and Ferguson is the AI judge she's the sim one Jesus fuck that and then she's in Dune part 3 which like I'm sure she will crush it but she has emphasized like was on set for a couple days. Yeah, it's a small role. Because that character's not even in that book. Did you guys... But does she have season four of Silo?

51:54That's...

51:54Griffin Newman:Back to the Silo. I believe it's season three. Yeah, there have been currently... How many? Two seasons. Two seasons of Silo. Not sure when season three's coming out. Have they left the Silo? I think they're going deeper. Well, season two was her... Spoilers. Spoilers. But season two, she goes from the one Silo to another Silo.

52:14David Sims:Sounds like a good season. So season three, who knows?

52:18Griffin Newman:We've discovered silo B. What's in there?

52:20David Sims:Most shows these days don't transfer from one silo to another until season four or five. You know what? That's so true.

52:26Griffin Newman:That is so true. Season one ends with them just finding a door. And then season two is how do we find the key?

52:32David Sims:You're like, why do they call it silo? The whole first season, they're not in the silo.

52:38David Sims:We found this out. Well, no, I'm not going to say that. It's a future episode spoiler. Marie, what were you about to say? Have you guys... That's too bad. I was excited for that. Have you guys seen this quote? Yes. That she, hold on, I gotta find it. From Rebecca Ferg? Rebecca Ferguson, I'm Googling, Rebecca Ferguson, throw in front of bus.

52:57Griffin Newman:Well, she was motherfucking a co-star, right? I keep saying the word motherfucking. You're so into motherfucking. She was saying that she had a very tough co-star she'd worked with, right? Yes, and she keeps dropping breadcrumbs. It's the story she keeps going back soon. She won't say who it is. She won't say who it is, but she keeps Mr.

53:11David Sims:Blanky, I gave you all the clothes. Not Timothy Chalamet. Not Tom Cruise. Not Ryan Reynolds. There are even some ones where you were like, come on. This guy's a second tier guest. And she was like, don't worry. He's not in the mix. Rebecca Ferguson gets candid. Quote, She hasn't been in that many movies. I will shove someone under a bus to make a point.

53:29Griffin Newman:So who does she mean? Who is it? You know who it is. I don't know. No, it was every time. I think we decided it was Hugh. It was Hugh. It's not Hugh. It's not Hugh. She's worked with him multiple times. People forget reminiscence.

53:41David Sims:No, she has openly said it's not Hugh. Are we going to say who we think it is? You can tell me. I forgot. Everything points towards Jake Gyllenhaal in life. A movie that is completely forgotten.

53:52Griffin Newman:Yes. And also, you know what? A movie that is okay. Have you guys met Jake Gyllenhaal? Certainly. I have heard one billion stories about what a high-energy individual Jake Gyllenhaal is and how that can really go either way on set. Oh, really? Because in my experience, when I worked out as a receptionist, when his mom was editing a movie she made, he came in no he like wore like a disguise and wouldn't make eye contact with anyone there were like 10 there were like 10 people i mean he was bubble boy he was like you know had a hoodie on but um mag maggie was lovely and she and she and peter were talking to everyone last night like so nice you know but jake was last night late on tiktok i found some rando comedian dude you know 900 likes like not a big video doing Rachel in Dark Knight like doing Maggie as and it was just one of those impressions where you're like I've never thought about like how odd this performance is and how good an impression could be of it.

54:54Griffin Newman:The second Rachel Dawes. Yes just like it just she keeps like first she's doing lines and then she starts doing other but she's like I have to go to the mall with Harvey like she just keeps hitting that I'm gonna show it it's so funny.

55:08David Sims:Was it Arnaud de Chaplin? Was there an international filmmaker who did a big story of how he shot an entire movie Jake Gyllenhaal that got shut down? Yes. He's just notoriously, I will just say, incredibly eccentric in his process in a way that has been known to make things complicated and drive people a little crazy. He's never given a performance that radiates that energy.

55:33Griffin Newman:It's just like even something like ambulance or whatever where it works. It just kind of feels like it is, to quote Jared Harris, a fucking coin toss. Whether you're going to get like over the top in a way that kind of overwhelms or over in a top the way that like kind of serves the movie. Okja being the sort of barometer performance where you're like, do you like this? I like that.

55:50David Sims:Do you even like know what we're talking about? No. Ever? At any point? Do you know the context of the Rebecca Ferguson stuff?

56:00Griffin Newman:I would answer your question. I'd say it's about 50-50. According to us. It's a bit of a coin to us. Oi, Margaret Thatcher.

56:09David Sims:So like two full years ago, if not more, there's some interview where they're asking her about her experiences in Hollywood and power and whatever. And she was just like, I had a co-star, an A-list male co-star. They were number one on the call sheet. Which he would have been in life. And they broke down yelling at me. It wasn't my fault, but they were so frustrated. the process of the movie they took it all out at me and I felt defenseless like there was nothing I could do and I went to the producers and complained and said I'm not working with him again I want to work off a fucking tennis ball anytime we have dialogue and they said you can't do that he's number one we have to protect him and she said fine I'll be in there but when it's his coverage he has to talk to the back of my head and it was presented as like you go girl like you don't put up with his shit but then of course everyone's like who's she talking about Everyone comes up with the list.

57:01David Sims:She's not in that many movies. It's the A-list star. It's the male lead. And then she has systematically for the last two years just been like circling back. It's also not Chris Hemsworth in Men in Black International. She has ruled everyone else out, which is why I feel comfortable presenting my hypothesis that it is Gyllenhaal because he's basically the only person.

57:21Griffin Newman:But is that because Jake was possessed by the symbiote because Life is a Venom prequel? Yes. Except it isn't. But was directed by? Daniel Espinosa, who directed Morbius. Who directed Jared Leto's, as I was telling Griffin this morning, biggest hit as a star, Morbius. That is his highest grossing film in which he is first built. Hollywood Reporter was like, Tron Aries may signal that he's no longer an A-lister who can open a movie. What if he wasn't, ever? He's never opened a movie. He's never been an A-lister.

57:50David Sims:Exactly. We were like, Jared Leto's best run is all ensemble, right? It's American Psycho. it's Thin Red Line it's the two Finchers and it's Requi well Requiem for a Dream is sort of the lead that's the one he is closest to being the lead in it's such an evenly split it's a Burson and Connelly Burson, Connelly and Leto are the three leads of the film right but you're like that's the best run he ever had it is ensemble working with great directors

58:20Griffin Newman:in 25 plus years ago like a long time ago exactly

58:23David Sims:all of those movies are the last of them is 2002 right When Angel Reese was born. That's the last of it. I would disagree a little bit. Before she started pulling down those red bones. I flicked when he showed up in ensemble roles. Showed up. Showed up.

58:35Griffin Newman:Being the crucial phrase here. So, like, I, you know, even though he's doing a thing in Blade Runner, you know.

58:43David Sims:We talk about this, I think, on a future episode. He still, like, does it well. It's our new Red Hulk. We're dissecting the crash out of Jared Leto in, like, five different episodes. I enjoyed him in House of Gucci. He was, like, one of the people that was dialed into the right wavelength. I hate that performance. Oh, I love it.

58:56Griffin Newman:I like that performance and I like that movie. I'm not opposed to all. I'm just saying, don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. He's never opened movies. He's never been an eight list star. Never. It's a psyop. It's truly like he got that Tron role as like, yes, it feels like he fucking cast a spell on someone.

59:14David Sims:But like, look, there's like heartthrob pre-Fontaine era, right? Yes, yes. You know, Jordan Catalano. Then there's the era we just talked about. Yes. Which, by the way, it helps that all those movies. Emerging indie star. It helps that all those movies have lasted and have only grown in reputation. So it makes him feel more relevant. And then he was in a big band and won an Oscar. Well, then he does like six years of dog shit. Like that fucking, it's not called. Chapter 27 is the big one. Chapter 27. But what's the one where it's, he's, it's not Mr. Lonely, but it's a Mr. Something. Mr. Nobody.

59:42David Sims:Mr. Nobody. It's like all of those movies don't work. Then he's like, I've retired from films. He focuses on the band. Right. Dallas Buyers Club is him coming out of retirement. He wins an Oscar that we're all happy. I called it instant buyer's remorse Oscar.

59:58Griffin Newman:Just instant. Dallas buyer's remorse. Exactly. He took the stage. Who else was nominated that year? I don't care if a fucking ham sandwich was nominated. Give it at the trophy. But this is a good exercise.

1:00:07David Sims:Who did Jared Leto beat? All right. Okay.

1:00:09Griffin Newman:Let's see who he beat first. You know, first and foremost, before we think about anyone else that might have been a contender. But he beat Barkhad Abdi, the captain himself. Would have been my winner that year, I think. Bradley Cooper in American Hustle. He's quite good in that film. We could have gotten the when will Bradley get his Oscar thing out of the way. Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave, an incredibly powerful. Oh, he's so scary in that movie. And fucking Joe DeHill in The Wolf of Wall Street. He's so funny. All of these are way better than Jared Leto. Barcaud would have been my guy.

1:00:36Griffin Newman:I mean, that's an amazing performance. And he won the BAFTA? Probably. I'm more clear-headed about Leo winning for Wolf of Wall Street over McConaughey and lead that year. Hardcore. Well, obviously. Hardcore. But like at least with McConaughey, you were like the man was back. He was giving these big performances. The True Detective was interstellar the next year.

1:00:57David Sims:Yeah. Exactly. Him winning makes sense. I think he is fantastic in that movie. And I think Jared Leto was bad in that movie. Yeah. Jared Leto was bad in that movie. That's the other thing. McConaughey is undeniably good in a movie that doesn't do really anything. It's a shitty movie in my opinion. Kind of a shitty movie. But I saw it on my first day with my wife. Oh, wow. That's kind of crazy.

1:01:16Griffin Newman:Completely insane. It's the only reason I bring it up. Just a fucking insane thing to do. That's how you build a solid foundation for a marriage. I've said this. Scene one of that movie, rough sex with two prostitutes. Scene two, you have a... This is the first date we are on. That is how that movie begins. We exited. We were like, anyway. It was like with no discussion of the film. We were like, I don't know. It was fine.

1:01:40David Sims:I just cannot think of another example of someone winning an Oscar and everyone deciding, oh, he's proven himself as, Three different things he's never been. A leading man, an A-list blockbuster star, you know? It's so bizarre. Jared Leto's in this film, right?

1:01:57Griffin Newman:No, he's not. What are we supposed to say about A House of Dynamite? I just find the writing incredibly clunky. I find the efforts to crowbar in character stuff like, oh, I'm worried about this. Like, just so, so, like, root one, four, so bad. like you're saying like notes should be getting that hammering that out right away yeah we do not need that level of hand-holding of like people in society have families because they're people they're just they're they're people i also don't need to care about them because whatever they

1:02:29David Sims:experience affects me hypothetically like this is what the bowl films excelled at is like not having like overly stylized overwritten spell out the emotions dialogue they're right i they're my

1:02:44Griffin Newman:Right. Like those movies are both character movies. Obviously Hurt Locker very much more a character movie. It's about this place and about this job too, but it's about this guy. Right. And then Zero Dark Thirty, the way they trick that movie into working is by having like a central character. Right. Versus it being total procedure.

1:03:01David Sims:And that movie will similarly to this go on like a 20 minute side tangent with a different character. It's not everything through her. Jason Clarke's got to punch his card. He's got to punch the card. He's so close to a toasted sub. Toasted. He's going to finish his punch card and then realize that Quiznos is gone. It doesn't exist anymore. That's the great shame is, unfortunately, it is a Quiznos card. Can I add another? God, you guys. No one talks about the tragedy. Are we so bad? No. I wanted to add another complaint that hasn't been brought up yet. Please. That Moses Ingram, who I think is a really great actress.

1:03:36Love her. has nothing to do in this movie in a subplot that is just a big old fucking wet fart. There's something. What is happening? Like, we're introducing FEMA. Are we going to see what FEMA's response is or what their plan is? No.

1:03:51Griffin Newman:There's just something sort of, it's sort of interesting. Again, it's sort of like a weird footnote that would appear in an article, like this sort of perversity of like, who gets to go to the survival bunker. Right. And Moses Ingram is like, weirdly, I get to because of this and that, right? Yeah. And then this other girl who, I talked to Bobby Finger about this movie, A Friend's Wedding, I'll explain in a second, was like, I'm obsessed with this girl who's like, why does she get to fucking go? She's just been here for like a month. And we never see that girl again, obviously. No check in with this again.

1:04:22Griffin Newman:I think you're answered. So there's something kind of like. We also get the bunker discussion with Rebecca Ferguson.

1:04:29David Sims:This movie repeats its beats over and over again. Over and over again. It repeats half an hour. If we're going to introduce FEMA, and it's like, okay, their emergency management, they have to deal with, like, I don't know, what's going on on the ground after a scenario like this.

1:04:44Griffin Newman:But we're not going to see what's going on. But, like, we're not going to even learn about what their strategy is behind... She's basically... Beyond her going to the bunker. A House of Hurricanes.

1:04:57David Sims:I'm asking Ben for money. I'm interested. House of Plastique. Like, they introduce her to be like, the fuck is going on? And they're just kind of getting alert messages. And she's like, can someone fill us in? And they're like, we don't have time to fill you in. It's also repeated with the woman, the young woman in the press room. Yes. They introduce the element of press. Yeah. And then, oh, are we going to like the move? You know, we have such a tight timeline of when we find out that this is happening and when it's going to hit. Right. Yeah. So there's that whole question of like, how do we inform the public?

1:05:29What do we do? And it seems like the answer is no, we don't. But again, like, it's going to get out. Someone's going to fucking tweet that there's like...

1:05:38David Sims:I hate saying this. This is the version of me that's like, this would have been better as a TV show where you can just do a full episode that is the press. Yeah, sure.

1:05:50Griffin Newman:I mean, I wouldn't watch it, but I know what you're saying. I also probably wouldn't watch it. That's the shame of the scenario. They kind of introduce people and scenarios. They don't explore them. Yeah. And we spend a lot of time going over the bullet hitting a bullet coin toss. Now, I understand they can't show the object, right? They have to keep that as an unknown. But they do launch then the missiles that are supposed to intersect. I'm kind of like, what's up with that missile? You want to see it. I want to see it. Do you want to see it just keep going? Yeah, just give me like three minutes.

1:06:29David Sims:Just a chill going through the sky. What if they reset?

1:06:32Griffin Newman:And a little bit of whistling, too. I love that.

1:06:34David Sims:They reset the timeline and a new chapter is from the perspective of the missiles. And they're like, oh, God, I'm so worried I'm going to fuck this up. I'm going to fuck this up. I'm such a fuck up. I'm fucking messing on shit. I'm a fucking coin toss.

1:06:43Griffin Newman:What's like a British actor that could have been the voice of a missile, but is trying to do an American accent?

1:06:48David Sims:I was going to say, Gary Oldman would kill it as one of the missiles. I don't know. I was thinking like Ray Winstone, which is more on the Stephen Graham.

1:06:53Griffin Newman:What about nuclear weapons? Fuck this.

1:06:56David Sims:I'm a fucking missile

1:06:58Griffin Newman:They fucked with Black Widow What if we make it a woman?

1:07:04David Sims:Do you know about this? Women can be

1:07:07Griffin Newman:Weapons of mass destruction too

1:07:09David Sims:Okay? Have any of you followed? Higher more female What's up? We're submitting this episode

1:07:19Griffin Newman:We're sending it into the sky

1:07:22David Sims:Have any of us followed? I brought this up to Ben the other day so he knows this. It was prompted by an activity we took place in. The Dragonheart franchise.

1:07:32Griffin Newman:Well, I know the film Dragonheart starring Dennis Quaid

1:07:35David Sims:with Sean Connery as the voice of a dragon. So like three or four years after that, they make a direct-to-video sequel called Dragonheart A New Beginning. Can I ask what activity this was that brought up Dragonheart? Friend of the podcast, Eva Anderson, was in New York City with her brother, the great Dash Anderson. Well, he's always here. Yes. Shout out. We went to an immersive event. Eva loves her immersives and her escape runs. She does.

1:07:57Griffin Newman:She came all the way for immersion, right?

1:08:00David Sims:She did like seven things. I was going to say, but she did a lot of immersions. Yes. But this one was called Viola's Room?

1:08:07Griffin Newman:Yes.

1:08:07David Sims:It's at the shed. Right. And it's a cool, like, there aren't other performers in it. It's like a set you walk through with headphones on narrated by Helen and Bottom Carter. Shoeless. You are shoeless like Joe Jackson. Helen and Bottom Carter could have been the nuke. So I was going down a rabbit hole with my friends on the Dragonheart franchise. Ben's giving me the thumbs up. First movie theatrical. A couple years later, like 97, there's a direct-to-video Dragonheart, A New Beginning, where Robbie Benson. A famous voice actor who, you know, was so good on Severance. So great on Severance.

1:08:39Griffin Newman:Season two this year. Also an excellent NYU professor. Did you know that?

1:08:44David Sims:I didn't. Yeah, he teaches in the film department. Okay, we're doing direct-to-video Dragonheart. There's a new dragon. It's Robbie Benson, the voice of the beast, right? I am the dragon. Then the thing's on ice for like 12 years. And clearly someone at Universal runs in with data. And they're like, Dragonheart doing weirdly well on DVD.

1:09:00Griffin Newman:Or it might have just kind of been like, fantasy shit, man. Game of Thrones. Quite possibly. We own Dragonheart.

1:09:07David Sims:We own Dragonheart. Yeah. But they do three Dragonheart sequels within like five years. And the dragons in those three are Patrick Stewart, Ben Kingsley, and Helena Bonham Carter.

1:09:18Griffin Newman:What? So Ben Kingsley first in Dragonheart 3, The Sorcerer's Curse.

1:09:22David Sims:And I think he's a new character, but Patrick Stewart is continuing the Connery character?

1:09:27Griffin Newman:Is it the other way around? So Dragonheart 3, The Sorcerer's Curse, which is directed here. I'm not looking at the names. Probably Orson Welles or someone. Yep, probably. That is a prequel. So he's playing the same character of Draco. Kingsley is playing the Connery. Right. Then in Dragonheart, Battle for the Heartfire. That is set 50 years after Okay Yeah So in that one you have Patrick Stewart as Drago Okay so they're both Drago And then Dragonheart Vengeance This begins before the events of the last movie But ends after them What are we doing?

1:10:07David Sims:Their godfather doing it And she's like a lady ice dragon Helena Bonham Carter as Siveth Jeez. What? This is insane. So I watched this trailer, and they, because my friends and I were watching all these trailers, right? And we're like waiting in each of the trailers for the big name drop of who's the dragon, right?

1:10:26Griffin Newman:We get in the booth for one day, let's be honest.

1:10:28David Sims:Because especially when we're going like Patrick Stewart, Ben Kingsley, we're like, fuck, who's the third in this series? And the doctor was a woman. None of us had considered that the dragon could be a lady.

1:10:39Griffin Newman:You are swinging at a curveball in the dirt. And that girl's name is Helena Bonham Carter.

1:10:43David Sims:And Helena Bonham Carter as the voice of Ice Dragon. And in the trailer, they cut to a five second shot clearly filmed on an iPhone of Helena Bonham Carter wrapped in scarves and bangles in the recording studio going, Roar! Like actual footage of her doing it, clearly comprising one fifth of all the time she spent recording this dialogue. and then we go to this audio show and I'm like, she would probably show up and voice the fucking missile. I think HBC will loan the voice to anything for the right price.

1:11:18Griffin Newman:Isn't that basically what she does in fucking, you know, Terminator, whichever one she's in, is it Salvation? She's in Salvation. But she's mostly, it's her. No, right, she's the doctor in the past or whatever. She's Skynet. Yeah. This is what I'm saying. I thought she was like the Rebecca Ferguson AI judge. This is what I'm saying.

1:11:37David Sims:You see her face in that. I know. Yeah, on a big screen.

1:11:40Griffin Newman:But anyway, we're after the show talking about Dragonheart for some reason.

1:11:44David Sims:Because of Halliburton Carter.

1:11:46Griffin Newman:Okay, right, right.

1:11:46David Sims:You were like, she's pretty good in this. And I was like, hey, Ben, you want to hear a thing that I talk about any time I'm given the opening? I've recently learned a lot about the Dragonheart franchise. They were also trying to sell me on watching Streets of Fire.

1:11:58Griffin Newman:Oh, Ben would love Streets of Fire, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean. Oh, yeah. Streets of Fire is cool. I know why you haven't seen it because it was a flop. Yeah. It's only recently had a cult research, but like kind of crazy. You've never seen it. It's like major, major scumbum energy. There's like really fun music in it. Willem Dafoe is like, I think it's like it's one of his first kind of hate. Speaking of right after the Loveless, it's early, Jackety Willem Dafoe. Moranis as a bully, we were saying. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All right. Speaking of, I just I just want to remark on Dragonheart Vengeance, which apparently takes place both before and after Dragonheart Battle for the Heartfire.

1:12:35Griffin Newman:I'm glad I've infected you with this sickness. Well, I'm just talking. So like, you know, this Halloween. Last Halloween, I did the Saw movies, right? I was like, I'm doing it. All the Saw's. Are dragons spooky enough? No, no, no, no. Okay.

1:12:48David Sims:This is prompting a new conversation.

1:12:50Griffin Newman:This year, I've been doing the paranormal activities.

1:12:52David Sims:Yes. Right? Of which there are seven. You recently got marked? I've been marked.

1:12:57Griffin Newman:I've entered the ghost dimension. I am now, you know, I have met my next of kin, right?

1:13:04David Sims:Next of kin is the Paramount Plus one?

1:13:05Griffin Newman:Yeah, I mean, it was intended for theaters, but COVID pushed it to Paramount+. But you scaled them out to watch it. I sure. I watched them all on Paramount+. They're all available there. And I'm sure they ran smoothly. Well, I actually use it through Apple, so they do run smoothly. Fuck. Which is a smart way that, you know. Yeah. So it's just what I love about these things, and it's why I do it. Because people will then get on my letterbox being like, David, you don't actually have to watch every paranormal. I like watching how these franchises trip over themselves to connect backwards. Yeah. And like how you watch the people behind them, the disparate people usually, fall over themselves being like, so what is it about the hit long ago at this point that worked?

1:13:50Griffin Newman:Right. What should we connect to? Because in Paranormal Activity, they keep fucking like ending up back in the house from Paranormal Activity 1. Like a fucking tunnel opens and they go there. and I'm just like, guys, I don't think the audience is like, yay, the house with the staircase. Like, they don't

1:14:05David Sims:care. It is funny how, like, the big 80s and 70s horror franchises would just be like, and this time the monster tracks someone different.

1:14:14Griffin Newman:It's a guy, so it helps to be just like, Freddy's

1:14:17David Sims:back, Jason's back. We're in a new place, but it's just like, and here are a new group of characters who are going to be haunted and hunted by this guy.

1:14:23Griffin Newman:You're getting eight kills of varying levels of gore and fun and all that. But then you get to like Paranormal

1:14:29David Sims:Activity 10 and the big twist ending is like, oh fuck, that's how they got the bedsheets? You were watching different characters and then the movie ends with like, hey we got an extra set of pillow cases, you want these? And they're like, those are the cases on the pillow and the paranormal

1:14:43Griffin Newman:stuff started. Like my friend Hannah was watching them because I started watching them. And like there's in four in four, right, there's a kid. Yes. And then there's another There are two six-year-old boys. That's the Xbox Kinect one? That is correct. That is right. And you know that in two, a baby boy got kidnapped by the monster lady from one. Okay? And then in three, you see the prequel of how those girls grew up, which is the best movie. And three and four are both catfish? Correct. And three is the best of the series, and four is not very good. Almost done. Okay. Four has two six-year-old boys, okay?

1:15:25Griffin Newman:and one of them is in the family and one of them is like a spooky kid who's his friend who's doing lots of weird shit. Oh, that's going to turn out well. Right, exactly. And like clearly the movie's like, the spooky kid is the kid who's abducted. Like the kid, right, who's been like in the hands of the evil. Misdirect. It's a misdirect. And then the other kid is like, actually, I'm adopted. And they're like, it was him all along. And I'm like, so who's the other kid? And they're like, we don't know. Don't worry about it. And I'm like, so did he only exist to misdirect? And they're like, yeah, but what a twist.

1:15:54Griffin Newman:He just has

1:15:55David Sims:Outra tastes And I'm like That only exists For the twist This is why I really want to do Final Destination On Patreon Especially now That we're in an era Where the modern movie Is a triumph

1:16:08Griffin Newman:Now that's a series That I feel like Dips in and out Of trying to Build connections And anytime they do It's so much fun It's pretty funny I mean six The recent one It's a masterpiece Did a great job Basically on every front Yeah But there's other ones Where they're like Yeah I heard about this. And that's sort of like the extent. Well, the fifth one is they try and like retcon, like they, they bring in the plane crash. I can't remember if, I think it's the fourth or is it the fifth one where they, I think the fifth one ends with them getting on the plane. And you're like, this whole movie was set in the year 2000.

1:16:41Griffin Newman:It's one of those where they, they built to that twist and you're like, why? And they're like, I don't know. Wasn't it cool when the plane blew up? It's kind of fun. All right. I guess so. I love those movies.

1:16:49David Sims:I would like to do that on. Bloodlines is great. I still think that is the best time I've had in a theater all year. Uh, what about... Not House of Dynamite? Yeah.

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1:17:50Griffin Newman:What did you eat at Nighthawk?

1:17:52David Sims:I'm trying to remember. I got two things. I got tater tots, and I got, you know, I had this tooth removed, and I'm still in a zone where I can't eat popcorn.

1:18:03Griffin Newman:Damn. I got some popcorn. It was great.

1:18:06David Sims:I also got their pretzel. Oh, yeah. Their pretzel's great. With, like, the scallion or, like, green onion dip. It was so fucking good. I remember what I got. There's a fucking, there's a one battle special item. Oh, the chicken. Yes. The chicken lollipops. Oh, fuck. I think it's called finger licking. I almost ordered that. I kind of wish I did. I always end up getting like the halal rice bowl situation. I wanted like two soft-ish finger foods.

1:18:35David Sims:We're at DEF CON 2. Oh, fuck.

1:18:38Griffin Newman:Time to reset the episode. No, I'm just going to walk off the roof. I'm going to Jared Harrison. I like averted my eyes momentarily when that happened. So you didn't even catch that? So I didn't even catch it. Because their reaction is like, Jesus. Yeah. Get on the fucking cop, though. You gotta go. And then I was like, wait, wait, what? Did something happen? And David's like, yeah, he jumped off. It's a little disoriented.

1:19:00David Sims:And no one really follows up on it. I was just like, wait, which guy just died?

1:19:04Griffin Newman:It's the whole problem with this movie. It's like the stakes at this point are so apocalyptic. How much do we think Caitlin Deaver got paid? I hope she got a nice back.

1:19:11David Sims:I love to see her. I think she does quite a good job in this scene.

1:19:15Griffin Newman:Yes she does Given again To me the sort of Hackneyed nature of the scene Yes Yes But she makes it Feel like a fucking

1:19:23David Sims:Real thing

1:19:23Griffin Newman:I bought Property on Deaver Island In Justified Season 2 And I've got like a Lavish hotel at this point Yeah She's always good

1:19:33David Sims:Gabinga Akinagabe I believe is his name Binga Love him He is so good in this as well There's sort of a side conversation Speaking of people I met When I worked as a receptionist Really At a post facility Love that guy really great guy

1:19:46Griffin Newman:he's Chris Partlow in The Wire yep a character I love and I love how at the end of The Wire he survives and he's in prison for all the murders he did and he's with I think Weebae who's another of the characters who just survived you know and went to prison and they're just hanging out in prison and you imagine them being both like yeah fuck we did all that shit this movie had two members of The Wire two members of the original Broadway cast of Hamilton so it's got Renee Goldsberry as Michelle Obama as POTUS wife it is weird how

1:20:14David Sims:we need to talk about it I'm in Africa right now but she is nuclear what? she is so Michelle in this yes well it's weird she's very Michelle coded in styling and the fact that she's like you know her husband is like oh yeah you're kind of my advisor I don't know if all presidents are like that with their wives but also their banter is so much our public understanding of the Obama marriage correct and then also you have Idris being like well first of all listening to podcasts and then being like, how was your jump shot?

1:20:46Griffin Newman:Anthony Ramos, of course, is the other Hamilton member. I found him a little distracting, I'm going to say. I don't like him in anything. I'm sorry. You like him. I like him in... I do like him in In the Heights. I don't like him in In the Heights.

1:21:03David Sims:I like him in Transformers, Rise of the Beast. I haven't seen that one. I have yet to rise with those beasts. I will. I will. I think that he's like... The thing that really gets me is him in Twisters. When he's positioned as like an alternate romantic option. And I'm like, I'm sorry, Glenn Powell is just rizzing off. He's rizzing in my face.

1:21:24Griffin Newman:True, he is rizzing in one's face. But it's also like in that one, he's like the guy in the polo shirt who's like, all right, but like get back in the truck. We got to get back to work. And I'm like, is this a good use of this guy?

1:21:33David Sims:I feel like someone throughout when that movie came out, if you flip him and Cornswit, both of them are more interesting in each other's roles.

1:21:40Griffin Newman:With Cornswit, I was just kind of like knowing that since he was going to be Superman, The whole time he was on screen, I was like, this guy could be a good Superman. He looks like Superman. Exactly. And I also was like, oh, this is cool that he's going to be Superman, but he's playing like the antagonist in this. I'm like, okay. You can act. They messed with my tornado computer. I don't remember what he did in that movie. Whatever. But yeah, not a fan. I did like that one girl, though. The one who worked in the Alaskan army base. Tears silently rolling down her cheeks. Do we know her name? I didn't clock who you're talking about.

1:22:15You know how she's the one who has to, you know, announce if there was an impact? Right.

1:22:20Griffin Newman:Yes. Yeah.

1:22:22David Sims:I'm trying to see if her name is here.

1:22:24Griffin Newman:I don't see it on the big left. I thought Tracy was good. Tracy, it's kind of just one of those things where you're like, is this the first time he's done this? Like, he crushes his, like, a general. Yes. Like, give me that all the time. Yeah.

1:22:35David Sims:Can we talk about Idris?

1:22:38Griffin Newman:Yeah, by all means. What is there to say?

1:22:41David Sims:Alan Smith, the editor of this show, is just like his vibe as a president is so bizarre and unprecedented in terms of what he's doing because he really is playing it as President Idris where like the movie almost needs to stop and explain how he got elected. And it's part of this I was saying was like we're a little fucked in a Trump era depicting presidents on screen because up until...

1:23:11Griffin Newman:Right. This movie is about, we assume, a somewhat competent administration reacting, right?

1:23:16David Sims:Right. Up until, you know, let's say a little bit Obama, but really up until the first Trump presidency, right? Any kind of white guy over the age of 55 with a pretty good jawline and shoulders. Slap a suit on him. He's the president. Could be the president. And if you want the president to be evil, rinse and repeat with someone who's got more of a character actor face and an interesting voice, right? But you could just sort of depict an empty suit president on screen without it feeling like any statement, especially in shit like Transformers or whatever, where you're like, at some point we need to cut to a White House.

1:23:49David Sims:You know, Transformers 1 has the bit where there's like a fucking you see cowboy boots on a desk and a dude doing a bad W. Bush impression. Right. But then I feel like the later Transformers movies are like, hello, I'm president human being. The Transformers are our friends. And you're like, there's nothing political about this. Right. Obama kind of breaks the mold in a lot of ways of like, here's someone who because of our own fucking ugliness as a country we thought was unelectable. Right. And is such a good communicator and is charismatic. And it's not a perfect figure. But obviously is the best WTF guest of all time.

1:24:24David Sims:Mark. And then Trump, you're just like.

1:24:26Griffin Newman:My impression of him on the podcast.

1:24:28David Sims:This thing now where anytime there's a bad present in a movie, people are like, this movie is really going after Trump. Right. Even if they don't resemble Trump in any way. Idris in this kind of plays like a dilettante. He doesn't know, like, I think he was just elected or something. Yes. Because he keeps talking about how, like, the campaign was so exhausting. He seems so sleepy. He seems sleepy and he seems stressed out and he seems like a little annoyed that he has to do actual work while not being a bad guy, but everyone's kind of like, he's really charismatic. Down to that Ken Choi moment, which is kind of the most backfill you get on him, which is like, I'm going to miss the show.

1:25:06David Sims:it's kind of fun watching the A-listers do their routine, you know? They're all the same. They're chronically late and they're narcissists. And then you just watch this guy absolutely struggle to be like, I haven't learned any of this shit. I don't know what the fuck to do. He's turning to fucking Prince Eric from Little Mermaid being like, solve this for me. And you're like, this character is bizarre. And you can't just in the third act cut to him and be like, and he's the president. It's a stressful situation. He's not even great at the basketball. office. No, he misses the shot.

1:25:37Griffin Newman:He misses

1:25:37David Sims:the first shot.

1:25:38Griffin Newman:I feel like it's kind of the joke, right? Yeah, and he's just not like really engaging with the kids very well. Right. He gives them high fives. He's a little full of shit. He's also bad at the nuclear part. That's what I'm saying. But I mean, anyone would be. I think it's sort of the point of this movie. I would be good at it. Oh, okay. Yeah. I'd say this one. I'd point to the menu. I'd say like rare, medium, and well done. Jonah Howard King. That's so fucked up. Who played Prince Eric in the wonderful Little Mermaid remake.

1:26:08David Sims:Probably my fifth favorite Rob Marshall Disney live action film.

1:26:13Griffin Newman:You know, he plays the guy who's holding the football who gives him this right little run down. In the back of the car. With Idris, yeah. And there's a slightly sinister energy to him that I kind of appreciated. Exactly. Where you're like, is it just because this guy has this weighty job? Is Bigelow trying to tell us like it's kind of weird that anyone would have influence at this point even someone who means well like you know this is when the movie works

1:26:39David Sims:for me and it's why i think the gabriel basso section works where it's just like when all the fucking cards are down the stakes of any sentence becomes so severe right uh interesting to think about there are times where i think the movie captures that well in a kind of human interpersonal level more than like the logistics of how this shit goes down another thing i think this movie does well is just really illustrate how much Zoom sucks. You watch the first act of this movie and you're like, these important conversations are happening on a grid of eight faces. And you're like, this sucks. This is too weighty to happen over Zoom.

1:27:13I cannot believe that fucking Gabriel Basso is taking a call like from his iPhone as he is like, I'm sorry.

1:27:21David Sims:I think that is the best section of the movie. And not only that, I think it is the most effectively tense section of the movie, especially when he's doing the runaround with the security guards and the metal detector. And he's so stressed out that he can't maneuver like what is the right way to stay on this call. He lacks the professionalism of some of the other people there to be like, I should mute myself or like I should turn video off. And yet you're like, how bleak is it that like six guys are looking at a computer screen where the president's video is off and he's in the back of a car being like, I don't know.

1:27:54I don't know. What the fuck should

1:27:54David Sims:we do yeah um versus like a kind of dr strange love fuck this is important kind of thing like it i think this movie at times captures a certain modern hell there was a part that again everything i say that i liked and want more of it makes it sound like i want you know like a limited series or whatever yeah but the guy who works in the like white house cafe that moment i think is really good And because like that's what I'm more interested in is like these people on the fringes of these big insane decisions. What like they're not getting any information. They're getting drops of it. How do they respond?

1:28:36What is life like for them?

1:28:38David Sims:A rare moment in this film that is beautifully underwritten. What is the name of that guy who's sort of Rebecca Ferguson's right hand? Oh, the one who's about to propose. Did you notice that?

1:28:48Griffin Newman:I feel like it came up at one point that he was about to get married or proposed to his girlfriend.

1:28:54David Sims:I even think that is better than the amount of people who have a child in a city or the wife is pregnant. Because it's at least hinging on this idea of this guy's going to regret that he didn't do it. He doesn't realize that he already missed his one chance to propose, right? I mean, I guess. He steps out to the hallway. He's got the fucking phones. The cafe guy asks him what's going on. He takes the pause and he just says, go home. And I'm like, I wish the rest of the movie had that level of confidence in its writing to not need to spell things out. Ben, you had a major complaint off of that scene.

1:29:26Griffin Newman:Oh, I said we should have followed him home. There should have been a whole act. I'm way more interested in that guy than I am in anything with Jared Harris and his daughter or whatever. Like, I would rather I'm more interested in the people that are more like tertiary.

1:29:48David Sims:The Greta Lee scene I do think is kind of interesting in that setup. Ben did specifically say afterwards he wished we had an entire chapter based around the cafe guy so we could learn about how long he seeps his tea and such. So these are the kinds of questions the movie really needs to answer. Yeah. Maybe like how does he relax? Here's another conversation. Maybe he throws on a Netflix show. Alan Smithy was like, it's crazy to think. Greta Lee, Oscar nominee. And now two years later, she's got one scene in a Catherine Bigelow movie. And I went, no, no, no, my friend. Greta Lee just missed out on a Best Actress nomination.

1:30:27David Sims:And in the year 2025, we're seeing the difference where it's like she got the whirlwind of press. She got like put on the grand stage. She just missed out on the nomination. her level up paycheck gigs are one scene in House of Dynamite and human lead in Tron Aries she's in season what of morning show? season 4 of the morning show I don't think she's a very great actor I think she's a very good actor David do you want to be the type of

1:30:55Griffin Newman:um it's interesting I really liked her in things um I like Past Lives I think that performance fits that movie well it wasn't a performance where I was like, oh my God, I want to see everything this person can do. She's very, you haven't seen Tron Aries yet? No. You haven't met him?

1:31:12David Sims:I haven't entered the grid. You should. Or I haven't entered Los Angeles.

1:31:16Griffin Newman:She's very like lost in that movie. I don't know that that's. Sure. That's not her fault, perhaps. Probably not. I mean, maybe someone else could have had a little more. She has like a couple moments. As someone who's seen every episode of The Morning Show multiple times, I think she is terrible in that show. Here's a question. I have not done that.

1:31:35David Sims:I have never watched the morning show. Can we hold the morning show against anyone? No. Well, I think there are people who are very good in the morning show. I believe that. Billy Crudup and I think that Jennifer Aniston as Alex Levy is great.

1:31:52Griffin Newman:And she had sex with Jon Hamm in space? No, she didn't go to space. Reese went in her place, but she did have sex with Jon Hamm.

1:32:00David Sims:And was January 6th in space? Reese did January 6th.

1:32:04Griffin Newman:I hear things about the morning show where I'm like, okay. Season three opens with Reese going to space and ends with her speaking to the FBI about her involvement in January 6th.

1:32:16David Sims:It does sound like the best season of television that's ever been produced. Okay. A lot of stuff. A lot of stuff goes on.

1:32:23Griffin Newman:I think she's fine in House of Dynamite in the Gettysburg scene. We're getting a documentary about the making of the Avatar films on Disney+. Hell fucking yes.

1:32:34David Sims:Can I say this? I went back to Pandora last week. Re-release of Way of Water. Uh-huh. That new trailer fucking rules. Yeah, it's so cool. And there are, I guess, three preview scenes that they have playing an alternation for the re-release that's now done. The one I got was Stephen Lang meeting Una Chaplin, head of the Ashnavi. And I want to say I'm pretty ready to let her destroy my life. I am so all in on this character. Fire and Ash looks so fucking good Spider can breathe now Good for him They fucking link him up to the tree And now his dreadlocks have the fucking tendrils They gave him those fucking dreadlocks for a reason, baby He can fuck shit with the dreadlocks And he can breathe without an apparatus

1:33:20Griffin Newman:Seems like a lot to throw in the soup Game is over I'm really excited for it Hyakon in the trailer

1:33:26David Sims:A bunch He's all over that Yeah, I just got sent a trailer for Fire and Water, colon, making the Avatar films. Official trailer, November 7th on Disney+. I can't wait to plug my dreadlocks into that doc. I think it would be really cool if in 2025 you decide to start growing dreadlocks. Okay, I'm going to push back on this. Oh, yeah? Oh, you got some notes on that proposal? The bit ends now. House of Dynamite. I do agree that I think it's what I like about the Garda Lee section, right? is like it's more interesting in a way to see a person have their life interrupted, get a call that's just like it's fucking happening, and then have to deal with the fallout of those words being said.

1:34:15David Sims:I think the moment with Rebecca Ferguson's husband in the car is like similarly kind of emotionally effective in that way. Rebecca Ferguson is very good in this, But it is funny how much this movie was like sold the whale style on one image of her standing sideways in like mission control with a phone to her head. And you were like, it's going to be a Bigelow movie of fucking Rebecca Furryson taking names. Right. Just knocking them down, like throwing fire. It's doing the look. He's doing the whale.

1:34:48Griffin Newman:Now, this is a reference to an episode that I think still hasn't dropped, which is I think the Hail Caesar is where I start that.

1:34:53David Sims:That's where we really talk about it.

1:34:54Griffin Newman:I'm much more interested in like the fallout of all of Ethan Hunt's good intentions. And I wanted a scene in this movie where Tracy Letts is like, do we call in the IMF? A thing that I did write on my Nighthawk order card to show to my husband is Ethan Hunt would fix this.

1:35:09David Sims:He would. Can we talk Bigelow tears for a moment? Sure. Tears of the Catherine. Yes. I just, just to put it out here, I have not seen Weight of Water or K-19. But I've seen all the other ones.

1:35:21Griffin Newman:Water weighs about a pound. those are the two worst ones really? I thought people kind of liked K-19 crazy people that's like a myth that's been pushed by the woke media I have my top 10 my top 10 right here and I think it's yeah it's unchanging but I should put a house of dynamite on here

1:35:41David Sims:I basically think near dark blue steel point break strange days hurt locker and zero dark 30 are all degrees of excellent

1:35:52Griffin Newman:well yeah Yeah, sure. What's your favorite?

1:35:55David Sims:Point Break is my favorite. Mine is Strange Days. I put Blue Steel at the top of my list when we did our rankings just because I was so... Do you have like a Ron Silver thing?

1:36:04Griffin Newman:Yeah. Do you like it when Ron Silver is not chill? He ain't.

1:36:09David Sims:Strange Days I've now seen several more times since we did that series and I fucking love it.

1:36:14Griffin Newman:My top five are Point Break, Strange Days, Hurt Locker, Near Dark, Blue Steel. Sure, yeah.

1:36:19David Sims:Like she does for within the can of directors we've covered and especially for how relatively few movies she has. She has a good number of like. But of good movies.

1:36:31Griffin Newman:Top tier movies. Yes. And then I have Zero Dark Thirty, a solid sixth. But the trouble for her is I have The Loveless Seventh. Yeah. And you want that to be true when you've made seven movies, not 11 movies. Right. Because then below that I have Detroit K-19. I'm going to put a house of dynamite right at number 10 above the weight of water.

1:36:52David Sims:I mean, yeah, even like me defending this movie more. I'm like, my only question is, do I put house of dynamite above the loveless?

1:37:01Griffin Newman:Right.

1:37:02David Sims:Sure. Right. That would be the highest you put. That's the highest I'd put it. Yeah. House of dynamite, mate. It is while just looking at that fucking gap of like 17 to 20. And to me,

1:37:12Griffin Newman:it's also a problem that I'm like, I did not like Detroit. I think Detroit has so many of the same problems of like, just because something happened or could happen does not mean it's a good movie or it's interesting material, right? Like Detroit just gets so lost in its like struggle for like verisimilitude or, you know, it's like you have to understand like all the horrible things. Like, no, I don't.

1:37:33David Sims:Hurt Locker and Zero Dark, as you said, find ways to build really good character stories. Yes. To make them character studies within this.

1:37:41Griffin Newman:Detroit has characters that's sort of trying to do that, like the Boyega character. But it's got like 10 lead characters. Right. That's the problem with that. I think that Zero Dark Thirty, it works mostly for me as a Jessica Chastain performance slash vehicle. She's queening out. I owe it a rewatch. It's a very flawed movie in my opinion. But it's pretty good stuff. I haven't been hit with the urge to rewatch that one.

1:38:04David Sims:Just any time I'm kind of stressed out.

1:38:06Griffin Newman:I just like Pratt and Fatigues. Give that guy a semi-auto. I want to watch it. I'm joking. He's such a real American.

1:38:13David Sims:He is such a real American. When are people going to stop being mean to him?

1:38:16Griffin Newman:And you know what he's not is weird. Yes. And I'm going to do an interview about how I'm not weird. Yeah. Whatever kind of weird thing you think I am, I'm not that. Yeah. No further questions.

1:38:26David Sims:Yeah. He just needs to fight the accusations of being kind of lame. He keeps responding to those as if he's been accused of war crimes.

1:38:36Griffin Newman:It's Zachary Levi.

1:38:38David Sims:It's not that bad yet. Yeah.

1:38:39Griffin Newman:But like how Zachary Levi would keep going on the internet being like, stop saying that I'm weird and fucked up. Right. See my movie.

1:38:47David Sims:But even like Levi had more specific accusations of like, you're faving weird tweets. Sure. And Pratt, it was like the thing that started. It's mostly you went to a weird church or whatever. The thing that started the Pratt spiral. You divorced Donna Ferris, you fool. Right. But like someone made the grid of like, pick the best, rank the four Chris's. Right. Right. And like overwhelmingly the internet put him fourth. Right. And he felt the need to like sit down with Barbara Walters and be like, why does everyone hate? And you're like, I don't know. You're fourth of four Christians.

1:39:15Griffin Newman:It's like they really just love Pine and Hemsworth and Evans is okay. 20 million a movie.

1:39:19David Sims:You're doing okay, guy. Yeah, right.

1:39:22Griffin Newman:Oh, boy. House of Dynamite.

1:39:24David Sims:When does this movie go up on Netflix? The 24th. The 24th.

1:39:27Griffin Newman:Okay. Of October? Yeah. Do you think it's going to get a best picture moment? No. I don't think so. I think it's over. No. Okay. Right? Yeah. I don't know. I like I'm looking at the best picture field and it goes about seven deep that I'm like, okay, these these all feel plausible. And then I'm kind of like, I don't know, man.

1:39:43David Sims:Let's do this with our episode. You have seen way more than the other three of us. Sure. What would your 10 be right now on October 15th?

1:39:51Griffin Newman:I'll give you what. Yeah. Like, okay. One battle after another. Feels the most locked. Hamnet. Yeah. Sinners. Yeah. Marty Supreme. Mm hmm. sentimental value. That feels like a pretty ironclad five. Wicked for good. Uh-huh. Now I am like, I don't know. Yeah. So here's the sort of buckets of what's next. Yeah. You've got like Avatar, Fire, and Ash on its own island of question mark of like, hey, they always nominated these Avatar movies.

1:40:24David Sims:But it's too...

1:40:25Griffin Newman:Does fatigue set in?

1:40:26David Sims:Are they going to take it for granted, especially when it's not a grand finale?

1:40:29Griffin Newman:You've got the Netflix bucket. But J. Kelly, Frankenstein, House of Dynamite, this sort of like, what do they push? What do people like the most? We can't even tell what, like, does well because there's no box office.

1:40:43David Sims:But it's true, like, I could see a world in which all three of those get in. I could see a world in which none of them get in.

1:40:49Griffin Newman:I could see a world in which one of them gets in. I struggle to imagine all three, but one seems plausible and two seems possible. But also zero very possible. I would right now maybe pick J. Kelly. I'm sort of waiting to see on Frankenstein

1:41:02David Sims:if that goes over better. Have you seen it? No. It might have that same kind of craft surge and getting the runner-up at Toronto for audience award. Because that's another thing where the first response is to it where it's dog shit.

1:41:17Griffin Newman:It's a friendlier audience. Then you've got your acclaimed foreign film, Fuck It. It was just an accident. Yeah. No other choice. Which is fucking excellent, by the way. Oh, I'm excited to see it.

1:41:27David Sims:My favorite movie of the year that isn't One Battle. so it's your number two of the year is another way of putting that

1:41:32Griffin Newman:but it's sort of like one battle it's kind of like well what the fuck am I but I love that movie so much so you got it was just an accident no other choice and the secret agent sort of hovering down there neon you know like can favorites

1:41:47David Sims:also that it's basically now if not a given there's almost a kind of standard often one of those international director gets in and it gets one of the best picture 10

1:41:59Griffin Newman:It was just an accident in some ways is, you know, not the easiest movie to sell to Oscar for, but in other ways is so compelling. It feels like it's his most approachable in a while. Like maybe this is the moment that like, yeah, it gets this.

1:42:13David Sims:I went to see it with my dad. We saw it at the New York Film Festival. My dad only knows about Panahi from. From like the news. Right. Right. And this guy, he's made five films like. He made movies essentially under house arrest. Smuggled out of the country. These movies are like an act of protest. and he just immediately goes, I didn't think it was going to be so funny. And I was like, yeah, all of his movies are funny. That's the other thing. His movies are very political, but they're very human. They all have really strong hooks.

1:42:39Griffin Newman:But this one especially has like more of a, right, like a straightforward plot that anyone can grab onto versus the last couple, which obviously he made under very intense conditions.

1:42:50David Sims:Do you know about this guy, Ben? I do, yeah. Yeah. Can I give you like the one sentence? This is one of the things I know about David.

1:42:56Griffin Newman:Lots of stuff.

1:42:57David Sims:Can I give you the one sentence?

1:42:58Griffin Newman:You don't know about all the bullshit we go on about me and him. I'm normal.

1:43:02David Sims:Exactly. Well, yeah, but now you've heard the Dragonheart sequel spiel two times. Fuck. Try to argue you're normal. Can I give you the one sentence on it was just an accident, which will also maybe function as helping to sell this movie to our audience? Sure, sure.

1:43:14Griffin Newman:Throw it out there.

1:43:15David Sims:Bunch of guys who are like POWs, basically, right? Were political prisoners and tortured and blindfolded. In Iran. And have not recovered from the trauma of that. one of these guys comes across in the wild who he thinks was his torturer. They never saw the guy's face, but he thinks from the guy's gait and voice. The voice, the sound, the gait, the smell, all of this. And he like blindfolds him, knocks him out, is going to bury him alive. And the guy makes a fairly compelling argument while he's in the midst of being buried that he's got the wrong guy. So then the rest of the movie is this guy being like,

1:43:51Griffin Newman:fuck, am I sure? driving around in his van, going to friends and other, you know, other people who were captured and being like,

1:43:57David Sims:can I show you something? Oh my God. Do you, I think, do you think this is him? I think it's him. And every person he goes to is like, has different levels of like how ready they are to relitigate their own trauma. Sure. But it's just about the absolute uncertainty of like, can you ever know? And if you got the wrong guy, then what does that say about you? And what have you done? I mean, it sounds heavy, but you're saying it's also funny. It's both. It's really tense. It's very, very heavy and intense. But it is really funny. But like, is that not a great premise for a movie? It is.

1:44:27Griffin Newman:Absolutely. And I knew nothing going into it. I truly knew nothing. I had seen the trailer, which gives exactly that much away.

1:44:33David Sims:And I was, yeah.

1:44:34Griffin Newman:Then there's Begonia, which I have seen, and I don't buy it as an Oscar movie, but obviously they do like Yorgos sometimes. You've got like the Springsteen movie. Does that go over? It's kind of getting like tepid-y, you know, okay reactions. You got something like, Like, does the testament of Ann Lee come on strong? Does weapons, like, have a surprise?

1:44:56David Sims:I start putting money down on a weapon, Serge.

1:44:58Griffin Newman:Does Bradley Cooper surprise everyone with this thing? Is the thing going to be on? How about this? Does Netflix get Train Dreams, which is better than any of the other Netflix movies? Does Netflix get K-pop Demon Hunters? No, I don't think so. No. You guys! But they'll get it in an Oscar.

1:45:16David Sims:It's going to win. I watched the first time with you recently. I think it's very good. Marie, can you name all of the animated films to ever get a Best Picture nomination? First one is Beauty and the Beast. I am the Beast. We've got Toy Story 3 up. I am the Potato Head. I am the Old P. I believe we're at the end of the list. Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay. It was really like Beauty and the Beast was a phenomenon. When they went to 10, everyone's response was, oh, this means that Pixar is going to get an auto nomination every year. For a minute, it did seem that way. And then Pixar started to lose it. I don't think there's a fourth one.

1:45:51David Sims:There is not. Yeah. Okay. And there have been other ones like, you know, the Spider-Verse movies, like things like that where they were like, this could get in here.

1:45:58Griffin Newman:Could this be the crossover?

1:45:59David Sims:Right. I think for an animated film to get into Best Picture again, it needs to be like a true, it would have to be like WALL-E. It would have to be like, this is a giant theatrical hit. WALL-E would have made it with Ted. And it's getting critics awards. Yeah.

1:46:14Griffin Newman:I mean, the thing about it is the only real version of that since the movies we just discussed is Spider-Verse. And that probably was just cost by being a Spider-Man. And they still gave it animated. Would Green Book count just because it's such an animated performance? I'm not a cartoon. I'm a real guy.

1:46:32David Sims:Ben, that is the most sober, realistic way I've ever seen a pizza be eaten on screen. I don't know what you speak of. How could you call me a cartoon? Wow. Remember Green Book? We got to open the book.

1:46:43Griffin Newman:Did we re-release Green Book right now? Someone was making... Green Book and 4DX? Oh, my God. The bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Every time he's being racist. Every time Linda Cardellini... Bum, bum, bum, bum. The heart of the movie.

1:46:56David Sims:When they throw away the glass. I was reading about the 4DX for one battle after another, which I really regret not going to. He was playing for like four or five days. Apparently when Sean Penn gets his little butt play happening, it gives you a little tickle.

1:47:16Griffin Newman:Just a little lower back, a little, ooh.

1:47:21Griffin Newman:You know, that movie's really good. Yeah, that movie's really fucking good. Yeah, it's really good. And I'll say this right now. That's my best actor right there. Leo? I don't think that's getting beat, my friend. I was thinking about him today. Did you see Marty Supreme? Haven't seen it yet. You're saying personally or who you think is going to win? Timothy Chalamet is going to win the Oscar. I think so, too. But no, no. I think Timmy's winning for two reasons. One, I hear he's very good in the film. Yeah. Two, Adrian Brody took one step on that stage and everyone was like, why didn't we just We got this wrong.

1:47:52Griffin Newman:We got this wrong. Absolutely. Brody just like, he just goes like this. Like he moves slightly to get out of his seat. And everyone's like, you know, Chalamet was really good.

1:48:00David Sims:David, I'll be a little more generous. I'll give him five seconds. Yeah. He took one breath on stage. seat. He gets it from the seat. Oh no, it's when he throws his fucking gum. Exactly. That's when he lost it. It's the moment he turns back around and throws his gum to Harvey Weinstein's ex-wife where people went, oh fucking no.

1:48:16Griffin Newman:Everyone's like, he actually already even has an Oscar. What are we doing? Yeah. Doesn't matter because it seems like this might be the better outcome in a weird sort of a way of like, it's kind of annoying when you get your Oscar for playing a musician and everyone's like, I love you and I love Bob Dylan. This one, it's like you threw your whole Timousy into this one.

1:48:36David Sims:How old is he now? He's 29.

1:48:38Griffin Newman:Yeah, he's almost 30.

1:48:39David Sims:Yeah.

1:48:40Griffin Newman:And he will... He'll be 30 on December 27th.

1:48:43David Sims:And he will win Best Actor, presumably with three lead nominations under his belt before the age of 30. That's a good point. It's pretty... King shit. Undeniable. He's having a good run. I love my boy. I'm so excited. Like, is he going to thank Kylie at the Oscars?

1:48:58Griffin Newman:Everyone is so hung up on the normal person he dates. I mean, I'm just... I'm not against the relationship. I'm actually very, did you see Gwyneth Paltrow gave some interview recently where she was like talking about how. It was elite Gwyneth. I don't know what's going on at any point in time shit. Where she said that she asked him like, do you have like a girlfriend? And he was like, yeah. Yeah, I do. And then he's like, she's got two kids. And I was like, oh, that's so nice for a young man to be interested in a woman with children. And I had no idea it was Kylie Jenner. It's just like her being like, I'm in Avengers Endgame 2?

1:49:35Griffin Newman:I don't think so. I mean, that one?

1:49:38David Sims:Yeah. No, no, I'm just, I'm withholding my statements.

1:49:42Griffin Newman:Oh, withholding your statements like Kylie Jenner? Look, going into Oscar night. Newman goes to war with Jenner family.

1:49:47David Sims:When it felt like Brody and Chalamet were neck and neck, right? And Chalamet had just given his SAG speech of like, I want to be one of the greats. And I like that speech. I liked it too.

1:49:56Griffin Newman:I did too, but it was a bold kind of thing to admit. It's always the risk. Like, do you want to admit how much you care about this shit at these awards or whatever?

1:50:05David Sims:It's him actively engaging publicly with a duel against the notion of being cringe, which I like. That I feel like he's like, you know what? We're trying too hard. Right. Yeah. It fucking, like, I want to be good. Yes, I'm not doing this naturally. I'm not trying to get that back. Like, this means something to me. He shows up at the Oscars. Kylie's there with him in the front row. And I just immediately thought to myself, he's not winning tonight. He was in that canary yellow suit. Where I was just like... It was more of a butter. I think they don't want to give it to a 28-year-old who's dating a Kardashian.

1:50:37David Sims:And when The Rock showed up at Venice and he was really slimmed down and you were like... Oh, yeah, we got to talk about it. What is up with this look? I said, he knows there is no universe in which they give him an Oscar if he gets up on stage and he's like bursting out of the suit. There's certain things where like, regardless of performance, they're thinking about the moment at the podium. and I do think those things factor in. I like that movie quite a bit. I think his performance in that film is extraordinary. Which, oh, sorry. It's Smashing Machine. I still have to see it.

1:51:07Griffin Newman:I really like that movie and that performance. Should I go see it in Japan? Yeah. My friend texted me last night being like, should I go see it? And I was like, look, most people seem to not like it. It's kind of a bummer. I like it. Check it out. She got their shoes like solo viewing. Yeah.

1:51:24David Sims:It's just me. I feel bad. Are they going to give him the nod out of appreciation? Or is he even not guaranteed to get in the five?

1:51:31Griffin Newman:I don't think he's guaranteed to get in the five at all. Because at this point, the narrative is that it failed. It's not just that it underwhelmed or whatever. The narrative is like, oh, it didn't work. Which is what the movie's about. Totally.

1:51:43David Sims:Which does make the movie more fascinating. It would be because, okay, Leo, Chalamet.

1:51:51Griffin Newman:I think Michael B. Jordan is a lock. I disagree with you on that. Why?

1:51:55David Sims:I would love to see him get nominated. I'm just not sensing people putting enough credit on that performance as a driving force. I'll put it this way.

1:52:03Griffin Newman:If the Oscars snub Michael D. Jordan, it's going to be a tornado of shit for them. And I'm pretty sure they will not. I'm pretty sure they will go for it. Well, let's revisit this. You're going to snub the most famous black actor of his generation for a playing twins performance in a box office sensation that's going to get a Best Picture nomination. And he was very much like involved with the Genesis production. I would be very surprised. Yeah, no, that nomination makes sense to me. Who else is in there? Well, and here's why, here's the other reason he's getting in there. It's, again, kind of tricky after that.

1:52:34Well, then maybe there is room for The Rock.

1:52:36Griffin Newman:Well, all right, let me.

1:52:37David Sims:Wagner Moore, Secret Agent. Yeah, Wagner Moore, sure. Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon. Great performance. Which you said that I'm going to love, David. Jesse Plemons, Begonia, Jeremy Allen White, Springsteen, George Clooney, Jay Kelly. This is kind of seen as the top tier. It's a soft-ish feel after that three. And then because Stellan's doing supporting. He's supporting. Meskel's doing supporting.

1:52:59Griffin Newman:Yes, he is. Somewhat, I think, strategic. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah. Like, supporting is also kind of weird. Supporting actor this year is going to be tough. Yeah. I mean, do they, you know, how much do they love one battle? Do they want Sean and Benicio? Like, Benicio, to me, is like MVP of the movie.

1:53:18David Sims:I agree. He's pretty amazing. I think he's unbelievable in that film. My guess is that both of them get nominated, but both of them getting nominated and both of those guys already having at least one Oscar splits their vote. They split it and then it goes to Stellan. I think the Stellan Lifetime Achievement Award, it's hard to argue with that campaign.

1:53:35Griffin Newman:I haven't seen the film yet. You haven't seen? Oh, you've seen Cinema Files. But from what I'm hearing about Hamnet, Paul Meskel will be winning. Really? Who's going to win? But I thought the narrative is that Jesse Buckley, it's her win. That has already been engraved, I think. Like that is not in question. But I'm basically just hearing like the movie has a major moment where he fucking does like Shakespeare. And it rocks and everyone cries. And I'm like, I don't know, man. I think they might just be like, Timmy and Meskel, baby. Let's do it. I read on Elon Musk's ex whatever. Oh, the everything website.

1:54:06The everything website.

1:54:07Griffin Newman:A chill just went up my spine. That there is a line where he is like going to like kill himself and he goes to be or not to be. Look, I'm not saying that I think I'm going to love Hamnet. I will see what I think of it. You still haven't seen it. Yeah. But the thing with sentimental value, which is the film I think is very good. Have any of you seen it yet? No, I'm really excited for it. It is not. I think it will do well at the Oscars because they liked his last movie because Neon seems to be back. But it is not a movie where it's like, oh, my God, Stellan just crushed that monologue. Like, it's an odd, aloof, frosty Norwegian movie about a filmmaker.

1:54:50Griffin Newman:Like, it's not like auto, you know.

1:54:53David Sims:But at this point in October, many, many months to go, right? I think there are basically four people locked in supporting actors. The two on Battle Guys, it's Meskel, and it's Skarsgård.

1:55:03Griffin Newman:Some would argue with you about Penicio, but I would predict it.

1:55:06David Sims:I think Penicio's getting in, right? Two of those guys have already won. Paul Meskel's really young. And Stellan Skarsgård's a legend. He is? he is and here's another thing to consider he's probably about to give us six months of no skips banger interviews I think that's going to hurt him it's possible he won't put his foot in his mouth

1:55:27Griffin Newman:but I'm excited me I'm excited does he show up to interviews in the fat suit for Mamma Mia 2 best case scenario

1:55:34David Sims:does he accept the Oscar in the fat suit

1:55:36Griffin Newman:does he show up as his character from Pirates of the Caribbean Bootstrap Bill Sr.

1:55:43David Sims:if we're lucky I don't know what he'll do Any of it's good All the scenarios you just outlined are good

1:55:50Griffin Newman:I would love to see Delroy Lindo sneak in there I think he's so fucking good in that movie Because he's so deserving of a nom at this point He's never had one Sandler was like Sandler is still high on prediction lists He's great in the movie And there's all Again it's the kind of like Isn't it We have never nominated him Like do they have to make room for him I don't know The Oscars They're silly What about the Shark Tank guy? What about Kevin O 'Leary? Everyone says he's very good in the movie. I think he's probably really fun in that movie. I don't think the Oscars will care. Yeah. Is he Mr.

1:56:22Griffin Newman:Wonderful? That's his name? Yes. He's the bald one. Yes. I'm a bunch of shark tank. There's the bald one. What then?

1:56:32Griffin Newman:We're at Defcon 1. Oh, fuck.

1:57:11We'll be right back. Get ready to save big with up to 60 % off brands like Rag & Bone, Levi's, Adidas, and Free People. Join the Nordiclub 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.

1:57:36Griffin Newman:So, this film, I guess, came out October 10th, 2025, which was last weekend. Bad weekend at the box office. It was an underwhelming weekend at the box office. Now, Griffin, I know you've seen the number two movie. Of course, the number one movie I have seen, and we love it. And its name is Tron Aries, starring A-lister Jared Leigh. Our favorite A-lister. The platinum movie star. A movie I found just this side of enjoyable because of the Tron business. Didn't find Jared too engaging.

1:58:05David Sims:I took my little cousin George to New York Comic Con. Sure. And as we're riding the subway over to beautiful Hudson Yards, New York, a real neighborhood.

1:58:15Griffin Newman:You know what? That's what it is. This is a real neighborhood, goddammit. He was asking me questions. We have a hot dog stand and everything.

1:58:21David Sims:He was asking me questions about Hudson Yards, and I was like, this has been a thing barely, maybe less time than you've been alive. I was going to say, probably 10-ish years. It basically broke ground when you were born. you should just say this was almost a new york jets stadium all of this of course that's what i said to him but we kept passing tron aries ads and he was like oh my god tron aries is out have you seen it yet and i was like no and he's like oh i want to see it and i went do you like tron and he went i saw the last one i thought it was boring and i went well have you seen the original and he went yeah i saw that one too i thought it was boring and i was like here's the whole cultural experience of Tron every time which is they put a new thing up and you're like that looks cool do I care and then we kept seeing Tron Ares stuff at like Comic Con he was like oh those Tron Ares toys are cool and I was like I thought you said you found Tron boring and he was like I do but it looks good it does look good we're not going to deny how it looks I like in the trailer when Jared Leto like just dissolves into a bunch of like little Legos little black Legos excuse me Marie when he de-rasses

1:59:26Griffin Newman:and Jodie Turner Smith does it too that's so cool ooh

1:59:29David Sims:several times I just think that's really cool

1:59:32Griffin Newman:like some guy like a Hollywood you know fucking test panel right you know what do you like do you like action I really only like it when Jodie Turner Smith derezzes oh okay we'll make a whole movie of that I guess I haven't seen any of the Trons they're all great this is the worst one I feel like I probably think they were boring yeah definitely

1:59:51David Sims:like Ehrlich was like it's okay and I was like that's a pretty high bar right yeah but he's got Jared Leto Tron, I thought this was going to be an atomic disaster. Jared Leto Tron and it's half in the real world. Like all things from like, no. They're abandoning most of the original and legacy. Yeah. And Bridges is barely in it. He burping though. The idea that it's watchable to me is like high praise. I will go see it and probably think it is fine.

2:00:17Griffin Newman:The amount of sort of noises that Bridges makes, makes it seem to me like there were takes that were all of those noises.

2:00:24David Sims:Right. I love Tron Marie. Tron Graf. And I had just braced myself for this thing is going to blow chunks. Patreon-tron? Patriotron? I've pitched it before now that we've got Ares. Patriotron, yes. And I've got my seals. I just got them as well. Boy, that 82 steel looks good. That transfer. Oh, baby.

2:00:47Griffin Newman:As Tracy Letts would say, reference quality. Reference quality. Defcon 1. Number two at the box office, Griff. I actually haven't seen this movie, but I know you did, and I think you liked it. Marie, have you raised the roof? No, but I really want to. Roof! Man! Now, I've heard... Roof! Griff, can you confirm a complaint I've heard? Which is everyone's like a little long, a little shaggy, could have tightened it, apart from that good.

2:01:10David Sims:I would have watched it for five hours. There you go. It has immaculate hangout vibes. Amazing. He's hanging out on the roof. I was genuinely compelled by every single solitary second of that movie. First of all, I can rarely think it's a limited grouping of artists who become less pretentious while also not just becoming lazy and hacky. To see Derek C. and France be like, I want to make something that's fun. Right. And do it well and be like, you're like nailing a fucking Linklater movie. It's awesome. Tatum is on fire in it. How's Dunst? Dunst is so fucking good. How's Dinklage? Dinklage is fun.

2:01:52David Sims:But Dinklage is like playing the pill. Dunst in her last scene, the whole performance I thought was good, right? I'm like, Channing Tatum might be like mortal lock on my best actor blankies category. How? And I was like, Dunst is like kind of right there on the supporting edge. She's really solid in this, but it's really on showy work. Her final scene is such a fucking knockout. She is doing things. There are facial expressions she is able to conjure up in a scene where she is not saying much, where I was just like, I don't understand how you can have this level of fine motor control or be able to conjure up feelings this specific and this deep to get this kind of detail.

2:02:34David Sims:How's Melanie Diaz, an actress I adore?

2:02:37Griffin Newman:She doesn't have a ton to do in it. It was nice to see her. Nice to see her. She has not made a movie since 2018, although she was for the last few years on the CW's reboot of Charmed.

2:02:47David Sims:Yes. Which nobody remembers. Here's my complaint about this movie. It's not a complaint about this movie. It's a complaint about the state of filmmaking right now. Films don't get financed unless you have 10 names in them. Right. There are a series of smaller roles in this, like Ben Mendelsohn, where you're like, oh, fuck. Ben Mendelsohn shows up. Now there's going to be some men.

2:03:05Griffin Newman:And then he has not much to do.

2:03:06David Sims:Right. And it's clear that everyone's calling in favors. And you're like, Uzo Adoba has like five lines in this thing. Juno Temple's here. Same. Lakeith Stanfield. Lakeith has a significant role. Okay. But the Juno Temple role is like, and I love Juno, and she is good in the movie, but it is the exact kind of role that used to be small enough that movies could take a chance and break a new talent on it. And instead, you're like, this is a weirdly small role for the woman from Ted Lasso. I love Juno. What are you, Pauly Bleaker? Okay.

2:03:36Griffin Newman:I was in the bathroom. I just wanted to make this joke. Patron. Yeah, we made that joke. I made that joke. But you know what? We're going to say it again. Patritron.

2:03:44David Sims:Patritron. You're going to love Roofman so much. I know. I'm excited. It is so good. Yeah. It is so good. I was having a ball of a time. I was grinning from ear to ear. I found it very emotionally effective. He's grinning. Yeah. Channing's the best. You know, we do a whole long Channing talk in the Hail Caesar episode.

2:04:00Griffin Newman:Right.

2:04:01David Sims:And right after we recorded that.

2:04:02Griffin Newman:Because it's a little bit of us being like, it happened, but could it have happened more? Or whatever.

2:04:08David Sims:That that was kind of the end of a run and that he's been in a weird place since then. and we recorded that episode and then like a week later I was like, fuck, we didn't even mention Roofman. By the time this episode comes out, Roofman will have come out and he will undeniable be back on top. Right. And instead Roofman has like, Roofman is one that should have played at fucking Toronto.

2:04:27Griffin Newman:It did play at Toronto, my friend. Did it? Yeah. That, it did. It got good reviews. Yeah. People liked it.

2:04:33David Sims:I think they mangled a thousand ways.

2:04:35Griffin Newman:I did too, but it's, look, but it's, I can't deny it. It's tough right now for that sort of a movie, the sort of 15, $20 million, you know, true story, dramedy. Yeah.

2:04:45David Sims:I want to see it. Here's my new note. If I were them, I would have held it until January. I would have premiered it at Sundance, and I would have released it in February.

2:04:51Griffin Newman:I will say this. I certainly, it's Paramount, right? Paramount, Miramax. Right.

2:04:56David Sims:Yeah.

2:04:57Griffin Newman:Two companies well-run. Yeah. Cool guys behind them. You know, they kept pitching me on it. Yeah. And I was like, yeah, sure. Can you show it to me? And they were like, yeah, maybe. And I was just kind of like, guys, if you want to build up buzz. But they were kind of like hiding the ball with it a little bit.

2:05:12David Sims:It felt like they were just really doing a Channing movie star push when they really needed to like build up word of mouth. Because it's just, it's a very, like it just played like gangbusters with my crowd last night. And it's not doing well.

2:05:23Griffin Newman:It's not doing amazing, although, you know what? It didn't cost a ton of money. It opened to eight. It'll probably clear, you know, 15, 20. I'm kind of surprised because I assumed it was like getting a smaller release. I don't know, man. Than for it to be number two at the box office. This is another thing. Hi, baby Joey.

2:05:38David Sims:We've like lost the ability to do the like 800 screen release.

2:05:43Griffin Newman:The old classic like slow expansion, mid expansion.

2:05:46David Sims:If Roofman were playing on 8 ,000 screens rather than 2 ,500, like how many screens did they put it on?

2:05:52Griffin Newman:It opened on 3 ,300 screens.

2:05:55David Sims:I believe if Roofman had opened on 800 screens, it would have made the exact same number with a higher per screen average and would have had a feeling of, oh, Roofman's over delivering. and there have been a couple movies recently that I felt that way about. What else? Smashing Machine.

2:06:11Griffin Newman:Smashing, Smashing. That was an interesting case of the initial tracking on it, it was like, I guess this play is working. It's going to open kind of strong and like... You made the joke. It's the Dwayne Johnson thing, right?

2:06:23David Sims:F cinema score incoming, right? Yeah. And instead it like opened horribly and got an A minus cinema score versus opening to 20 and getting an F.

2:06:31Griffin Newman:I think the thing about it was,

2:06:34David Sims:obviously it was just hurt by the buzz being kind of tepid right like you needed the buzz yeah i in my opinion one is the taylor swift movie completely sides that's so true and i use the term movie really loosely but that was a weekend that they thought they had all to themselves and even though they're not the same audience they were just going to get some default movie going i also think uh one battle had legs and it also ate into it that's number two and also it just took all the excitement in the sort of film nerd sphere that needed to be rooting for... But it got middling reviews at the fests and stuff.

2:07:09David Sims:I mean, Benny won the Silver Lion. Yeah. It was just a weird journey. I also think we've talked about how usually the A24 hide the ball, sell it as a different genre thing helps trick people into going to see the movie. And instead people went like, oh, this just looks like The Rock is really transparently doing a weebid, Oscar-based thing. The way that you described it to me is like Fat City is way more interesting. Fat City is the closest in a lot.

2:07:33Griffin Newman:Benny told me

2:07:34David Sims:that was an important inspiration. But they fucked up by trying to sell it as something more commercial than it was because it didn't convince the commercial audience and film bros were like, oh, this is just sellout shit from Benny's actor.

2:07:45Griffin Newman:Number three at the box office. One battle after another.

2:07:48David Sims:He is still doing okay. You guys, can I say, I just want to say something. Please. I'm really enjoying the Coen Brothers series.

2:07:55Griffin Newman:You're sad we didn't get to like land that plane Can you imagine? On one battle island.

2:08:01David Sims:The week the fucking one battle came out, our Reddit was inundated with fans being like, I hope you're all happy now. This is what you think.

2:08:09Griffin Newman:The Cohen series has rocked.

2:08:11David Sims:It's fucking ruled. Seth Rogen was on it.

2:08:13Griffin Newman:You heard of him? No, I know, but I'm just saying it would have been fun to - Well, maybe our democracy is broken.

2:08:20David Sims:That's on you. We didn't fucking pick. We assumed PGA was going to win. I'm just thrilled that the Cohen's won.

2:08:27Griffin Newman:I think - One battle is doing just fine without us. But of course, it would have been nice to talk about it. But I think the Coens have been fun to do.

2:08:36David Sims:I'll say this, too. I got a lot of, are you guys really not going to do an emergency episode on this? Our schedule gets too filled up too quickly. Emergency episodes on the 12th movies by auteurs. What? Right. That's not how the show works. People are still caught up in like the first couple of years where we'd sometimes try to glom on to a new release to get a ratings bump. I will say, and we've been sort of planning this going forward. Next year, we have several new releases on the Patreon schedule. Yeah, we're trying to do that a little bit more. Things that previously would have been a quote-unquote emergency episode that are tied to things we've covered but aren't straight up.

2:09:12David Sims:But, like, why would we do a one battle emergency episode? We will do PTA.

2:09:17Griffin Newman:One day. Number four at the box office is a little movie about a dollhouse. Gabby. Gabby's dollhouse. Who's this? Can you guys tell me? Who Gabby is? Yeah, everyone was like, and of course, David, as a parent, you must be excited for Gabby's Dollhouse the movie. And I was like, I don't know what that is.

2:09:32David Sims:It was a very big DreamWorks live action CGI hybrid Netflix show. So it was a Netflix thing. Yes. Most of DreamWorks animation. But they put that shit in theaters and they didn't put in K-pop Demon Hunters? Because, excuse me, it is a show produced by DreamWorks. It's a universal picture. For Netflix. Netflix doesn't have the rights. Well, isn't Sony did the fucking K-pop movie? Okay, so can I amend some of my Sony fic stuff? I wanted to bring something else yeah go ahead basically Sony develops more movies than any other animation studio because most animation studios have an agreement with their parent company that's like we have one slot held for you a year take a picture of Ben's face right now and Sony Pictures Animation basically develops like six or seven movies per year

2:10:20Griffin Newman:the fade to us we all just leave our chairs and the chairs are spinning and Chris just still talking about this

2:10:27David Sims:The only thing I've never gotten clarification on is, do they take something like K-pop Demon Hunter and have everyone bid against it and see if someone like Netflix is willing to offer more money than Sony would? Or do they only shop it around after big Sony has?

2:10:42Griffin Newman:Or, you know, that meme of like the sports bro talking to his girlfriend and he's got sunglasses on. Yeah. You know what my daughter's obsessed with right now? What? Super Kitties. You aware of this? I can do a lot. On Disney Plus. You aware of this one? What? What? Is this different from like DC's League of Super Pets? It's quite different. Very different. Do you know about this, Griff? You know about the Super Kitties?

2:11:03David Sims:I've seen the thumbnail. Sure. Yeah. Well, you pretty much got the idea. I didn't feel the need to look any further into it. Oh, no.

2:11:09Griffin Newman:Super Kitties. How do you get her back on the Spidey? Well, she still loves Spidey. Let's not forget Spidey. But no, her BFF, her little pal from school, we went over to his house for a play date. Yeah. He was like, want to watch some fucking Super Kitties?

2:11:23David Sims:I fucked her up.

2:11:24Griffin Newman:Yeah.

2:11:24David Sims:Gabby's Dollhouse, I think, is a perfect example of like they were truly 18 months late on it.

2:11:29Griffin Newman:Yeah.

2:11:29David Sims:Like if your daughter was born 18 months earlier, she would have been into it. And the movie's a little too late. And even down to like Gabby is now like 17. Right.

2:11:39Griffin Newman:She's like, hey. Number five at the box office. It's made$172 million, Griffin. What is it?

2:11:46David Sims:Conjuring glass rights. Yep. I was talking to a friend yesterday about the disappointing box office of Roofman. and he said, but hasn't basically every movie flopped this fall? And I was like, no, they're two humongous hits. Conjuring and Demon Slayer are both like fucking shattering the backboard. It's just that more expected things have been underperforming, but there's not a lack of people buying tickets.

2:12:09Griffin Newman:But like the only thing that has underperformed to me in a shocking way, honestly, is nothing because even Tron, I'm like, that does happen with Tron like it always underwhelms a little bit. This is on you for thinking it would do better than this. Like I know it was below tracking. I hear you. But at the same time like because people are like well Tron Legacy made money and I'm like look at Christmas 2010. It was the only offering and even then it underwhelms. And in our True Grit episode we talk about.

2:12:38David Sims:We do. Right.

2:12:39Griffin Newman:True Grit fills the gap.

2:12:40David Sims:And you're waiting another 15 years. If I were green lighting a third Tron film for release in 2025. You are not Irish. I would have been like, this thing has to be under$100 million. Then they say to me, good news, we got Jared Leto, and I go, great, it's got to be under$60 million.

2:12:59Griffin Newman:You're not morbid. Sleeping on better ropes. Number six, Conjuring, though. I haven't seen it yet. I will check it out, possibly on HBO Max. I might not rush to the theater because I hear it's kind of bad, but I do kind of want to fill in. I'm just really interested in like the, you know, like that guy with the weird face bought the doll.

2:13:21David Sims:No. What are we talking about here? Guy who died? Who's the fucking comedian? Matt Reif bought the Warrens house. I thought he bought the doll. No, someone else died and was near the doll. And everyone was like, no. The house is basically a museum. Right. Matt Reif and his business partner bought this house. Matt Reif is apparently really into the occult. And he's made it very clear that he doesn't own the doll or any of the artifacts, that what he has bought is the right to be the custodian of the objects for as long as he is in possession of the house. But the house is basically a national landmark.

2:14:05Or is it the house that was haunted?

2:14:08David Sims:It's the house they lived in, which is like a museum of all their spooky objects. Mainly Annabelle, who I love to remind people, was in reality a Raggedy Andal. Yes. It's not a creepy, like, fucking... It's just a regular ass Raggedy Andal. Now, don't touchy.

2:14:23Griffin Newman:Don't touchy. I'm not saying I'm not scared of the Raggedy Andal. Keep the case closed. Number six at the box office due this week, of course, is Soul on Fire Griffin, the William H. Macy true story in which he plays a guy who helped a kid who had burns.

2:14:39David Sims:William Mitch Macy has been showing up in Disney Emoji Blitz when I have to watch ads to get free spins on the wheel. I thought you were going to say that he had an emoji. I wish. He should have an emoji. I fucking wish. Isn't he like the guy in The Incredibles? No, but he looks like it. And they haven't done that character yet. That's a wall of Sean. I'm like, has William Mitch Macy done any wild hogs? If they had wild hogs.

2:15:03Griffin Newman:Okay, but do you remember when William H. Macy played the fucking Green Lantern villain in The Dropout? Yeah, that's good. Remember that shit? Hector Hammond. When they were like, his hairline could be 80 % higher on his head. I really enjoyed that. That show is good. Yeah. Anytime they cut to him, I was like, who chose this?

2:15:24David Sims:I keep getting this autoplay ad that is William H. Macy as a surgeon performing open chest surgery on a body. and then talking about some fucking cell phone game. What has happened? Didn't he go to jail?

2:15:40Griffin Newman:No, his wife got in trouble. They had crazy legal bills.

2:15:45David Sims:He was free and clear. But, like, I'm sure, you know, I get it. But I'm even like, what is the conversation that leads to, like, we have a game about, like, castle demons that, like, eat berries. How do we promote this? William H. Macy giving a measured performance as a surgeon. Sounds good. Number seven is the aforementioned Demon Slayer. The latest of those. Now, I know the release of that film is kind of equally split across dubs and subs, I believe. Oh. But there was an argument that it has now surpassed Crouching Tiger. Whoa. Right, right, right. It's kind of a fuzzy stat because some people are watching the American dub version.

2:16:24David Sims:Right, right. But you're like, this is maybe ostensibly the highest grossing international film at the domestic box office ever. That's under discussed. that's crazy thank you for discussing it did y 'all see that trailer that weird trailer that's like two trailers for Chainsaw Man yeah that's also about to fucking overperform I think very excited for that movie Ben likes Chainsaw Man I've watched the shit

2:16:44Griffin Newman:out of that show shout out to Yoshida for recommending

2:16:47David Sims:Demon Slayer to date the only animated film to make a hundred million dollars at the domestic box office about to obviously be beaten by Zootopia Bad Guys 2 didn't even make it Bad Guys 2 fucking sold out around what 80? damn Dog Man's the closest

2:17:02Griffin Newman:and it made it to 95. But yeah, Zootopia 2, that'll write. Zootopia 2's gonna fucking rock the house. Whatever. His head is a chainsaw and his hands are also chainsaws.

2:17:12David Sims:And his dog's a chainsaw, right?

2:17:13Griffin Newman:What's up?

2:17:14David Sims:Doesn't he have a chainsaw dog?

2:17:15Griffin Newman:Are you kidding? I don't know about this. I'm pretty sure. Ben just bought another ticket? It has four now? He's gonna lie down in the... He starts pulling up arms. Pulling his own aisle. I'm so glad that I know that you're into Chainsaw Man because I feel like that's a thing that I can buy you in Japan.

2:17:33David Sims:Oh my God. What do you want, David? Wait, Marie, I might have to send you a little bit of a Japan list. Yeah. Well, I don't do that. Famously, you love getting various merch and stuff.

2:17:45Griffin Newman:I love stuff. Yeah. Yeah, what I want in Japan is to like sit in some like fancy onsen and like look out upon like trees. This year is the 30th anniversary of Toy Story. Is there like an exclusive? Oh my God.

2:17:58David Sims:Wait, David just dumped off a roof? Takara has made a collection of dolls that are Woody as Samurai, Buzz as Ninja, Jessie as Geisha. Sounds culturally sensitive. Woody as Ninja. Woody as Samurai, please. No, sorry, Woody as...

2:18:18Griffin Newman:Number eight is the Smashing Machine.

2:18:19David Sims:I'm trying to find a way to get this without paying face to tariffs. Whoa, this looks so fucking cool. Thank you, Griffin. This is so cool. This is so cool.

2:18:30Look at this. Look at this. Swear to God.

2:18:33David Sims:It rules, right? It's really well done. Culturally sensitive. I just think this is great. Look at that. Look at him. He's got a little helmet. It's not for me. He looks so cute.

2:18:44Griffin Newman:It's for me. Yes, it's for you. Look at the Jessie one. Number nine is The Strangers Chapter Two. Real winning strategy there. Oh, my God. Her kimono is cow print.

2:18:57David Sims:She can kimono my house. Oh, no. It's a Sparks album title.

2:19:02Griffin Newman:A Jessie Geisha? Look at her! We're saying this about Geisha Jessie? Sparks album title. Number nine. She looks good. Oh, and number ten is Good Boy. You know what? I also want to say that you're - The dog movie. She's not a geisha. She's just wearing a kimono. Okay. I apologize. Opening at number 12, Kiss of the Spider Woman. That one kind of - Oh, I want to see that as the only person who, you know, supports all of Jennifer Lopez's creative genres.

2:19:28David Sims:I've seen it. I've seen it. I kind of mixed things about it. I think Diego Luna is quite fantastic in it. And all the buzz out of the festivals was Tonataya, I believe is his name, and J-Lo. And I was pretty taken by Diego, who kind of doesn't miss.

2:19:41Griffin Newman:Are you watching Andor yet? I'm going to get there. Oh, okay. Why did I remember you saying you wanted to discuss something about Andor? Catherine Hunter? Can't remember. Anyway, Diego Luna. When's he bad? That's what I'm saying. Yeah. I mean I can't say I saw wow he hasn't made a lot of movies recently I guess he was busy fucking making Andor

2:20:02David Sims:he directed a couple films too I feel like he kind of took a step away from acting until Rogue One

2:20:08Griffin Newman:he's directing something right now called A Mouthful of Ash a house full of dynamite that's what you get when you stay in a house full of dynamite David can I share something with you specifically that I just started watching and I'm now I'm gonna have to watch the whole thing Gilmore Girls is so good Ben what got you on the girls It was a show that Nellie was obsessed with And she was like Ben you've never watched A single episode Throw on the pilot I'm loving this thing Are you kidding me it's funny it's heartfelt I'm all in The parents stink I'm gonna say something controversial Marie don't do this Lauren Graham Like, it's her whole, like, I drink so much coffee and I, like, talk really fast.

2:20:57Griffin Newman:Yeah, that's literally what happens in Gilmore Girls. Yeah. Disgusting the whole show. I literally can't. I can't. Look, man, as someone who was a huge Gilmore Girls fan at the time, right? Like, when it was on the WB and then the CW. This was always the thing. It was always a show that put some people off. Kind of auto put people off. They're talking too fast. I don't like Lauren Grant. You know what I mean? Like, it was always that thing where I'd be like, you know what's secretly kind of the best show on TV? Gilmore Girls. Ah, they talk too much. And then it became like what it became. It became like a show that everyone agreed on.

2:21:29Griffin Newman:It was like to my total surprise. Does she stop? No. She just, she keeps doing it. That's the style of the show. It's written 90 pages per episode, famously. Yeah. I mean, Lauren Graham, talk to her about it. It's so interesting. You can see how it haunts her. I think it was the hardest television show to make. Like, because they had to just shoot for such long, like, because the scripts were so crazy. And you can't fuck up those, like, crazy, crazy, like, rat-a-tat, like, dialogue things. And all of those guys are just now starting to do this sort of, like, yeah, maybe we had a good time on Gilmore Girls.

2:22:06Griffin Newman:But you can tell that they, like, really suffered, like, while they were making it. My mom used to say that we were, like, the Gilmore Girls. Because she'd be like, I had you young and we're best friends. I'm like, you had me when you were, like, 27. That's right. Which was completely normal in the 1980s, but whatever. Hey, shout out. I love it. Shout out to Sam, right? Is this a diner? Sam? Luke. The coffee shop. Love that guy. Yeah. He's the best. Just keep watching, baby. It's good. I'm all in. What season are you on? You're still in season one? I just watched the pilot. Well, then you're going to have a great time.

2:22:34Griffin Newman:It's only getting better until season seven, which you can avoid that one. But seasons one to six. No, season seven is when they fired Amy Sherm. It's the Dan Harmony. Exactly the same as Community season four, where they're like, we can still do this without the person who wrote all the episodes, right? And you're like, ooh, this is weird. And they hired Dan Harmon to take over Gilmore Girls. They swapped him. And it was for the exact same fucking reason. It was like, this show's too expensive. You take too long. You know, like blah, blah, blah. I was going to say, Community's another one

2:23:02David Sims:where you talk to anyone who worked on it and they're like, we're really proud of that show. I'm still working through it in therapy.

2:23:08Griffin Newman:Right, right, right, exactly. And it's like, the product was good, but it was really hard to make it. But then you watch the show without the showrunner and you're like, this is like drinking RC Cola. I'm just like, huh, everyone's here. Connecticut leaves.

2:23:22David Sims:Leaves Connecticut. And yet, why is this off? Did they promote Connecticut to regular? Did they make the opening credits by season seven? Okay. Bond to Shepherd. Because they kept kind of fucking Connecticut over in the negotiations. Yeah. We did. Yeah, we did. House of Dino White.

2:23:38Griffin Newman:Here at the end of the episode, I have a little bit of business to attend to. Okay. If I may. Yep.

2:23:42David Sims:Yes.

2:23:43Griffin Newman:So Marie is sitting. we all have separate desks. Maria's sitting at the guest desk.

2:23:49David Sims:Which had for so long gone without a head. Of course, you, David, and I have our faces on the front of our desks. Right. The likeness is done by our good friend Joe Bowen. And Caroline Franke in the Vamps episode drew a little picture of a vampire and taped it to the front of the desk. And that was the placeholder for a while. Yeah, where has that gone? I don't know. I have it stashed away.

2:24:09Griffin Newman:We should still put it somewhere in the desk. Well, in the Museum of Blank Check that they will be built. our congressional library and Matt Wright finds it a fucker keeps buying houses and so Joe was really kind he made us another wood character but this time of Checky

2:24:28David Sims:actually two there's a little one up there as well it's a little kind of baby Checky Checky Jr might be coming to an ad read soon so cute but

2:24:37Griffin Newman:I actually wouldn't have an annoying voice at all you'd be hey I'm Checky Jr what's your business Ben? no it's okay I just I have a little surprise Ben has a little surprise la la la la la la la what? wait a second what? oh my god what? are you serious?

2:25:00David Sims:Ben has handed over oh my god Marie is blushing Marie's face has turned entirely red wait I got a head Marie got a head I have oh my god Joe I did not know Marie gets ahead. Look at how I look so sassy. I look like, look at this. I'm like, you got your little classic. You're giving a little DreamWorks face almost. I'm giving a little DreamWorks face. I'm like, hmm, do you really think that, David? Who, me?

2:25:29Griffin Newman:Whatever you say, Marie. Yes, you look great. Oh, my God. Okay, wait. So I'll leave it here. And then when I'm. When you can activate. I can activate. So moving forward, we'll swap it in. but yeah when I wanted to make Checky and I was like you know what I'm going to put in the order for Marie's head as well it's very thoughtful of you Ben look at my bun got the bun

2:25:50David Sims:and we got a good amount of Marie episodes coming up because we have so many new releases we're going to have a guest on at least one of them

2:26:00Griffin Newman:I think we're planning on an Ellen McKay special guest that's an interesting way to pronounce it was it George McKay is that how you pronounce it You know what? That's literally why I just did that. Because he spells it that way. Ellen McKay.

2:26:13David Sims:Right now, though, there is a planned three episode run.

2:26:17Griffin Newman:You're going to be on fire and ash.

2:26:18David Sims:Fire and ash. Is this thing on?

2:26:19Griffin Newman:You're going to check if this thing is on. You definitely got to check. And you're going to be making no other. I also we also, you know, the Raimi trailer came out.

2:26:29David Sims:I haven't watched it yet. I'm so excited. It's it's I think it's going to be fun. Like fucking Rachel McAdams in the dirt. she's on a beach being haunted well she's not really being haunted no it's she's the mousy employee of a really shitty younger boss played by Dylan O 'Brien star of Twinless that I haven't seen yet but here

2:26:53Griffin Newman:I wasn't a fan of that movie and people got really mad at me about that but I like him in it and generally but yeah he's like her shitty millennial boss

2:27:02David Sims:look two of these are late December platform releases that we're releasing in 26. But you look at the 26. Here's why we don't do emergency episodes anymore. We have a Cooper. We have a Park. We have a Raimi. We have the first new Star Wars movie in seven years. It's back. And we have a Spielberg and a Nolan.

2:27:20Griffin Newman:Yeah, that's true.

2:27:21David Sims:God, the summer, baby. That's pretty fucking thrilling.

2:27:23Griffin Newman:That's just the first six months. And don't forget M. Night Shyamalan coming later too. Yep. Did you see that he posted that thing on Instagram of his book tour date with Nicholas Sparks and like the line to get the book signed was like doubly around the block. He's candy, man. He's like, what do I do next?

2:27:40David Sims:Nicholas Sparks? He's making a magic eight ball TV show. You see that? With M. Night. Or no, Sparks doesn't work out. It's just M. Night. No, just M. Night. Yeah. That sounds perfect. Yeah, sure. Why not? Possibly Gina Prince-Bythewood, Children of Bone and Blood. Yeah. Blood and Bone?

2:27:57Griffin Newman:That might be Blood and Bone. I think that's 2027 is the plan, but I don't really know. Horizon 2 will sit. Well, I was about to say that movie is never coming out.

2:28:06David Sims:Safely on a shelf. I love to repeat. David is confident it will come out someday. Monday. And I am confident.

2:28:12Griffin Newman:I'm not being like brash about it.

2:28:13David Sims:It will be purchased at an estate sale. Can I read this headline from page six? Mm-hmm. Quote, furious over Hollywood reporter profile, Kevin Costner searches for buried treasure, shops shipwreck show, source. I forgot to say this. You can't count Kaz out. I forgot to say this in our intro. The lovely people at American Cinematheque who had us out there for the friend of the fest to introduce a Hodsucker Proxy. We sent them a list of a bunch of movies as an option of things we would think about. We're excited at the idea of screening. And my big push to them was, can you guys get Horizon Part 2?

2:28:55David Sims:He's been able to play it at festivals. It's totally log jammed. We've covered him in the past. It might take more infrastructural work, but I think if you could get it, there's also a good chance he could show up and we could do it like talk with him. Right. And they said, we have already thought of that and tried and could not do it before this series. I just want people to know I made an attempt to figure out a way to get more blankies to see this movie.

2:29:20Griffin Newman:Griffin himself cannot solve this problem. I bet you some giant corporation, maybe a bunch of Saudis. Well, the Saudis said no. a Saudi set down. That's the most telling part of that. Maybe some different Saudis. I don't know. Yeah. A source told Page Six this week of the Yellowstone Star, Kevin Costner is on a deep sea diving binge to discover sunken treasure. The insider added, quote, he found gold coins and emeralds recently in the Caribbean.

2:29:47David Sims:The thing that's great about Kevin Costner is you start a sentence like that and I go like, where's this metaphor going? And you get to the end of it and I go, oh, he literally.

2:29:55Griffin Newman:I think Costner's just on a beach. He just calls his press for leak the emeralds.

2:30:00David Sims:First of all, you were miming a cell phone, but I think that's a shell. He's communicating via conk.

2:30:07Griffin Newman:Hello, Ocean, it's me, Kev. I'm uniting with Knuckles on a search for the chaos emeralds. That'd be good. Costner has a... Speaking of Idris Elba,

2:30:16David Sims:that's his defining role. Yeah, what if he plays Amy? What if he's the voice of Amy the Hedgehog?

2:30:21Griffin Newman:I'm going to be taking the role of Amy in Sonic 3 or 4. How many of those are there?

2:30:26David Sims:I'm voicing Big the Cat, a real American. Costner has a history of exploring the sea.

2:30:32Griffin Newman:Yeah, he does. He played a Coast Guard. All right, I'm wrapping this up. The Guardian. We're not just reading New York Post articles.

2:30:38David Sims:He fixed the BP oil spill. Or at least threw out a proposal. He didn't make it worse. I'll tell you that much. Probably not. Yeah, I just want to say that my husband asked me what time I'd probably be home today and I was like, I don't know, three. Yeah. And he was like, there's no fucking way. And I was like, what time is it? 2.52. Okay.

2:30:57Griffin Newman:for listening. We will announce our schedule with upcoming new releases as well as a new miniseries very soon. So look forward to that. Next week, of course, is Inside Llewyn Davis. Yeah, baby. Which I'm excited to record. We're recording that next week.

2:31:12David Sims:I've actually been holding myself off from re-watching it. Me too. I'm really excited because there is a chance it's my number one. Good ass movie. At times it has been my number one. What if you watch it and you're like, eh. It could happen, but I'm just, my question is just how high is it going to remain with all of these? Can I ask, are you going to do the, please, Mr. President, I don't want to, please don't podcast me in outer space. I have an embarrassment of options next week. That's all I'm going to say.

2:31:44Outer space.

2:31:46David Sims:Outer space. My new bit I do with Asa Ehrlich, because now he loves Star Wars, is I do my impression of Kylo Ren but I just say lines from girls that's good and I go like do you like Kylo Ren and then I go your child Hannah your child nothing will stand in all right I miss Kylo Ren he's a good guy well no he's got debatable he's got good ideas sure create an intergalactic fascist force kind of as a tantrum do everything to win your dead grandpa's love be a school shooter he's not a school shooter. He's a school slasher. And Anakin was worse in that regard. Kylo did that? I thought that was the Anakin thing.

2:32:28The little baby padawons. I'll say it on my big prequel.

2:32:31Griffin Newman:I think I already said it. It just cannot earn him killing children. It is the biggest problem of the movie. The moment he starts to kill children off screen, you're just like, nope, I don't buy it. Sorry. Even though you convinced me of the grand evil of the dark side.

2:32:45David Sims:When I saw the re-release, people applauded that moment. That was just a meme. Now it's just like a meme. Everything is weird. Okay, I guess we're done. Yes. Okay. Thank you all. And as always, a warning to all filmmakers. If you put the word podcast in your movie, you're immediately getting knocked down half a star.

2:33:18Griffin Newman:Blank Check with Griffin and David is hosted by...