Vertical Limit w/ Laci Mosley

22:00Jason Mantzoukas:see those snow leopards play he's in that snow blind um here's what i'll say about your original pitch jason like that to climb k2 it takes about 60 to 75 days like two months and this movie seemingly, if I don't know anything, if I'm not researching anything, it seems like you can pretty much nail K2 in about 12 hours. And that's the premise of the film is like, oh yeah, we're going to go up real quick. We're going to, we're going to, not only are we going to go up real quick, we're going to get it and time it with a flight going overhead. And then I was thinking, how many airlines are flying over K2?

22:40Jason Mantzoukas:That also seems incredibly dangerous. And for them to wave, the flight would have to be very low. Yeah, it's not 35 ,000 feet, babe. Commercial airliners aren't flying in between K2. Just like, yeah, yeah, we'll get down low. It's not like they're landing down there. And so the whole movie is like, they've been up there for 12 hours and technically it would take them about, I don't even know where they are on the mountain, but they seem to get everywhere by helicopters very easily. Yeah. Well, except for the time the helicopter almost chops that one woman, bandana woman in half. Can we talk about how much bandana woman suffered?

23:19Oh, I love bandana woman. Before I get to bandana woman, I do have to say when the helicopters were flying over, you do see this kind of like hippie encampment of like other, like these are the salt of the earth white dude campers. We're not like the rich white dude campers. We are also on these people land that we don't need to be on, but we naked with our penises out in the snow. So you know we love the mountain They love pissing on the mountain.

23:44Jason Mantzoukas:They love it. They treat the mountain with respect. Yeah, they're the mountain dogs. They make some kind of piss moonshine, and they love the mountain real bad. They created a still to make moonshine like their Hawkeye in MASH. It's crazy. So you got your good white dudes who love the mountain, and then you got your evil white dudes who want to get up the mountain to make a commercial. And that commercial is worth our lives. Like, then Bandana Woman, who's just like the nurse, they're like, okay, Bandana Woman went through it. She was sexually harassed. And then the man who was being creepy to her, one of the mountain, you know, native white mountain people, they were like, we climbing this mountain and you got to go with the man who's the creepiest to you.

24:31Also, you go fall off the mountain a few times. And a helicopter almost go chop your ass up while we trying to get these other two men on the mountain. Like this lady went through it. At one point, they are like, why are you doing this? And she's like, obviously the money I want off of this mountain. She's the only reason she's doing it is to get away from these people, is to get enough money to get away from these fucking maniacs. They trapped this lady on this mountain. She's trying to pay for her freedom. She does not appear to be one of the climbers.

25:05Jason Mantzoukas:She's trapped. I don't know how they got everybody up there because, again, it does seem like it would be tricky to get everybody up to this base camp. But meanwhile, the rich guy, he's bringing up like a full barbecue. People are having like a 4th of July party up there. They're all drinking at high altitude, which just even from going to Colorado, I know that that's not a good idea. So this is not a good vibe up there. And barbecue, don't y 'all have to shit in bags and carry your own poop? Y 'all about to have some crazy poop going up the mountain. I don't want no rib poop when I'm going up the mountain.

25:41We need to be eating weepy greens.

25:42Jason Mantzoukas:I don't want to climb K2 with a belly full of rib. I mean, like, I've got to guess that they're just, I mean, you can't be on the mountain, like, taking all your winter gear off to shit. I mean, are they just shitting in their pants? Oh, well, Jason, here's the thing. This mountain, very warm. Because these motherfuckers never cover their faces. Never. Their faces are out and about. Yep. Their jackets are off. I'm like, why can't I see your silhouette, bro? You are on a mountain. But they were like, they still gotta be sexy. They were like, they still gotta be sexy. We need to see Bill Paxton's shoulders.

26:16We need to see those delts.

26:17Jason Mantzoukas:Bill Paxton, for the 12 hours that he is up there, and I love Bill Paxton, his beard seems to grow in thicker and richer. By the end of the movie, I'm like, I don't think his beard is that thick. How long have they been there? And we know it's only 12 hours. Like, he really, but like, no one. Bill Paxton's in a, like, underground in a snow cave-in, and his hood is down. He is, like, his jacket is slightly unzipped. I would be zipping every part of me up. These guys are fine. And they would also be carrying, like, 100 pounds on their back. Yeah. They would be carrying so much stuff that it's crazy that they're all just like, doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, here we are, hiking up to the, here we are, summiting K2.

27:02A2. In my fall Patagonia. Absurd. Truly, like, thank God I got my fleece. There's one moment

27:10Jason Mantzoukas:where Scott Glenn says, you look like shit, to Chris O'Donnell. I'm like, he actually looks great. Chris O'Donnell looks like he has been out on a summer vacation. He is glistening. Honestly, if anybody looks like shit, it's Scott Glenn. Oh, Scott Glenn in this movie. But thank God he's here. Is like our Rambo guy who's kind of like living Montgomery Wick living off the grid you know and just waiting I guess is he waiting for revenge or does he just live at base camp for the hope to go find his wife I think it's that I think his wife disappeared on this mountain some years ago he has been trying to find her ever since I think is what the movie wants us to think is why he's there and he makes a very weird choice to shave off his beard before he goes up, which also would be like, keep the warmth?

28:03Jason Mantzoukas:I was about to say that, like, isn't that for warmth? What do you mean? You're about to shave and go out freshly shaven, pores open to climb this snow-ass mountain. I feel like that was like Scott Glenn showed up with a giant beard and was like, yeah, this is perfect for the hermit, the mountain man, the guy. And they were like, yeah, Scott, we're going to need you to shave that so we can tell who's who in the movie. And he's like, but the beard will tell everybody that I'm me. You know, I feel like they were like, no, no, we don't want beards. No beards in the movie. He was trying to have his Oscar moment and the girls were like, no, we need to see that mud.

28:38This movie's about sex. The tightest jackets you've ever seen.

28:43Jason Mantzoukas:They're in Nikes climbing. The thing that I love about a movie like this is like, you know, Bill Paxton is likable. Like when he gets off the thing, he's kind of goofy and you're like, okay, how can this guy be evil? And they don't really even try to ratchet it. It just like goes from likable fungi to insane person. Like his turn to insanity is so quick that at a certain point I'm like, is he going to eat people? Because he's looking at people like, you can't get in my way. I'm like, what's the end game? You can't get here alone. And what you realize is this is the second time he's done this. Because as the movie unfolds, you realize that he did the exact same thing with the party of climbers that Scott Glenn's wife was leading.

29:28And Bill Paxton selfishly used all of the drug to keep himself alive and let everybody else die. You know, so he's a villain every step of the way. It's interesting. He's always cast in many ways as the rich villain, like in Titanic. Big love. Yeah. Yeah, he's kind of always that rich, except for what's, he's the inverse, Twister. He is Cary Elwes, who's the rich villain, and he is like the, almost the Scott Glenn, the real guy on the ground, you know? One thing about the movie, especially like you bringing up the documentary, you were talking about how that was really interesting about having to cut someone loose.

30:08Boy, oh boy, is everybody ready to see a motherfucker die in this movie? Everybody's like, oh, they dying? Oh, kill them. Oh, that leg hurt? Good as dead. Oh, the avalanche happened, but we contacted them on the radio speaker. They still gonna die up there. We ain't helping them. No, every step of the way, everybody's trying to be like, okay, well, we're just gonna kill you. What's the point of climbing with a partner if they're gonna let you die? Well, it really is. It's such a casual relationship to human life, you know? And that's the thing is, too, the movie is over two hours long. which is, to be clear, too long.

30:4445 minutes could have been cut. And part of the problem is they set up so many characters only to kill all of those characters. Not pay anything off. With barely any investment in them as people. You know, the brothers, young Ben Mendelsohn, a young Ben Mendelsohn in this movie, which I was so loved seeing him, but he's dead. See you later. Like his brother, Cyril, see you later, pal. You're dead. I was like, oh, I really wished we'd had either more character moments that were fun with some of these people, or we didn't spend so much time in the exposition setup phase, because this movie would have felt a lot better at 90 minutes.

31:26Jason Mantzoukas:Oh, yeah. Because it's a very simple idea. They just go out to a rescue, and they're with an evil guy. But I think that they're trying so hard to make it feel real, but it is so fake on so many levels. I mean, this is, you know, the free solo guy, Alex Honnold, right? He has referred to this as the worst depiction of rock climbing in any film. He was like the least realistic, but I think that they're trying so hard to make you believe. And the other part of it is, it's like, yes, people die doing this, but it's not like an action movie death. People aren't just flying off the sides of buildings.

32:08Jason Mantzoukas:People are losing toes and hands. They're not exploding. I feel like that's why the explosives were introduced. Because I feel like it wasn't dynamic enough. They said, if you get edema in your lungs, that's not enough. Them coughing blood, not enough for us. It's enough for the crown. They said, not enough for us. We need people exploding off of the mountain as they fall. I mean, when they introduced the idea the only way they could do a good flare is by draining the blood out of a dead person's body and then shooting the flare up so the blood just explodes on the mountain. I was like, first of all, isn't a flare, like the whole thing of a flare is it's going to go up and we're going to see where it is.

32:52Jason Mantzoukas:But this is like, it was so like dark to drain them of blood. I knew it was going to happen. And I was like, what is wrong with me? Or maybe I just noticed the patterns of this movie. But she was like trying to boil like ink from pens and like some freezing cold ice. And the little flame was so low underneath. And he was like, you gotta get it to a boil. I said, they about to cut that man open and use his blood. A man who was killed. A man who was murdered by Bill Paxton's character. Yes. Like murdered. They didn't just let him die as he was. Bill Paxton comes in, violently kills him. By putting air in his vein, right?

33:33Jason Mantzoukas:With a very violent way to go. They're already freezing up there. My favorite part of him is he's like the tour guide to the rich guy. And he's going to make all the rules. And when they have the little memorial at the end, the camera pans around the memorial of everybody who died in the movie. It's like the reverse love boat. You get to see everyone that you've met along the way. And his is a glamour shot among glamour shots. It's not a casual photo. It looks like he's like, you know, like, come to camp so-and-so. I'll be your instructor, Dave. Like, it's so, like, he's such a pretty boy. And I like him.

34:06Jason Mantzoukas:But I also feel like he, like, everyone in this movie is relatively rational. Right? They're all like, I mean, well, they don't solve things rational. But, like, it is a funny thing because, like, why would Bill Paxton say no to the guy? Because, like, hey, look, there's a really terrible storm. And I know he wants to have the plane see him overhead, but I still don't understand what Bill Paxton gets out of dying. It's like if he had a death wish, it's something. But I don't understand his mentality. Why is he that crazy? I also don't understand his drive. They made an attempt to explain his drive real quick.

34:45And it was like, before they go up the mountain, he was like, yeah, I got all of my scientists on this. And I'm going to out-science the mountain and the weather. and they're like, we got an 82 % chance of living. He was like, I'd take those odds on the stock market because I'm rich and I love stocks. And then the ominous wick comes out with all his hair and shit and he's like, who is going to live if y 'all are going to die? And then he just disappears into the shadows and the cloud of snow. And then when they get up there, everybody's like, hey, bruh, the storm's going to happen. The storm's going to happen.

35:17And Bill's like, we got to shoot this commercial. And then they keep going. And then he's like, hey, man, they said the storm is like five minutes away. Y 'all really need to come down. He was like, but what about the commercial? And then they come back one more time. They're like, the storm, turn around. The storm is behind you. Y 'all need to run. And then the tour guide's like, hey, man, I don't want to die. You told me I'm in charge. He was like, yeah, I said you were in charge. But when I said in charge, I'm going to do what I say for the commercial. Otherwise, when we get to the bottom of this mountain, you ain't going to have no job because I'm going to ruin you.

35:45Jason Mantzoukas:He's also never going to get to shoot this commercial if he is dead. Like, there is no reason. The guy says that. He's like, we need to go down and be safe. And Bill was like, this is more than the commercial. I also need to do this for me. My life statement. This is my life statement, he says. And it's like, to die for a commercial? I don't even think this is a union commercial. I'll be honest. This is way before social media, too. This will maybe go viral on social media. But, I mean, there's a moment that I love where, you know, this base station for these scientists who are navigating everything right so it looks like he's gonna have all these people really helping him but they're like like like the when they cut to the referees in new jersey who have to watch all the nba games it's like these guys are communicating to them and they can see everything happening on the mountain i'm like how they're up on this mountain they're like oh oh they went down a thing they're sliding now i'm like you don't know this they can't even communicate this quick and then like like chris o'donnell comes in he's like hey hey, I know Morse code.

36:51Jason Mantzoukas:Okay, they're trapped. They slipped down the thing. They're at 300 ,000 feet. This is where they are. I'm like, nothing could have been communicated that quickly in Morse code. That would have been like an hour of Morse code. Also, how is the walkie-talkie not working, but it's working well enough for y 'all to do Morse code? And then when homegirl is locked up in the ice cave with Bill Paxton and Mr. Dianne Tour Guide, she's like, me and my brother, my dad taught us Morse code when we were kids. Beep, beep, boop, boop, boop, boop, beep. and Bill Paxton is talking the whole time while she's listening to the code and it was pissing me off because she listened to the code and it's like click and a clack clack and he's yelling over that hey what'd you learn how to do Morse code hey what's your story save that for later save that for later save that for later and listen to the beeps and the boop boops yes and you'd have to be listening to it like letter by letter yes and writing and probably writing it down to be like okay this is what it took 20 minutes but this is what's up you know Chris O'Donnell gets a novel out of like He's just hearing it off the side of his head as if it's like...

37:51Also, it appears as though he and his sister are the only people at K2 Base Camp who know Morse code. That seems baseline level knowledge that these type of adventurers would have this skill set. Everybody must know Morse code, but everybody's like, what? I learned it in Boy Scouts. What are we talking about?

38:16Jason Mantzoukas:but also when they have to communicate later chris o'donnell just sends her a note that says like boom what the hell was that oh my god how the hell are they supposed to know that means we about to put nitroglycerin over your head like also you couldn't you couldn't write a real note like hey move away from the opening we about to blow it up what do you mean boom i saw that and i was like what bang also like from where like they don't know where to hide they don't how do they know where the placement? I guess they figured homeboy's bloody spot was gonna be the placement. Yeah, but I mean like it could have very easily crumbled and started an avalanche.

38:52He used so much nitro, I thought they was gonna be blowing the bits underneath. I was like, damn, bro. Use like a little dash and come back. Exactly. That's all you needed was

39:00Jason Mantzoukas:a little bit of nitro. They're pouring it in like they're doing a science experiment where they make like the, like whatever the bacon sitter like shoot out. I also feel like they could have gotten a helicopter up to where the blood bag had exploded. I didn't feel like they needed to climb to them at that point. They said the air was too thin for a helicopter to get up to 28 ,000 feet. It could only go to 21 and then dangle people off a cliff and almost chop up Bandana Lady. That's all the helicopter could do. I guess so. They also have all this information about where they are, but the plan is let's split up.

39:37Jason Mantzoukas:They have a group of people. All right, guys. let's all split up you two you two you two it's like like they're exploring like a haunted house so it just gives them a chance to kill everybody in these moments where people don't have to have major reactions it's like because uh that when they all go off it's like well everyone's going to die like they're like every like there's no everyone does almost everyone dies in order to save just paxton and robin tunney yeah all the white people live let's give it two thousands I didn't see nobody Brown made it down. Okay. Oh, yeah. Nobody Brown made it down.

40:12That was the tagline of the movie. Vertical limit. Nobody Brown made it down. Don't worry. We saved the rich white guy.

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42:04Jason Mantzoukas:I absolutely love my experience with Babbel. Every day, I make a little time for me and Babbel to learn. And I'm learning just for fun. I'm learning Spanish. And here's the thing. I'm starting to really understand it. It feels truly like a magic trick. I love this app. If you've got summer travel coming up, now is the time to start so you can actually use what you learn on the trip. Right now, Babbel is offering listeners up to 60 % off. Go to babbel.com slash bonkers. That's babbel, B-A-B-B-E-L dot com slash bonkers for up to 60 % off. Rules and restrictions may apply. Well, this is the best part because as Bill Paxton gets more and more insane, like you know he's shooting like he's doing like meth in the corner like he's a dex he's doing his dex you know which again not that anyone cares that much but this whole idea of like having high altitude pulmonary edema right that really only happens like after you've been up there for like days and days and days all right so okay fine we'll take that away but he's giving himself so many shots like one shot would have done it like one shot would have been like fine like he's stealing all the shots for himself.

43:16And I love that it's individual syringes. It's like a packet of individual syringes for, what is it, four syringes or whatever? Yeah. And I was like, what on earth they could do? You could carry so much more of this drug with you just in a vial. Everyone could have had like four of them.

43:36Jason Mantzoukas:Everyone could have had plenty of dicks. But when you find out that Scott Glenn is on a murder mission. Like, that to me, this is like where there is a good movie in here. It's like, okay, I'm here only for straight up revenge. I'm going to come up here and I'm going to kill the man who killed my wife. And the fact that his wife is still frozen with Inside the Mountain, don't know how realistic that is, but also insane that she's like part of the mountain now that is his dead wife just frozen like Han Solo. She's standing up with the prayer hands just in the corner. Yeah, he looks so preserved.

44:16It's crazy. She didn't even lie down when she died. She was like, no, let me stand up and die real quick.

44:22Jason Mantzoukas:I'll just do my little prayer hands. Now, I don't understand at this point, too, why Chris O'Donnell's so adamant that he can't kill this guy. There's a part of me that's like, hey, man, I just want to get my sister out. I don't care about Bill. It's not like this is not her boyfriend. It's not anything. Like he has no connection, like, but he really puts his foot down. And, uh, and then you're hoping that you're going to get this like fun battle. But the end of the movie is just like, I found it to be a little bit anticlimactic because when he finally gets down there, there's no punches thrown.

44:56Jason Mantzoukas:There's no nothing. It's just kind of like, all right, we're going to climb up together and he's going to take a pickaxe to him. And then they just do the opening sequence again. Except this time Scott Glenn, the new father figure to these young people who comes and saves, manages to save them. He cuts the rope so that both he and Bill Paxton fall to their deaths. Which I was kind of like, okay, maybe, and I'm sure in the meeting they were like, guys, I had a great idea. It's bookends. It starts with the rope being cut. It ends with the rope being cut. Whoa, man. Right? Wait, give me another line.

45:36The only thing I don't like about this is at the end of the movie, two white guys die. That doesn't add up for me. That's strange. No, but we're going to blow a brown guy up right before. Okay, okay. Then I can work with this. I'm good with that. I can work with this.

45:51Jason Mantzoukas:The thing that's so interesting is if you're looking at it from a thematic point of view, Chris O'Donnell did it first, and he's been paying the price of that decision, although he seems kind of fine with it. and Robin Ironically he does feel very but his sister is not his sister is like I hate you because he killed my dad and he's like it had to be done or whatever he's like whatever and I'm like this maybe would make sense if in the opening scene they were like 15 and 17 they are adults who I feel like very much would have known what was going on and absolutely should be wrecked by it but again they seem like strangers everybody's a stranger, even the siblings.

46:36Jason Mantzoukas:I also love, there's a line in the beginning, they haven't seen each other for years, right? It's been a very long time since they've seen each other. And she's like, you've never visited dad's grave. And I'm like, how would you even know? Are you there every day? I have a motion sensitive camera on the grave. I know.

46:55Jason Mantzoukas:My doorbell app has never had an alert. but like so at the end of the movie you would either want to see him cut it again or have her do it so she also understands like okay i understand the situation you're in i mean obviously she's basically like hypothermic going through like uh you know edemas whatever but like this like it's a severe misunderstanding of mountain climbing it's like yeah at the end of the day we're gonna cut people off this like this is what we do we cut them off 80 percent of ascents end in some people being cut loose. Because, you know, we're all usually dangling eight people to a rope.

47:34Jason Mantzoukas:By the way, I'm going to guarantee you those ropes hold more than, I don't know, roughly 300 pounds. Because that's really like, they're like, this rope can't handle more than 300 pounds. It's like, yeah, I have a feeling. I have a feeling they should. The anchors are always terrible. It's like one single device is in the crack or it's they've tied the rope to an ice axe and just put that in the snow. And they're also doing it with their bare hands. They're pulling up a rope of a body with their own hands. It's like, I'm just thinking about rope burn. Aren't they frozen up there? Also, everybody is so strong in the movie to be able to do what they're doing, to be able to hang off of...

48:19It is so hard to hang off of something with your full body weight, pull yourself up and over, so hard to hang off of a wildly out-of-control helicopter, two people managed to hang on to a helicopter that is careening out of control. It would toss them off like ragdolls. And one bandetta lady got lightly chopped by a helicopter propeller. You know how it just gets you a little bit and cuts your jacket when the helicopter propeller passes by your body? And you know they were like, it's going to be so great because the down from your jacket will just start peeping right out. It's going to be so cinematic.

48:59Also, I just felt like they're, I get it, it's an action movie, but I think that they wildly underestimated people's attention spans. And so they were like, fuck plot, fuck like any conversation and knowing about any of these characters. We have to treat this like an action horror almost where like every scary thing that happens, sometimes it would be like, woo, crisis averted. We got the nitroglycerin in the dark. Oh, let's have a drink to celebrate. Kaplow! Oh, we slid off this mountain, but Bandana Girl saved nasty misogynist man's life. Oh, don't worry. Nasty misogynist man gonna die right now through a random avalanche.

49:34Kaplow! Like, why?

49:36Jason Mantzoukas:I think it's like what Jason was saying. The mountain is Jaws. Yes. Like, the mountain is the killer. The mountain is the shark. Like, the avalanches, the explosions, they are creating such an unstable environment. They're putting base camp at risk. They're putting everybody at risk by just setting off that many explosives on a mountain like that. Just throwing that shoe. I mean, like, it's like, because everything is going to create an avalanche. Here's the thing that I did love. My favorite line in the entire movie. Don't mind her. She's French-Canadian. Someday she's Canadian. It can be quite pleasant.

50:11Today she's obviously French.

50:14Jason Mantzoukas:That is, that I thought was one of the best, like, honestly, some of the most descriptive character development we get in the entire film. I think I know more about her. My favorite character is her bandana. French Canadian bandana woman I think is terrific because they also have my favorite line at the end when they do manage to save Robin Tunney and they've gotten her back to base camp. And keep in mind, bandana woman, while also doing climbing stuff and getting almost chopped by a helicopter blade, is the camp's medic. So she's taking care of Robin Tunney and Chris O'Donnell comes in and he goes, how is she?

50:48And she says, amazing. I was like, what? However she is, she is definitely not amazing. She was caught with her blood two minutes ago. Exactly. She's for sure going to die probably. But amazing seemed like such a strange line.

51:05Jason Mantzoukas:Well, also just the fact that they kiss in front of her body. So she is recovering over there. And this is their moment for their first kiss. Like Chris O'Donnell in Bandana Woman. And it's like, oh, just do that outside. the tent or get someone get get away from like it's a little awkward like this yeah how about don't kiss how about you haven't created enough of a bond to kiss this movie hasn't seeded this at all i think the director really thought and this is gonna my nurse too this could have also shaved off some time bro why are we lingering on everybody's face for an extra like excruciating eight seconds like they've done dialogue it was given like it's the tyler perry edit where we got to get to 22 minutes so I can get into syndication.

51:50This movie needs to be two hours so linger on they faces. Linger on eye contact. What is this director's thing against a two shot? He not doing a two unless he's in the wide. He not even giving me no dirty coverage. Like every time we cut to somebody's face, it's just them. Were you shooting this actor to a tennis ball? Were y 'all never in the same room? Because why are we cutting directly to people's faces like they not in the same room? What is this? And it kept happening and they kept zooming on people's faces as to be like, this is romance. This is fear. Also, you can't do the same sexual romance cut on the brother and sister's faces looking at each other.

52:26Jason Mantzoukas:That's why it's confusing because I was like, are they going to fuck? And it's like, no, I guess they're just like, they're brother and sister who miss each other. But those cuts, when you leave it too long, it feels like there is something under the surface. The only person I worked on is Bill Paxton because when he gets crazy, when he looks like he's about to eat her or something it's like I'm like yeah I'm all like I don't know when he became crazy but I'm into it I was like oh I wish Paxton had been this crazy and chewing the scenery the whole time you know what I mean I wish that it had been because the movie again is two hours long and the first hour is exactly Lacey to what you're saying so long lingering shots that are seen like pointlessly like not they're not setting anything up I'm not stupid CGI eagle for such a long time I'm like in the stock footage of even the snow leopards it's like what are we doing here I don't understand all these like it's I think it's like to show you the majesty we only got 80 pages but don't worry we gonna turn it into 120 when we're done with all these random shots that we need and to your point Jason about Bill Paxton becoming crazy man and to you as well chewing the scenery Paul This line, I wrote this down.

53:42When Bill Paxton is having his moment where he's like, I'm going to throw all caution to the wind. We're ignoring base camp. We're all going to die for this commercial, and I'm going to bully y 'all into it. Bill Paxton says, oh, you thought the mountain was just going to lift up her skirt for us?

53:56Jason Mantzoukas:My favorite line. Bill, why you got to rape the mountain? Why? Why? Why? Why? It's so gross. That made me go, I never want a mountain climb, because now you've made it into this thing where you're saying you're going to fuck this mountain. You're conquering this mountain. It gave me a whole different taste of what mountain climbing is about. I don't like it. He's intimating, what do you think, the mountain's going to give consent? What are we doing here? Oh, my God. There is so much here. I guess he's supposed to be Richard Branson because Richard Branson at this point is the virgin guy. Not a virgin, but the owner of Virgin Megastorm, Virgin, everything.

54:36Jason Mantzoukas:So I feel like he had the planes. And at that point, he was known for doing these extreme things. But I do feel like it is like he's like he's also killed people in this mountain that didn't find out that Bill Paxton has killed other people and is keeps on going up. Like, so just keep on killing more and more people is just a really wild character. And it's also in service of, as you keep pointing out, Lacey, a commercial. It's not like, oh, and we're going to find the reserves, the oil reserves that are going to make us so much richer or we're going to find the fountain of youth or we're going to find, you know what I mean?

55:17Like, it's not like they're in search of something absolutely game changing for them. They are just trying to shoot a commercial. And that is absolutely makes him seem even crazier. But this really is also peak adrenaline junkie, like, nonsense. You know, people doing crazy shit just because it can be done. And you know what would have helped Homegirl's plot? What's her name? Eileen? Adley? What was her name?

55:46Jason Mantzoukas:Oh, the bandana girl? No, the sister. Anne. So it would have helped Anne so much as a character if when she was talking about spreading her father's ashes on K2, she had the ashes with her. and then that made sense because otherwise the whole time that she's going up with crazy ass Bill I didn't understand why she kept agreeing with him and then after he murders homie she's like hits him for a little bit like you bastard why would you murder our homie like that okay let's get his blood what you got on board so fast girl like and that man you should have killed that man in the beginning because Bill Paxton got to that cave and immediately became Smeagol and all of a sudden all the shots of him were him under like Like he was hunched over under these like rock caps of ice, like leering at everybody.

56:35Like, I need all that decks for me. It really is. I wish he had gold buried up there.

56:40Jason Mantzoukas:I wish he had gold and he was trying to get his gold because I would buy that more than the commercial. Oh my. It does feel like K2 is Mount Doom in this. And that is, this is the fellowship is trying to rescue us. I mean, Chris O'Donnell would be a great. Samwise Gamgee. Yeah. So this is my favorite part too. obviously you know whenever you do a movie like this you have to put the real people in so they put that guy ed uh ed in there like he he's the guy who looks the most uncomfortable on camera because like when bill paxton gets off the plane he's like ed beasters it's an honor to meet you elliot vaughn nice to meet you hey you wouldn't believe this guy five times up to everest one of the only men to climb 12 of the world's 14 highest peaks all without oxygen rock on By comparison, all of us are merely amateurs.

57:30Jason Mantzoukas:It's a real honor, Ed. Welcome to base camp. Welcome to base camp. Like, it's like he's not an actor. He's a real guy. He's a real guy. That makes sense why they left him. Because they were like, oh, you are too good to go with us up the mountain, Mr. Good Guy Who Can Survive. You stay down here so you don't have to act. Good luck up there. Like, you know, it's like it. But there is something really funny about this. I was, again, things I was reading last night was Ed is, I guess, becoming the technical consultant on this movie. But he like he did have like a crazy disaster where he was escorting a rich guy up the mountain.

58:09Jason Mantzoukas:And that guy lost both of his hands and was not able to grasp the line on the descent. Like so like this guy is like, yeah, this is kind of a fun story. he literally like went through a, like a shocking, scary thing. And it was like, good luck. He doesn't, he couldn't say like, Hey, be careful up there. When I was up there just a couple of years ago, guy lost his hands. Like doesn't, doesn't give him any words of warning. Doesn't act as any like baseline of like, Hey, it's dangerous. Like, no, he's like, go for it. My friend. I'm not going to do it, but y 'all get out there. I mean, it's crazy to have that.

58:50Jason Mantzoukas:Like a guy who literally has been through trauma being like, hey, no problem. This is the very beginning of the 2000s. So problematic was very. Right. I feel like he probably didn't even get a script. They were like, we're doing this mountain movie. We only need you to shoot for a week. You got like four scenes. And then they're like, and go. And they just told him what to say. And you also worked the grill in the camp and you served the buds, the Budweiser's up there. You know what really pissed me off about base camp too? It's like, I get that there was an action movie. So they were trying to have these funny moments that they shoehorned in there that were wildly inappropriate at the time.

59:27So when they're at base camp and the avalanche happens, the first one, they at base camp are like, oh my God, this one lady just starts crying uncontrollably loud as fuck. She's like, ah, they did, they did, they did. And everybody looking at her like, can you shut up? And eventually they do tell her like, can you shut up or like get out of here with the hooting and hollering? everybody's so sad right then they get communication they're like oh my god they're not dead this is amazing and then the next time we see base camp they're like yeah they're not dead but they trapped so they're as good as dead we're helping them mate they're packing up their shit just man peace see you later well they also like they're only three of them aren't dead the rest are like they lost a bunch of people oh right and that's what's crazy is like people are dying constantly and everybody's just kind of like, ah, all right.

1:00:16Like, like.

1:00:16Jason Mantzoukas:Because no one knows each other. I mean, that's really what it is, right? Scott Glenn doesn't know, you know, doesn't know the siblings. Yeah. So like Scott Glenn doesn't know them, but he does know their father. Right. But it doesn't seem like that really even plays in too much. They're on a mission where everybody on the mission doesn't know each other and or has met each other just like 12 hours before. and then it's like then the brother and sister who would have the most bond they are separated so they can't communicate and then you just have a straight up villain who is like you can't have anything with him it's like no there's no emotional stakes like everybody is they also make a bunch of choices that make it even harder like I feel like the movie suggests but doesn't follow through on that maybe Robin Tunney and Bill Paxton have a romantic relationship.

1:01:08That's what you would think. That's what they said in the beginning. They hint at it. They have, they share kind of a chaste kiss at one point. And I was like, wait, are they a couple? Are they not? And in which case I would have been, if they were romantically involved, then I'd be like, I understand why Robin Tunney is maybe making bad choices because she's connected to this guy emotionally. It's not just a job for her where, because otherwise I agree she would be siding with, is it Tom who's the team leader or whatever, or make it her in a

1:01:36Jason Mantzoukas:relationship with Tom. Great. So then like when he dies, it becomes a moment or even make the crazy millionaire be duplicitous in some way. I think that that's like his charm is like, hey, I'm here to make this work. Like be a nice guy and then reveal that you're evil because all you're really doing besides that is you're just watching people slip, fall, scream. Yes. And like, and just go like, all in a, in a very bad, like green screen environment. Yeah. It's like watching The Sims die. Like, I have no connection to any of these people. And, like, even the vineyard where it's like, we have the guy who's Muslim, and he's got to stop and pray.

1:02:18And the other guy's like, hey, I know you got to pray to Mecca, but we also got to climb this mountain real quick because we don't got a lot of time. And then they have this weird conversation about religion that makes no sense. And I guess it's supposed to be the foreshadowing to their death. I don't even know, but we're not invested in this man. Oh, yeah, they blow up then. But those conversations seem to keep happening. One that really pissed me off, and this is a director's choice too, is when they were loading up to get on the helicopter to do their choppy ass drop off. One, that could have been a moment where they all bonded together.

1:02:46Yeah, give them something. Give them something, but they didn't. They just all split up and move on. But while they're loading that helicopter, Bandana Lady and O'Donnell have this moment where he's like, Bandana Lady, why are you coming on this trip, Bandana Lady? And she's like, I'm a slave to Bill Paxton and I'm about to buy my freedom. But this whole conversation could have happened while they were loading up. They had a separate cut of loading things onto the helicopter where no conversation is happening. And then another cut to them individually being shot in ones. Learn the lesson from Law and Order.

1:03:21Do the exposition while you're doing the action. While you're doing the action. And then tie that weird joke with the foot stretching in right after. I could have cut that sound so much. It was bothering the fuck out of me. but it kept happening throughout the thing. And like you said about Bill Paxton's evil man character, I would have liked to see the duplicity as well. Show me that smiling guy, but the whole time he's hiding this Dex. If he's going to murder the guy who, because we already knew he was going to murder him, because the second they landed in the ice cave, homies started coughing like, and then Bill Paxton looked at him like Smeagol, like, oh, I'm killing you.

1:03:54Jason Mantzoukas:And by the way, just for context, this movie takes place in less than 12 hours. Everyone loses their goddamn mind. It's like they go bonkers, bonkers. Like he coughs once. It's like, all right, we're done. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had started to try and eat that guy. Like, this is what we're doing. Also, how they run out of, if it takes days to climb this damn mountain, how y 'all running out of fire already? Y 'all had your backpacks on you. How are you running out of supplies already? Well, because you know why? because this is my, again, they start off the movie, they're doing that thing where Robin Cheney is going across this crevasse and then the minute they get off, there's a scene with her and the millionaire and they're both eating and drinking so much.

1:04:44Jason Mantzoukas:I'm like, maybe you should save some of this. He's eating a bar, she's drinking water. I'm like, I don't think you're doing that much chowing down after you climb for 10 minutes. I feel like they used all their supplies immediately. They did not know. And they also are going up with one bottle of water. Did they say that too? Hey, you only have one bottle of water up there, so you gotta boil water. I think if you're going up to the mountain, you can carry a couple bottles. What else is in the fucking backpack? Water's heavy, but you can carry a couple bottles. I think their intention is to melt snow.

1:05:19That's what they said. They had the kit to melt it. And they did have the kit to melt it.

1:05:24Jason Mantzoukas:Hot water. Yeah, but speaking to that, yes, they were eating barbecue and all that shit when they go up this heavy ass mountain. On plates. On like, on like, like real plates too. It would have been so funny if in the middle of this whole movie just one of the characters kept having like barbecue diarrhea. One of them was supposed to. Remember the one guy who didn't end up going up the mountain? He was some CEO guy who was attached to the evil Bill Paxton. Why did they have, why did they even have camera, like why did they spend any time on him if they weren't going to take him up the mountain or anything?

1:05:55They were just like, he ran with some toilet paper and they were like, he got a boo-boo a lot and I got to take him up the mountain. Hope you're not tethered in the rope behind him because he's just going to be shitting on your face. What? And then he never even comes up the mountain.

1:06:07Jason Mantzoukas:Now, I know that Jason does not watch Survivor, but Lacey, I don't know if you do. One of my favorite things about Survivor is they always are giving these people treats. Today, guys, the prize is Applebee's. Now, they've been on this island in Survivor and they've not been eating. Oh, yeah, they're always Applebee's. Isn't that so far away from the island? Well, so they create a little fake Applebee's, like, in a shack. Like, so when they win, they go to an Applebee's. And so, but they've been eating rice and everything. And then they go to Applebee's and they have, like, and it looks like they're at Applebee's.

1:06:41Jason Mantzoukas:And I'm like, the shits that are going on. If you've not eaten for, like, 12 days and then you eat, like, a bourbon barbecue burger and fries and a margarita. Like, I mean, that's the show that I want to see. It's just people, like, their bodies are, no, I can't handle this. It's like it's so it always grosses me out that like bodies are not meant for Apple. That's a part of surviving. I actually think that was great brand alignment on Applebee's part. There were like regular civilians who come in Applebee's every day. They fighting battles on the toilets. So Survivor, if you can get through our Hennessy bourbon hookah wings.

1:07:18Jason Mantzoukas:I also love that. Like, that's a great advertisement for Applebee's to be like, hey, because everyone loves it so much. It's like, yeah, when you give it to starving people, they're going to be like, this is the best food I've ever eaten in my life. It's the easiest way to be like, you see, our food works. I'm sure somewhere in the contract, Applebee's has to be like, you can't air them throwing it up. You can't air them having diarrhea. You can't air them having any kind of negative reaction, which I'm sure everybody's bodies is rejecting this incredibly rich food. They have to be ravenous, ravenously hungry.

1:07:52And then Applebee's is going to hit. Taco Bell should have got in on that. Taco Bell is known for being the drunk food.

1:08:00Jason Mantzoukas:Oh, my God. Well, obviously, we had an opinion about this movie, but there are people out there with a different opinion. It is now time for second opinions. You're a man. You're a man. You're a man. You're a man. You're a man. You're a man. The movie was a piece of shit. Yet this person recommends it. Tell me what is the message. Maybe that art is subjective I need a second opinion All right, thank you, John Lajoie. So Vertical Limit has, you get ready for it, an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon. And they have got a lot of reviews, over 2 ,000 reviews. and 77 % are five-star reviews.

1:08:55Jason Mantzoukas:Hell yeah. This is blowing my mind. It makes sense. So this first review is from Karen Landry, and she titles the review, A Gift That Made My Best Friend Smile. This was a gift to a good friend whose dream it is to travel to Tibet and spend a few weeks there with the local residents, not climbing, just hiking, and seeing an area that she's dreamed of all of her life. She and her family love this movie, not just for the thrill and the tension, but for the beauty as well. Five stars. Wait, so you're watching this as a National Geographic document? Like, this is not like, oh, finally I get to see what it would be like to be there.

1:09:33Jason Mantzoukas:It's like, this is a green screen. It'd be like being like, finally I got to be close to an eagle. Also, strangely, she was like, my bestie really wants to go to Tibet and she wants to hike, so I took her to this movie where everybody falls off the mountain and then explodes to really inspire her trip. Where do the people fall from the sky after they were cut free from the cords? Where? Oh, over there? Great. Like, it's like... My friend always wanted to experience an explosion from nitro. And I took her to see this movie. Where do you keep the nitro? And is it leaking? By the way, that whole tent would be exploding.

1:10:10Jason Mantzoukas:Now, this is a reviewer that I was not going to read because I thought it was a joke, but I actually think it's real. The name is... And excuse me for this. This is where I thought it was a joke. The name is Anal Thrasher 69. Okay. And anal, yes, but, but, but. You can't thrash in 69. Just want to say that. No, yes. I mean, this is, unless you're climbing a mountain. This movie inspired me to take a pricey vacation to Nepal to hike the mountains. What? While my trip there wasn't nearly as cold or as dangerous as the one in the movie, I still had an awesome time and would recommend that destination to those who like physical challenges.

1:10:45Jason Mantzoukas:Just stay away from the Indian food. It gave me the squirts for two old days. LOL. Five stars. Oh, my God. Can you imagine if this movie inspired you to go? This is the movie that is getting people out of the house. To go climb a mountain. Also, it's not lost on me, Paul, that when you read that, Anal Thrasher also said, like, it's not as thrilling as the movie, but it was still, did you want it to be as thrilling as the movie? Did you want someone to saw you off a rope to your death? Is that? He was like, I just see as many people falling off the mountain as I would have hoped. Because I thought they was just going to be falling like flies.

1:11:25Hey, if you're going in order to see nitro explosions, multiple avalanches, and people raining from the sky, it's kind of boring in reality. It's like those things when they show you the video. It's like on social media, it looks like this. But in reality, it looks like this. Right. You know? It's those fake out things.

1:11:44Jason Mantzoukas:Oh, I'm glad he gave me the warning about the Indian food giving him the squirts. Anyway, Anal Thrasher69 is also just a rough name to pick when you are giving an earnest review. Like, again, I was going to avoid it, but I'm like, it seemed like he went. Well, I mean, his anus did get thrashed because he got the squirts. Truly. Also, to include your own personal experience with diarrhea in a movie review is really weird. To be like, my review of this movie is I had the squirts in this region of the world. Not even related to it. I just had Indian food when I went on vacation. Yes. You were looking for connection.

1:12:22Jason Mantzoukas:Now, this one has a great spelling error in it, and I'll read it as written. This is from John K. Dahl, written in 2023. If you like action suspense and the bad guy getting his cum muffins, you will like this movie. Holy shit. The cum muffins, obviously. The t-shirt is definitely cum muffins. And it's like a tin. It's like a 50s woman holding a tin of muffins. And you know the only way you can get your cum muffins is if K2 lifts up her skirt. And that's how you get your cum muffins. Yes, it's a woman holding a tray of muffins, but her skirt is up and K2 is underneath it. She's all woman on top and all mountain on the bottom.

1:13:10Jason Mantzoukas:the shirt of being made we gotta do it but that's the thing that I love is like this person definitely heard comeuppance and I think tried to write it like come muffins and I wanna hear John K. Doll say come muffins to somebody he's like oh yeah man I definitely got my come muffins John we have to see you in HR right now you're talking about your comeuppance this is a company wide email and you said everyone meet we're meeting in the conference room so I could get my cum muffins? Oh, my God. My God. Cum muffins to me might be my... Cum muffins is one of the greatest misspeaks or mishears I've ever heard.

1:13:50Oh, God. He never read that word. Never saw it on print. Just heard it. Just heard it alive. Just heard it. And understand, but like I love, he understands the context, the correct context in its use, but still thinks it's cum muffins. That's unreal. Also, I did have a full cringe moment. When Homie was in the cliff and found out that Wick, the Wick guy, when he was telling O'Donnell his plans, he was like, no, I'm going up there to kill Bill Paxton because he killed my lady. He was like, hey, man, you can't do that. And then Wick was like, hey, man, you can't go without me because you've reached the vertical limb.

1:14:32Jason Mantzoukas:Oh, yes. When you say the title, I love it. I love when you get to say the titular line of a movie. It is the bald ass. It was great. It felt satisfying. Because it also is dumb movies like this that do that. As satisfying as that was to you, I also found satisfaction in the worst typeface for the title Vertical Limit. It looked like a ghosty font in the beginning. When they first go out, it was so cheap. It didn't look like Kei Chu or something hard. It just felt like vertical limit. It felt like a little like it was in the clouds. I was like, ooh. Whenever I see a title that's that bad, I'm like, this movie is, this is going to be a rough one.

1:15:18Jason Mantzoukas:I love that we got to watch our Summer of Extreme with you, Lacey. Thank you. What a great experience to have you here. You are, you're doing so much. Obviously, Scam Goddess, a hit show that you can listen at any point. You can listen to whatever scam you want to get into. Jason and I did one about the NBA scandal. Oh, that was so good. But is there anything you want to plug? Yeah. Come join us at Scam Goddess. It's a comedy podcast about robbery, fraud, and those who practice it. And this coming July, I will be at iHeartRadio. And there will be full-length video. I know you guys have been asking for that.

1:15:49Oh, wow, wow, wow. You're going to be right there in it with us. We're going to the vertical limit. We're taking it all the way to the vertical limit. Yeah, you can watch Scam Goddess on Hulu. You can get the book wherever you get books or audiobook. book and you can hear me narrating my life of scams and a lot of hot mess that she'll probably want to get into.

1:16:08Jason Mantzoukas:And yeah, it is one of my favorite shows. You are fantastic and so fun. And, and look, we're not running out of scams. We're not running out of scams. No, it's scams. Scams in this country are like nitro that's been left out in the sun. They are exploding. Is there anything that you could like, if you have a person listening for the first time, Is there one that you are like, you got to do, like, if you want to check in on one of your favorite ones, is there a good favorite scam that you can throw people to? Yeah. I mean, the Sean King episodes are super fun. I actually sent that to somebody the other day.

1:16:43Jason Mantzoukas:You got to let them know. Because the people are like, well, I don't understand. I'm like, here, this will explain everything that you need. And I get it. He was one stop shop for activism. But he was every GoFundMe was him GoFunding himself. Okay. You know, when he said United Negro, he meant himself, possibly a Negro, united with his family. That's where the money was going, okay? But yes, you can get into that. One of our most recent episodes with me, Sid and Marie, is super fun. All the episodes are fun. You can really jump in anywhere. I try to keep it consistent. But yes, it's a good time.

1:17:15If you like comedy, you like scams. This vertical limb, I would have never seen this movie, so thank y 'all for that. Seeing a movie with a poster that has definitely clip art, you know, text on it is wonderful to me. I feel like I could have made that on Instagram story. It's given the paper clip was like, would you like to put a white line around these red letters? And they were like, yes, paper clip. Love that for me.

1:17:37Jason Mantzoukas:Now, by the way, just so you know, as we were talking about this, I just realized that the tagline for this movie, the mountain will decide. Whoa. So the mountain is the villain. The mountain is the straight up. The mountain is the antagonist. So the mountain, the mountain ate. Oh shit. Nobody. Oh, my man. This mountain gave them all STDs. It should have been a horror film. Then the deaths would have made more sense. Like the mountain is sentient and it doesn't want anybody riding it. I would have loved it if at the end of the movie, like Chris O'Donnell and Robin Tenney were like in an apartment in New York City.

1:18:15And they're like, oh, OK, we made it. They looked out the window and K2 was right there. K2 follows them home.

1:18:22Jason Mantzoukas:Yep. Oh, my gosh. Well, thank you, Lacey, for climbing K2 with us. By the way, everybody, if you've not yet purchased our amazing Averill shirt, sticker, or coffee mug, please head on over to hdtgm.dashery to pick up this beautiful shirt. We've been raising so much money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. We're already over$10 ,000, so we really appreciate everybody jumping in. And, you know, even if you can just afford a sticker for$3, it makes a difference. It's really awesome. If you have a correction or omission from this episode, leave us a voicemail by going to speakpipe.com slash hdtgm.

1:19:03Jason Mantzoukas:And, of course, you can also write us your correction or omission on the Discord at discord.gg slash hdtgm. Then tune in to next week's last looks to hear us respond to the best messages. By the way, people, we're going to be back at Largo in Los Angeles on July 31st and August 1st. Go to hdtgm.com to get your tickets. And June's brand new show, Elle, which is a Legally Blonde prequel series, is out now on Prime Video. It is fantastic. She is amazing in it. Go watch it right now. The entire season is out for your perusal. Elle on Prime Video. And remember, if you listen to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please make sure you are subscribed to our feed and have automatic downloads turned on in the show settings.

1:19:43Jason Mantzoukas:It helps us, and we appreciate it a lot. And lastly, I have to give a huge thanks to our behind-the-scenes team. I'm talking about our producers, Scott Sonny and Molly Reynolds, our engineer, Casey Holford, and our social media manager, Zoe Applebaum. And we will, of course, forever be grateful to the one and only Aval Halley. That's all I got, people. See you next week for Last Looks. Bye for now. Confidence. It's listening to your gut. It's moving forward even when the path ahead is unclear. For nearly 160 years, Pacific Life has helped people keep their promises building confidence for generations.

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1:20:33Jason Mantzoukas:FX is the Bear, the Emmy Award winning series, returns for its final season with no money, the threat of a sale, and a torrential storm. In their way, the team bands together to achieve one last service? Can they earn that coveted Michelin star? I love this show. I cannot wait to see how it ends. I don't want it to end, but we're going to have a great ride getting there. FX's The Bear, the final season, all episodes now streaming on Hulu.