We Almost Missed These 10 Movies. Should You?

24:36One more thing. I did do that this weekend, but it was for singing in the rain at the Academy Museum. Yeah, I heard. That's great. It was great. It was very charming. You had quite a movie weekend. I did. And Knox really liked to do it. Knox sat through the whole thing. Excellent. And he led clapping after every song. Was it in the big room or the small room? It was downstairs, the 10-man theater. Okay. The green theater. I like that one. The green seats, as they're known in our house. And it was great. It was a mix of, I think Knox was probably the youngest person there, but there were other young kids and then there were people of all ages.

25:05And that movie's really good. I don't know if you've heard. I'll check it out. Yeah. One other new release thing to get into before we start talking about films that are actually out in the world. It was announced last week that on October 3rd, AMC Theaters will be releasing something called Taylor Swift colon the official release party of a showgirl. Uh-huh. Which is, what is that? So it is an event loosely related to cinema and very related to her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, which comes out then, I believe that day. What's the idea behind that album? It's about the life of a showgirl.

25:45Is it a concept album? Don't know yet. I worry that it is. Is it about the Pamela Anderson film that came out last year? I mean, in some ways that would be better. The more that she moves towards fiction, she's not writing from life. If she's writing from her imagination and it's sort of like creative writing workshop, that's tough for me. Okay. Personally, I just, I like, I don't care for it. But, you know, she's, this could be about Ares Tour. It could be about Travis. It could be about, you know, I don't know what. Travis who? Yeah. Have you heard of him? Who are you referring to? He won a game last night, I heard.

26:24Well, I would say Patrick Mahomes won a game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In the Chiefs defense. Just the one. Mahomes I'm just striking the haters down I feel he still got it he made three throws in the second half that were out of this world it was really nice to be not prepping and watching a movie for like 10 minutes and watching football yesterday that felt great boy anything else are we gonna see this or are you gonna go we're gonna be in New York I don't know it doesn't sound like a movie it doesn't like if it's a movie like the air restorer I wouldn't say I was happy to see it but I was like this is a movie event they have made a concert film which is something that we both like and have done well.

26:58This feels like a 70-minute stunt to get people in theaters. Yeah, they're playing the song. There's a music video. There's behind-the-scenes footage. I don't really care either. I must say, A24 must be fucking pissed because this is the weekend at the Smashing Machine. And they had that weekend all to themselves. And now here comes Taylor Swift and this will almost certainly be the number one movie of the weekend. I don't know. Maybe, can you see it and level set it for me? Well, I don't know whether I'm going to be able to get tickets. and I think it's a pretty limited event for that weekend.

27:28Do you want to skip to cancel our live show? Yeah, I will no longer be there. I will be down the street at the AMC or I guess like across the park. I don't know what's going on on the Upper East Side. I'm excited to find out. You know, if I could go on Friday, I guess, maybe. I have dinner plans, but... Okay. I'm not invited to dinner. No, actually, but you could come another... We could do dinner another night. Thanks for the advice. Did we miss anything else of note? I'm sure, but you know. Do you think we should turn this into a 24-hour live stream where we just look at social media and see what we've missed in recent days?

28:08Yeah, I think that would go really well. Okay. I'm stalling a bit because I don't even know how to dig in all these movies. Yeah. There's been a ton of stuff that's come out recently. And we've seen a lot of them. I've more or less organized this in reverse chronology where we start at the most recent movies that have come out and go backwards from there. How do you feel about that? I feel good. I've seen most of the first ones and at some point it drops off because I was away. You've seen a couple that I haven't seen too. Oh, okay. So let's start with Him. Okay. Because Him is the highest grossing new movie of the weekend.

28:43Right. This is the new film from Monkey Paw Productions, which is Jordan Peele's company. There were a lot of produced by Jordan Peele notes on the marketing and posters around town, which I think confused some people and made them think maybe this was a Jordan Peele movie. It is not. It's directed by Justin Tipping. It's written by Skip Bronkey, Zach Akers, and Tipping. And it stars Marlon Wayans, Tyreek Withers, who we just saw. And I know what you did last summer, the reboot of that franchise. Julia Fox and Tim Heidecker. This is not what I was expecting. What were you expecting? I think I was expecting something along the lines of any given Sunday.

29:20Oliver Stone's look at professional football, non-NFL sanctioned, but a kind of ensemble drama slash hyperkinetic action movie set in the world of sports. And I knew that this had a huge horror element. We saw the trailer for this movie at CinemaCon. And I remember we were talking with Craig Horlbeck and we were like, it's kind of never really been like a sports horror movie before, or at least not one set in the world of football. Makes a lot of sense. Football is one of the most beloved and known things in our culture. And coming from Jordan Peele's company, a lot of this makes a lot of sense.

29:54The movie heading into the weekend was tracking really well. And then all of a sudden it dived pretty dramatically in part because it's gotten very bad reviews. So I thought this was going to be a big story of Epic Scope in which a lot of football was played. Right. Well, another key word there is story. Yeah. Which you thought there was going to be a story. There's not a lot of story. I mean, there's some story, but it is pretty bare bones. Yeah. And it's an idea. It's a great idea. It's a great idea. And it also, it is, it wants to be, or I shouldn't say want to, wants to. It is a movie about, you know, how football, the football industry preys upon or uses up, you know, young black men in particular.

30:39I guess it's a little bit about black masculinity. It knows it's all of its ideas. But then that's just like, well, that's it. It's like, so again, this is what it's about. And we're going to say that to you pretty literally. Well, there's like one more aspect of it, but it's connected to what you just described, which is I think like the religion of football. Yeah. And the way that people turn themselves over to these godlike powers and who is really in charge of the institutions. And then who do they use inside of those institutions? How do they prey upon those people? And so in this case, the movie is about a young star quarterback coming out of college who is about to be drafted and could be the next great QB.

31:20And the team he becomes closely aligned with is known as the Saviors. Hint, hint. And in an effort to train ahead of the launch of the new season, he goes to the home of a retiring quarterback for the franchise, maybe retiring quarterback, who is an icon to this franchise beloved. And Tyreek Withers is the young prospect. Marlon Wayans plays this iconic figure. and it's sort of like like a Silence of the Lambs style horror character study between these two guys and the things that they go through and it's sort of a mystery but it's not scary and then there's no real revelation at the other side of it.

32:06I will say the movie is extremely stylish and beautiful but it does effectively feel like a 90 minute commercial you know where you can watch a commercial and be like damn cinematography the vision the way that this is executed. Commercials can be beautiful, but they're often kind of hollow. And this movie looked beautiful to me, but I thought the story was very hollow. And I thought despite some kind of interesting performances from the two leads, it was like really unsuccessful and kind of enervating. Like the whole time I was sort of like, when is the story going to start? Yes, exactly. Because it's like, it's just a movie about training because there's no football played.

32:40And then it's, and also the only other aspect of the story is like, is he going to be the goat? But they keep saying, will he be the goat? Like, it's like, can he be elected president or something? Like, it's like a literal, you know, title or job. It's like it's MVP. Yes. And I'm like, well, I'm glad you guys like podcasts so much, but that's not really how it works. And you sound stupid when you keep saying it. I thought Julia Fox was very funny. She was the only person I thought who was really like on the wavelength of the camp sense of humor in the movie. And I don't know if that's, that feels like a function of directing.

33:17Like, the performers are not really at fault if the movie has a completely uneven tone. And the tone is just really, there's times where it is like a brutally violent psychological horror film. And then there are other times where it's like borderline slapstick. Yeah. And I found it a little bit tough to understand what they were actually going for, ultimately. Yeah. I mean, I was just, I was missing a plot, you know? Yeah. And I agree with you that it looked, you know, good and distinctive. And it's like, I understand what they wanted to convey to us, but I didn't. I was bored, honestly. I was just bored because there was no, you know, first act, second act, third act.

34:01It just, it wasn't moving anywhere. Yeah. The movie that that actually made me think about, which it, on the surface, may not seem like it has a lot in common with, but I think actually has a lot in common with, is Infinity Pool. I don't know if you ever saw that, the Alexander Skarsgård, Mia Goth movie that Brandon Cronenberg directed. Oh, no, yeah. Skarsgård is like on a vacation and he meets this with his girlfriend and he meets this couple and they kind of draw him into their world. And it's about seclusion and cult-like fascination and it's very gory and phantasmagoric and there's an orgy sequence in this movie, there's an orgy sequence in that movie.

34:37But like the Cronenberg movie has a million things on its mind, is really immersive and interesting. thing you have no idea where it's going this movie is just kind of like dead end after dead end right and i mean it was a bummer it's parceled out day by day with like you know title cards that tell you what's gonna happen and it was it was really weird and they don't really they don't lead anywhere and they're not really insightful about the plotting of the story so yeah this is this is a pretty big disappointing miss i you know you you mentioned that you really like tyreek withers when we were doing i know what you did last summer and he definitely he has he has screen presence.

35:11I thought he was good and memorable. You know, I thought that that movie like this sort of did a disservice to its cast. Can't use their terms. Yeah. It's not his fault. Marlon Wayans is 53. I know. So that would be old for a QB. Now he looks great. He looks great. He's in great shape. And I guess you could buy it. But I have been living with Marlon Wayans in my life for a really long time. But are you supposed to, there are a lot of like, like occult bargain with the devil. Like, you know, there's a little substance going on in here. So aren't you supposed to believe that like, I mean, he's like literally getting blood transfusions.

35:53So I don't know. People can do weird shit now. But we're not meant to believe in the chronology of the story that he's been playing for 32 years. Which is how long he would be playing. That's fine. In this NFL. If he's 45, you know, how old's Tom Brady and he just quit? I think he retired at 45. Okay. So, you know, I didn't pause on it. I'm not trying to age shame Marlon Wayans. He looks, sounds better than I ever will and is more successful. That wasn't the biggest logic problem in the movie for me. I guess I'm like, I saw Marlon Wayans in a movie in like 1991. Yeah. You know, so it's just a little, just a head scratcher for me.

36:29was him more or less of a fiasco than a big bold beautiful journey this is a great question maybe less but that's possibly just because of expectations okay so I'm glad you set it up that way and I would say him at least achieves something visually where like huh where It had a certain kind of style that maybe we don't see at the movies. I enjoyed the one moment in him, by the way, when the headshot comes in and they flipped to X-Ray. Oh, yeah. You know, there were a couple of choices like that that were cool. A Big Bull Beautiful Journey is kind of a heartbreaking movie. I love Koganada's first film, Columbus.

37:21Incredible. Love. One of my favorite movies of the last 20 years. I talked about it. The year that it came out, it was in my top five. I had him on the show for After Yang. He's a really gifted filmmaker. This movie is just dead on arrival. And I feel terrible to say that, but people have pointed something out interesting about it. It's a real what happened here. It really is. Top to bottom. Yes. It is like a dead pigeon. It's a movie that never takes off. And it stars Margot Robbie. This is her first feature film since Barbie. Colin Farrell, who has been having a great few years. And then even in the supporting cast, Kevin Kline, Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

38:04It's not written by Coconata and it is not edited by Coconata. Okay. Something for us to cite, if you liked After Yang or Columbus, it has some of this, like the kind of presentational style, the framing, the way that he sets up a shot. But everything else feels different. And the story, it's a movie about two people who essentially get set up on a blind date at a wedding. And they also, through a rental car service, take them, it takes them on a journey through moments in their past so that they can reflect on who they are, who they were, the things that they did, and whether or not they can or should be together.

38:44And it reminded me a little bit of like really kind of treacly 90s movies like What Dreams May Come, you know? Totally. Like in a sort of magical realist world and it's a very sincere, sentimental exploration of feeling, but without any sense of humor or grounding that really clicks. And then the worst thing, I think you'll agree with me, is these two people who are individually great have no chemistry. No. And I was thinking a lot about the Margot Robbie character is just a manic pixie dream girl nightmare. And it does have that construction of who is this whimsical woman dressed like Blake Lively from It Ends With Us, leading this man through some sort of adventure where he can access his emotions and then maybe find love.

39:39Really, really bad stuff. I have a friend who read the original script and said that the script was also originally really good and very different. so your point about how it was not written by Koganada there's maybe a mismatching here and the interpretation

39:58I texted him and I was like okay but what was good in it I really honestly can't find anything maybe besides Colin Farrell doing How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying yeah well I didn't I kind of enjoyed that part for three minutes I was like oh okay so it's you know there's a high school musical set piece in the center of the movie that is very charming. Yeah. And maybe the movie should have just been a musical entirely. That might have actually been more successful. But I don't know. Some of this is my own hang up because like I took this movie in the movie auction. Yeah. In my movie fantasy league that I'm in, I have this movie.

40:37It's probably the only movie I picked in that league that is like just straight up not going to do anything. And I think maybe just my appreciation for the two previous Coconata movies had me hyped up about it, you know? I mean, the writing was on the wall as this, you know, this was Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie, and Koganata. Before we knew anything about it besides what was on paper, it was anticipated. And then the fall festival lineups came on one by one, and there was just absolutely nothing. It gets this release date. I think it was originally supposed to be, was it Mother's Day? I think it was Mother's Day.

41:12Yeah. And then they bumped it. And I was like, they bumped it into this September wasteland. Right. And I was like, that's not good. But I think when they bumped it. We had hoped it was like a awards contender. Right. Because we thought that it was because it was after a film festival. So we thought maybe it would debut and then coast right into that. To not even be a tiff is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, the suspicions were correct. Yeah. And. Really tough stuff. It's wild. And. By the way, I didn't think the visual style worked either. I think he was trying to do a kind of elevated, imagined production design, like children's book production design.

41:51For sure. And at times it worked, and at other times I was like, why are we in a Burger King right now? Yeah. Like, what is even the thinking here of this product placement that is meant to be whimsical but is just so tacky? Yeah, really, really depressing. Just a series of, like, really bad choices over and over again. And this is tough because him and A Big Bull Beautiful Journey are literally what I'm asking for. Right. original young filmmakers relatively inexperienced have only made a couple of movies original stories stars ascendant stars using genre as a springboard to draw audiences in horror and romance in this case I guess rom-com to some extent mostly romance yeah and a film for young male audiences and a film for young female audiences and this was an open weekend where they could do something and Demon Slayer and its second weekend just obliterated these movies.

42:44Yeah. Because nobody wants this specific thing. Now, both of these movies got very bad reviews. Very bad reviews. And bad cinema scores. Yes. Like, no one is happy. Yes. So, I don't want to, you know, confuse or conflate. It happens. Sometimes you try things and they don't work. Yes. And then the studios put them all on the same day. You know, it's the movie version of taking, you know, Friday news dump. Yeah, it's a September dump. Exactly. So it feels really bad in this moment because all the things we want didn't pan out. But they are packaged together for that reason. They are. And the thing is, when you and I grouse about this or people who just love movies and want quality original storytelling grouse about it, this is what executives are afraid of.

43:28You know, Him is probably like a$30 million movie and it'll probably make its money back and be fine. But A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, this is a big expensive movie with movie stars. And it's going to lose a lot of money. It made$4 million this weekend. I mean, it's going to lose a ton of money. And Sony is already having a terrible year. So this is why people are afraid to take risks. It's because if you make a big, beautiful journey and you fail, you're going to get fired. And the studio is going to make three more Spider-Man spinoffs. Because they report to their shareholders. So anyway, that context I think is useful, even though I would have loved to have loved this movie.

44:00And ironically, the next movie that we will talk about is the third installment in a movie series, which is spun off from a TV series, which is the exact thing that we say we don't want and are sick of. And it's one of the most delightful movies of the year. I mean, as you said to me when we walked out from our fan screening the Wednesday night, we sat next to people who talked loudly at the TV as if they were at the screen, as if they were at home watching TV. We were the youngest people at the screening, yeah. And that's okay because, you know, at some point when you're like, they should make one of these every year and release them.

44:31It's like, that is called television, you know? That's true. And I would watch it. happily, we are, of course, talking about Downton Abbey, the grand finale, which I hope is not the grand finale. Me too. Well, you know, let's keep going. What a winner. It's 1930. We have 10 years before the war, you know, like there's plenty more that we can get to. We could do this. We could do Lady Mary for the next 50 years. Come on. I guess so, though. At some point, she like, she does have to sell Downton Abbey, you know, so that's fine. That's right. But then that actually kind of is the end. But then you just change the title to after Downton Abbey.

45:04I guess And then it's London in the mid-century. I'm almost caught up on Gilded Age. Hello, Tracy Letts. How are you? And I'm having the time of my life. And that is, of course, like Julian Fellowes' next big post-Downden Abbey project. But that's set in the 1910s, right? No, I think it's the late 1800s. Oh, the 1800s. But it is notably not filmed at an existing great manor in the UK. It is filmed on sound stages and then uses, you know, respectfully, some of the worst CGI I have ever seen in my entire life. Cool. It's New York though, right? Yeah, but it's like, you know, it looks super, super fake because they're imagining a New York of 100 years ago.

45:46And then, I don't know, like no spoilers, but I just watched there was a crash recently that like was insulting. You know, like I pay for my HBO Max. Like, come on. Just how bad it looks. Yeah, like you guys actually can do a little better. But so you, this is all to say that like Julian Fellows needs the location for it to like, and I'm loving Gilded Age and like I hope it runs forever. But I do think that you need an actual place. And so if they had to sell down Naby, that would be tough. Well, it's interesting that you say that because that is obviously a huge part of the tension of this story.

46:22Because this movie takes place, as you said, in 1930. and the Crawleys are, they have to downsize. Yeah. You know, we're entering a new era of England and the manor era is ending and the family has to look at their finances and what they can and can't afford. Just running the Abbey, just upkeeping it is tremendously expensive. Plus, you know, you've got Lord Crawley is passing the sort of family heritage and ownership down to Lady Mary. Is he Lord Crawley or Lord Grantham? Lord Grantham, excuse me. Yeah. Why do I keep saying Crawley? Well, their family name is Crawley. Got it. Lord Grantham, you're right.

46:58But he is Lord Grantham. Yeah. Thank you for correcting me. And the tension literally in the movie is that they tore a flat, which would be easily the nicest apartment you and I have ever lived in. Totally. And he is just baffled and miserable at the idea of living in this flat. Lord Grantham gets his what is a weekend, which is like what is a flat. Yes. And he's like, what if I want to go upstairs, you know, to take a bath? And they're like, there is no upstairs. But yeah, they have to, they sell their London home, right? Right. Which is what all like all the quote unquote great families were doing at that time.

47:37But they, so they can keep the estate. Right. But if you don't got the estate. Yeah, obviously it should be the other way around. They should be selling the Abbey so that they can keep the London home. That's what you would do. Well, yeah. Yeah. Because we know what happens to all of these giant manors in the 20th century. They all become decrepit and have to be sold off. I mean. And become like museum pieces. That is true. And it's the Second World War that, you know, brings it on. And only really the richest people. If only they could see the rise of fascism in 1930. Well, they also opened them to, there's an option where they like become museums.

48:10Yeah, sure. And that still happens where like people live in little small wings and then, you know, like the National Trust and all that stuff. What does that mean for Lord Grantham's bottom dollar, though? You know, have you considered that? Well, you pay entrance and people go, and then there's a gift shop. Okay. And so, you know, that could be funny. Very cool. Lady Mary is the docent of the something. I don't really know. Keep making them. This movie, the other thing this movie does. Okay. Matthew Goode was not available for movie two. And so he just wasn't in it, and they were, quote unquote, having marital problems.

48:45Yes. Matthew Good's character is married to Michelle Dockery's character, Lady Mary. Yes, Henry. And he likes racing cars. As, you know, sure. So, I guess he was not available for movie three. He was too busy doing Department Q or whatever is going on. Good show. I still haven't seen it. It'll be next on my list. Really liked it. Gilded Age is more important to me personally. You know me, I never say good show. I thought it was very good. Okay, that's great. So, although I think Chris and Andy spoiled it for me. whatever. Anyway, so Matthew Good cut out. Lady Mary's getting a divorce, and this is bringing on a lot of social tension, which is also a major plot line in episode, in season three of The Gilded Age, just to let you know.

49:28Things have not gotten better, at least for the Brits. Well, that is 50 years in the past, but sure. Well, but for Downton Abbey, things have not gotten better. But it's really also like, Americans, it's okay, but the Brits, you know, are slow and proper. Anyway, so Lady Mary is getting a divorce and instead has to possibly get frisky with some people who come to visit. Alessandro Navola. Yeah. Who plays a companion of Paul Giamatti's brother character of Elizabeth McGovern. And he is in financial straits at the height of the... No, I guess right at the end of the Depression, essentially. 1930 would be right when the Depression is ending.

50:09Right. And he has been financially rescued by the Nivola character. Right. And he whisks his way into this London lifestyle. Right. And the Nivola character also has a horse running at Ascot. Yes. And this, again, it's a major CGI Ascot. It is. And so this is the problem. You need the real house. Well, you do. I do. Yes. I have standards. Okay. But Lady Mary is going to be downsizing soon. This is your version of the at-ats or CGI. instead of real. No, no, no, no. We want the real house. Okay. I stand with you. I stand with you. Like, let's, location matters. It didn't take away from my utter enjoyment of this movie.

50:49Yeah, same. But I'm just, this is for, you know, the next grand finale. Yes. If you like these movies, like if you liked the show, all three movies are great. Yeah. If you don't care about the show, there's no reason to watch the movies. Right. I would say that my rankings of the movies are number two is the best, then this one. Two, three, one. Yeah. Yeah, 2, 3, 1. I'm with you, 100%. 3 was great. I feel like it's doing fine. The first movie made well over$100 million. Like, it was a hit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The second movie did fine. Yeah. This movie's doing less well. Second movie, though, was Pandemic.

51:19It was. I watched it on Peacock with my mom, and that was one of the... You didn't see it with me? No, I didn't. Oh, okay. I saw it in theaters, and I had a grand old time. No, I watched it at home with my mother, and it was awesome. Okay. Let me tell you about The Long Walk. Oh, I was on leave. That's why. That makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How could you and I not see it together? And then I was with my mom and we put Knox to bed and we were just like, it's Downton Abbey time. Two is great. Two is incredible. And again, they go to the real house in the south of France. And it is also real estate focused.

51:49You're pointing at me very aggressively. Well, you did two hours about physical media. Let me do five minutes about how we need to use real houses. If you want to do a whole Downton Abbey episode, you can do it. No, just real houses, real places. Best movie houses is a great idea for an episode. So just think on that. I know you're going to say Father of the Bride and da-da-da. I have done, I did do that list on an episode of the Rewatchables. That's right. Yeah, but... On the Nancy Meyers episode? No, it was actually on the War of the Roses episode, which by the way, we did not see the roses.

52:20Sorry. Yeah. I saw a lot of posters for it in France. They were really excited about it in France. However, I was not. The rare case where I am a hypocrite in that I don't want movies to go to VOD three weeks after release ever. I want them to stay in theaters as long as possible. This was the one time where I was like, please, I would like to see the roses because I was out of town when the movie was released. Anyhow, Olivia Colman is on Good Hang last week. Yeah, she was delightful. She's great. You're not missing a whole lot. Okay. You saw the roses? I did. You didn't love it. All right. It's fine.

52:49Okay. This episode is supported by FX's The Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawke. Allow us to introduce you to Lee Raybon, a quirky journalist slash rare bookstore owner slash unofficial truth seeker who is always on the tail of his latest conspiracy. This time, his most recent expose puts him head-to-head with a powerful family that rules Tulsa, meaning only one thing. He must be onto something big. FX's The Lowdown premiere September 23rd on FX. Stream on Hulu. Let me tell you about The Long Walk quickly, because I had a lot of people ask me if I saw this. I was texting with a couple of friends over the weekend about this movie, too.

53:22So this is the latest Stephen King adaptation. It is directed by Francis Lawrence. The screenplay is by J.T. Molnar, who is the man who wrote and directed Strange Darling from last year. this is a kind of an interesting movie in the Stephen King history because it is arguably the first novel he ever wrote and he wrote it in the 60s when he was a freshman at the where did he go to the University of Maine he did yeah so he went to the University of Maine he started writing novels and he was in college his first big hit novel was Carrie in 1974 and this book The Long Walk sat on the shelf basically for 10 years and he got it published in 79 under his Richard Bachman alias, which is an alias that he has.

54:03A lot of writers have aliases they publish other novels under. He's published many books under Bachman. I've never read The Long Walk, even though I've read a lot of those 70s King books. For whatever reason, this one always got past me. It's kind of shocking that it hasn't been adapted until now, but the premise is very simple. It is essentially

54:26Shirley Jackson's The Lottery mixed with a marathon. Oh, okay. So it's about teens, one from each state, come together once a year to engage in this kind of high-stakes contest where they walk for as long as they possibly can while keeping their pace above three miles per hour until there's one person left standing. And that one person left standing is the winner and wins a great prize, unspecified amount of money. Okay. This is clearly run by like a state organization, the military essentially. There's a major played by Mark Hamill who is essentially in charge of this whole thing and he is in a truck riding with the walkers throughout the entirety of this film.

55:13Really good premise. Francis Lawrence who has made a number of Hunger Games films. I was going to say, a familiar premise for Francis Lawrence. Red Sparrow, Constantine, made some interesting movies. is definitely like a high-toned genre of violence filmmaker. stars Cooper Hoffman and David Johnson. Cooper Hoffman is the lead. He's like our entry character, our portal character. Okay. And he is a young guy who is bound and determined to win this contest, but he doesn't reveal why until very late in the film. David Johnson, who people may have seen in Alien Romulus or Industry, is wonderful in the first two seasons of Industry.

55:54He plays another guy, McVries, who befriends Cooper Hoffman's character early on in the film. And the whole film is just these guys walking and talking. And also terrible things happening to them. If they fall below three miles per hour. They get three warnings until they are shot dead. Okay. They, some people get violently ill along the walk. Some people lose their mind and become suicidal on the walk. You got to remember, they're walking hundreds of miles. So, they have to piss and defecate. And, like, all of this comes into play. It's a very gnarly movie in that respect. It's kind of showing you everything.

56:32And I was, I was like, more or less into it. Okay. And you can see it's a very hard movie to make because it is essentially like the camera is where the truck is that Mark Hamill is standing on. And the actors are just into camera walking through the entirety of the production. I read that they shot it in, what is the word I'm looking for? From start to finish, essentially. In sequence. In sequence, thank you. So they shot it in sequence. And Hoffman and Johnson are amazing in this movie. The script is okay. there's like some character stuff that is a little bit like glab or overwritten but their performances are great Johnson is not American and he's affecting a very interesting southern accent okay and Cooper Hoffman is like I watched the movie and I was like just put these guys in movies for the next 40 years yeah that would be amazing to let them star in movies I thought the ending of this movie was terrible and I'm loathe to spoil it for people who haven't seen it yet but I thought it kind of like rejected a lot of what was exciting about the premise.

57:35The movie is, like so many movies right now, kind of like a late capitalism metaphor for how money and institutions make everyone crazy and that's how they control people. Yeah. You know, it's very much like a post-apocalyptic landscape but maybe set in the 1970s somehow but they're non-specific about everything. It's all just very much about these guys. Some of the actors are good. Some of them are not so good. But it was diverting and then at the end I was mad. Okay. That's my takeaway from it. All right. I wish it was better. And if this was a podcast about the long walk, I'd go frame by frame through it.

58:09But it just felt like a major rejection. I mean, in a movie like that, you have to stick the landing or else everything else is kind of invalidated. It was just dead silent in my movie theater at the end. Like, huh. And that was the opposite of what I think the intention was. So kind of spoiled the experience for me. But Hoffman and Johnson, wonderful. Lawrence, solid filmmaker. refresh your good vibes with tic tac with the right vibes with oh man to

58:52now try the different tic tac from minty fresh to fruit sweet tic tac refresh The single biggest movie that was released while we were out is Freakier Friday. Yes. So I saw it in a movie theater alone, like a normal man at four o 'clock on a Thursday. I saw it in a movie theater alone at 1150 on a Tuesday. And a bachelorette party came in. No kidding. Yeah. What? In the morning? I don't know. And then some of them left halfway through. It was very confusing. Also, maybe it was a birthday. I don't know. They were dressed up. Someone was wearing something that looked like a veil. I see. Good luck to everyone.

59:35This is the sequel to Freaky Friday, which is itself a remake of the original film Freaky Friday. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray all returning. Rosalind Chow and Julia Butters, Sophia Hammonds, and Manny Jacinto have joined the gang. Yeah. So two decades after an identity crisis, Anna's blended family faces new challenges. Anna is Lindsay Lohan. When Tess and Anna discover their past may be repeating with the next generation. That's the plot of this movie. What do you think? I had a nice time. I mean, this, again, I could have watched this at home. You know, it didn't.

1:00:15It looked. I appreciated that they filmed on location in Los Angeles. Speaking of location, including, you know, like at the line, at, you know, various L.A. landmarks. But it has a glossy Disney movie quality that would have been fine. It was originally slated for Disney Plus. Was that the idea? Or was it always a theatrical film? I thought it was maybe a Disney Plus film that they converted. That they converted. But, you know, it has at least looks-wise that feel. It does. But, you know, I root for Lindsay Lohan, always and forever. Yes. The queen of Long Island. I thought she was very funny.

1:00:48And I liked that Manny Jacinto got to do Dirty Dancing. and Manny Jacinto is British? Don't know. Let's Google that right now. Manny Jacinto. As far as I know, he is not British? Filipino Canadian. Okay. Let's click through. That is not British. That's true. But did he possibly grow up somewhere? You know, because it's like where you go to school. This is an interesting phenomenon. He was raised in Richmond, British Columbia. Okay. That is not British. They don't have English accents in British Columbia. Um, I, this is interesting because when British people are cast as Americans or Australians cast as Americans, we say, oh yeah, sure.

1:01:33Makes sense. Right. Normal. Sometimes it sounds a little bit funny. Right. But we're always willing to go with the flow. When I was watching this. Yes. All I could think when he was on screen is what is many Jacinto British. Right. And I don't know what is and is not a good British accent. So that was your entire experience of Freaker Friday? I echo your feelings about Lindsay Lohan. You know, we're like the same age. I grew up 10 minutes from her. I have always wanted success for her. She obviously is like incredibly talented and then spent 10 years in the wilderness. People legit worried about her.

1:02:06In this movie, I was like, oh, it's like nothing happened. She's like exactly the same on screen. Her performance style, her sense of humor, like how she can kind of hold a movie together. It's weird. It's weird that like she just came back and everything's fine. It's great. It's great. I'm happy for her. And this is a fun movie. this is a movie that when I was watching it I was like I wish my daughter was six years older because this would be such a fun thing to take her to this is exactly the kind of thing I know she's gonna love just knowing her sense of humor she's gonna be all into this it felt weird to be a 40 year old man sitting in a movie theater alone watching this I'm happy for Julia Butters yeah she's making a career so I've learned that Sophia Hammonds who plays Lily yes Manny Jacinto's British daughter is also American that's so that's weird and early life Again, this is Wikipedia.

1:02:52So Hammonds was born in South Pasadena, California, and moved to Boulder, Colorado at the age of six. And they don't have British accents there. They were not schooled in a place where there are British accents. To the best of mine, research on Wikipedia. Because the movie hinges on this tension between this British family that has left their home country and then has become a blended family with Lindsay Lohan's family and her daughter, played by Julia Butters. Right. And it's sort of this idea of like, I don't want to be here. and I miss my mom. But like, it could have been New York and that would have had absolutely no material plot difference.

1:03:27Or you could have cast British actors. And there are a lot of them in LA. It's not like they had to fly them in. But you know, I thought Manny Jacinto and Sophia Hammons were both very good. They were good. I don't know why I tripped on this. It's just because I'm like, I know Manny Jacinto from The Good Place. That's not what he sounds like. But so then, here's another thing. Spoiler alert. This is a dumb thing. I'm not complaining about this. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. Some of the characters switch bodies. They do. A number of them, which is revealed in the trailer. So at some point you have Jamie Lee Curtis trying to do like the fake British accent as the teenager.

1:04:04So like maybe they did it just for that comedy. They give her a lot of comedy when she is examining what her face looks like now. Let me ask you a question. Where are you at on Jamie Lee Curtis in 2025? So, like, oh, you know, I did see the Ella McKay trailer before this screening. What'd you think of that? And I, well, I'm nervous, John, I'll tell you. I'm nervous. I am as well. And what I think about Jamie Lee Curtis is that this might wind up being my favorite performance of the three Jamie Lee Curtis performances that I took in in 2025. Including the last show, Girl, you're saying? No, that was 2024.

1:04:45I'm talking about the bear. Oh, the bear, of course. Well, that's TV. Well, you know, but it's been integral to her reinvention. So, you know, she plays a mom with a lot going on, the next generation. You know what else she plays? What? A podcaster. Oh, that's right. That was funny. You know, life comes for us all. Comes for us all. Yeah. Yeah, she's very present these days. Very noisy. She's won an Academy Award. I listened to her entire episode of WTF. Wild ride. Yeah. Wild ride. I mean, wildlife. She's a lot of person. Yeah. Just a tremendous amount of person. I could feel Marc Maron being overwhelmed by being in the room with her for 90 minutes.

1:05:27Anyway, I've always liked her. In my youth, she was one of the hottest people I'd ever seen. Freaky Friday, I recommend it. I do too. It was fun. Yeah. Okay, Splitsville. Yes.

1:05:40Now, I'm of two minds about this movie. Okay. So it's written and directed by Michelangelo Covino and Kyle Marvin. They were on this show some years ago for their film The Climb, which was about two buddies who were into cycling. Yeah. It's sort of an existential drama, sort of a comedy. Right. Slapstick, but with a lot of heart and depth. This movie very much in the same vein, right? Very much an exploration of failed masculinity, but also like a funny movie about guys who trick hot women into being with them. Yeah. In this case, they have leveled up to cast Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona, who are, speaking of hot women, like, in a very rare air.

1:06:20They are. And these guys, who seem like lovely guys, and very funny and talented, probably not bagging these two ladies. And that is kind of part of the joke of the movie, but not explicitly. But it is, but, like, it isn't. We can come back to that if you want. the the movie one of the things that i like about this that i liked about this movie which i enjoyed is like you are asking like what is going on here a lot and not in the him sense of like what like what is the story and like when when is this going to be over because i'm i'm bored but everything you are involved enough in the characters to be like okay but like why are you making these choices, which is, you know, the point this is, it's not a romantic comedy, but it is sort of a, it is riffing on the genre for sure.

1:07:19I think it's an exploration of long-term relationships and why they do or don't work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like couple friends, we have couple friends, you know, we have a lot of couple friends and like the weird energy of couple friends, you know, especially in this case, like when people are like in love with their other friend's spouse and all the awkwardness that comes with that. Right, right, right. There's a lot of stuff in the movie that feels very like raw and natural. Yes. And that's like amounts to the filmmaking, right? Like these guys are really good filmmakers and they make this feel like a very tactile world.

1:07:49Right. Like a realistic setting for a very silly movie. Exactly. And so then when either the characters or the situation gets like the heat gets turned on, which it does. and I say this to the film's credit that I thought it was over like five different times because you're like, okay, so now we've concluded this social experiment. And they're like, no, no, no, we have more. And you're both like, wait, like what? But also I would like to know what happens. Yeah, yeah. So the fact that it is Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona in this lends itself to, like it is another thing of like, okay, but you guys are like really hot.

1:08:28so what are we doing here? It's almost distracting. Yeah. And it's distracting on purpose. Like they know what they're doing. Yeah. Right? It is, to me it is, I'm sure that they have talked about this. I haven't, I didn't talk to the guys for this movie because we were on vacation, but Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. Yeah. That movie. You know, Robert Culp and Ellie Gould are like handsome enough guys, but they're not Natalie Wood and Diane Cannon. Right. You know, and you're like, even watching that movie, you're like, wow, these are some really beautiful women with these guys who are like, you know, they're good looking guys, but this is a little distracting.

1:09:00But the same thing that movie is about, obviously, like, couple swapping and attraction amongst friends and the complexity of social norms and relationships, all the same stuff. This movie is even sillier than that one and probably has, like, a little bit less to say socioculturally. But it's really fun and it's good. And it has also, like, the little observations and, like, the one-liners and like the settings that they put, you know, the various experiments are all like very funny, well-observed. You know, there's like a very good Airbnb plot line at one point. You know, it's kind of like, oh, things that you recognize and are not like, you know, splitting the atom, but are well done and funny.

1:09:48Another very funny, we were talking private schools and public schools offline. There's a whole private school thing here that is very real, you know, very recognizable. I recommend this movie. It's on VOD tomorrow. Okay, great. So people can watch it if it didn't come to their city when it came out because it got, you know, only semi-wide release. But recommended. Yeah, very funny. Okay, Megadoc. Yeah. Now, we talked about Megadoc a little bit when you got back, when you were still in Venice, actually, on our festival episode. this is the new documentary from Mike Figgis that is all about the making of Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis.

1:10:23Which was released almost one year ago. I think probably to the weekend. Maybe one year ago, yeah. I might have been November. No, it wasn't because it was before Psy was born and Psy's almost won. That was my last podcast. It was September. It was post-fall festivals because it premiered at Cannes. Maybe not accidental. We were mixed down on Megalopolis as much as we wanted to love that movie. Yeah, we were befuddled. I have yet to return to it. I have since acquired a Blu-ray copy from Australia, courtesy of our friend Alex Ross Perry, who was in Australia and got me one, which is a very kind act.

1:11:01That is very nice. So the Coppola shelf is complete, except for the film Jack. I don't own Jack. Okay. What's holding you back? No Blu-ray. Oh, okay. I own all the other films on Blu-ray. Oh, and so it's like a... Do you think that there will be a Blu-ray of Jack released? I mean, there's not a good reason to release it on Blu-ray. It's not a film anybody really likes. But I'd like to own it just for my shelf. Anyhow, Megalopolis, I'd like to return to it. Yeah. It's the movie that, knowing myself, I'll find a million excuses for it the second time I watch it. Oh, actually this. Oh, actually that.

1:11:33Because that is something I like to do. And I think Megadoc is an incredible companion piece. And, you know, Francis Ford Coppola invites Mike Figgis to make this documentary, which is, you know, just an incredible act of hubris, but also a gift to filmmaking history, I guess. Yeah, it's hubris and humility, right? It's like they're really in collision with each other because he's risking a lot, not just financially, but personally by showing himself, you know, at 80 years old, making this huge project. And he's very confident in his vision. And Figgis has a lot of access. He does. And is there for a lot of the conflicts.

1:12:15And frankly, just a lot of, you watch all of these people and primarily among them, Francis Ford Coppola, trying to figure out what this movie is and how they want to make it and what it's supposed to look like. And how is he going to communicate what's been in his head for 40 or 50 years to everyone on set and then to everyone like, you know, in the world who's going to see the film. And I felt better about my struggle to understand it watching this. And it almost, I think if I watched Megalopolis now, having seen Megadoc, I would at least understand and know what to look for a bit more. And so in some ways it is a great guide and is, you know, a stroke of genius by Coppola to have this made and made with a real filmmaker so that, you know, maybe it can help some people like on the journey to understand what the hell's going on.

1:13:11It's as raw a making of as you will ever see in part because it consistently shows not just conflict, but failure. Yeah. And there are two things that I think really recommend the movie for me personally. one is this kind of crisis over the production design and visual effects which you just never see in a movie like this and this is something like coppola's vision was so bold and specific but unachievable yeah which is of course like a signature of his entire career he's always reaching for something that we have not yet developed and so he's always trying to put things in his movies in physical production that can't be accomplished and we watch a production designer, a very accomplished production designer, leave this project, quit, get fired, whatever.

1:13:51It's unclear. But because she's just like, this is not how we do this. I don't feel comfortable pursuing it in this way. She wanted a deeper reliance on visual effects. Coppola did not. He wanted things in camera. And that stuff is fascinating, at least for me personally. And then the second thing is Shia LaBeouf, a very controversial person, a person who's been at the center of a lot of scandal in the last five or 10 years. Which he acknowledges at length in the film. Very much. Clearly someone who's got a lot of problems and is trying to work through them. Wildly gifted actor. Yeah. Wildly gifted.

1:14:23And even in Megalopolis, he's kind of all over the place at times, but he's just got a lightning bolt inside of him. You see him on set challenging Coppola over and over and over again. And on the one hand, he's so goddamn annoying. Yeah. And he's pissing Francis Ford Coppola off so much. And you can't always figure out even specifically what it is that Shia wants. However, because Coppola doesn't really have his arms around this movie, it's like Shia has located a vulnerability and is attacking it. And he seems like a rude dick. And you're like, this guy's 80 years old and is a genius and he made The Godfather.

1:14:58But also you're like, yeah, something is... Your points are being made. Yes, exactly. Exactly. And again, something you just never, ever see in movies like this. and and you know and it does have just like all like this stray moments of serendipity like that that you catch in a documentary with with this level of access and as you pointed out that um because figus is such an experienced filmmaker he puts himself into the documentary at some point which is usually like you know red alert disaster sign but in this way he is adding like his own perspective on the ground. I mean, he's doing journalism.

1:15:37Totally. It's like Dear Diary journalism, where he's turning the camera on himself and saying, like, okay, here's where I'm at. I'm trying to figure out where to go from here in the movie, which is actually quite interesting. But you get like some amazing Dustin Hoffman moments. You get, you know, bits like Natalie Emanuel didn't want to be filmed eating, which I get it, having now done a taste test on camera. But also, then that's like the only thing. She's like otherwise absent. from the doc. And, you know, I didn't think her performance worked in Megalopolis. It doesn't. And I was like, oh, you know, you can see this all coming together in real time.

1:16:14So I loved this movie. And I think anyone who has listened this far into this episode of the show will love Megadoc. I totally agree. There's one other thing that is very cool about it, which you might have mentioned when you were in Venice, was showing the previous iterations of this film that Coppola was trying to mount. Yeah. Another version of the movie where Ryan Gosling was portraying the Shia LaBeouf character, which would have been so fascinating and so different. And there were a series of it. There's a James Franco version, right? Like, what were the other versions? I think Virginia Madsen is in it.

1:16:47Virginia Madsen, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she was in, was she in the Natalie Emanuel role? No, she was in the Aubrey Plaza role. Yes. Yeah. Aubrey Plaza is also just, it's an Aubrey Plaza experience in this documentary. She's very fun and funny. Yeah. Those are kind of better than... The Gosling stuff is awesome. Awesome. That would have been really, really cool to see him plugged into that movie, especially at that time of his career. It's kind of like, when is that? Like Half Nelson, Murder by Numbers? I think so. I think it's like early 2000s. Yeah, yeah. And that time he was such a live wire as an actor.

1:17:17Yeah. Anyway, I totally agree with you. If you love movies and you're interested in behind the scenes movies, this is as cool as they get. Thursday Murder Club. I haven't seen this movie. Yes, I have seen it. I've also read every installment of the series on which it is based. I'm reading the new Richard Osmond Thursday Murder Club book right now. I think it's probably just out. I would have watched this if I knew this was such a thing for you. So Richard Osmond is a UK actor, TV personality, writer, and he started writing these books probably five or six years ago. And they are typically, you would call them cozy mysteries.

1:17:58and it is about a group of retirees at a retirement home in the UK who become friends because they like solving initially cold cases and then murders. Okay. And if that sounds ridiculous, it kind of is, but he writes, he's a great writer. He's very funny. If you are like an Anglophile, if you've seen every episode of Downton Abbey and also read Murder Mysteries, there is something very, you know, cozy, comforting, but also like amusing about them. I think he writes, he just like writes about old people, like really like lovingly. And like the, you know, like there's like there's life to live after 70 or even 80.

1:18:43And it's so I, the books are, are very well done. I recommend them. If that's your bag, the movie stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Emery, aka Una Alkenberry from the Bridget Jones movies. Oh, okay. And then just a murderer's row of supporting cast. I was disappointed. Damn. I mean, here's the thing. Directed by Chris Columbus. Directed by Chris Columbus. There were two things here, which is, it just becomes more, because it's a movie, it becomes more of a, like, solving a mystery as opposed to, you know, about these four people. And so you lose, like, a lot of the buddy, the chemistry, and, like, and the charm, essentially, even though all of those people are charming.

1:19:33I would argue that Pierce Brosnan is miscast as a, like, former, like, minor strike, like, you know, union leader. A little too dashing. But that's okay. I've just learned he's 72, though, So he is age appropriate. Yeah, everyone's age appropriate. Helen Mirren is playing Elizabeth, who's like the ex-MI5 or MI6 spy who saw things. But I don't know. The other thing, and not to, you know, not to harp on my location point, but they're all very nice apartments at the retirement home. I will say that this series is maybe over-promising on what awaits all of us at retirement homes because it seems like life's really great.

1:20:17but it's all sets. And, you know, I, like I expect a little like broad church or, you know, like you got to be on location. Like I'm, I'm, if I'm signing up for this British thing, you got to be in the countryside a little, you got to go places and it's very on set. So that was the other part that was disappointing to me. Yeah. I guess we should say this is on Netflix, right? So maybe that's why. Yeah. I'm sorry for you. I had no idea you were such a big fan of this, this series. Yeah. They send me the galleys every year. Thank you, Christina. No, I love them. I carried this to Europe so that I could read it.

1:20:53Prep for the movie? No, just because I wanted to read the book. Okay, great. I like these books a lot. Okay, I'll never watch this. Next up for me is the new Ian McEwen novel. I heard that he wrote a good book for the first time in 25 years. Was Atonement his last good book? I don't remember when Saturday and all of those came out, but yeah, it's been 20 years. Okay. Atonement. Shots fired at Ian McEwen in hour two of the big picture. Apparently it's good again, so I'm ready, you know? When are you joining Dua Lipa's book pod? Whenever she will have me. Happy 30th birthday, Dua Lipa. You look great.

1:21:26I would love to have one of your Pilates reformers at home. She's not listening to this podcast. Do you remember one time when Dua Lipa reblogged something? It was like some Spotify podcast thing. And so it was like her podcast and our podcast were on the same page. And so we were on Dua Lipa's Instagram. Yes. I can't name one Dua Lipa song. Sure you can. She should be an Oscar winner for Dance the Night Away. Oh yeah. Dua Lipa should have an Oscar. Okay. Did she write that? With Mark Ronson, of course. Does she have a writing credit? I think so. Okay. I'm not questioning her. You don't need to say it like that.

1:22:02Okay. I'm just asking. She's got a book club. She just sold out Madison Square Garden for four nights. She has a Pilates sponsorship where you can have a reformer at home. I just want to share this with you. Yeah. Dua Lipa is not going to fuck you. so you can just tone it down. She's doing great. She doesn't need you defending her and me. She's really beautiful. A man who doesn't care. Yeah. You know? She's beautiful, of course. And she should have an Oscar. Okay. And why were we talking about her? Because she has a book club. Oh, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Her whole podcast. Yeah, but she reads far more challenging books than I do.

1:22:38Okay. And they always sound really depressing. And apparently, like, her book events are great. But like I said, I'm reading Cozy Mysteries. Okay. And Ian McEwen novels. Are you aware of the plot of the film Eden? No. I think I was at one point, but then I forgot. Okay. I know it's Ron Howard's film. This is Ron Howard's film. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. It was an independent production. It did not have a studio. And it was ultimately distributed by Vertical. which is not not really the news you want to hear when you have a Ron Howard movie starring Sidney Sweeney Ana de Armas Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby this movie is based on a true story about a bunch of disillusioned Europeans who go to a remote island in the Galapagos and try to restart society I think in part because they see the advent of fascism in the late 1920s essentially and it becomes kind of oh it's like a period piece a period piece it's a hundred years ago it's like a Lord of the Flies style movie about these people from disparate worlds like a baroness and a doc like a crackpot doctor and two settler like intellectual settlers and it is the weirdest movie I've seen in the longest time it's not a bad movie weird good or weird bad or just like I don't know what to do with this it's more or less negligible okay It's a fascinating little dot on the roadmap of the careers of the stars of this movie.

1:24:14For Jude Law, you'd be like, yeah, sure. Jude Law, late career Jude Law, doing a movie with Ron Howard, period piece. Totally makes sense on paper. Ana de Armas and Sidney Sweeney in this movie, neither of whom are bad per se. Ana de Armas, very campy, very over the top in the movie, but super entertaining. And Sidney Sweeney, who's like kind of dressed down, not at all like the babe of the movie. She's very much, she's Daniel Brühl's wife. and she gives birth in this like very dramatic birth scene where she's fighting off wild dogs. I'm not kidding. There's like a weird... Are the dogs real or CGI?

1:24:45I don't remember. I think CGI. Yeah. Because she's like beating them off with a broom handle. It's an epidemic. It is. Anyway, I kind of don't know what to say. I'm not mad that I watched it. Okay. Happy ending? Certainly not. It is Lord of the Flies after all. it's just it's a what's it it's a how did this happen it's a you know this is like a 60 million dollar movie movie it's a Hollywood movie it's kind of what we were talking about earlier with the Big Bold Beautiful Journey these are some super famous people the filmmaking is fine you know it's definitely a different stripe of tone for Ron Howard I was just googling the Apollo 13 re-release I missed it you did I thought about this god damn it yeah you thought you were supporting Bring It On yeah Bring It On and Singing in the Rain you went to two rep screenings in one weekend Bring It On Ron Stingy in the Rain and Apollo 13, three formative movies for Amanda's film experience.

1:25:43Absolutely. So I love you, Apollo 13. Still not a rewatchables. Ron Howard, let's do the last 10 years. Okay. In the Heart of the Sea, 2015. Yeah. Not great. Is that what inspired though? The Sea is dope? No, that was a different film, I think called The Black Sea. Okay. Well, it was two. There were two trailers, but I don't think in the heart of the sea. The sea is dope. Let's do it right now. Is it the first return or the Grandland search results? So, yeah, it is. Okay, let's see. Black Sea, you're right. The Black Sea, yeah. And then in the heart of the sea. Oh, yeah, I was right. There you go.

1:26:22We were both right. Wow, this sweater that's in this post is really good. What sweater? It's like a fisherman, like a Donovan. Oh, yeah, sure. We're referring to Chris Ryan's legendary 10-year-old blog post on Grandland.com. If you don't know which... Oh, shit. We missed the 10th anniversary of it. Of The Sea is Dope. Yeah, October 21st, 2014. I didn't miss it. The Sea is Dope cult met in my basement. The Sea is Dope always. In the Heart of the Sea, Inferno, the third film in the Robert Langdon trilogy. Yeah, I don't think I ever saw that one. I read the book, though, I think. Solo, a Star Wars story.

1:26:52I love an airport novel. Okay. Hillbilly Elegy. Yeah. Watch that on Election Day. Joe Biden won that day. 13 Lives. pretty good yeah I never saw it pretty good Eden that's what I was just referring to he's also been directing documentaries right so he like he directed that Jim Henson documentary that was pretty good I enjoyed that he was on the show for that actually I like Ron Howard this is a weird thing he did great on the studio wonderful very funny on the studio yeah yeah yeah okay speaking of later stage what's its you didn't see Honey Don't right I didn't man okay well I don't That man could go in any directions.

1:27:33This is the new film directed by Ethan Coen, written by Coen and his wife, Trisha Cook. Their second film, After Drive-Away Dolls, a couple of years ago, which is the movie that you crashed my Valentine's Day date with my wife to see. This film also stars Margaret Qualley as well as Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, and Charlie Day. It's about a private investigator named Honey who is exploring this scandal around a church and its very vivacious pastor played by Chris Evans. This... Yeah, it was a no. I need Joel and Ethan to just get back together. Yeah, I mean, I agree. I just need them to get back together.

1:28:13You could tell from the trailer. I didn't mind that other one. What was it? Driveway Dolls. Driveway Dolls. It's okay. It's okay, but one is enough, you know? Yeah. And so you see the trailer for this one. Well, there's running a trilogy. No, I know. This is supposed to be the second of three. You're just like, okay. Like, that's... I think it's great for Tricia Cook. she's exploring you know queer stories these movies are very much about strong smart women who are in charge and really love sex you know on paper absolutely dig that the movie just script is not good tone doesn't work performances are weird it's not it's such a drag this movie also got dumped you know they're doing the Coen brothers right now on blank check I've been listening you know it's been a great season so far Coen brothers as you know huge deal for me personally they gotta make at least one more movie together.

1:29:03And there was a rumor that they were making a horror movie together next year. I don't know if that rumor's true. I hope it's true. I don't have any say in the matter, but I support you. No more honey, don't. I agree with this. No more honey, don't. Okay. I'm just gonna go right to Predators. This will be the last movie we talk about. I saw this movie at Sundance. I think people should check it out. It just opened in theaters. It's a documentary. Okay, so it has nothing to do with the Predator franchise. It has nothing to do with the Predator franchise. It is a very serious, probing, upsetting documentary about the show To Catch a Predator, what that show was in our society, how it existed.

1:29:37Did you ever watch To Catch a Predator? I don't know if I ever sat down on like a Friday night, which is when it was on, right? That's when all those news magazines. I think so. Yeah. I think so. No, I was on TJF on the other channel, but, you know, it looms large in the cultural consciousness. It ran for a long time, well past our adolescence. it was a show where it was sort of like a, it was candid camera for capturing child predators. That was really what the show did. It was trying to, it set up sting operations and lured people who were trying to seduce underage kids. And there was like a sick glee that I think the audience got out of watching these really disturbed people get ensnared by the host of the show and the producers of the show and the law enforcement that worked in tandem with them.

1:30:21And then kind of the aftermath, the documentary is like very much sociological exploration of what it meant that we put the show on in our society we celebrated it the way that we did why it went away in the way that it did what role the host and the producers played in it and then the personal ramifications of the people in the stories particularly interesting in the documentary is the young actors who portrayed underage kids who are part of the setups and like why they were cast and what their roles were anyway this is a very unusual but very cool exploration of something that is like very upsetting in our culture but really really really well done and um I hope finds a big audience David Ossett is the director and uh it's a it's a good doc um okay so this this right now is the demarcation point yeah so we have we're we're it's September 22nd mm-hmm on Wednesday yes we're doing one more 25 for 25 episode that's right it's a really really good one yes and it's well timed it's perfectly timed and then Friday technically Thursday night is one battle after another that's right and then we have two three straight months of more or less good movies on the show being covered yeah not everything is great no but it's a lot of good stuff and I'm relieved.

1:31:49Yes. It was fun going through 45 weird movies. It's always great to pod with you. But this felt like the end of a certain stage of the year. It's PTA season. It had already started but now it really starts. And everyone's going to get to see it this week. And I did get a ticket. Oh good, for Wednesday. Yeah, for Wednesday. Our friend Corey came through for me. Oh, incredible. Thank you. I think our seats suck. You probably have better seats than we do. I'm quite excited. Okay, fantastic. And I think I have child care, so. Amazing. I can't wait to see it again. I know. I'm also seeing it again on Friday.

1:32:26Oh, at the Vista. Yeah, at the Vista. That's fun. So, yeah, it's PTA season. We'll get there very soon, in just a couple of days. Thanks to Jack Sanders for his work on this episode. Thank you, Jack. Everything good? How the Mets doing? Really good. Guys, what's going on? I don't want to talk about it. I'll talk about it. It's really... It's a fucking disaster. I mean, that's... It's a fucking embarrassment. Okay. I'm not kidding. Okay. No, I mean, I know. I'm not kidding. Oh, my God. Okay. It is not okay. It's not acceptable. It's not good. So they just fell apart? Yeah. And they're not going to make the playoffs?

1:33:01At the moment, they're not in the playoffs. There are six games left to play on the road. Three games against the Cubs, three games against the Marlins. What has to happen? I expect nothing less than one in five in those six games. Okay. So, like, but what happened? They've been one of the five worst teams in baseball since June 13th. They started the season 21 games over 500. And we were like, wow, I guess everything that happened last year, we're carrying it over. And they've been a disaster since then. But what happened? Tell me. The pitching is just a disaster. They've had a tremendous number of injuries to the pitching.

1:33:34And also the strategy heading into the season around the pitching was very bad. And it's the rare case. And I say this with hopefully some sense of self-awareness. where most fans were like, is this really what they're doing? This can't be right going into the season. Like, this can't be how we're going to try to make it through the year. And we were told, no, no, no, we got a plan. This is a good plan. And every fan who was concerned about this particular issue was right. And it's hard to watch that because baseball is so long. The season is so long. It is, yeah. So to just be sitting inside a failure for three months just sucks.

1:34:10Yeah, that's the most miserable part is until late June, they were like the best team in baseball. They had the best record in baseball. They were playing amazing baseball. And for it to just, they've just slowly bled out for three months and that is, it's been very painful. Okay. Is there any scenario in which they do still get a wild card spot? There is a scenario. It's definitely in play. It's pretty much a coin flip right now. Them and the Reds are tied. The Reds own the tiebreaker. There's six games left for both teams. The Mets need to win one more game than the Reds over these next six games.

1:34:40That's it. That is the situation. Okay. So. Are you guys still going to be checking obsessively? I've already been called for an emergency Mets corner on the Zach Lowe show. Okay. And he said we should drink on the show. Okay. So that's where Zach's head is at. Great. All right. Well, that's a healthy place to be. And he's only just returned to rooting for this team in the last 12 months. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where was he before? He took like 10 years, 20 years off on the team. Okay, for his health. Yeah. Well, I mean, for a variety of reasons. But now he's got his daughter. He's got a young daughter and she's all into the Mets.

1:35:09Yeah. And he's got her watching this. They met Mr. Met. Yeah, that would be exciting. Yeah, I think she's having a great time. But she is experiencing at a young age this thing that I have been living with my entire life. It's not right. It's not right. It's not okay. Okay. I did watch the Phillies-Mets series, so. Yeah, I can't get too upset about that because it's like we kicked our ass in the playoffs last year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We kind of owned them this year until that last series. That wasn't good. But the Phillies are good. I got no beef with the Phillies, honestly. It's the Mets organizationally are fucked up.

1:35:39And it was supposed to not be this way because of the new ownership it was supposed to be different and it's not. This is embarrassing. Okay. And I'm not going to let it stand. I don't do this on Zach's show because that's his show. This is my show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is fucking bullshit what's happening with the team. There needs to be some sort of apology to the fandom. It's fucking disastrous. Okay. Okay. I got it out. There needs to be an apology. There does. What form would that take that would satisfy you? Come to my home, Steve Cohen and David Stearns who constructed this monstrosity who ruined my summer and say, I'd like to begin by saying I'm sorry.

1:36:20And then after that, it'll be dealer's choice. Whatever they can do to make it right, fine. Rebuild the team in the offseason. Offer me lovely snacks. This is honestly like a great social media bit for the Mets. If they just get like a really big, you know, one of the publishers clearinghouse checks but instead of that, it just says like, I'm sorry. and they just show up at right in people's houses just like that. It's just some free programming for you guys in the off season. Again, I never do this. This is bullshit. Yeah. You know how I want one of those I'm mad signs? You know, a newspaper with I'm mad?

1:36:53Well, you can put in the fucking paper that I'm mad. No, yeah, you are mad. Okay, that's fine. Listen, I support you on this. Every time we turn the Mets on, Knox asks where Sean is because one time I told him that you are at a game and maybe we could see him. I mean look Knox he's pure good yeah the Mets are pure evil okay that's just how it goes that's what it is in 2025 I'm sorry Jack okay I apologize well thanks for listening to this show which has been very normal and we'll see you on Wednesday for another 25 for 25

1:37:36Thank you.