Send Help

26:14That's definitely happening. Post it. Welcome to Derry. He's got a lot of offers, right? It feels like Gunn is laying the track for in other interviews Raimi has done where they're asking him, well, what other superheroes would you want to do? He immediately says, Batman. I wanted to make Batman in the 80s. I mean, he made Darkman, which is sort of like... Darkman is him not getting to make Batman and not getting to make The Shadow and all the sort of pulp early 90s movies he wanted to make and couldn't get approved of. If I'm James Gunn and I hear Sam Raimi say that in an interview and there's potentially an opening director's chair and you're looking for a way to make the next Batman movie distinct in an era where Batman's been rebooted too many times and we already have the Matt Reeves universe over here?

27:00I was going to ask about that. I still don't understand. Nobody does. Okay. No one understands the strategy here and no one will admit to knowing the strategy is stupid. My belief, I predicted in another episode that I think will come out in some weeks, is that they will just be super fucking molasses slow with development on this other Batman movie, wait until the Matt Reeves saga is over to then have a script that's ready to go that they can film within a year. But they will let that resolve itself. That's my prediction. It's a fine prediction. I mean, Lord knows, I was just thinking about this.

27:36This is a horrible thing. Sometimes I wake up at night because one of my kids makes a noise. This happened to me last night. Well, they're trying to get on Dropout, right? I think they have a game show called Make Some Noise. I can't say I watched Dropout. I'm sorry. And I had this horrible thought where I was like, the James Gunn DC experiment, not experiment, project can go well and do like 10 years of movies, right? Right. And kind of, you know, come to an end as these things seem to do. Right. And then it's going to happen. Someone's going to be like, it's time to bring Zack Snyder back. Ben Affleck back and do the Dark Knight Returns like Frank Miller's The Dark Knight.

28:12Affleck will be old enough and the drumbeat will begin. I predict this now. I thought Affleck was already old enough before and that's why they cast him. He'll be older. And like, and they kind of hint at it. Like the design of him is a little inspired by it and all that. But now they will fully, they will, people will start to demand this. Dark Knight Returns, which is the big title, Marie, and the one that Snyder was always kind of pulling from but never directly adapting. In that, Batman is like unforgiving Clint Eastwood. He's supposed to be Clint Eastwood, essentially. And him casting Affleck and having him be a little more beaten down and a little more chunky was trying to like bridge the gap for that.

28:48But the thing you could do, and by the way, even if James Gunn stays, I think that's a very smart, observation. I think even if James Gunn stays in charge for 10 plus years, it would not be a bad decision to just go, hey, guys, Zack Snyder, Elseworlds, Dark Knight Returns, one off. I mean, this is all silly because of course, what's actually going to happen in 10 years is Zack Snyder will be president of America. He'll be president of America. And they'll be fine. And everyone will be calm. But you, Samarie, I don't get what's going on there. Can you explain this to me? If they announce tomorrow, Sam Raimi is directing a Batman movie with Robin in it.

29:25As a movie person, your brain immediately goes, I understand how that would be different from what Matt Reeves and Pattinson are doing. Very different. Big auteur with a totally different energy. And different from what the last 15, 20 years of live action Batman have been? Immediately? I love it. I mean, I have no idea what I love, but I can tell you that in 2021... Oh no, 2019. This is crazy. This project was announced in 2019. With Raimi attached? Yes. Sam Raimi is going on an island getaway. The director is reteaming with his Spider-Man studio Columbia pictures. So I don't know how it fucking moved from Columbia to Disney to Fox, you know, but Michael Swift, Mark Swift and Damien Shannon, who wrote the reboot is Friday the 13th.

30:07Interesting. The Hollywood Reporter says in brackets, you know, the movie where they say juicy tits. It's interesting. Will pen the script based on their original idea. So this is less than less than being told like, hey, can you do a Friday the 13th? Hey, can you work on the Baywatch movie? This is like them being like, no, no, no. We have, you know, an actual little cute script we want to do. And Raimi took a liking to it. They pitched the idea. Right. But they will pen. It's like they pitched the idea to him as a producer. And he says, that sounds good. Right. And I want to make this. Now I'm trying to figure out.

30:37Ghost House, the name of his shingle at Sony. He had his production company because this was another thing in the 2000s and 2010s when he slows down. He's producing like a lot of dump you wary. It just says Ramey Productions. I'm not sure. There was a Ramey Tapper production company that did like the messengers and things like that, where he was pumping out a lot of screen gems. Yeah, sure. No, he's definitely produced a surprising amount of stuff over the years. Yeah. And it wasn't like the 2010s were Ramey coming down with a case of the Attachys because he just kind of wasn't making anything.

31:14But I think it's how he would get in the mix with like these younger screenwriters. Yeah. see their stuff. And like once a year, there would be a Ramey is circling and then it just would never come to fruition. It just felt like he couldn't get stuff off the ground. He was producing a lot of things for younger filmmakers, but that's interesting that he, right. I don't remember this coming up in our series at all. No, but I don't remember jack shit about that time in my life. Sorry. Like I don't. I can tell you that in Deadline has it on 2024. so five years later that he has closed a deal to direct and produce Send Help for 20th Century Studios.

31:55So it took that long for this thing to kind of, you know, bubble over there. After the major success of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which made almost a billion dollars. And I mean, Oz the Grand Powerful ends up at 700 worldwide. It made a lot of money, although quite a long time ago. Yes, but it is like, it's interesting that he made a movie that was completely a financial success and yet feels like such a failure as an experiment that he's back on ice for like a decade before Disney lets him make another giant budget movie and that one makes a ton of money. The other thing is that, of course, Raimi has constantly been attached to a remake of the ventriloquist dummy movie Magic.

32:33We kept hearing like that's happening. Which is also being written by these guys. Oh, interesting. So clearly he's, you know, into these guys. Yeah. But I feel like when we were doing the Raimi series, we were hearing from multiple people. That was what he was most interested in. Like, it's really happening and it's happening soon. But maybe they were just talking about magic, like, in the world. Something magical is happening. Fairies are going to be... Disclosure Day is coming. And it's not about aliens. It's about fairies. That would be so crazy. If fairies were real? No, if that was just...

33:07If it's like, guess what, guys? It's not aliens. It's fairies. The whole time it's been fairies. Well, it would also be so crazy. I think the ultimate stunt would be Disclosure Day comes out with the simultaneous actual acknowledgement from governments that aliens exist. And Spielberg is like, thank you for the corporate synergy. Perfect tie-in. Right. Do you agree, Ben? Well, didn't they already kind of do that? The funniest shit they ever did. They just dropped some videos being like, by the way, here's some UFOs. We don't really know what's going on with them. Everyone was like... That is the crazy thing to me, is that everyone really did just be like, okay.

33:43I think everyone just were like, call me when it's a saucer landing and a guy comes out. Everyone's just kind of underwhelming. It's like a blob. I don't know. Do we think that Tom DeLonge was like consulted on the Spielberg movie? Oh, no. Because he said aliens. I thought you were asking if the government consulted. In society, yes. No, the government, I was going to say 100%. Spielberg, 0%. Hey, I don't know. When I think of disclosure as it relates to aliens, he's the number one guy I think of. Marie, you're forgetting that Steven Spielberg has a much closer and older friend who's been banging that drum for longer than Tom Delange.

34:20If Spielberg's asking anyone, it's Dan Aykroyd. Wait, I didn't know that Dan Aykroyd's an alien guy. Dan Aykroyd... Dan Aykroyd's like the ultimate... There's a 10-hour DVD series of him just straight into camera chain-smoking cigarettes explaining aliens. Wow. Yeah. This is the kind of stuff I miss out on by like not ever being into Dan Aykroyd. By like being a person who has like sex and normal human relationships with people. Marie, it sounds like it's time for you to crack a skull. I know about his vodka. Yeah. I do know about the Dan Aykroyd vodka. Why do you think it's in a crystal skull?

34:54Because it's a powerful totem provided to us by the UFOs many millennia ago. Wow. Yeah, no, Dan Aykroyd is absolutely... If Spielberg was like, who's the craziest alien person I know? But like, I don't think Dan Aykroyd has an in with like current military people. Tom DeLonge has been building those relationships recently. I'm sorry, why has he been doing that? I don't know. This is like his, oh, I'm not in Blink-182 anymore. I'm just going to go all in to Aliens. Do you guys like Blink-182? Yeah, of course. Talk about... Classy. I don't remember anything that happened on this show before. Blink-182 was like my biggest band for years.

35:31We've definitely talked about that. I'm sure we have. I don't know. That was, take off your pants and jacket was... Seminal. A motto for you. Don't be saying that in Walmart or anything, though, okay? Remember, they had to call it Take Off Your Jacket and Pants in certain places. Enema of the state. Even the title is saucy. I remember pointing out the CD to my dad and saying, I want that, and him looking at it and going, you're not getting that. I mean, it does have a sexy nurse lady going like this. Yeah, putting her glove on. With all the boobs. Speaking of... That's about the time they... You're away from me.

36:06Nobody likes you when you're 23.

36:12What the hell is ADD My friendship What's my age again What's my age again 40 sigh 40 in two months You're turning 40 this year Oh David Don't be too bad I just turned 37 you're turning 37 soon Well our birthdays are very close together We're very close But yeah 37 Felt way worse to me than other years in my 30s. That's interesting to me. I don't really... That's not one that really registered with me. 37 feels firmly late 30s. I mean... Whereas otherwise, I can just be like, oh, I'm mid-30s. I'm early 30s. No, 37. That's why I'm excited to be 40, baby. Early 40s. Can I tell you what it's like?

36:57Yeah. It sucks. Fuck. Fuck! For your birthday this year, I assume you're just going to do Edward Fortyhands. David, isn't it? It's perfect object work. Mimicking Edward Fortyhams. Forty's being duct taped to his hand. I definitely, Pilot definitely did that like back when I... The great Pilot. Would hang out with Pilot all the time. Would do Edward Fortyhams. That was like a thing where I'd be like, what are you doing tonight? Well, someone's doing Edward Fortyhams. Like if you want to come by. Be it me or one of my friends. Do you want to watch? Yeah, kind of. You know, that was sort of the, that was sort of the vibe.

37:32If you were going to, you know, ask Pilot, oh, what are the Friday plans? I never got into 40s No they They tasted different from regular beer I was like this is worse No thank you I have news I of course was really into 40s In high school In England that stuff doesn't exist We had cider, we had white lightning We have it here in the office The Porches 40 The customized Porches That is true Shout out to my UK listeners if y 'all ever drank White Lightning. Respect. I used to drink White Lightning in the park. Wow. Would they call it a 40 because it was a different unit of measurement? What would the number be?

38:13I don't know. We didn't call it that. Something random. We called it White Lightning. 52. Two pence. It would be tuppence, I think. No, I was saying two pence. It was a different term. Big fan, though, of drinking down to the label, throwing in some OJ. Brass monkey, baby. That sounds... Disgusting. So vile. Jesus Christ. That's a good way to puke. It's kind of like a take on a mimosa. Yeah. Like a sort of taken on a mimosa by someone who's been like stunned as a child. Had you heard of toilet? I heard it on, you know, the Beastie Boys. That funky monkey. Had you heard of toilet wine before this movie?

38:49Yeah, of course. It's like prison movie. This was new to you? Toilet wine was new to me. Well, you clearly have never seen Let's Go to Prison. I've never seen Let's Go to Prison. Although recently, just speaking about like prison stuff, I was like, should I watch Oz? you know what if I got really into Oz another sign of are you depressed Marie how we doing playing the Sims watching Oz that's also regressing to like the year 2000 in a very specific sort of a way feel like shit miss them wish I was back I mean Oz is one of those shows I have not seen it in a long time where I think you're kind of like this is interesting I'm seeing the germs of like a new kind of television Yeah.

39:33But you're not like, this is an unseen masterpiece. You're like, all I know about Oz was that there were like white supremacists and butt fucking. That's like all I know about Oz. Bit of a hug. Also, Rita Moreno was in there. Rita Moreno was on Oz? It has an unbelievable cast. Yes. Yes. Because it was back in the day when like, it was the only interesting TV show. You know what I mean? Like it was like the only challenging TV show that existed. Because it's a couple years before like the HBO revolution really begins.

40:13David? Yes? This episode is brought to you by Mubi, the global film company that champions great cinema. It champions it. Unlike the others. No, they... To cry it! Barbarian it. From iconic directors to emerging auteurs, there is always something new to discover. With MUBI, each and every film is hand-selected so you can explore the best of cinema. You can log on to MUBI and check out all the movies they got. You know, Art House, you know, cool indie stuff, foreign stuff. Okay, this is awesome. There's a movie star movie now streaming on MUBI in the U.S. covered on Blank Check soon. Well, I think that's the headline.

40:52Yeah, Die My Love. Yes. You're going to need to watch it if you want to keep up with the show. True, true. I mean, I guess, you know, do what you want. You don't have to, but we recommend viewing the film. Please view the film. Die My Lovely and Ramsey's film came out last year. It was a canon that came out last fall in 2025. It's a visceral and uncompromising portrait of a woman engulfed by love and madness starring Jennifer Lawrence, who was nominated for Golden Globe. Robert Pattinson. It's kind of mostly those two. They're very heavy on the two of them. Yeah. Some top shelf. Nolte? I was going to say some seasoning of Nolte and Spacek.

41:29But this is dry age. Let me tell you. Oh, yeah. You've got them in there. But yeah, it's a lot. It's a big showstopper movie for J-Law. And R-Patz. Yeah. And R-Patz knows. He's playing sack and fiddle. Sure. But then there's a lemon pepper dry rub of Nick Nolte. I love lemon pepper, guys. I love Nick Nolte. I love Nick Nolte, too. Look, it's Lynn Ramsey making her eagerly awaited filmmaking return. Obviously, that's why we're covering her. We've been waiting for her to make another movie. And it was on the short list for cinematography, the 90th Academy Awards. I didn't even know that. That's awesome.

42:08It's a passionate, complicated, destructive love story between two major stars in Lawrence and Pattinson who'd never been together on screen before. I know. I guess that's not that surprising, but they are quite a pair. The bat and the cat. K-A-T-N-I-S-S. Oh, Cat Nis. Yeah. The bat and the steek. Mystique, that is. Oh, sure. Yeah, it's an awesome movie. It's an awesome movie. The Steak and the Freak. Is that something he's played a lot of freaks? Sure. Sure. Spoiler alert for the episode, but I was a big fan of the film. I know you were. Yes. Ben, probably. Have you seen it yet? I haven't seen it yet.

42:40Whoa! You're going to like it a lot. It's also based on a book by Ariana Harwick. Mm-hmm. Anyway. There's so much good stuff to watch on movie. There's also awesome other good stuff. Look, if you're not a member, this is a perfect month to sign up in order to keep up with the show, to stream the best of cinema. You can try MUBI free for 30 days at MUBI.com slash blank check. That's MUBI.com slash blank check for a whole month of great cinema for free.

43:17All right. So Send Help. Send Help. Is a film directed by Sam Raimi, written by those guys we talked about. Who probably listen to this podcast. Sure. You know what? Great job, guys. I really enjoyed the movie roles. Rachel McAdams is the star. Of course, she worked with Sam on Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. He spoke very highly of her. Took to her immediately, was like, you're a perfect actor for me. I gotta find something where we can do more together. I saw some interview where he was like, I'm describing a stunt to her. You're gonna get pulled back. Whatever, right? For an action scene.

43:49For Doctor Strange. And she was like, rather than being like, okay, Jesus. She was like, what angle do you want my head to be at? when I hit... And he was like, you and I are friends forever. He knows when he finds his people. Look, Raimi's a very technical filmmaker. He designs movies like fucking EC Comics, and he needs actors to hit very specific marks, but also like high emotions, comedic instincts. When he finds someone who works, it makes sense that he just grabs on. The other thing with Rachel McAdams is you would have to be a fucking idiot to not know that she's like an incredibly versatile and talented actor.

44:24Everyone knows that, right? And yet Hollywood treats her with mild disrespect. I mean, this is also a movie about how Rachel McAdams is a little bit, a little bit. She's been with us for 20 years. She's always good. She's done a million kinds of tones and stuff. Like she's nailed them all. She is. Let me just say it. A Fox. And you know, this movie plays with that in an interesting way. Really clever ways. Okay. We can get into it. You think Rachel McAdams is busted? No, I think she's too. I think the movie would have been, I think she's wonderful and she's really good in the movie, but I think the movie, it would have been a little more interesting if she was less attractive.

45:04I think the movie is very pointedly presenting an actress over 40 and saying, remember this person was presented as Julia Roberts and the industry is now telling you that this person is undesirable, that she has crossed a line and now she is disgusting. that she's undesirable Rachel McAdams you want me to run through her recent credits I mean she's in she plays a mom in Are You There God That's Me Margaret but she's not like an unattractive she's like pretty attractive in that movie I agree so I yeah honestly her recent credits are 2025 zero movies 2024 zero movies 2023 Are You There God 22 Doctor Strange which is like God bless I love that she was in it but she's not a central part of it And I do love that Sam Raimi was sort of like, handed all these pieces of contractual obligations, actors left over from other Marvel movies, and the threads from the first Doctor Strange, and was immediately like, I gotta build something better for you.

46:06Our relationship shouldn't just be you being like, oh, Steven. 2021, zero movies. 2020, Eurovision, which she rocks in. Oh, she's great. 2019, zero movies. 2018, Game Night, which she rocks in. She's incredible in Game Night. Is she doing TV? That's the whole thing. And you're like, oh, well, she must not have credits because she did a TV show. Well, she did like one season of True Detective, right? 2015. Well, what the hell is she doing? The only thing she's done that I'm not mentioning is she did theater. She did Mary Jane on Broadway. She did Mary Jane on Broadway. Which she, you know, got a Tony nomination for and got very good reviews for.

46:38But look, maybe Rachel McAdams isn't working much because she doesn't want to. Like, I don't know. Like, I don't know what's up with Rachel McAdams. And if she wants to tell me, she can call me. And my number is 123-4567-8910. But like,

46:57but like, to me, it feels like Hollywood's just like, oh yeah, well, we know you're over there and you're always good. It is an assumption on my part that she is probably turning down a tremendous amount of stuff. Crappy, dumb stuff. Like disrespectful. Like the last movie she was presented to us, I think is like, like a really like, you know, you know, a hot person that you want to, right? Like, when's the last time? The Vow. Yes. You're saying like the last time she was presented as sort of like... I mean, I guess about time, but obviously that's like a sweet movie. I don't know. Maybe I just have a...

47:33Because I'm woman, I have like different perspective on this. But like, I don't... I'm always like, oh yeah, Rachel McAdams, she's hot and I love her whenever she shows up. We all agree with that. But in Aloha, it's like, don't you want to be rid of Rachel McAdams so you can get with that hot Asian Emma Stone? Your reading of Aloha is wrong. No, but she's less of the object of desire in Aloha, right? It's been a while since I saw Aloha. Yeah, you got to rewatch Aloha. I know the number... I'd say that's not the Ben of Aloha. Let's relax. Let's relax about I've got to rewatch Aloha. It's time for you to take another lap.

48:05Go to the beach, lie down, and bathe in Aloha. No, Aloha was mis-marketed as a love triangle movie. It is instead him trying to process what he got wrong in his previous most important relationship to figure out how to be a better man. But nonetheless. There is actually not really tension within the movie about them getting back together. But nonetheless, she is not the romantic lead of that film. It's that she was in... And then like disobedience, sure. She's hot stuff. They're all spitting in each other's mouths, but they're all decidious. You know, they're all fucking, you know, religious. The point to me, Marie, is that...

48:43And how old is she now? 47. Yeah. She's all... Wow. Because the whole thing in Mean Girls... Because she started late. Mean Girls, she was 24. I thought she was even older in Mean Girls. Well, do the math. 25? Like, I mean... Yeah. Mean Girls is 23 years ago. That's the whole thing because Lindsay's actually like 17 in that movie and she's 25. Yeah. Had been just doing Working Canada up until that point. But 2004 is the... Is 2004... Mean Girls and the Notebook. And then 2005 is Wedding Crashers, Red Eye, and Family Stump. Wow. What a run. Those two years, Hollywood goes, we've done it. We found the next Julia.

49:23It was truly like we've been searching for the alternative energy source. She has done five movies across two years in every genre. She's played supporting. She's played romantically. She's done comedy. It's here. And she basically, and she's talked about in the last couple of years, got really freaked out by the pressure that was placed on her. And just like, I'm not thinking of this. Especially the notebook thing, the Ryan Gosling thing she's in the middle of a big remember when I recreated that kiss on stage at the MTV wearing the Darfur shirt oh my god talk about 2024 I was about to say talk about like right just a moment I mean 2004 nothing is more 2004 but she was just like I like acting I don't this presidential fame this star thing presidential campaign level of you're running for A-list queen of Hollywood shit freaked her out and machinery she slows way down her next two movies are The Lucky Ones and Married Life?

50:19Yeah, but I think... Those aren't registering. Married Life is 07. The Lucky Ones is 08. Neither of those, they were not seen. And then in 09, she has this sort of comeback year, but it's State of Play where she's kind of the third lead. Sherlock Holmes, where she's kind of the third lead, obviously. Sherlock Holmes is the main character of that one, just FYI. and then Time Traveler's Wife, which was like much delayed. But was that, I think it was a hit. It's funny that she's in Time Traveler's Wife and About Time. She's good in Time Traveler's Wife. It's a bad movie. Because there's also Midnight in Paris.

50:56She's in three movies where she falls in love with a guy who is time traveling. Who's time traveling. And she's like, what's up? Men will literally time travel to avoid staying engaged in their relationship. When are we going to put Rachel McAdams' Time Traveling Wife trilogy on Patreon? I'd love nothing more. That's, yeah. And hey, what the world needs out is us talking midnight in Paris. Everyone wants to hear my thing. Yeah. She just, it was an interesting kind of swerve from her and it feels like she reemerged and like Sherlock Holmes was the real like, I guess I gotta pay a mortgage and make a movie where my face is on a billboard.

51:33But what's the strategic one that feels like it'll be the most fun and is the least weight on my shoulders? There's a lot of stuff she infamously turned down like Batman Begins. and Rachel I think it was Christopher Nolan trying to hire her Rachel I believe there was the holy trinity of Batman Begins Iron Man and Superman Returns that she all turned down she obviously I mean the way Kate Bosworth is like styled in Superman Returns is basically like fuck we planned on Rachel McAdams Iron Man what she would have been Pepper Potts she would have been good at that too but Paltrow crushes that yeah Paltrow the other two are miscast and you see how if McAdams had been in them, both movies would have like really benefited.

52:16Obviously, Rachel Dawes is the kind of character that if I'm Rachel McAdams and maybe I'm not like for seeing a Christopher Nolan, you know, boom about to start, I'm kind of like, why do I want to be the fucking DA who talks to Batman? Like, boring. And Lois Lane is more exciting, but, you know, it's a big old production. Maybe you don't want to do it. Beyond even jerk-off motion boring, I think she was like, I don't want more attention right now. Yeah, maybe she just wasn't into it. And has just had a very interesting career of feeling like she works when she wants to work. And she can always, every couple of years, be like romantic drama, romantic comedy, this or that.

52:53You know, when Morning Glory comes out, people were sort of like, this is the one we've been waiting for. It took her like, you know, eight years past the moment where we anointed her for her to like find her working girl, her Julia movie. And that movie didn't really go. but it was like, this is the vehicle we wanted and the audience isn't here for us. I think it, what I think is interesting about this movie is it is less that like they're taking Rachel McAdams and making her Selina Kyle at the beginning of Batman Returns. A performance I love, but one where Michelle Pfeiffer is going like big with how small and broken and sad and maladjusted the character is.

53:35This is more about like to a guy like Dylan O 'Brien, Rachel McAdams has no value that he's looking at one of still the most luminous actresses we have working in Hollywood and going like who's this fucking 46 year old eating tuna fish sandwiches she's swagless you know she's got lipstick on her teeth she's eating tuna she's got a bad necklace she's too obsessed with Survivor which is a red flag I love the Survivor thing really it's a good observation obviously it's crucial to the movie I mean David you and I both have like co-workers We sure do. Like, I don't consider you guys. I mean, I joked about you guys.

54:11No, no. We're talking about you guys are our co-workers. No, we're talking about like, but we're also friends and we all have the same interests. Well, Marie, remember, I'm your boss. That's true. You are my boss. You're in trouble. Ben's your boss. David's your boss. You guys are all my boss. Oh, Jesus. You're in line for VP. But like, you know, like a desk job where you have co-workers who all you have in common with them is that you go to the same job every year. I'm sitting at a desk. Ben and I show up here all the time. You guys are really derailing Marie's point right now. What is your point, Marie?

54:42Well, I have normal people, coworkers, who are obsessed with Survivor. You're like, okay. Survivor's still huge. 50th season this year, I believe. Correct? Yes. I like didn't... Survivor... I've never seen one minute of it. Oh, I watched the first three seasons. You know, they were very big. My whole family watched them together. Same. Do you remember? like, you know, there's a snake and the rat. Yeah. Oh, God. Sue? Sue. Sue. She was like a truck driver, wasn't she? Yeah, she was. I think so. Wasn't there that naked guy? Richard Hatch. Richard Hatch. He won. I remember hearing about that one. He was the snake and Kelly was the rat?

55:20Yes. Oh, God. I mean, talk about just iconic moments in television. Old man Rudy. Colleen Haskell, America's Sweetheart. She was so pretty. The Rachel McAdams of her time. There was like Gervais, like the cool black guy. Oh, Gervais. So at the Nighthawk pre-show, they played scenes from Survivor Borneo. Oh, that's clever. Which was fun. But anyway, Survivor, after I stopped watching Survivor in season four, I forgot about it until I got a normal person day job. And then I'm like, oh, wow, this is co-worker shit. This movie, yes. It lets Rachel McAdams... To be clear, I have no problem with Survivor.

56:01My whole thing with reality TV is just like, I don't have time for that, so I don't know what's going on. So I don't have that as a touch point. Yeah, it was. I mean, that was the last time I was engaged in a reality TV phenomenon and I got off the train. Now, I know they're on an island and they have to survive and all that. Yeah, which is, I mean, just a very smart hook for this movie. The point I'm trying to make about Rachel McAdams, I guess, is I appreciated how much, yes, she's got lipstick on her teeth. She doesn't know she's got tuna fish on the side of her mouth, right? She does have the tuna.

56:29There's stuff like that. It's not like the movie is not making any efforts to have the character embarrass herself. But it just feels more like this woman is a little bit uncalibrated to the workplace environment. She just doesn't give a shit. She's good at her job and she doesn't care about... Playing the game. And she's still objectively beautiful at the beginning of the movie. And for this guy to be like, this fucking woman actually grosses me out, says a lot about the core dynamics of the film, and also lays the track for her to have this glow up across the movie, which what I love about it is the glow up is like 90 % performance.

57:08The glow up is not that much about a physical transformation. And in fact, her physical transformation just feels like her getting kind of like settled and earthier. Well, yeah, she comes into her own. Yes. On the island. Yes. Yeah. Can I ask a question about Survivor real quick before we move on? Sure. This is maybe our least focused episode in a long time. this is my husband and I had this conversation as we exited the theater uh yes I am married to a man named David um Which of us, the four of us, would do? like how would it shake out the four of us so we're on the island so my prediction Griffin and I die immediately yeah the answer is Ben Ben does well David thinks he's gonna do well but ultimately dies and then Ben is the one that you guys guys I'm very capable in some ways I'm not a capable nature guy I would not be like rolling up my sleeves being like these berries are the right berries I think I would be very conservative I would die I don't think I would do well I think you and I die I think David's voted off first and I think Ben wins Now there's voting?

58:20Are we doing send help or survivor? Now there's voting It's been the whole thing the whole time I mean it was less about like survivor of the show more about like we're in this real life scenario Oh then all three of us die and Ben also still wins survivor I just I mean You're not outdoorsy at all Marie? That's not really a Marie thing. No, no, no. Right? No. I'm like giving you a blank stare. I've never talked about digger before. Famously, I asked on this podcast, have you two ever dug a hole before? And I think David was like, maybe. Yeah. I am more in the maybe category. Marie, have you ever dug a hole?

59:01Yes. Okay. I love that. See, at least you're somewhat outdoorsy if you've done that. Well, my parents were into gardening. I was about to say like I wasn't like I'm not like you're talking about a trowel I'm talking about a shovel I'm like I'm like digging stuff to like put a seed in there not like you know you ain't digging almost anything where you could pose the question Griffin have you ever even done that the answer is yes one time only on camera oh sure sure right you did it pretend for no I did it for real but I have dug a hole on camera one time in what project uh It was a short film. Okay.

59:38Yeah. We'll never find it. Yeah. I have like that. I'm like really allergic to mosquito bites. Sometimes they call it Skeeter syndrome, where they like have a very strong reaction. They blow up real big and they're worse than they are. You're actually responding to the anesthetic they inject you with. So, I mean, the bugs would get me. So I don't know if that would be my cause of death. I don't think it would kill you, but it wears you down. I would not be happy about whatever fucking Thai bugs are getting me in that island. That is for sure. I'm a strong swimmer. I'm a very strong swimmer. Can't swim.

1:00:14Again, Okay, well, Marie, you're definitely in trouble. I definitely don't take any private flights over the Gulf of Thailand anytime soon, man. Or just wear your floaties. Yeah, well, I will wear, hey, I always pay attention to the flight attendant safety briefing at the beginning of every flight. Oh, yeah. Because I'm, a buckle day. I'm getting out of there. Yeah, it's important to pay attention because they changed it a lot. Every plane's different. This is true. Every country has different regulations. Can we talk about the movie Send Help, a film that I love? So, we haven't talked about...

1:00:49Well, okay. The setup of Send Help is Linda's this, you know, slightly dorky employee at a company, whatever. She does all the work, gets none of the credit. It's a scenario we can understand in five minutes. Or, you know, Dylan O 'Brien... She's in a cubicle bank with the secretaries. They put her in the same area of the office with the secretary. She's near the CEO, but you're right. She's right. She doesn't really have any special treatment. I almost kind of took it that she was perhaps the CEO's secretary for a long time. Right, and proved her worth. And then got a kind of mini promotion to a title that, you know, isn't really...

1:01:26This is the whole... She's like this intangible glue person where everyone's like, I know she seems silly, but like, she knows everything. she knows how to fucking fix you know contracts and documents Dead CEO is Bruce Campbell depicted in a painting Dennis Haysbert kind of his right hand man who's now ushering in the transition Haysbert just brings in one bucket of gravel and shovels it out he's doing a great job just a little bit of gravel perfect and Dylan O 'Brien is the like fucking frat boy evil nepo son he wears loafers without not even loafers they're like those little slipper things like Ferragamo Yeah, like blue suede.

1:02:05Yeah, no socks. Who is this guy? This guy sucks. Well, the movie does a really good job. The other guy has suspenders, which is another like immediate flag. He's kind of like styled like what Dylan O 'Brien would be styled like if this movie were the 90s, right? You know what I mean? I was going to say, he's dressed like Gordon Gekko. He's dressed like Patrick Bateman. But yes, Rachel McAvors had been promised for a long time that she was next in line for a VP promotion. It feels like she got promoted from being a secretary, but got stuck like one step above it for a very long time. And as you said, it's like, here's the woman who actually holds all the guys together.

1:02:43Right. The company needs her. But she's also kind of taken for granted because she'll put up with it. Like she puts together all this documentation for like a quarterly report. And this spender ass guy basically just takes it from her and claims credit. Right. And are you getting mad? are you getting mad watching this? I'm pissed off that fucker I'm so glad when he gets his comeuppance he's Xavier Samuel who was the villain in Twilight Eclipse yeah he's Riley I can't say I remember him he's an Australian pretty boy but yes right off the bat it's Ramey shit where it's just like I brought up EC Comics earlier but I had this thought a lot watching this movie of like he does have the language of of pre-code horror comics in his DNA, not just in how hypervisual he is, but you would read these like, there was a code imposed on the comic books industry that comics were perverting the youth of America.

1:03:46And horror comics got kicked out of society, basically, and that led to the creation of Mad Magazine and Superhero Comics, basically, to fill the void of how does the comics industry stay afloat without touching on seen as objectionable material. And you look at those horror comics, they're the types of things that inspired Tales from the Crypt, Two-Fisted Heroes and all this sort of stuff, war comics. They're like very bold, expressionistic, really like broad strokes storytelling. You leaf through the pages and you're like, oh my God, this fucking imagery. Every single panel has an entire story of emotion in it.

1:04:21And then you try to read it from front to back and it is almost incomprehensible. They're all like slop expressed in the most vibrant way with so much feeling. And I was even talking to like, Fantagraphics has been putting out a lot of these easy comics things. You see me to store these hardcover reproductions. You're like, holy shit, I should buy this. You bring it home two pages in, you're like, oh, this is gobbledygook. A lot of tiny little print, you know. And it's just kind of like, really kind of like bland melodrama, you know, or the same kind of like horror gimmicks repeated over and over again.

1:04:55Sometimes there's a kernel of a good idea not expressed well. Feels like Rami's visual language is very tied to that, but figuring out how to actually tell good coherent stories within that. And he just is like, what's the quickest way to communicate this? Within three minutes, you kind of know everything about the setup of this movie. Even down to her having a bird. There's something about that that says so much about the character. But like the power structure of all ten characters and how they see everything and how everything feels. So yes, she's sort of on the outside looking in. Dilma Brine comes in on his first day and immediately just hates her.

1:05:31Should we talk about Dylan O 'Brien at all, the performer who plays the character called Bradley Preston? I think this is an impressively contemptible performance. I think he is a good young actor. So I said in my review, you know, like that I consider him a somewhat untapped resource, right? Like I'm like, it's a good showcase for this guy who like Hollywood has never quite used well enough. and my editor was like, agree with you, but examples, please. And so, you know, obviously, he's best known for the Maze Runners and the Teen Wolf show, right? Like, that was where he came out of. He was the best friend character on Teen Wolf, which ran for many years.

1:06:12Kind of the fun character, I assume. I never really watched it. Styles, I believe. What the fuck is Maze Runner? There were three Maze Runner movies, Ben. First, we ran the maze. Yeah. Then we endured the Scorch Trials. Then we found the Death Cure. It was like a hunger. It was like a Hunger Games play. It's a post-Hunger Games. Divergent Maze Runner Hunger Games. But the most important thing about the Maze Runner movies was that he got... Was he the one that got seriously injured? He got seriously injured on set where they had to reconstruct his face. There was... Which you can't tell, because he looked...

1:06:47There was like a... He was a teen actor, right? He was in a lot of stuff. He was more kind of comedy skewing. Sure, he was kind of fun. There was a period of time in the late 2000s, early 2010s, when I was auditioning a lot, where very often it would come down to me, Dylan O 'Brien, and Will Poulter. Wow. Three good actors? And those two guys really were kind of starting comedy forward. Oh, these guys can improvise. Yeah, because Will Poulter was in We're the Millers or whatever, right? Yeah. And had come from Son of Rambo. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Dylan O 'Brien had done a lot of comedy stuff.

1:07:21Or at least like Teen Wolf, I never really watched it. but like Teen Wolf had a lot of comedy in it, right? Like it's like, it was fun. It was MTV. But there's like, he's in, what's Selma Bryan in? He's in the internship. Well, this is what I wanted to talk about. He's in the internship. I can't say that I saw that one. There was a movie that Matt Walsh directed that I want to say he was the lead in that was improv based. High Road. It was his first real movie. I remember High Road. The first time, which is the other Kasdan son, Jonathan Kasdan, who co-wrote Solo. That's kind of like a teen when Harry met Sally.

1:07:52Yes, who was his longtime girlfriend. they met on that and were together for like 10 years he was in Deepwater Horizon he got oil all over him just like everyone else he was in then he had the accident on death cure set him back it seemed he was sort of gone for a minute he was in that thing Love and Monsters that was like a movie Joey my brother texted me because Joey fucking loves Jill O 'Brien

1:08:19being like that one's pretty good and I was like yeah cool story bro don't care he was in Infinite which I did see never seen not a movie that popped for me huge and so it started to be like you know what did we do here like this guy was pretty good like we kind of lost the track here but like no need to get pops a little bit in the outfit I know yes there's some personal stuff with him no no all I just want to say just because Ben didn't know this right the Maze Runner incident was like insane it was one of those things where like it goes up as a deadline story. And it was like, is this guy about to die?

1:08:55It was like a car scene gone wrong and he's like dragged. And there was this whole thing of like, the physical scale of this is insane. Everyone's waiting to hear if he's in stable condition. Once he was in stable condition, it was like, what's he going to look like? Even when they were like miracle, we think there's been a successful facial reconstruction. People were like, is this guy ever going to appear I mean, appear in public again. It's like the Montgomery Clift thing where like he comes back from facial reconstruction. Yeah, he had like all. But beyond that, the trauma of the incident, like how extreme it was, there was a lot of reporting of like, he's backed away.

1:09:35Like he, he might not be able to get through this. Right. And so there was this kind of like slow reemergence. They finally finished Death Cure, but that was like, is that his final movie? Those movies all made kind of like automatic$100 million, $200 worldwide. So it felt like he was on that runway to is this guy kind of like a steady studio hand to be the lead of mid-budget movies. And it's like a slow re-emergence. American Assassin, a movie you weirdly bring up a lot for how much it sucks. That's the one with the Michael Keaton one. He's the guy that Keaton's training. Oh my God, that movie is insane.

1:10:10And that was his big... I forgot about that. That's his big post-injury reintroduction movie. That came out before Death Cure because Death Gear took so long to finish. I will point out. Because that movie is so just about like, hurt me is the vibe. There was a really interesting article. I will see if I can find it. We can post it in the episode description about his process of deciding he wants to return to set and acting and how he connected to that material as like a guy who needs to rebuild himself. And like what he was going through while he was making that movie. But he's been in an odd place and he's like swinging between a lot of things.

1:10:48he's bizarrely good as the aforementioned Dan Aykroyd in Saturday Night. Oh, I forgot. That I think is contemptible. And I think he's good in it. Does the best of all the original cast members. No, Chevy's the best. I'm sorry. There's three that I think are good. It's him. It's Lamorne Morris is fucking on fire. Yeah, he's really good in it. I just remember Dylan, Dan Aykroyd, kind of the most thankless of those parts. Just doing good yeoman's work in that movie. The one where he has to do the most of an impression and that character has no arc versus Chevy and Gary Morris. An Ackroyd impression is a little harder for a modern audience anyway.

1:11:26That's not a guy that young Ackroyd people remember as well. The thing I was kind of astonished he got right in that performance is the weird swing between Ackroyd seeming like the coolest guy in the room and the lamest. Right. The thing people loved him was twinless last year, my favorite movie of 2025. Marie's laughing at me. Because you really didn't like that movie in a way that I think is interesting. I posted a dismissive review of it on Letterboxd and people were not happy with me because a lot of people liked that movie. I think he is really good in that movie. I think he gave an excellent performance in that movie.

1:12:07There was another actor in the movie I had a little more trouble with. I mean, it's a kind of movie I really struggle with, which is the movie where you know the lie very early, but the lie is not revealed until very late. And so you're just sitting with a movie that is spinning its wheels, and I'm like... The Twilight's no problem. Sure. Right. But I thought he was good in it, and again, had that feeling of like, you know, what happened here? Like, you know, why is there not more Dylan? Like, you know, like, Hollywood, like, take a look. He's an interesting case. And I know people love him, like, because people responded of the twin list with being like, we love Dylan.

1:12:47I think he's aging. He's in more stuff. He's in more adult stuff. I think he's aging well. I think I see good things in his future. This is the kind of thing he's really good. Really good at.

1:13:08David? Yes? I am so excited about this episode's sponsor. Yes! might truly be the most excited I've ever had for anything to sponsor this podcast we're excited to like sponsors that tell you how to like help your finances okay okay sorry sorry sorry easy today's episode of Blank Check is brought to you by Nirvana the band the show the movie Nirvana the band the show the movie Marie's here too because everyone's so excited I love this movie I mean I love this band this show this movie important correction This film is finally coming to theaters. February 13th is the start of the theatrical rollout.

1:13:47Yeah. From our friends at Neon. Neon's bringing it out. We have been waiting impatiently for other people to see this film. We saw this at South by Southwest. One of the best screenings of my life. Truly. Truly. It was an unbelievable experience. Ben, you were there. Had a blast. And I had never seen or engaged with this show previously. Me neither. Most of the group. Don't really need it. No. You don't need the context to enjoy. Absolutely. I think you need to know what Toronto is. Because you knew nothing other than us hyping you up for you. Well, this was the problem. And we should say, it's a city in Canada.

1:14:21Yes. I went in. You guys had just been like, it's the best thing ever. And not just you. Other people. I can't believe how good. And I was like, this is so overhyped. And here's the great thing about David. I'm walking in. I felt mad about it. I was just like, they've primed it too much for me. I like that you acknowledge this. because sometimes if we tell you something's good, I see you go, like, put your fists up. Well, I'm just like, relax, because I need to, I can't go in with too much hype, because that's not good for my critical experience of a movie. And then I thought it was better than the hype.

1:14:50This is the thing. This movie is truly a miracle. I think it is the funniest movie of the last 10 years, easily. And listeners of the show know I am often bemoaning the state of the theatrical comedy. And this is a movie that provides the thing I've been longing for, which is you go see this with a crowd. It is just electric every five seconds, rolling laughter. And the movie just builds and builds and builds. This is a movie for Matt Johnson. Yes. Director Blackberry, one of my favorite movies the last couple of years. Him and Jay McCarroll started as a web series, became a TV series, and now is a movie.

1:15:26But you don't need to know any of that. This works as a clean entry point. It's a movie about two friends who are obsessed with their band playing at one venue. They want to play at the Rivoli. They want to play at the Rivoli. That's all you need to know about these guys. Before the lights went down at the South by Southwest screening, I believe you turned to me and said, what do I need to know? And I said, all you need to know is they want to play the Rivoli. They got to play the Rivoli. I've been to Toronto many times. Have you been to the Rivoli? Never. I've stayed on Queen West, though, and I've certainly walked by the Rivoli many times.

1:15:54And I've always been like, oh, yeah, the Rivoli. There it is. It's not Carnegie Hall. No, it's a fucking bar. And you never see these guys. What do you mean? It's the most important music venue in Canada. You never see these guys practice their music. But all you know is that every episode starts with, here's the plan, here's how we play the Rivoli, right? We got to play the Rivoli. And this movie starts from there and explodes in unbelievable ways. I think this movie is truly like a magic trick beyond just how funny it is. And for how much it's caked in the deep lore of this Nirvana, the band, the show universe that's existed for 15 years, you can just go in knowing nothing and be blown away.

1:16:28and for a movie that seems kind of slapdash and roughly made from the start, it starts to pull off genuine cinematic magic tricks where you cannot believe how this thing was made. What was my Letterboxd review, Griff? Did you see it? No, please tell me. LOL, how did they make this? Truly. That was how I thought. How did this get made? No, but I was also just like, how did they make this? I don't get it. You don't understand how they're getting away with it legally. You don't understand how it was cleared for release. and there is a melding of scripted and non-scripted, them engaging with real people on the street where the line between what is planned and what is not boggles your brain.

1:17:09It was my favorite thing I saw all of 2025. And now it's coming out in 2026. Now, listen, I do have to do some talking points, okay? Do some talking points. Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie is in theaters February 13th. Get tickets now. We must say this. Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie. They're very clear that we have to say the title of this thing a few times. Nirvana, The Band, The Show, The Movie. Why? It's a really simple, easy title. Nirvana, The Band, The Show, The Movie. It really is a kind of like going cold expecting something fun. I don't think you need too much more than that.

1:17:40No. I know it sounds unwieldy or whatever, but just like, I think you're going to have a pretty good time. If you trust our opinion at all, take this recommendation. Yes. Don't look it up. Go in. and I really, really doubt there is any chance you will be disappointed. In theaters, February 13th. Get your tickets now. Nirvana, the man, the show, the movie.

1:18:12Ding dong, ding dong. Oh my god. Hello, Creek. Hey, how's it going? And who are you? Mack Black. And what's that? That's my name. You asked who am I, and that's my name. What are you doing here? What do you want? I'm a construction worker, obviously, as you can tell from my general demeanor, temperament, and this hard hat here. Yeah. I'm sure you've noticed the interruption, the sound. Yeah, I guess I... Jack Hammers. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. We've been hearing some construction noise. In the building. Mm-hmm. But I've been struggling. Yes. What's the matter? This construction project's not going well.

1:18:49I have no idea what's going on. I explained to you my name is Mac Black. Like I'm a construction worker. I've been working in the building. He's winding up. He's winding up. He's winding up. Literally. I don't know what's going on in your life. I knocked on the door. I open. I'm interrupting. I don't know what's going on in your life. You're struggling. What's going on? This construction project's not going well. Okay. Okay. Been trying to build a better wardrobe. There it is. Yeah. And so what you're referring to, of course, is the sort of the furniture, the physical thing. Incorrect. That's a weird assumption for you to make.

1:19:19I'm talking about pieces that work together and hold up over time. Well, Mac, we've got news for you. Come on in. Take a seat. I have a pair of pants and I've been jackhammering them for months and nothing's coming together. We have ad copy people can't see with prompts that are a little esoteric. And one of the people who works for our show responds to those prompts in interesting ways. But nobody knows what like it's like going to an improv show where you didn't hear what someone yelled out. David, excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt. Mac doesn't know any of that. He's living his own life. You're right.

1:19:50Mac is such a thoughtfully realized character. Thank you. I'm a construction worker, surly demeanor, hard hat, and I've been taking the jackhammer. Is Mac short for Macintosh? Absolutely. Macintosh, Blackintosh. That's pretty funny. Thank you. Quince has the everyday essentials. You got to go to Quince to get a good wardrobe. Well, that's the recommendation I've been waiting for. What took you so long? I said fast. Turn his mic off. Quince has the everyday essentials I love with quality of the last, organic cotton sweaters, Polos for every occasion. Lighter jackets to keep you warm in the changing seasons.

1:20:24List goes on. I love Quince. I've got a nice quarter zip that I've been sporting around. Well, well, well. You're looking pretty smart if I dare say so myself. You know, they got obviously very, very cheap and comfortable cashmere stuff. Merino stuff. A lot of good. I got myself a cashmere scarf from Quince. It's cold in New York City. You need to bundle. Now, I'm a little bit wary. Quince sounds good, but is this one of those companies that works with bottom factories and cuts in the middlemen? No, they're top only. Top factories cutting out the middlemen. Oh, that's the exact opposite. Just to be very clear.

1:21:02Yes. That's what I was worried about. You're not paying for brand markup. It's just quality clothing. Everything's built to hold up to daily wear and look good season after season, okay? And let's not forget that, of course, every night I sleep under a Quince comforter and Quince sheets. so it's not just your wardrobe everyday life Ben can you say how much I appreciate that I feel like you're making the effort to communicate with me you're making eye contact you're giving me recommendations unlike Silver Spoon Sims over here refresh your wardrobe with Quinz go to quinz.com slash check for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too that's quince.com slash check free shipping and 365 day returns quinz.com slash check That's great news because I live in London, Ontario.

1:21:47Mac, see you later, man. By the way, big fan of the pod.

1:21:58But I just want to catch myself in saying, like, sometimes I do this, what happened? Where did this person go? And as time's gone on, I've like reflected on a little bit of like, well, I'm a person who just at a certain point went like, I don't know if I want to fucking act anymore. I wasn't walking away from a career at the level that Dylan O 'Brien had, but I've become like a lot more reticent to do anything. And I get now more why certain people are like, am I one foot in and one foot out? Are you Rachel McAdams in 2024? Sure. My experience is closer to that without having anywhere near any level of success.

1:22:33But Dylan O 'Brien has this like huge traumatic incident. And it's always felt like, is he going to lean into it or is he going to try to work past it or whatever? This weirdly to me feels like the one movie that kind of harnesses the innate darkness of the near-death experience in a weird way. Not a metatextual way. I feel like he's activating something in this performance that feels like it is coming from the darkest experiences in his soul. I also think this movie is like using both his comedic and dramatic instincts in an interesting way because there's nothing Raimi loves more than a self-aware handsome guy who's willing to play the idiot, the asshole, right?

1:23:14The cad, the blowhard. And this is a modern type of that guy that Raimi has not really had the chance to tackle yet. Well, this is a good... So he's good at the... Obviously, you know, he's had great blowhards in the past. It's funny because Rachel is almost the Toby, right? Like the kind of the sweet... Well, actually, she's not sweet, though, because she does some crazy shit. These are the root things. But you know, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the line I love. I cite all the time about Raimi's approach to the Spider-Man movies where he said, in my mind, the joke of the Spider-Man movies is that no one else knows that Peter Parker is the star of the picture.

1:23:53Right, right, right, right. That the movie around him treats him like shit. Anytime he shows up, people are like, oh, hi, Peter. You're here too. And I think Raimi likes two different types of protagonists. There's a guy who the universe is treating like shit because he kind of deserves it. Is Ash that? Yeah. Because Ash is kind of like a bit of an arrogant... I think Evil Dead 1 Ash is closer to Peter Parker. And then 2 and 3, it's a little bit more like it's fun taking this guy down a peg. Yeah. It's fun how high on himself he is. and we throw some shit at him. And Raimi movies usually feel like, I think I said this during our series, but like these movies about these almost biblical tests of like, don't open the book, don't open the bag.

1:24:32A person makes one decision that they can't undo. And their life just like descends into chaos. You know, you take a bite of the apple. But then the other kind of character he likes is someone where it's sort of like they are the nerd getting kicked in the face with sand at the beach. And the universe won't give him respect. And they're fighting to try to get a little bit of respect. And sometimes that can be someone like Peter Parker who is like as close as I think Raimi can come to portraying what he thinks is like the empirical good of the universe. That's why he was so suited to that movie.

1:25:06Yeah. And why I sort of, I guess the Batman take would be something completely different. Yeah, which he has in him. He's got everything in him. He's got so much in him. I mean, he found a sweetness to Doctor Strange. A guy I wasn't, you know, like, expecting that from? Well, no, what you're expecting is quality healthcare. Good bedside manner. Literally. I just think the modern kind of tech bro, finance bro, CAD, is something because Raimi's output has slowed way down over the last 20 years. He has not yet gotten to tackle. This guy not being six foot five, you know, this guy being a little soft.

1:25:50There's something about Dylan O 'Brien. He's a built guy, but he's also this era of leading man who... Yeah, he's in good shape. They all feel kind of like perpetual 15-year-olds. He's a little twinkie. He's a little twinkie. He's boyish. Yeah. And I think will always be a little boyish, which is great. Like, it's all... He's owning his lane very well, and he works here because it just adds to his kind of like shit-kicker arrogance thing where you're just like, who do you think you are, buddy? But he thinks he's like, you know, risen to the top on merit alone or I don't know, whatever. Linda finds out she's not getting the promotion.

1:26:26She has this bad encounter trying to make a first impression on him or a second impression. And he's like, we need to like re... We need to relocate her or replace her within the company. A, I already promised this position to my frat buddy, Mr. Suspenders. B, she disgusts me. Yeah, it's even if... Right, even if he didn't have the buddy. She smells bad, she's gross, she dresses poorly. He plays it really well. I really felt his discomfort being even near her. But then I like the little moments like when she barges into his office to be insane. Before the plane crash, right? Where she just barges in.

1:27:07I think he plays that genuine. They both play that really well because her doing that, you're like, well, that's not going to work. We're getting a little hint on how this woman is actually a little over the edge sometimes. He's impressed that she has a little psycho energy. And then he's kind of like, I can't believe you did that. Right. I guess you get to ride on the plane now because that was something. I might have underestimated you. You still know he's going to fuck her over, but... They have her on this business trip where she's the only one doing the work for them for this big meeting they're going to have in Thailand or whatever.

1:27:39And we have the scene in between where she's talking to her bird at home while prepping her lunch, and we see bookshelves just full of survival books. Which at first I was like, look, if Remy just wants to do shorthand and get us there, whatever, for whatever reason, this woman is a survival like prepper. But then you get to the survivor reveal where I was like, this is such an ingenious premise. This is the perfect way to win like two images and two lines of dialogue, make the audience understand there's a reason this woman's going to survive on this island that is completely believable. As you said, someone you work with in an office who just watches the show, reads these books and is like, if I landed there, I could probably win.

1:28:19It's perfect because it explains everything, as you just said. And it's a great, pathetic thing that they can make fun of her for. It tells you everything about the character. In that final button of cruelty where they're all laughing at the video. They find her audition video for Survivor. They're laughing on the plane. And it means when the plane crashes, you're like, tear these people apart! I want them to die! It's the Raimi thing I love, where you're just like, he makes you eager for blood. Yeah. it's just and I want to pop up really quickly in that I just I find the way that he's captured the privilege of this type of guy give me your seat and they're like they're like since they went to private school to college to the workplace they've always been told they're going to be on top and they're not even good at their jobs and it is actually the way that the world works and it drives me fucking crazy Like, here's what happens very, very concisely within this scene.

1:29:20I'm not being concise in my description. The scene is concise, right? She's doing all of the fucking work. Literally. Typing it up. She sees that they are in the corner laughing at her audition tape. Dylan O 'Brien, when all the guys are preparing to sit around him to watch the tape, goes like, you're going to use fucking seatbelt, you fucking pussy? Like, makes it into a masculinity contest, right? Oh, what? You're worried the plane's going to go down. Of course, he buckles his seatbelt and they don't. Right. She sees they're laughing. She presses don't save on the document. Fine. You guys are fucking on your own.

1:29:56You see and heard the kind of resolution of like, fuck it. Let them fire me. I quit. Whatever. I don't want to be with these people anymore. Then the plane hits turbulence. Immediately, we're in Sam Raimi plane crash. We are. I mean, and we've all been I feel like we've all been rubbing our hands being like, what are the like three things Sam can think of? Right. because we've all seen Plank, we're like, he's going to have a couple cool little ideas. He's going to have new ones. Twists on the, you know, carnage. He's not going to do his Amekas plane crash where what strikes you is the realism of, oh, bit by bit.

1:30:28Like, it's going to be, plane is now crashing, crazy shit happens. Xavier Samuels is like crawling towards her, demanding she give him her seat. It's not a please, it's not a save me, it is a, I am above you in the totem pole, give me your seat. She has the wherewithal to see all the silverware sliding down the aisle of the plane. He's choking her. Yes, yes, he's choking her for the sea to try to kill her so he can buckle himself in. She stabs his hand with a fork. He goes flying out the side of the plane, which is now ripped open. You see his tie is still hanging like on the shred of jagged metal.

1:31:07And you assume, oh, that's the one remnant of this guy. And then the camera pans over and you're like, no he's being choked by the tie which is lodged into the jagged metal he's right outside his her window dying and she puts the shade down and it plays for laughs and it's like triumphant and it's also so nasty it's what he's so good at I mean and he's just so good at that like extra detail and he of course the bore later on is when you feel it again where you're like, I thought we were done. And he's like, I have like one more dessert for you in this like kill or whatever. And you're like, whoa, right?

1:31:49Like that's what he wants to get out of everyone. And he delights in it. And you got it. Did you see the tip your cap? Doff the cap. Did you see one of his interviews for this movie? Someone asked him about the best recipe for fake blood. Yes, I did see that. And he immediately had a formula. He listed it off as if it was asking Gordon Ramsay, How would you recommend I make a burger? A good thick mix of... But it was very calm. He was like, yeah, absolutely. Here you go. Come on. A good thick mix of caramel syrup, red food coloring, a little blue to give it that un-aerated look, and a bit of coffee to make it dark.

1:32:27I don't mean to brag, but hello, I'm here. I know how to throw blood. I know how to throw blood. He knows how to throw blood. Wow. There you go. That rules. and I love that he's still like boots on the ground in that way yes well you know he was like I was on the Evil Dead set with my friends making this movie right you know like I've been doing this from the beginning mixing bloods in my you know water bottles or whatever I'm sure we shared this story at the time but Ben and I ran into someone who worked on the crew of Spider-Man 3 at a bar when we were doing that series and he told us about a scene where they needed smoke effects and Sam Raimi had a giant tube and a grip standing at the other end of it chain smoking and blowing the cigarettes into the tube.

1:33:15Yes, I remember. That was the highest budgeted film in history at time of release. That sounds like an OSHA violation. But he's also like, just have a guy smoke cigarettes into a tube. That's what we need. So the plane crashes. They land on a remote island in the Gulf of Thailand somewhere. How did that go for you? Oh, I don't mind. It's fake. This couldn't be more fake. It felt really heightened, yeah. I don't know. It wasn't gritty. That shit doesn't bother me because it's not a jumbo jet. I'm not going to be on a private plane. You're never going to be a PJ? What was that? Never going to be a PJ?

1:33:49I don't think so. Okay, so I'm allowed to sign out the BC PJ this weekend? Yeah, I was about to say, Blanchex Productions has a jet. Yeah, I mean, like, I'm just a mere... And also, it's very fake. Like, in a totally fine way. Planes don't crash from turbulence. Well, I mean, like, that's... I also, I appreciate that. But like, they're like, I don't know, there's a storm. Don't worry about it. Like the plane crashes. This movie has a very consistent tone and reality from the beginning. Like, Raimi is better than anyone at just being like, here is the exact pitch this movie exists at. I'm going to introduce it to you and I'm establishing it at a place that will allow me to execute all of the moves I want in this film without straining, you know, credibility.

1:34:32Totally. And it works. Dylan O 'Brien, leg fucked up. Right. He is essentially in beach traction. Rachel McCown actively saves him. Could have left him for dead. True. The other guys are like DOA before the plane even hits water. Yeah. And I appreciate it doesn't really come up again. Yeah. Again, we're seeing a little sign of her ruthlessness, her like secret ruthlessness. But it's not like she admits later like, oh, by the way, I fucking, you know, kind of was every man for myself. Yeah. and yeah he wakes up and now he they're not in the office anymore it's triangle of sadness I mean it's like I kept thinking about that of course you know it's like okay now sure it's a completely different thing but you know like the same idea of like right like all of our capitalist like ladder shit is gone the hierarchy has has changed what is it what's the line from Black Adam the hierarchy of power has changed in the in the Centelp universe if Black Adam was on this island shit would have gone down differently I think this movie is kind of asking, what do men even do anymore?

1:35:39Totally. And I think it's part of like the Dylan O 'Brien character being a little bit twinkie, right? Is that it's like, you're not having this movie be, and it could have been Chris Hemsworth as a finance bro who crashes on this island. And you got a guy who's built like an obvious action star. I would see Chris Hemsworth and be like, he knows what to do. Exactly. Exactly. Or at least wants to prove his masculinity through strength. Joseph also reads older. O 'Brien reads like a young guy. It helps that he is young, that he is younger than her, and he reads even younger than he is. And it also helps that this movie starts and you're like, I don't think this guy's ever done his own laundry.

1:36:14This guy does nothing. And the world of business has become such that the actual skill any of these people have is beyond obfuscated. You're like, could any of these guys explain to me what the business they run is? We're constantly being introduced to these like fucking 35-year-old CEOs. They're good in a room. Who have raised$800 million. And then these exposés come out and they're like, they didn't know what the technology was. It never existed. Or someone else made it and they could never explain it, you know? And it's like, these guys are truly just good at performing the role of being disruptors of leaders.

1:36:53There was like a really fun throwaway line. maybe when he's in the office with Dennis Haysbert, where it's like we hired a consulting firm to tell us what to do, but they're a consulting firm. Yes. So it's like... Hey, man. It's all... We're all in the fucking eternal cycle. Yeah. I make this joke all the time that my continued existence is proof that we have evolved past survival of the fittest. Totally, right. And then the minute push comes to shove, you're out. That we've created a world coddled enough that I'm making it to 37, right? when I should have been eaten by a saber-toothed tiger on day two.

1:37:28Right? And we've like evolved past all these things. And then this is an extreme, like, here is a guy who is an alpha male, who has been the lead, the action star of other movies, who you just immediately like, this guy doesn't fucking know shit. And he's still trying to use the psychological warfare of like the workplace on her, that he thinks while his leg is fucked up, while he's unable to stand up, he can insult her to her face. She has saved his life. He is dependent on her. And he's like, fuck you. But here is where the movie made it. The one choice that I initially was sort of bumping on, which is he's mean to her.

1:38:14She up and leaves, right? And he's also disgusted. I can't believe I'm fucking here. I'm here with you. I'm next to your shoes. She up and leaves, right? and you're like, right, here we go. The power dynamic has shifted and she's being intense about it. She's gone. She leaves him alone for like five days to teach him a lesson. But that doesn't happen. That's a fantasy sequence. That's a fantasy sequence? No, because he gets totally sunburned. But I did not know. I don't think it's five days. I think it's just one day. Maybe it's just one day. It's not long. She leaves him there, though. She does leave him, yeah.

1:38:46Does she? You see him. That's what I couldn't track. She does. She does. But there's a hard cut to her coming back. I think he wakes up the next day, basically. It's like the latter half of the day. It's like sunsets. It's dark. I understand what happens. But then the way they hard cut to her coming back, it felt like 20 minutes had passed and the joke was he was obsessing so bad. He gets immensely sunburnt and when he wakes up in that hard cut, he is still that sunburnt. He's got crusty stuff on his lips. Yeah. I need to watch it again, clearly. Because that was where I was just like, okay, how much am I to trust reality versus fantasy?

1:39:26The joke might be that it felt like it was five days to him and it was five hours to him. But she has left him there and she has proven her point. And he begrudgingly is kind of like, I get it. I can't do this without you. Because then, of course, right. She's in charge. Everything's nice. Like, no one's being mean to each other at this point. But he still feels a little bit. But he's a little grouchy. And he hates that he's in this situation, obviously. And it feels like the most generous he will be is kind of like a concession of, I guess when we're rescued, I have to give her a promotion. Like there's this kind of like, I guess I got it.

1:40:05Like he's still thinking about the office. Well, he, and he has this mindset of like, this is an irritating thing that is happening to me, but we will, I assume, be picked up soon. Right. Right. Like I kind of like, by the way, shouldn't you just like make a fucking bonfire or a sign or something so we can get picked up faster? He's still trying to note her on what she should be doing. And yet she's mommy. She's feeding him fish. And he's like, that's like such a funny moment of him like truly like becoming like a seven-year-old boy again who doesn't want to eat his vegetables. We should also mention he has a like statuesque fiance with this giant sparkling diamond engagement ring.

1:40:45I saw this movie in 40X. the 3D is fucking awesome. Especially for those Raimi special shots. But like... I mean, there were shots I noticed. Yeah. Because there's like a moment where she kind of like flicks her finger at the screen too. Like there were things I noticed where I was like, this feels like 3D. The whole boar fight. Like this is a movie that even though I'm trying to get confirmation on this, was not shot in 3D but was intended for 3D from the beginning by Raimi. Is anything shot in 3D anymore apart from Avatar? Like does anything else use that process anymore? I don't know. No, but it feels intentionally designed and was like unbelievably well executed.

1:41:22Totally. And anytime the ring shows up, it's like the most 3D can push out of the screen. Like he knows what he's doing. But this character is basically just defined by the shorthand of if you see the sparkle, the glint of the light off of her ring. But yes, he's stuck here with her. and there's this sort of like initial power dynamic imbalance thing of like, he'll kind of concede to her. Then she'll do something that pushes him a step too far. And then he'll be like, you know what? I'll make my own camp. And then you watch him fail at that. Right. You know, and as she's just sort of like, or he'll make a kind of barbed comment and she'll sort of call out like, you don't have the status to do that anymore.

1:42:05And then each time he breaks off, he comes back and she's like made a hat or made a backpack. She's continued to heighten and thrive more and more. She's made her own moisturizer. She has a bamboo Stanley cup. What are your favorite McAdams accessories, like nature accessories? Because yes, the cup with the straw. The cup with Linda written on it is very cute. That's the mug, but she also has the big one with the straw. Yeah, that does feel like a Stanley cup. It's like a Nalgie. I want that as movie promo swag. I bet you do. I wish Disney had been sending those out to people. That's my favorite.

1:42:44The hat is really, really good. I like that the hat, like, it's kind of, it's just like a, like, it's a full visor where it's missing, like, the crown of the head. Right, like, deeply woven leaves. Her backpack is great. I love that every time they, like, make a point of serving a meal, it's, like, on one of those, like, sushi boat things. It's plated. It's beautifully plated. Like a bed of seaweed. Right. Like she starts living the kind of like bespoke luxury island resort life. And well, obviously, you know, the twist is incoming on that front. I don't, we kind of know when she makes that discovery, right?

1:43:27Because it's, it's coupled with her seeing the boat, right? Yes. In the flashbacks, it puts that, those two events. When he's still immobile, he, she goes off, she finds like a spring where she takes a shower. Wait, has the boar happened already? Yeah, the boar happens pretty early. So the boar is the first moment, right, where you're like, hmm, Linda's a little freaky. Yeah, she says, I think there's a boar. I'm going to go hunt the boar. I'm going to go hunt it. She makes a spear. She hunts the boar. The boar is scary and large. The boar is insane. It's more than she can handle. It's like a full CGI stylized horror.

1:44:01It's like a trauma boar. Right, it's an absurdly large. It's not dying. No. And spraying stuff. And 4DX were getting like snot, spittle, blood. Like they're squirting water at you to represent every single fluid. As I said to you guys, it was like William Castle shit. But yeah, she's in this intense fight with the boar that goes on so much longer than you think. As you said, David, she like spears the boar like through its neck and you're like, that's the end of that sequence. The boar's alive for another two minutes. That's what I just, right. Where the audience is like, we're done. We're not done.

1:44:32Like, you know, that's good Remy stuff and the eye gouging out. and, you know, all that. So, and then the cut to her covered in blood, dropping the head at his, you know, feet being like, I'm, you know, I kind of dug that. And dropping the head viscera side facing him. Yes, all over him. It's like he's just seeing the guts of a boar neck. But then that, you know what looked good? What? That bore me. It did. It did look good. And he says this is literally the best meat I've ever had. Yeah, pretty good. So, yeah, she goes to take the shower, sees a rescue boat off in the distance and you see the panic in her eyes of, am I ready to go back yet?

1:45:09This is where the movie went from a thing I was enjoying to something a little juicier. You know what I mean? Like where I was like, good. Because the whole time I'm watching the movie now, I'm basically like, all right, but what's your ending? Like, is it just them getting rescued? Is it them killing each other? Is it them fucking like what? You know, where I'm like, I don't love any of these endings that I'm, you know, these kind of boring endings I'm imagining. Well, and I was in on the premise of the movie, but the trailer made me think, is this movie going to kind of be like island misery?

1:45:36Does it dissolve into... Which it has some of that. Right. But I was like, at a certain point, does the movie just become her torturing her? Which I'm not saying I... To him. To her being like, you're not allowed to leave and I'm in charge of you. Right. Which I probably would enjoy watching. And again, it has some of that. Raimi executed this cast. Yes. But that's not the bigger story he's telling here. Right. So she sees a boat, you know, with like a Thai flag, like a rescue boat, essentially. A potential rescue boat. I mean, that's not what it is, but like she could flag it down. But it's just a boat with other humans on it.

1:46:07We hard cut away. She almost goes, help. You see her. And then she goes, not yet. She goes, I'm not ready. Yes. And we cut back. And all you know is that clearly she didn't get them to rescue her. And then not long after, she has a knife, like a really nice knife. And she's like. That washed up on the shore. Right, washed up on the shore. You wouldn't believe the kind of stuff that washes up on shore. I will say, I immediately was like, all right, this is Triangle of Sadness. There's a fucking... I thought there was going to be a hotel on the island. There's something civilized on the island she found.

1:46:40I didn't think that at all. I really believed it. The combo of that and then her saying to him, oh, and don't go to that part of the island. Don't go over there. And we don't see her. See, I assumed that that was just where the boat was seen. But I was like, no, she found something. There's the Big Rock X. It looks like a fucking matte painting from Disney's Peter Pan. Like, I love all the cliff stuff. how kind of beautifully artificial it is. You know, a lot of this movie was shot in a real island. Where did they shoot this? Do we know? Oh, good question. I think they shot it in Thailand. I will find out.

1:47:09I read Thailand and Australia. Okay, because there are a fair deal of Australian... Sydney and Thailand, so yes. But when they go to this cliffside, it's always like... It looks like a Johnny Wirtmuller Tarzan set. And the background is like beautifully digital, like stylized painterly, of course not. and there's this big rock formation X that she's like, don't go past there. She takes him on a walk. It's all thorny. You'll get hurt. Leg is strong enough and you kind of pre-establish like, this is the tough spot where someone could slip. This is, you don't go past that point. The knife definitely did raise for me, something is up and I'm curious to see how it's going to manifest and I'm not eager to try to guess ahead.

1:47:51I wasn't trying to guess too hard, but I certainly was like, okay. Like there are twists built in here. At the very least, she has a stockpile of modern devices. Right. Right. That she's sort of building up. Yeah. They keep, so their relationship continues to evolve. She kind of... Well, she makes, the next thing is she makes the booze and they have the drunken bonfire dinner. Well, the scene where he's, she has the full sushi spread and he basically comes to her begging, gets on his knees. You know, she's treating him like he's entered her corner office asking for a promotion. And then she's like, he's like, I will do anything.

1:48:31And she's like, well, yeah, you're going to have to do some favors. And he starts to like undress himself. Camera pans down to his belt. He lifts his shirt up. He starts undoing it. And she goes like, please, I'm not like you. Like the immediate call out of I don't, I would never. I wouldn't say immediate. She's playing with him a little bit. She lets him do it for a second. But it's part of the tension of this movie because she has the scene at the beginning where she's talking to the bird and she's like, he's coming in and I actually met him at the holiday party. And he flirted with me a bit.

1:49:00And he was pretty handsome and he flirted with me. There's a feeling of, does she want this guy to desire her? That's a big tension in the movie, I would say. How much is that her primary concern? She looks amazing when they're on the island. She's in her, like, her bra and underwear. They each have one... Very sensible bra and underwear. One outfit in this movie that they are reworking in different layers and combinations. If I'm an actor making this movie, I would be every day putting on the same fucking clothes. I would get so annoyed. That, what are they called? Dying and weathering. The thing you learned about.

1:49:32Department of Aging and Dying. Aging and Dying that you learned about at the Mission Impossible exhibit. This is like a prime example of that movie where you're like, okay, so each character has basically one outfit for 90 % of the running time and there need to be like 100 variations. we have to be like, this is exactly, this is 100 days. But also like, blood from boar fight, cleaned up post blood fight, you know? And you can't have one of each stage. You need multiples in case things go wrong. Like, this must have been... The costume department had work cut out for them. But I once again would like to argue that her glow-up is 90 % performance.

1:50:08Oh, it is. Yeah, she's not like, you know, mega babe at any point. She's very, like, utilitarian in her... I think she loses a little bit of weight, noticeably, but not, like, in a crazy way. I think a lot of it is how she's holding 10, but I think she's setting up straighter. She gets an island glow. She does. She does. She's got that little tan. She's got that. I love that she figured out she's using those like coconuts for moisture. She's so moisturized. Look, Rachel McAdams looks great. She was able to play a teenager at 26 because she has always looked young for her age. She does not look 46 or 47 now, but she is a rare actress who you can put her on screen.

1:50:45And I go, that looks like a real person. At her level of career, she is extraordinarily beautiful, but I'm not watching her face move and going... What I said in my review, I mean, it's the thing with her in Spotlight where you're like... They put her in khakis, but she still looks good. She looks good, but she doesn't look like, you know, Sidney Sweeney in Spotlight being like, I'm just a regular reporter from Boston where you're like, no, you're not. Like, I don't buy it. It doesn't look like her pores have been lasered off. It doesn't look like her face has been like Brazil stretched in a thousand different directions.

1:51:16And it's just like a thing I miss of like, yeah, movies always star beautiful people. That's why we fucking go to the movies. Is it not good? to just see a big face. But increasingly beautiful people are like, so you want me to not look human anymore. And it limits how many types of roles you can be believable in. And I just think she is someone who has maintained throughout her career looking like a person while also being, as we have admitted, a goddamn fox. So at this toilet wine bonfire, they... A well-acted scene by both of them here. Yes. She talks about the fact that she was married previously.

1:51:56She did not get divorced. She is a widow. She wasn't very nice to her. He was not. There's a great performance moment where she was like, I was divorced. I bet you didn't know that. 10 years. She said, I was married. Sorry. I was married 10 years. I bet you didn't know that. He goes, wow. And she goes, don't act so surprised. And he says something like, why did you guys split up? and she responds like, um, he died. Like, she doesn't take an emotional beat. It's stated very matter-of-factly. And he's like, oh, I'm so sorry. It's okay. He wasn't nice to me. I mean, you know when else she said a great line reading about somebody dying?

1:52:36What? Oh, no. Oh, no, he died. He died. It remains one of the funniest things ever committed to film. But her... Yes. Oh, no, he died. Her line is something like, I think he actually wasn't capable of love. Yeah, no. Is she really... This monologue that she does... She would hide the keys. ...is unbelievable. That night, she didn't hide the keys. She took the keys out of her fucking purse when he was being insane, just being like, you know what? Drive off. Let's see what happens. And she alludes to some kind of sexual abuse, I think, too. It's just bad. Something bad. Like, he crossed the line.

1:53:13Right. He did something even worse. He was worse than he already had been up until that point. It just... It is... I think it is a deceptively complex scene, both in terms of performance and in writing. It communicates a lot of complicated, murky ideas and sort of like contrasts. And it eludes things in an interesting way where you're coming out of that scene feeling like Dylan O 'Brien, not sure what to make of this woman anymore. You know, are you impressed that she's got more grit in her than you thought? Are you a little scared? Because this feels like the soft-peddling story of something that she did that was perhaps even more...

1:53:53Right. You are trying to parse, like, is she almost... Right. Does it make her more tragic? Like, what is the... Yeah. She hasn't ever said it to anyone before. She's been holding it in. Hey, she's on an island, baby. Is it, like, all of a sudden, like, some new part of her is coming out? And it is, really. And he admits that he was physically assaulted, abused ritually as a child by his mother, who had anger issues, who had a bad father, you know? don't feel bad for me it's a cycle of abuse thing and he says this she says this you know monsters aren't born they're made and he starts laughing I'm like I am a monster you fucking kind of got me there it feels like the first moment that this guy is completely surrendering his like young master of the universe act and being like yeah that that whole fucking persona sucks right I guess I am kind of like a psychopath and this moment of true bonding for them yes yeah for sure it's their nice moment but then he follows it up of course by being like okay well let me make you dinner and then like and I do think it's really funny you know he poisons her she starts collapsing and he goes fuck you Linda and gets this shitty raft out and tries to flee he also says that their camp washed away and they'd have to build a new camp together and she's like I guess it was stupid of me to put it so close to the water there's that moment where they have to like undress and like hold each other for body heat Yes.

1:55:15But their raft, his raft is made out of their camp. It includes her mug with her name on it. Like, he's taking things vindictively. Stuff he doesn't need for the structure of the raft just to be like, fuck you, I left you there without your stupid mug. I just think fuck you, Linda, is really funny. And he's just immediately hit by the biggest fucking wave. Of course, he can't make it over the bar. But it is, you know, you think from her perspective, she is, like, opening up to him and, like, does start to develop, like feelings for him and then you think that maybe he is too and then it's like he undresses at one point and she's like kind of ogling him ogling him yeah we see his butt and she's like but this is the greatest moment the greatest Raimi moment my goodness it is the greatest Raimi moment in the movie and it's it's the moment where I'm just like oh god Sam I've missed you so much I am so happy you are back he's drowning in the effects of this wave she's been poisoned and she's lying on the beach.

1:56:14I'm genuinely doing the math of how does he survive this? He sees a projection of his fiance coming to him in the water to save him. And then she starts puking on him. And we cut to reality. And McAdams has like sort of like come to her senses just enough while poisoned to go into the water and rescue him. But she cannot stop vomiting. And she is performing CPR on him, trying to save his life. and every 20 seconds she like exorcist style projectile vomits right into his face again. This movie is really great to see in a full theater because my theater was shrieking. Was shrieking. Going insane.

1:56:55Yeah, yeah. Even my theater was shrieking. Yeah, I don't know. They were so gross they were like this fucking guy. It's also like she does it once and he's still not awake and you're like it's gonna keep happening. I know. It's canonical that she is barfing every 20 seconds. He's gonna do it eight times and he's coming to and with half wherewithal, he's like, what's this on my face? And then she vomits again. He's still not conscious enough to be able to sit up and you see him go like, fuck, she's going to keep vomiting. He gave her the poison berries. I mean, he was asking for it. And she just calls out like, you idiot, that's not enough to like kill me.

1:57:29Right, right, right. It's such a childish, insane thing because also he could just be like, I want to leave and she probably would have helped him build the raft properly. But a guy like this doesn't want to give someone like her any power over him. And that's conceding that he needs her, let alone that he respects her, is more power than he's willing to give. And he once again resents, I'm stuck on an island with a woman with shitty shoes. How is this my fucking life? They keep going back to the shoes. You know, him waking up. She's wandering there. She's got her like trusty shoes. Orthopedic.

1:58:06Yeah, right. There's something about his giant Rolex. you keep seeing it he never takes it off yeah like it's like it matters yeah the Rolex thing always gets to me because they're all like supposed to be for like deep sea diving right yeah right they have all these features that these types of guys are never gonna fucking they're never gonna use it it's crazy yeah it's so funny but um he wakes up he's like we cut to him in the morning like crying to her in an apology yes yes he is he's defeated at this point I mean he He played his hand and he lost. Like he came at the king and he missed. You're tight on his face.

1:58:44I should say. And I thought, oh, Rami's going to pull back and reveal that he's like tied up, right? Instead, he's free. He's just sitting on the beach and he's like a shell of a man. And she's very calmly like, fucking idiot. I can't believe you did this to me. You didn't even do it well enough. You know, I had to save your ass again. Just don't fucking do that again. We're not in the office anymore. The shit doesn't fucking matter, right? like just treating him like a dumb little baby but like I'm not gonna sink to your level and then hands him a kebab of like little squid and vegetables and you're like oh she's like choosing to respond oh I was like don't eat the squid oh of course oh no I was like oh that looks really good well I do love a squid I love grilled squid in that moment I would not be accepting food from her that I hadn't really inspected you know what I mean it's part of this guy being such a dumb fucking donkey I bought that he would eat the...

1:59:38I would have eaten this. I would have. He takes the one bite. Dylan Brand starts doing a lot of face acting and she's like, yeah, there's like a toxin in there. It's a numbness. You're not going to feel pain. You're incapacitated for the next like whatever minutes, which is good because you're not going to want to feel this. And she takes out her knife and promises to castrate him. I thought she was going to do it. Yeah, so you bought like when the blood spurred because she cuts a mouse or rat's head off or whatever. You think it's a psychological like just a fucking mind trick thing. And then you hear the sound effects of the knife clearly cutting into flesh and gooey shit and blood spurting everywhere.

2:00:15She's like, oh, we got a bleeder. And then it cuts to his face and it's like tears are streaming. He like can't, he's contorting, but he can't really. It's a great moment. Show any reaction. He's like Nicky and Paulo style frozen. And all he can communicate with is his eyes without flexing any muscles. I do not say this to persmirch Sam Raimi because I know Sam Raimi is a dang ass freak. I was like, no, there is no dick cutting allowed in this movie. David Salinas' husband also was like, because I was like squirming in my seat. He's like, she's not going to cut his dick. I felt the same way, but I also was like...

2:00:51it feels like he's going there. I thought he was going to bail out on this 30 seconds ago. I agree with you. How is it still going this far? But it's the same to me as the classic thing from Misery of in the book, she saws his legs off. And in the movie, obviously, she just breaks his legs with a hammer. Yeah, much nicer. And William Goldman wrote the script and wrote in the sawing. And Reiner, rest in peace, the great Rob Reiner, was like, oh, she can't do that. And Goldman, it's in his book. It was like, you're fucking with this great book that I'm adapting and this great script that I wrote.

2:01:23how dare you the audience won't recover and Ryan was like no if she saws his legs up the audience will lose the movie and then Goldman sees the movie he's like hey he's absolutely right what am I being sane like she can't just cut someone's legs off you can't see that yes McAdams lifts up a rat yeah she she beheaded a rat to freak him out yeah she like gutted it um I'm trying to remember the exact order of events but then I feel like there's a section of the movie where it actually feels like they have both been leveled off that for a brief section it's like they're actually working together and the like power games have maybe been wiped off the board.

2:01:59And she takes a walk. She takes a little walk. What does she see off in the horizon? She sees another... Well, she sees the glint of a large diamond ring. It's my favorite shit in the world. If a movie can just establish a little bit of visual language so cleanly at the beginning that you can like communicate through a lens flare... a plot point an hour later. Right? The audience sees Clint and everyone knows what's happening. Yep, you're right. He made that visual clear to us. Who plays the fiancée? She doesn't have a Wikipedia. Oh, yeah. Edil Ismail is her name. Yeah. She said that they... She's gorgeous.

2:02:42She's Australian. They called the search and rescue operation off, but she never lost hope. So she independently funded her own little boat. Right. And she's got this kind of like Thai, you know, guide who's clearly helping her out. Are you on his Wikipedia right now, then? Yeah, his Wikipedia is incredible. So his name is, and I, you know. Taneth Warakulnukro? He's like a Thai music legend. He's a veteran. This is what Wikipedia says. He is a veteran Thai singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and actor. He was also a founder and owner of Music Bugs Company, a record label through which many Thai bands, including Body Slam, Big Ass, La Banoon, and Friday released their first albums.

2:03:28Do we have to start getting into the Thai rock band Big Ass? Ben does. I'm interested. I would throw on a Big Ass record, maybe. Why not? Let's see what some of their records are called. Not Bad, XL, My World. Yeah, let's do it. Origins of the Name. This is a section on their Wikipedia. The name of your band is a direct quote from Student Weekly publication. The name of your band is a bit naughty. How did you come up with the name Big Ass? Dax, the guy, the lead singer, I guess his name is Dax. Actually, when we were students, we had so many different names to book studio time that the owner would get confused if we were the same band.

2:04:05So we wanted to find a unique name to represent our band. Thank you, Big Ass. And we didn't want just a normal ass. So we named the band Big Ass. Now, did you guys think she was going to kill these people? Yes. I thought immediately, basically, she has to. The movie has put her in a position where there's... Because we're getting near the end of the movie, and I'm beginning to wonder, there's no other choice. This is a really good companion with no other choice, by the way. I mean... Yeah, sort of corporate satires of different flavors. I think these movies are... There's a lot of glib, kind of eat-the-rich cinema made by very wealthy people and big studios, right?

2:04:44very successful people that feels like it is trying to respond to a moment, but doing so in a facile way. I think we've been a little plagued with that for the last like eight or nine years where I'm like, I agree with the sentiment, but it almost feels like a movie arguing, hey, I'm one of the good ones. I'm cool. Right. I get it. I hate the rich people too. I'm only worth$50 million, not 500 billion. These movies feel like no other choice and send help are like actually kind of anthropologically pulling apart what is the rot? Right, right, right. Yes. Like how is the whole culture fed to this moment and empowered these people and all of that?

2:05:26Zarech just immediately clocks her. Like Linda remembers her name. Obviously I'm sure she's been hearing the news reports and whatever. Oh my god, Linda! I'm so happy you made it. I'm so happy to see you. Because they don't automatically know who survived. I mean, maybe they've recovered bodies but probably not if they, yeah. But that's what's so great about this moment is McAdams is like, fuck when she sees a boat. Then she sees the glint. Fuck, this is twice as bad. Then Zuri's happy to see her. And McAdams is kind of going into like, oh no, he died mode, where you see her doing the math on, I don't know if there's any way out of this other than to kill them.

2:06:01Yeah, yeah. And I don't want to have to do it and the nicer they are, the worse it gets. And Mr. Body Slam, Mr. Bugs Music is like, why are you still picking up that fruit? We got tons of fruit on the boat. You don't need to do this. And she's like, well, I just I like finishing a task. And he's like, leave your backpack there. Who gives a shit? You're being rescued. And she just immediately swings to. Yeah, no, I'll take. He's actually he's not here. He's this other way. It's a bit of a hike. I'll bring you over to him and takes them over to the cliff where Dylan O 'Brien almost fell to his death.

2:06:35And you basically almost felt. Oh, yes. And he saved her. So yeah, but it takes him to the spot. pretend she has to tie her shoe, lets them sort of fall. You see her not saving them, and then it hard cuts to her just walking back. But you kind of know. They're not there. Something fucked up happened. Yeah, she looks like so traumatized. Well, she takes a day off, right? She takes a sick day. I'm taking a sick day. I'm done, yeah. I'm not doing this camp shit. Yeah. But at this point, everything is broken. Obviously, the two of them can't trust each other anymore. She's a heartless murderer. And it's sort of like, I am starting to feel I'm like what does Linda want right like in this like you know now what Linda achieves is everything and I really liked that Ben's pointing because I was sort of starting to be like I don't like I wonder how like she can even kind of get out of this it's actually the only way for this movie to end and I applaud this one for having the courage to run straight towards it and it's sort of the drag me to hell thing of like this is actually about all kinds of reprehensible people because drag me to hell you're like well my hero is Alison Lohman and then as you watch the movie you're like but she also kind of deserves what's you know like she's not entirely sympathetic that's interesting that's the whole brilliance of that movie and it's sort of the same with Linda where I'm like Linda is sympathetic and I'm like but she's also somewhat monstrous and she's in search of what like what does she want like I understand that she wants to be the alpha with him but what is her longer term goal when someone shows up to rescue her you know what I mean she like has always wanted to go and survivor.

2:08:09I feel like she's done that. She's really just enjoying island life. I think she's thriving for maybe the first time in a long time. She just knows if I get on that boat, you know, it's all over. I think it's simpler than that. I'm back to my Cathy-ass life. Cathy-ass is a very good way to do that. She's not worried about her birds. Who's checking on her bird? And the bird's called Dark Sweetie. Right. Is someone feeding the bird? I did have the thought of like, I hope She's taking care of sweetie. I'm sure. I think what she wants ultimately is to feel like she has value. I think Linda's character struggle is she cannot figure out the pathway to that feeling, right?

2:08:56She certainly knows, I do all this work at this company and I lived for years off of the kind of quiet acknowledgement of, hey, this whole place would fall apart if it wasn't for you, Linda. even if she's not paid commiserate to that, even if she's not given the respect and the status within the office, she'll eat and survive off the crumbs that presumably Bruce Campbell gave her. And Survivor is, man, if I could be on camera showing people how pragmatic I am, I can do things, I can start a fire, I keep this together. She wants some sort of sense of like permanent acknowledgement of having value, you, but she also doesn't want to fucking play the games that everyone plays.

2:09:38She's not good at those. In real life. It's on her forte. She's down to do Survivor, which is literally a game, right? But she doesn't want to play these games and dress up and do the things to try to, like, make the relationships. She wants to just believe you can keep your head down and you can do the thing and you can get there. And when Dylan O 'Brien is handed the company, it forces her immediately, basically, to start to reexamine, like, those actually aren't the rules of the universe anymore. The people who get power, right, they seize it in a hostile manner and they do anything they can to protect it.

2:10:11And I think without making too much of a political statement, a thing that I think this movie is getting at that I find interesting is like the hell of the last decade of like the girl boss era that went down in flames is there was this feeling of is progress letting women be as awful as the men who used to run companies, right? that you had all these companies where it was like, here's the new CEO and she's cool and she does things differently. And it's a different workplace culture. And anytime one of these companies started getting applauded, you were like T-minus 18 months till expose of this person being a maniac.

2:10:51And you're like, there is a system set up. Women can be maniac. Totally. Where it was like the way to succeed was seen as... Nothing. I'm sorry. Woman can be maniac. this system of is is success and power replicating the same broken shit that you used to be the victim of sorry this i stopped thinking about women and i'm just thinking about blank check productions and i'm just thinking about like who would i'm just imagining jj like getting revenge on you guys for firing him all the time he doesn't have the guts and i encourage him to try I will say, JJ's daughter has been promising to give us what for.

2:11:33Oh, is that right? Yeah. So it's going to be like a kill build two scenario or whatever. JJ has communicated to us that his young daughter has caught wind of the frequent public firings her father is subjected to. And she feels the need to stand up for his honor. I feel really bad. Yeah, that's actually really sad. That bums me out. Does she really? I'm canceling the JJ fired bit and canceling it. No! Bums me out. In a big way, like hands on hips, like I'm going to give these guys a piece of money. Is she worried that she's going to be like, daddy's going to be homeless? And we're also, we're going to be on his home turf soon.

2:12:04This is the thing. Marie, Ben and I are going to visit JJ. We're going to visit JJ. All right. I'm just saying his daughter. Let's be on guard. His daughter's going to give us a little, I think, wag the finger. Well, I'm going to let her, you know, I hope she knows that I am like JJ. We are both employees of Scary Bosses. We're promoting you as GEO. David. I've never been a girl boss. Bosses suck. Yeah, bosses suck. Sorry. I mean, I love you guys. I'm not a boss. You're my boss. Jesus. You signed my check. I mean, I don't physically sign a check. That'd be very old fashioned. I approve a transfer of money.

2:12:44I want everyone to think that like every month you are just handing me a giant like Ed McMahon. I've got my little green visor and I'm like, you know, balancing the books. What were those about? The green visors? Yeah. Why? I think it's because the lights were quite intense and overhead, you know? Oh, sure. Yeah. I'm not totally sure, I will admit. I think Linda is doing quick math. It isn't just, I can't go back to my previous life. It's also recognizing the guys who succeed and run the world back on mainland are the people who aren't afraid to do things like this. And very often, it's not literally sending someone to their death, but also, all those guys on the plane were ready to let her die.

2:13:22No, totally. I think, look, what I was bumping on before I saw the ending of the movie, because I am like, how's this going to end? I was like, this better not be she wants to be with him, right? Which the movie wrongfoots you. Right, right. That's the fear is that she's like, no, no, only I can sit. Because I'm like, if I'm her, I'm kind of like, honestly, Bradley is a pain in the ass. I would have killed him right away. Tried to poison me. He sucks. He's not very nice. Like, maybe it is time for at least him to get rescued. You know what I mean? There's also a running bit in this movie, as referenced in the tagline that he keeps calling her little Linda from accounting.

2:13:57Yes, and she's like, it's strategy and planning. Right, you're the fucking boss and you don't even know. You know, when he's trying to lay her off at the beginning of the movie or tell her that she's not going to get the promotion, he's like, look, I've just, I poured over your resume. I've looked at everything. We're just trying to find the redundancies and weaknesses in this company. And he reveals that he doesn't even fucking know what she does. Now, which is the ultimate offense to her. Yeah, he does, right. He's not thinking about anything except he doesn't want to deal with her anymore. The symphonic last 15 or 20 minutes of this movie, he takes a walk on her sick day.

2:14:28When does she have the fantasy of the beach zombie? Because that rocks. Because I do like that she is not a psycho. She is very guilty that she killed people. It's during her sick day. It's when she's laying down. She imagines finding the corpse. You know, the Raimi thing where you're like, oh, is it going to be a corpse? And he's like, no, it's not a corpse. And then she pops up behind her. He imagines her crawling out of the water alive. Right, right, right. And then it cuts to zombies. Being like, why did you kill me? Guy sitting in front of me at the theater was like, oh, hell no. When the zombie...

2:15:00Oh, hell no indeed. Next day, Delna Bryant takes a walk, sees the hand perfectly posed coming out of the sand. So funny. Great image. Diamond first. So funny. No denying it now. Like, he can put it all together. It's all out on the table. And they basically start a they live style fight. Yep, yep. in like multiple locales. Yeah. Right? You know, on the beach, then in the jungle, then at the revealed to be luxury home. Not only does he discover his fiance's hand sticking out of sand, he discovers that there is a modernist mansion on the island. No, doesn't that happen next? It happens, well, during the fight.

2:15:37Yes. Well, right. I mean, the first stage is just like knock down, drag out, fight, ripping pieces of her scalp out. He like sticks his heel on so deep That was nasty when he took the scalp off. Really impressive. And he like tries to drown her in the mud. You're right. By the end of this sequence, her face is like half caked in mud. The other side of her face is like, has blood tears. Like they've been like stabbing each other, right? He took the knife when she was sleeping. You're sort of like, is this going to end with one of them dying? Is this the final fight to prove who's the victor? And they both run off.

2:16:15and he runs after her and finds the mansion that there's like an incredible tropical paradise. Well, no, it's more he's running away from her towards the part of the island that she always warned him against. And then that's the reveal. He thinks he's like discovering something, gets in there. It's just empty, but it's like well-maintained, looks through the cutlery, all the knives are missing. All the other cutlery has the same style as the knife she's been using the whole movie. there's all this incredible fruit that she's been preparing you immediately see like the pieces that she's been bringing back to base camp and using to be like I'm just handy I'm crafty I know how to survive right and then you hear her voice over the intercom she's been on top of this house for however long it's been that they've been here months it's a little unclear but a while but like she's been showering this has been her paradise she's rigged up the security system.

2:17:14She's been using a real toilet. She's been getting real sleep presumably at certain times in a real bed. Like all this fucking... Air fucking conditioning. Yeah. Right? And now she's doing kind of like mind games like I have eyes in the sky. I can see you in all the security cameras. You can hear me but you don't know where I am. And then finally comes down to this like face-off in the study where he breaks down crying and they have this like... It's been about love the entire time. right we had to fight this hard to get to it's so sleazy I don't believe him for a second I didn't either I do think the movie wants you to maybe fall for it for a second I don't know I think what the movie succeeds in doing is pushing the scene in a way Rami loves to do so far past the point that you expect that you start to go am I wrong am I supposed to take this seriously it's right it's a minute longer and so you do start to get fooled.

2:18:11Whether or not I'm buying it, does the movie want me to buy it? Is it actually, is the movie failing to sell me on this? No, he just has his, he has the statue horn behind his back. Right, and she's been holding him at gunpoint with a shotgun the whole time. He uses it to attack her, gets the shotgun, is ready to shoot in her face. You're so fucking stupid. I can't think, I can't believe you ever thought this. Shotgun empty. I can't believe I was beaten by Linda the accountant. Strategies and planning. The whole thing. She fucking, she was 87 steps ahead of him. Yeah, strategy and planning. That's how she beat him.

2:18:46And then she golf clubs his ass to death. The thing that she doesn't do, he wants a VP. Who can golf. Who can golf. And she fucking kills his ass with a golf club. Ben, what are we hard cut to? She's at a golf tournament? A celebrity golf tournament. Yes. And even though the famous CEO who survived or whatever. It looks completely different. and it looks so bright and cheery now. She's got an amazing voluminous ponytail. Yep. Tight. Great pony. Golf like outfit. As Craig Zoller would be jealous. And yes, she's on TV. She's a celebrity. Yep. She's being interviewed. America loves her. Yeah. Yep.

2:19:25She's the great story. It's been maybe a year. And then since that time, yeah, she's made the rounds going on daytime TV shows. She has a book out. she's just like beloved now. And put a damn smile on my face. I remember what her final line is she says to this interviewer. Yeah. Well, she wants to, she's going to start writing a send help book. Oh, yes. Right. You can't ask. It's a self-help book. Yeah. You can't wait for someone else to help you. You got to help yourself. Yeah. You have to say, no one's going to come and save, you're going to have to save yourself. And even though she did some really fucked up shit, and I, at times I was like, not necessarily on Linda's side.

2:20:04In the end, the people, the other characters in this world are so despicable it's just a reminder of how unfair the world is you love to see someone like Linda have everything fucking work out and then she drives off into the sunset in a fucking convertible with sweetie in the car riding shotgun baby and what does McAdams do? oh she puts on like 80s I forget what 80s are it's Bondi it opens with Bondi it ends with Bondi she's looking at the camera she's smiling and she's like I did it I did it

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2:23:13Suko. He was the little Kong baby. Suko. Suko. Suko.

2:23:31she did do it and I think audiences will walk out happy about there's another winter storm coming this weekend however the next two weekends are really bleak in the theatrical marketplace I think the winter storm is coming this weekend looks like it's not going to actually be too bad okay it better not be I got a haircut scheduled yes uh so yeah they're projecting this around 15. I think the closer it gets to 20, the happier they are. If it's above 20, this movie's seen as like a total success. I also think our buddy Fantasy... Over 20 would be great. I think 15, they'll be fine. Hopefully, it does not have the bone temple kind of under 15, which is annoying.

2:24:08A major bummer. Our buddy Sean Fantasy, who has the burden of hosting a twice-weekly topical movie podcast, was spiraling out to us over text last night. What do I even talk about? Guys, help me. What do I build episodes around. The next two weeks are bad. I mean, they still have years left to draft from, don't they? I mean, they can start dipping into the 70s and 60s or whatever. Some of those years we've called dibs on. I've earmarked one of those years. But I... Yearmarked more like... This movie is in a position with good word of mouth to hang in there for a couple weeks. It's opening against Iron Lung, which is a very bizarre modern phenomenon and theatrical movie going.

2:24:47A self-financed, self-produced YouTuber adaptation of an independent video game that is now coming out on like 3 ,000 screens because of like a call-in campaign of people demanding their local chains play it. And it already has$7 million in pre-sales. You're not talking... I thought you were talking about Melania for a second, which I'm running a call-in campaign for. Very similar stories. Right, yeah. Are you going to have to see it? No. Luckily, Sophie, my colleague, drew that a little. but I did have to watch the Pete Davidson podcast okay so we all have our burdens oh they made you watch that it was for work I didn't watch it for fun the important clarification this whole time I've just thought I was working with a maniac oh no no I yeah I thought you did that for fun no I had the great experience though of firing it up being like gosh I guess I have to watch it and then seeing that it was 36 minutes and being like well at least I'll clear this quick they had the Melania bucket at the Regal when I went last night and I have to say wait there's really I thought that was a joke no there's really a Melania bucket Is it like her hat or something?

2:25:49No, it's just a bucket with a picture of Melania on it. It's the worst bucket I've ever seen. It is a bucket that just on one side has her in the chair and the other side has like Melania 20 days to history and filmed to Brett Ratner or whatever. But structurally, it is like it has less physical integrity than a solo cup. It is the smallest bucket I have ever seen. Oh, so you like you touched it. You felt it. It's flimsy. It's like a ripoff. it gives you less popcorn than a large bag would give you. Wow, that actually makes sense. I was going to say, this all feels thematic. Almost always the bucket is an upcharge from getting the regal or whatever super-sized paper bucket plus plastic bullshit.

2:26:34This gives you less popcorn than that. Anyway, yes. Melania, Iron Lung. I'm sorry to report that Iron Lung, I just looked up the synopsis and it looks just fucking stupid enough that I actually might be really enjoying it. There's like, they're on a moon, but there's like a blood ocean. A convict is on a moon in a blood ocean driving a submarine. I want to see Iron Lung. I'm curious. Here's my only thing I'm bumping on. Yeah. Runtime, 127 minutes. How long is Send Help? It's about 110 minutes. It's under two hours. It's 113 minutes. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, weird January. I mean, I'm just like, send help and Bone Temple alone.

2:27:20I've seen, yeah, you're right. Is this the fucking best dumpuary ever? It's a strong dumpuary. These aren't like great movies that a studio was afraid of. And then you have like Nirvana, the band, the show, and a Gore Verbinski movie. You have Wuthering Heights, which I'm seeing next week, and I confess I'm excited. I'm a little excited. Like just for some fun. Against my better judgment, I'm a little excited. Just give me some fun. There's some good stuff happening. And Send Help and Bone Temple both are deeply January movies. Sean ignored me, but I was like, I think it's time for you to blow the whistle.

2:27:53He's got to blow the whistle. There's a horror movie called Whistle about like, there's a whistle you shouldn't blow. I'm in. Now, I've heard that it's the worst horror movie ever made or from a random tweet that I saw. But I'm just kind of like, I love the idea of like, what's that haunted whistle? What happens if you blow up bad things? It's like, I kind of want to blow it. David? What? But this movie is also a ripoff of, I'm going to accuse it of plagiarism. We all remember that in the motion picture, Ghostbusters colon Afterlife, our favorite character, Podcast, has an Aztec death whistle that looks like a skull that he wears on his belt that he says never to blow because it would conjure spirits.

2:28:33We all know this. And of course, that movie, tight as a drum, obeying Chekhov's law, never has a character blow the whistle. That is the only time it is acknowledged. I must say I forgot about that but it does feel like someone went why wouldn't this movie blow the fucking whistle let's make a whole movie out of the whistle whistle whistle I'm hoping this movie does well I'm hoping it holds well but it's got a low bar to clear for success my co-workers are all very interested they asked they asked me to report if it was like you know scary and I was like I really it's not scary it's more I think it's more of a comedy than it is it's not scary but it has jumps in gore so if those are things you bump on, I suppose.

2:29:14There's like one jump. Yeah, you're right. There's really just a couple small jumps. It's not so much fun. It's a lot of fun. It's a pleaser. You'll walk out feeling loose and silly. People in my audience clapped at the end. It's so good. And, you know, we were David, you and I were doing a little Monday morning quarterbacking on the Bone Temple box office, and it really feels like it is just a statement about people not really liking 28 years later. Stupid people. I do think Right. It's a bit of a hangover from that movie confounding people a little bit. But the movie is so good and everyone who sees it likes it so much that I think there was the hope that the word of mouth would kind of help boost it past its underwhelming opening day, opening weekend.

2:29:55And it's just really like a complete two years from now, if not less, people are going to discover this on Netflix and go like, oh, this fucking rules. And we're going to just be angry that everyone was late to the party at the time where they could have voted with their dollars. Send Help has less pressure on it. It's a lower budget. It's getting good reviews. I think it'll find an audience. I hope it finds an audience. More than anything, I want Raimi knocking one of these out every three years. That I really want to hear. I want to hear Sam Raimi say, and by the way, I've already got my next project going, and it's this.

2:30:29And if it is Doctor Strange and the Clea's adventures, then okay. But if it is like... If it's James Gunn Batman, if there's another$200 million thing he wants to do, fine. But the thing I don't want is him spending 10 years stuck in development hell on shit that doesn't get off the runway. And if he just wants to start directing more of the type of movie he spent most of the 2000s producing, that's great to me. Thumbs up. I hope the microphone is picking up my thumb. Do you know where you would place this in your Rami rankings? I have it. I can tell you as I put it right there. I have it 10th.

2:31:06That sounds worse than you'd think. Rami's got a strong 10. He's got a very, you know, it's Spider-Man 2, Evil Dead 2, Simple Plan, Evil Dead, Dark Man, Quick and the Dead, Spider-Man. Like, you know, so that's your seven where I'm like, you know, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. And then I have it in the sort of drag me to hell, Army of Darkness, send help. Like, that's a sort of little range for me. I have it below drag me to hell, Army of Darkness. That's where I put it. Yeah. I have it above Doctor Strange 2, The Gift, Spider-Man 3, you know, the much more flawed. It's firmly above all that stuff.

2:31:36Right. You know, Crime Wave, Love of the Game. Yeah. I'm trying to find my Raimi list now. Oh, wow. I actually did one. You did a Raimi list? But I don't know where I'd put... I mean, my top five are Spider-Man 1, Simple Plan, Spider-Man 2, Drag Me to Hell, Evil Dead. I found mine. Evil Dead 2, number one, then Spider-Man 2, then A Simple Plan, then Evil Dead, then Spider-Man, then Quick and the Dead, Drag Me to Hell, Army of Darkness, Darkman. My question is just, where does Send Help go in that mix? it's definitely below Quick and the Dead I can't decide where it is Quick and the Dead rules I can't decide where it goes amongst Drag Me to Hell, Army of Darkness and Darkman but those are three movies I love and Raimi has delivered another one of those it also gives him a kind of unimpeachable 10 in my opinion I had Spider-Man 3 in my number 10 position and that's a flawed movie that I defend.

2:32:41Right, totally. With Send Help in the top 10, I'm like, there are 10 Sam Raimi movies where I just give two thumbs up. I hope folks go out to see this movie. There's a lot going on right now. In the world. In the world. It's quite bad. It's quite bad. Everyone go out and have fun. And also, you know, resist the terrible things that are happening in the world in any way that you can. Resist. Help your neighbors. Resist. Show kindness. Help your neighbors. Show kindness. Fuck ice. Try to donate kind of cause to help out. Absolutely. All of the fucked up shit that's been going on specifically in Minnesota.

2:33:16Look, it's often a sort of silver lining of the crazy production schedule methods and scheduling we have employed on this podcast. Sure, we're rarely recording current ish. I get it. I will listen to podcasts that are new release or Podcasts that I know have been recorded the same week that I'm listening to them. And sometimes, even though I'm looking for a podcast to just give me an escape from reality, the hellscape that we live in, it feels weird if they're not addressing the elephant in the room. And very often, we don't have to confront this issue because you're listening to an episode that was recorded fucking five years ago.

2:33:55Get ready for April 2026, a month on blank check that was recorded almost entirely in October 2025. That's true. But you know what? We predict everything perfectly. I feel like we are mostly talking about whatever the issues of that moment are. So talk to a comes back. A lot. Of course, Becker. A lot. You know. A good month of podcasting, to be clear. Yeah, no, great. Hopefully with no productions that make us look like idiots. But we had to do some last minute rescheduling to account for a couple things and pull Send Help up to have this episode come out opening weekend. Hopefully, maybe it incentivizes people who are not at risk either from government bullshit or the weather to be able to go out and see this movie opening weekend.

2:34:41But yeah, knowing that we're recording this in the same chunk of time that you're listening, it's tough out there and things are bad. Love your neighbor, guys. Love your neighbor. Get out there. What if your neighbor is Mr. Wilson, though? Is that... Who's that again? Is that... From Home Improvement? Dennis the Maness fucks with Mr. Wilson. I feel like there's too many Wilsons out there. Ben, you knew what I was saying, right? No, I thought it was the neighbor from Home Improvement. Yeah. What's his name? Okay, if your neighbor is Wilson first name from Home Improvement, please show him kindness.

2:35:16Please take a sacrifice. Thank you all for listening. Hopefully, a fun, silly Sam Raimi movie can be a bomb in these difficult times. And thankfully, next week, we will give you a respite from the awful world we live in. as we talk about, we need to talk about Kevin. Why is David hiding his face in his hands? Easy movie, easy discussion. Oh boy. And then at least things brighten up within the next two episodes. I'm like, way easier stuff. Like I said on the Ratcatcher episode, get yourself some ice cream and have it at the ready after you watch the movie. Treat yourself. Treat yourself. 2.2 million dollars in previews for Send Help.

2:35:553.5 for Iron Lung. Hey man, look, if Iron Lung wants to help save cinemas, that's fine. If both of these movies open over$15 million, we're in a great position. And the lower Melania opens, the better the position is. Thank you all for listening. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe. As David said, love your neighbor. As Marie said, stay safe. Resist. And as always, please, please, please do not go see Melania. and whatever you do, don't buy that fucking piece of shit bucket.

2:36:35Blank Check with Griffin and David is hosted by Griffin Newman and David Sims. Our executive producer is me, Ben Hosley. Our creative producer is Marie Barty Salinas and our associate producer is AJ McKeon. This show is mixed and edited by AJ McKeon and Alan Smithy. Research by JJ Birch. Our theme song is by Lane Montgomery in the Great American Novel, with additional music by Alex Mitchell. Artwork by Joe Bowen, Ollie Moss, and Pat Reynolds. Our production assistant is Minnick. Special thanks to David Cho, Jordan Fish, and Nate Patterson for their production help. Head over to BlankCheckPod.com for links to all of the real nerdy shit.

2:37:14Join our Patreon, Blank Check Special Features, for exclusive franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us on social at BlankCheckPod. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Checkbook on Substack. This podcast is created and produced by Blank Check Productions.