Blank Check with Griffin & David - As Good as It Gets with Chris Gethard

Episode Date: April 15, 2018

Chris Gethard (the Chris Gethard Show on TruTV, Beautiful/Anonymous podcast) joins Griffin and David to discuss 1997’s OCD dramedy, As Good as It Gets. But is the dog the fourth lead of this film? Should the term ‘residuals’ be changed to ‘Ratzenbergers?’ Could a painter really afford to live in downtown Manhattan in the late 1990s? Together they examine the “but I like her” genre of movies, the careers of Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nien Nunb and more! This episode is sponsored by ZipRecruiter (ZipRecruiter.com/BLANK), Hims (forhims.com/BLANK) and eHarmony (PROMO: CHECK).

you make me want to be a better podcast. Yeah, short is good. I can't. So stay in a Jack Nicholson. Hello, everybody. My name is Griffin Newman. David Sims. This is Blank Check with Griffin and David.

We're hashtag the two friends. It's a competitive advantage because I feel like some people don't get this. We are friends. The two of us. Yes. We host the podcast together, and that is unique. Like you say, an advantage. It's an advantage.

No one else does it. No one else does it. No one else has done it. No one else will do it. Our guest hosts solo. Solo. Solobolo. You're always rocking solo. You have occasionally had a guest co-host.

You can talk. A couple times. Yeah. Yeah. But my fans tend to vehemently dislike the guests. They just want me on a phone with a person. That's what they want.

And sometimes, I mean, stop me, correct me if I'm out of line. Sometimes those guest co-hosts you have on are friends, but sometimes they're just people. One time it was Hannibal Buress. Right, he's a friend. One time it was Katie Couric. Am I wrong in assuming that you do not hang on the regular?

No, that was the one time we hung. That was the one time we hung. Was she cool? She's super cool, yeah. She's very much a journalist about it. It was an interesting thing. It's sort of an interview podcast, kind of. But it's also just me, an idiot, chit-chatting.

Also, hi, my name's Chris Gethard. We're referencing a podcast called Beautiful Anonymous. I don't know. I don't know if they need that info. This is how we like to bring guests on. But I'm, yeah. It's like, I'm very chit-chatty and just like, uh, so what else?

And then, but we were talking, we're actually talking with a trans caller. She was like, so I've actually read a lot about the demographics of it. And it was like, oh yeah, you are high-level, well-informed journalist. Casey. Different thing. I went to VidCon, the convention for YouTubers and social media influencers.

Well, look, I don't want to brag, but I was there doing a correspondence piece for a TV show that got canceled before they aired my piece. So does that piece just never saw the light of day? Never saw the light of day. What do we got to do to get our hands on this VidCon footage? Yeah, that's true. We got to resurface this. I'll say this. It was a piece produced for a show for a network that you used to be on.

Really? Yeah. Wait, really? I think you can surmise what network that is. Yeah. A network that sometimes doesn't put stuff on the air. Wait, no, I thought it was on... No, this was after that.

This was after that. So Humblebrag, I made maybe a cool $150 to go to Orlando for three days. Did you meet the Pauls? In what was going to be good, real material that never aired. Didn't meet the Pauls. But the thing I was going to say was we were checking in and I was with the producer of the segment and we were just like

what the fuck is this? We're so outside of this world this is before people like Jake Paul had sort of permeated everyone knows who he is even if they don't know his work because he's like a news item and we were just watching random 17 year olds with Nickelodeon haircuts

who were just being like swarmed and mobbed, you know, and parents holding their crying daughters back and like four or five pockets of that. And we're like, these people are like causing like eruptions of tears and we don't even know who they are. And then I looked over and Katie Couric was just walking through the lobby completely unaffected, unnoticed. And you could tell she was flanked by like five bodyguards. She was like, this is going to be rough.

Let's just get through here as quickly as possible. And you could tell that she was like a little relieved that no one was mobbing her but also like, but seriously, that guy? I'm Katie fucking Couric. I was once in, you know, you do things on TV and they send you out on these blitzes of just go do this and this and this. They were like, we have you slated to be a presenter at the Shorty Awards. Which I didn't know. I'm 37 years old.

Humble brag. And then they were like, I was like, what is it? And they said it's like YouTube, Instagram, Vine-driven awards. Short-form content? Sure. Is that your idea? Yeah. But I went, and it was like a red carpet in the middle of Manhattan.

Was there a celeb host? People flipping out. Yeah, I forget who. Al Roker was backstage. Hey. Chilling. Katie's bud. Because I think he was big on Periscope at the time.

Roker? Yeah, Roker was a dude. I followed Roker on Periscope, and he was big on Periscope at the time Roker? yeah Roker was a dude I followed Roker on Periscope and it made me delete Periscope it's like Al Roker chill the fuck up would he be like live

every 20 minutes? you have no idea man he was like getting a sandwich was it mostly weather or was it not weather at all? it was getting a sandwich level stuff it was like oh

Al Roker saw a dog chasing a dog down the street on Periscope Roker was famously the first a dog down the street on Periscope. Roker was famously the first famous person you tried to get on the Chris Gethard show when you were like still UCB basemans. Yes. You could say that a lot of my career took off because Al Roker rejected me.

Yeah. So I switched to Diddy. Right. And that's how my long story relationship with Diddy began. Yeah. If Al Roker just said yes he would have come and done the show

it wouldn't have gotten any of the buzz or press people are I mean I love Al Roker but people are less impressed when Al Roker

does a guest bit he does a lot of those it would have been more in line with the original spirit of the Gethard show which was like oh that's a goofy thing these weirdos are doing

very Manhattan too yeah very New York centric and instead it was like, oh, that's a goofy thing these weirdos are doing. Very Manhattan, too. Yeah, very New York-centric. And instead it was like, oh, now this mythical figure is involved. Yeah, like this wizard. And it gave it a sense of magic. But Roker declined very quickly, right? That was my memory.

It was Christmas Eve. I was at my parents' house up in the Adirondack Mountains, so bored. You posted a shirtless video saying, I'm going to get a celebrity for next year. Let's get Al Roker. Yeah. And then he straight up was just like, nah, I'm busy. Right. And then that, but you know, that was 2009.

Sure. And I will say Twitter was pretty young then. And I think it was. Very new. I think it was like an early thing where people realized like, oh, these celebrities are actually using it themselves. Yeah. Yes. Like it was still the thrill of that yeah i can remember when charlie sheen joined twitter and people were excited people were like oh no what's he gonna do like the idea that a

celebrity would be on twitter was still a novelty and also like twitter was small enough and and kind of regional enough that once roker rejected you and you were like, I'm going twice as big, hashtag Diddy Gethard, it got like a lot of traction because there was less stuff on Twitter. Like you didn't have like Magabots, you know? Well, I also think, I also realized that I was just bored, but it made me realize one of the smartest things I did was I did it on Christmas Eve when every young person who uses Twitter is probably so bored of talking to their aunts and uncles. So people are like, I'll retweet this thing.

You're fucking with Diddy? Great. This is anything that's not my family? Great. Yeah. Helped a lot. This is a podcast called Blank Check. Yeah, I was going to say.

Am I left to curse? I just said that. Oh, 100% of that. I said the F word. Sorry I didn't ask for it. No, please keep saying it. It's a podcast about filmography's directors who have massive success earlier in their careers

and give a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion projects they want. Sometimes they clear, and sometimes they bounce. Baby David's holding up his eyebrows. He looks like Satan. This, of course, is a miniseries on the films of Diddy. No, this is a miniseries on the films of James L. Brooks.

Who's gotten to the titular episode as pod as a cast. No, this fucking podcast miniseries is called Podcast News. But this one we can call as pod as a cast. Thank you. And as he introduced himself, Chris Gethard,

host of The Chris Gethard Show, Beautiful Anonymous. Second time guest. I mean maybe the most request we've ever had for a return guest because it's been a while you haven't been on since the Star Wars days

well that's very flattering that people enjoyed it flip for it still flip for it enjoyed the performance review episode for episode 3 Revenge of the Sith very specific well I'm very passionate about it. Very passionate about Star Wars. Always have been. My whole life.

Grievous, a dickhead. Yeah, just come on. Not even good at what he does. How did he become a general? He's promoting him. What do you think of the new Star Wars? I've been liking them. Because I guess we had not seen those the last time we did this podcast together.

No. Loved Rogue One. Oh, yeah. Loved Rogue One. Yeah. I thought it was so, I thought it was actually pretty bold of them as a giant corporation to realize, oh, we have these standalones. People can die now.

Sure. That's pretty crazy when you think about it. They all died. But I also, I saw you. Yeah. Like a, like a. Everyone. Spoiler. Everyone dies. Yeah. But like a wipeout. you. Yeah. Like a, like a failure. Spoiler, everyone dies.

Yeah. But like a wipeout. Like, of course they killed Obi-Wan. And of course people died. But they come back as ghosts to please children. And so you can sell translucent toys. And then, you know, to see one where they're like, no, let's wipe them all out. Here's why they, here's why they weren't in the other movies you saw.

Because they all met. Dunzo. Grizzisly death quite grisly in some cases i saw you very shortly after rogue one came out and i was telling you my reservations with the movie and your response was i think you misread the film if you ask me that movie is about one thing and that one thing is general raddus yeah that was general raddus's uh i i feel like that was really they were putting him up on a pedestal it was a vanity piece for general raddus when you reconsider rogue one from the viewpoint of general raddus he's very vastly different film he's very churchillian general raddus yeah yeah i will also have some strong opinions on last jedi specifically a character that i've come to hate oh no morally who the fucking uh uh

oscar isaac's character oh dameron dameron poe dameron you hate him you're down on poe this guy by the standards of any military outfit should be they should behead him on tv for treason and mutiny throw him in jail and lock away the key he's personally responsible for the death of roughly 70 percent of the rebels i mean he he ignores it and and eats up all their bombers in the end right in the very beginning and then in the end he pulls an outright mutiny and because he wasn't letting on when frankly, sir, you're not at that level in the chain of fucking command. It's called the chain of command. You follow orders in the Rebel Alliance. Because of that, all his mutiny accomplishes is a massive delay that when you watch that movie the second time,

clearly contributes to the fact that all those ships don't make it to that safe haven they're trying to get to, because he delays them getting there. Wow. He's a war criminal. So in the third movie you're just going to boo the second Oscar Isaac's handsome face pops up. The fact that anyone likes him at the end of that instead of being like

you completely ruined this the fact that we're in a cave with fucking crystal dogs like hanging out for better life is your fault. 100% you personally it's your fault. 100% you personally. It's your fault. Can I throw out one counterpoint?

Instead, I saw Oscar Isaac and Hamlet at the Public and oh my God. Yeah, that guy's pretty good. Talented person. Yes, he is very talented. Who was your favorite

Last Jedi character? Do you have like a standout for you? Was there a Raddus of the film? Oh, great. Great question. I was telling you

my problems with Rogue One and your counterpoint was but what about General Raddus? And I said, I can't argue with Raddus and you said, Oh, great. Great question. I was telling you my problems with Rogue One, and your counterpoint was, but what about General Raddus? And I said, I can't argue with Raddus. And you said, as far as I'm concerned, that's Raddus' movie. Yeah. And if you like Raddus, you like the film. Yeah, you got to be down with that.

Oh, here's another thought I had about Last Jedi. Because I actually like those crystal dogs. You remember the crystal dogs? Oh, yeah, good guys. Here's a weird thing that needs to be brought up about Star Wars. We've seen Twi'leks with their tendrils. We've seen

Gamorrean guards, giant pig creatures. I mean, think about the Mos Eisley band, those weird bald heads. You've seen everything. Have we ever seen a four-legged creature with the ability to speak in the Star Wars universe? So you're saying Star Wars posits that being a bipedal

is somehow better. Superiority. Whereas a dewback, I'm referencing dewbacks here, you just get a saddle put on you. It's a steed. No agency. That was my counterpoint, but Sebulba's weird. He walks on two feet, though. He just, you know, no agency. Sebulba, he, but he, that was my counterpoint,

but Sebulba's weird. He walks on two feet, though. He just walks on the wrong two feet. That's the thing. I mean, Sebulba, it's kind of,

he's an odd one. And the question is, is he walking on two of his four feet or is he walking on his arms? That's another question for me. Is Sebulba a hand walker? Yeah. When are we going to see a four,

because how, you can have the Ewoks everywhere. Yeah. Every corner of the globe, they respect, the rebels respect societies. That's a very good point. There have to be some creatures that evolve in a way

where the most intelligent way to develop is four-legged walking. And we have like six armed people, right? I mean, it's like Dexter Jetster, you know? But like, you're right. There is no one who walks on all fours who would be like in a senate situation or a rebel

planning room situation to my to my remembrance and then there's some goofy fucks who have gotten elected to senate it's not like

there's a high bar there yeah there's some well and also remember the pod race there's some real you know crazy cats but another thing one of the scariest

sights in Star Wars is the AT-AT four legged there's a real four legged bias so everyone's like ah you know and imagine how much

scarier it would be if the AT-AT went hey how's it going how do you do no but I was honestly thinking how cool would it have been if those crystal dogs

had been like follow us we can get you out of here you would have flipped out you would have flipped out here's another opinion you guys and I think all your listeners

will appreciate about my opinions on the new Star Wars movie. Not talking stand-alones here. Force Awakens, Last Jedi. They both pulled a very emotionally manipulative stunt that I have to call out. They have to stop doing it right now. It's playing with my emotions.

You guys probably already know what it is here. I don't. How the fuck are you going to have two movies where you imply to me that Nian Num dies and then there's a shot, a very brief shot of him standing around. Right at the end.

Nian Num is now one of the final survivors of the original Rebel crew. He should have like 50 notches on his ship of all the kills he's made. I would go so far as to say this, my friends. I would say that General Raddus was the focus. I would go so far as

to say that Force Awakens and The Last Jedi have both secretly been about Nian Nub. Well, and here's another thing, okay? Because like everyone in the Rebellion is dead now, basically, except for Nian Nub and that guy with the weird sort of elephant face. But was he even around in the first three?

No, he's just in Return of the Jedi. Oh, yeah. And Tug of War. Yeah, right. But the elephant. Is he not in The Force Awakens? Okay, so we are correct on this. Because I said he was in Force Awakens.

And I got some shit on Twitter. But he wasn't in Jedi, was he? No, absolutely not. No, no, no. There's another creature of his species in Force Awakens. But that other alien pilot who's still on the Millennium Falcon, alive at the end of the movie, is new to Last Jedi. Now, here's the bigger thing.

Where's Wedge? Have they addressed where Wedge Antilles is? The actor just is like, no thanks. Oh, is that true? They wrote the... That guy is like, no, I don't want your millions of dollars. The Max Fonsito character in Force Awakens was supposed to be Wedge as like a handshake. And he was like, I'm not coming back unless you give me a bigger part.

I believe, I want to find the exact quote because it's a very funny quote. How did I miss this? How did I miss this? He thought he was power playing them and they were just like, cool, we'll hire Max Fonsito. Or we'll just fucking draw this in a computer, dickhead. They asked me, but it just would have bored me. That's what he said. And he's also swimming in...

That guy has... He's in all three of the original movies. He's like the Judah Freelander on 30 Rock movies. That's the best game. Every month, three envelopes come through the door. I mean, having been in tiny parts in movies that did okay, and I still get residual checks that aren't sizable. But I was in the heat in one scene.

I was cut from Iron Man 3. I still get little checks. That's what I was going to ask you. That was going to be my question. Do you get the Iron Man 3 check? I regularly get residuals from three movies I was cut out of, which is insane. SAG rules. I don't think you get the same residuals you would have gotten if you weren't in it.

You get a smaller chunk. You gave them the time. Right. And union rules, you get a little money. Wedge Antilles, that guy is definitely a multi-millionaire based off of those three movies. The king of residuals is John Ratzenberger.

Ratzenberger, he's in Empire Strikes Back. I quietly heard he's the most he's made the most money out of it. He's the highest grossing actor. Every Pixar movie. There's another big thing he's in, I'm forgetting. Your writers?

Yeah, King of Residuals! Talking about residuals. At any given moment, they should change the word residuals to Ratzenburgers. Got another Ratzenburger today. Is there a second on this planet where somewhere in the world a Ratzenburger project... Oh, he's in Superman.

Thank you. He's in Superman? A Ratzenberger project is not somewhere airing on TV. Right. It's like Law and Order. Great question. Right? Great question. No, I don't think so. Yeah. Right now, some kid is watching Finding Dory. Right. Now, here's my very loaded question. I also appreciate that you called them

a Ratzenberg project. It's a Ratzen... It's him, and it all spreads out of there. I mean, Ratzenberg's kind of my Rattus. Anything with John Ratzenberg project. It's him, and it all spreads out of there. Ratzenberg's kind of my Rattus. Anything with John Ratzenberger is a John Ratzenberger project for me. This is my big loaded question, okay? We all know that tragically we lost Carrie Fisher.

And Kathy Candy has said that her intention was for this new trilogy, each one to kind of spotlight one of the legacy players as they're kind of passing the torch off to these new characters. Force Awakens was Han's movie. Last Jedi was Luke's movie. The intention was that the next film would be Leia's film. And now that's obviously not a possibility.

I will say people are shitting on the scene where she pulls herself back in. I actually loved that scene. I loved that scene. That scene really works for me. Because actually loved that scene. I loved that scene. That scene really works for me. Because I think that scene implies something that has always been kind of

sort of under the subtleties of Jedi was like, oh, was it supposed to be Leo? Where Yoda and Obi-Wan Is there like a sliding door situation?

Is she secretly the most powerful out of any of them? And even more powerful because she didn't feel the need to use it. And like she never trained in it, and she can still maintain oxygen in her lungs

and get herself in instinctively with seemingly no Jedi training. I loved it. I loved that scene. I don't get why people are picking on that scene. I don't either. Did you see when Rian Johnson finally tweeted about that? Because people, I guess, bug him about it all the time. He was like, people say to me

like how'd she do it she doesn't have any air she's in space and he's like moving in space is very easy there's no resistance like

his other point was this is not like something where she needed to pull herself she just needs to move I think it's a very beautiful scene I think the music is wonderful in it I'm sorry Ben

I knocked over the red guard he knocked over one of Ben's red boys. Knocked over my red boy. I want to be clear. This is about James L. Brooks. As good as it gets. We gotta get going. This is my big take I want to bring up.

We've been going for about 15 minutes. This is my big take I want to bring up. Do you think now, backed into a narrative corner, not able to make the episode 9 they originally intended as the last major legacy player linked to the original films, they make 9, episode

9 Numb? Well, you're also ignoring the presence of Chewbacca. We got Chewie, we got C-3PO, we got R2, but I think they've always been side dishes, right? That's the whole point is they're kind of just stable. He's a fucking star. Much like Jack Nicholson. If Nian Nam's on screen, you're watching Nian Nam.

Here's the thing. First of all, I want to see these fucking youngsters in the Rebel Alliance. Let's recognize that this guy lived through some major battles that they've heard mythologized. I want to see this guy having rank over them, command over them. I don't care that he doesn't speak the basic language, the shared common tongue. He's a Sullustan, I believe.

He's a Sullustan from a mining planet. One of the earliest societies to actually buy into the rebellion. Do you guys know this? Yes. The Empire shows up on Sullust because they're like, we need to take over your mines. They commit war crimes. Yeah, they take over the mines. No, we take to the mines.

We immediately start a resistance. We were one of the first ones. This guy was a big part of it, man. I also will say this. Having memorized the Star Wars encyclopedia in high school, I know the name of the Sullustan that signed the Compact of the New Republic in the now non-canon story of the post. And what is his name?

C.N. Tev. C.N. Tev. What a fucking guy. And what is his name? Sientev! Sientev. What a fucking guy. I think maybe all Sullustans have two-syllable first names, one-syllable last names. But why don't they throw some shine to Nian Nub? I'm saying episode Nian Nub. That's what they got to do.

Put him in the center. Now, I got in a fight with Bobby Moynihan about this because he's my friend who I have real childlike Star Wars comics with. It's the new Nian N Nun, he said it's the same actor, but is that not CGI? No, it's not. It is practical. That's an actor. There's an actor that they have that

slender a body and that big a head on. Little guy. Little guy, big head. Yeah, little guy. Now, I also heard, is this true? I remember when I was a kid at my most Star Wars obsessed hearing that Nian Noms language is an actual African language. Oh, really? Like they just repurposed the language? He doesn't say a lot except like,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But apparently when Return of the Jedi met the regions of Africa where this language is spoken, he's saying like nonsense in this real language. And people erupted in cheers and laughter and he became a cult figure. Because he's just saying dishwasher, table. It was something about food.

It was something about food environment. Oh really? He's saying coherent sentences? I've had trouble tracking this down and I forget where I first heard it or read it, but I remember hearing a rumor that it was him saying spicy food's best with my stomach. Something like that in Kenya in Kenya 1983

audiences roar in laughter because he says what are you doing over there all of you please come over here in Kikuyu which is a Kenyan dialect there you go this is why your fans love me oh my god I had no idea

ding dong ding dong. Let me get this. All right. I like how he leans over. Hello? There was an idea. Excuse me? How can we help you?

It's called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people. I get it. See if they could become something more. See if they could become something more. See if they could work together. When we needed them to fight the battles, we never could. Are you saying that you're Nick Fury? But the white one.

Oh. I want to make it clear so it's not offensive. Okay. The white Nick Fury. Sure, from the comic books. Because anyone thought. But you're reading the lines from the movie Nick Fury. What movie? What are you talking about? All right. movie, Nick Fury. What movie?

What are you talking about? All right. Okay, Nick. What movie are you talking about? You're here telling me that you're hiring. I'm looking. You're looking. For a team.

For the best talent. Oh, I'd say a group of remarkable people. That would be my wording. So you're saying great candidates. Yeah. I mean, people could work together when we need them to fight the battles that we never could. Yeah. What if I told you, Nick Fury.

Yeah. Are you a sergeant or commander? Do you you sergeant or commander well i've worked through different ranks i mean led the howling commandos right yeah but like what what were we talking head of shield at this point you are i mean call me nicky you're dropping the voice too i'm not dropping the voice um this is how i speak little nicky little nicky yeah call me little nicky what if i told you there's a website where you can post your job to a hundred of the web's leading job boards with just one click would i be able to collect resumes of remarkable people yes well it's called zip recruiter the right candidates are out there zip recruiter is how you find them every business sees great people and better way to find them. Something better than just posting your job online and praying for the right people to see it.

And you can just, what is it? What's the job exactly? You're just saying you're looking for the best people? There was an idea. No. Called the Avengers Initiative. No, no. Just keep going.

It was to bring together a group of remarkable people. He wants like fighters and people to work. Sure. People who could work together when we needed them to fight the Bowser. We never could. ZipRecruiter can handle whatever it is you're looking for. They look for the most qualified candidates, and they invite them to apply to your Avengers job.

They got a Hulk? Well, 80% of employers, and that's you, who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site in just one day. So maybe you'll get your Hulk. What about a guy with a bow and arrow yeah I think there's a subcategory

for that okay right bow skills yeah ZipRecruiter it's the smartest way to hire well I'm sold I guess I should just

walk out this door and hire ZipRecruiter at full price excuse me let me walk out of here thanks for putting your hand up there Ben to stop him of course I wanted to make sure you gotta hear this though and our listeners too The higher ZipRecruiter at full price. Excuse me. Let me walk out of here. Thanks for putting your hand up there, Ben.

Of course. I wanted to make sure. You've got to hear this, though. And our listeners, too. I mean, don't make me turn around too many times because this long leather jacket is heavy. And if I twirl too fast, it causes lower back pain. He's dusting the floor for us. It's actually great.

It's a duster. It's a leather duster. So you can find out today why ZipRecruiter has been used by businesses of all sizes and industries to find the most qualified job candidates with immediate results. Right now, my listeners can try ZipRecruiter for free. That's right, free. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com slash blank. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash blank.

So, I go to ZipRecruiter.com and then I leave the rest of the URL blank is what you're saying. That's not true. Actually, what you do is go to ZipRecruiter.com slash blank. One more time. Tell me. ZipRecruiter.com backslash blank. That's right. Well, thank you so much.

Okay. I'm so happy I came in here today. You've done me such a favor. Can you holster your weapon now? He's been pointing a gun at us the whole time. Let me put it back. Look, I got to level with you. I haven't been entirely honest since I've been in here.

Okay. By the way, Chris Gethard, big fan of your work. Thank you so much. You as well. Thank you. Yeah. I've been holding a secret. What is it?

I had an idea. Get out of here. To bring together. I'm going to push you. Thank you. Thanks for putting up with that, Chris. No, it's my pleasure.

We have these guests sometimes. I really sometimes wish Griffin wouldn't open the door. I gotta. I gotta. And when they're here, I show my respect by standing in total silence.

He was a sergeant during World War II. That's right. A colonel. Sure. Colonel Nick Fury. Isn't he a general at some point? He's got to be a general. I mean, he's in charge of S.H.I.E. A colonel. Sure. Colonel Nick Fury. Isn't he a general at some point? He's gotta be a general.

He's in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. He's in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. More than anything though, title I think he wears the proudest, friend. You know, good friend. Agent as well. Agent. Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Yes, of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, he had a bit of a downtown look to bring it back to

as good as it gets. Oh, Nick Fury? Yeah, I mean, that's how I looked. Mid-90s downtown? Downtown Griffin area? Yeah. I looked like a white Nick Fury. Streak of white hair. Yeah.

Duster. Blue and white jumpsuit with a lot of straps. Cigar always smoking half a stogie. He was. That is such a 90s comic book thing. It's just like, they need more straps. A lot of straps. Just can we have like straps, vertical, diagonal, like all kinds of straps. I mean, book thing is just like, they need more straps. A lot of straps. Like, just can we have like, straps vertical,

diagonal, like all kinds of straps. Yeah. I mean, you two are both like, big hardcore X-Men people. I'm a big X-Men fan. That's your main jam.

You know what I've gotten into recently that I never read as a kid that's I think maybe the best run of a comic book I've ever read? Shoot. Have you read Walter Simonson's Thor? Yes,

I have. That's amazing. That's so inventive. That's the one with like, the Thor? Yes, I have. That's amazing. And so inventive. That's the one with the frog Thor. The frog Thor. The Beta Ray Bill. That shit's great. Beta Ray Bill.

Beta Ray Bill is my favorite superhero now. Beta Ray Bill is the best character. It's so insane. He's amazing. Have you read these comic books? I've never read Thor. I got to. You got to get on it.

I never. Did you buy a book or have you been DMing online Marvel Unlimited and then I liked it so much I went and spent I asked for Christmas for the omnibus

right I love those omnibuses wow that was your your wife Christmas ass yeah that's I mean that's a big endorsement

he also I like his Fantastic Four stuff a lot yeah I mean I've read that he did X Factor yes he did but this Thor stuff he did the like the apocalypse stuff. He did the like,

the Apocalypse X-Factor. Like the old X-Factor stuff. Yeah, yeah. Back when Apocalypse was just kind of like a big guy. A big unexplained. Yeah, just a big blue guy.

Vaguely threatening. That was that era. You look back to when it was like Apocalypse and Mr. Sinister. Mr. Sinister, yeah. The 80s. A lot of villains

where there was very hazy backstories right where it was like people to Chris Claremont and people like what's the deal with this guy and he's like oh no I got it planned

I got it planned we're just gonna push that off for a couple more years what's his power he looks fucking cool yeah Mr. Sinister's powers never are really explained to

never loved him as a kid oh he's the best to this day great name rad look cool downtown look but I stopped reading at a certain point as I grew up to this day I name rad look cool downtown look but I stopped reading at a certain point

as I grew up to this day I do not know his backstory identity motivations why he does any of the things

he does did you did you ever get to like Executioner's Song or had you tapped out I read Executioner's Song because he was part of that

but it's sort of a side part he was part of Inferno too oh of course well that's the that's the classic that's his big where Chris Claremont's like

I'm gonna tie up the cable mystery for good it's gonna make sense and then inferno is fucking bonkers yeah i tell you i read with marvel unlimited i read simon's store for the first time sure read frank miller's daredevil reread it which is great i especially like frank miller when he was just still just drawing Daredevil. Yes. Yeah. But it made me realize I'd always been such a Claremont devotee. I think Claremont comes in third place as far as Marvel runs.

Wow, to those two. Well, his is also endless though. It's open-ended. Him and his peak is amazing. Frank Miller on Daredevil is so short. Right. Yeah. And then Simonson is much longer, but you can tell that's the thing. It's one of the only comic books runs I've read where you can tell he knew the ending before he got hired he knew that whole story before he sat down

claremont's x-men i mean it goes and goes and it's impressive the back-to-back-to-back storylines that are such hits yeah yeah but my heart was breaking a little bit i found things i liked better than claremont's x-men. I'll say this. As good as it gets, a lot of solid performances in that movie. Not one performance rivals the performance of the guy who played Kit Fisto. Well, I was going to say, you're complaining about Oscar Isaac.

You're playing with Poe Dameron. It sounds like you want a Fisto there. You know, like, pull Poe out. You want a Fisto presence. Let's have somebody call this guy into shit. A real wreckinging Crew rather than someone who's like you know trying to be

the rebel and to be fair one of the things you liked about the Wrecking Crew and Kit Fisto in particular was that he was willing to break the rules

and go against his higher ups if he thought he knew what needed to be done to get the shit done but he never put lives at stake well there's the

difference between being like a Ronin who goes off on your own. Sure, which is classic Fisto. And that's like Wolverine and the X-Men. Wolverine sometimes needs to go off on a mission

where he's going to kill a lot and put himself in harm's way. He walks away from fucking Salem Center and Xavier Mansion to go do those himself. He doesn't put the X-Men in harm's way

for his individual pursuits. Poe Dameron is in a ship. He's on the comms. He's part of a concentrated, organized effort here. I'm sure they've had, before he gets out there with those bombers, they've had a whole lot of strategy meetings and a whole lot of goals and a whole lot of objectives laid out. When they accomplish them and say, get the fuck out of here,

it's because we need those weird, admittedly poorly designed and useless bombers that need to move that are vertical and move at a snail space and need to be directly above their target to have any effect. To be fair, they're easy targets to be fired. Get them out of here to live another day, dickhead. My biggest problem with the bombers

was that if you just shoot one of the bombs inside them, the bomber's gone. That's it. All the bombs go up and that's that. Maybe a shield. I'm not putting it on Poe that those are perhaps the most useless weapons of war I've ever seen. Let's plug all our explosives into

what looks like a floating test tube and it just needs to like at a helium balloon pace. It needs two people too. You need someone to open the doors. Yeah. So what do you think Fisto would have done in that situation? How do you think he would have handled it?

Listen, the whole movie. You get Fisto in these movies. None of these movies need to happen. They're like 20 minutes long, the movie. He personally infiltrates Snoke. Yeah. That guy who's in every movie now. Domhnall Gleeson. He'd be dead. Farmer McGregor himself now Domhnall Gleeson yeah right

he'd be dead yeah Farmer McGregor himself Domhnall Gleeson could play Chris Gethard in the Chris Gethard story don't you think so? put some glasses on there right

because I just saw him in the in the National Lampoon movie where he's wearing the glasses when David Ray Wayne directs his early days of the UCB movie yeah I would be featured in that

now here's a question about my glasses that I think you guys as pop culture trendsetters. That's what we are. Yeah, definitely. You are almost like the Awatu, the watchers of pop culture. That's a huge compliment. I've been contemplating getting LASIK.

Oh, wow. And one of the writers on my show, Nicole Dresspel, sat me down and flipped out was like you keep saying that you're gonna ruin your career like the glasses are too important the glasses are like a a totem i mean weird al did it and he he survived he did a whole kind of look he also had to shave the mustache with it he had to do kind of change rebrand. He didn't have to change it up. But he did it. He needed an update to be fair. He did. It's true. It would have been 15 solid years. I'd like to think more than I do.

Right. I do think it might be a Jennifer Grey situation, though. You know? Right. That's what you always think of. In what sense? She got a nose job. She famously had this great kind of Jewish nose.

Pointy nose. Right. Becomes a big star. Is in Ferris Bueller. Is in Dirty Dancing. America loves her as this very relatable sort of girl and then she got a nose job

and her career died and she looked too conventionally pretty and people stop but do you think that's why or is it just she's another

in a long line of you're not allowed to be a young female star with longevity I mean is it just the excuse complicated questions you also it just the excuse? Complicated questions.

You also think of, what's her name? Keri Russell with the haircut. Keri Russell cutting her hair. Can I give you a script? Keri Russell and the Americans, by the way. Good stuff. Do you not watch the Americans? Great performance.

I do. Oh, the Americans. The most recent season was a little thin. I wasn't pleased with the most recent season. I'm glad it's now wrapping up. I hope the final season is, you know. They didn't push it past the tipping point where I gave up, but you'd love recent season. I'm glad it's now wrapping up. I hope the final season is, you know. They didn't push it past the tipping point where I gave up, but you'd love the Americans.

I'll watch it. Just the use of wigs alone. Oh, I'm married. Great wigs. A lot of Fleetwood Mac. Oh, fucking Mac. Yeah, the Mac's there. A lot of Mac.

A lot of Mac. The Mac is back, baby. We have not mentioned as good as it gets. We've got three or four. I want to say this. I want to say this. I've personally made two passes to get it back on track, Maybe. We have not mentioned as good as it gets. Three or four. I want to say this. I want to say this. I've personally made two passes to get it

back on track and I am not the host of this show. I know. I was enjoying the Star Wars talk. I want to say one less glasses thing.

I feel like the fans want it. Yes. Oh, sure. I think you should keep your glasses. Could I get LASIK and wear fake glasses? That's the thing.

You could just do that. That's what Drew Carey does. That was my scoop I was going to give you. Drew Carey, in the time between when the Carey show ended, when he started doing Price is Right, where he kind of went off the grid.

He also lost a bunch of weight. He lost a bunch of weight, and he got LASIK, and no one accepted him anymore. They were too weirded out by how different he looked. So he now wears fake glasses. I just don't want to keep buying glasses the rest of my life. I love glasses. Oh, interesting.

See, I'm not a glasses wearer. The act of buying glasses seems fun to me. I just bought two new pairs. Two new pairs for variety. Here's the thing that we both know. You fall asleep in your glasses two times, and your glasses are just wrecked. Interesting. It's true.

They never fit right again. Huh. All right. And I love watching TV as I fall asleep. And you've got to watch it. Contacts? Do you not like contacts? Yeah, I tried contacts in high school.

Because I'm such an OCD worrier, I would think they had fallen out when they hadn't. And then I would touch them to make sure they were there, and then I'd tear them. I have a TV pair of glasses now. You do? Like an old pair of glasses that's shittier. I have a junkier pair that I wear on the couch watching TV

when I might fall asleep. I just got new ones. Maybe I'll keep the old ones for falling asleep. That is very practical and smart, Griffin Newman. Look, having a pair of junky TV glasses is as good as it gets.

As good as it gets. Now, Chris, when we told you we were doing a James L. Brooks miniseries, this is the one you wanted. Even more than that, I sent you a list of multiple miniseries we were going to do. The Paul Verhoeven was on there, right. A couple we haven't revealed yet. And I believe what I texted you back, Griffin, was the one thing I will say about this movie, it's funny,

and I will say to you, I copped it, Griffin. I did not have a chance. I've watched it in the past six months, actually, coincidentally. I did not watch it in the past couple days, which I should have. I apologize. I think that's fresh enough. Getting back from a vacationidentally. I did not watch it in the past couple days, which I should have. I apologize. I think that's fresh enough. Getting back from a vacation. Yes.

And I've been scrambling to get back. Busy man. But the one thing I'll say right away is I love a good, unapologetic dickhead character. Sure. And I've been thinking about it for this podcast. I think Jack Nicholson in this might be in my top three. Oh, wow. He's a third of three.

An absolute horror of a human being but in a way that he is so brutal with it that it becomes funny and lovable which to me is a real uh hard comedic acting thing to pull off and i would say bill murray and groundhog day i was gonna ask your other does it better sure yeah then perhaps one one of my number one comedic performances, Steve Martin in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Yes. Yeah, that's a beautiful – It's up there in that pantheon. That's a Ben favorite, I feel like.

Oh, for sure. Maybe my second favorite comedic movie. Because those are all difficult – and we love that movie, right? Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Yes, I recently said. You know who steals the show? My wife's favorite actor? That dog in the back of the truck

in Plain Streets and Automobiles. It shows Steve Martin shivering and then John Candy shivering and then that goofy dog is shivering. I like you saying that he is your wife's favorite actor, which implies not that that's her favorite performance, but that she follows his career closely

and likes his entire body of work. There he is. But yeah, I mean, Jack as... There he is. Yes,, I mean, Jack as... There he is. Yes, that is a good fucking dog. The frosty-faced dog. He looks a little bit like the Ice Dogs from Last Jedi. Ooh, Crystal Fox.

Crystal Fox. But yes, Nicholson as a dickhead. And I think a pretty smartly written, funny... Your term was total dickhead. When you texted me, you said, I just checked up, you said, I love a good total dickhead movie. What I love about a... Or what's hard about total dickhead. When you texted me, you said, I just checked up. You said, I love a good total dickhead movie. I love a good total dickhead. Well,

what I love about, or what's hard about a dickhead movie is the guy actually has to be horrible. Right. And like, that's just so hard to pull off and then make a movie about him. And then sit through 90 minutes

to two hours of it. Yeah. Two hours, 20 minutes. Yeah. Is it 2020? This is a long movie. That's a 240 minute movie.

It's actually kind of a perfect plane movie in that sense. If you're traveling a lot it has like 7 acts like right it's one of those classic 90s

like Jerry Maguire where it's just like let's just do like a whole other movie in the middle of the movie it definitely feels like a Netflix season like this movie

would be a season of a Netflix show now had you seen this film I had seen it probably on TV when I was like 13 so no yeah so I was like 13.

So no, basically. So I was like watching it pretty fast. I knew like the basic movements of it. Sure. Because I had seen this film way back in the day probably like you. It's probably on TV a couple years after. Am I old enough to remember it? I was young because this movie is 97.

I was 11. I was 17. I'm surprised I didn't see it. This movie was 11. I was 17. Right. I'm surprised I didn't see it. This movie was beloved. This movie, I mean, was the sixth biggest movie of the year. It was the sixth biggest movie of the year. During a hot year, too. The Titanic year.

That was a stretch. 97, 98, and 99 were good years for movies. I'm going to give you the 97 top 10 movies. Titanic, Men in Black, Lost World Jurassic Park. Liar Liar is four, which, like, wow. give you the 97 top 10 movies titanic yeah men in black lost world jurassic park yeah liar liar is four which like wow like uh air force one as good as it gets and then here's what's below as good as it gets goodwill hunting that's below yeah uh my best friend's wedding tomorrow never dies face off whoa uh batman and robin con air be batman be bonnie it was a thing i remember it was a thing Wedding Tomorrow Never Dies, Face Off, Batman and Robin, Con Air, Be Batman, Be Bond, Hercules.

It was a thing. I remember it was a thing. I remember my parents loved that movie and told me to go see it. They loved a movie that the first scene is someone throwing a dog down a garbage chute and then there's like a good five minutes of homophobic abuse. That movie filled top to bottom with slurs. Perhaps one of the ultimate movies that is

a reflection of societal changes from 1997 to 2018. Yes, that's true. I was thinking about this on the way here too. There's a phrase that I don't know if it's been coined, but I would like to coin it. It's a real benchmark in the but I like her genre of movies

where a woman very politely, rightfully and justifiably refuses a man's advances and then a lot of the movie is the guy going but I like you until she caves

Say Anything maybe being the number one obviously Say Anything is a huge one Say Anything is one of my favorite movies and I actually haven't watched it in years

because people have told me that the modern look is concerning we did a couple years ago we talked about it he definitely looked the best way to watch that movie is be like ooh that kid's got some growing up to do you know People have told me that the modern look is concerning. We did a couple years ago. We talked about it. He definitely looked. The best way to watch that movie is be like, ooh, that kid's got some growing up to do.

You know? The graduate because I like her. Well, the graduate is insane. I actually rewatched that recently. It's insane. He is awful to her. It's a stalker. Right. He fucks her mom.

Yeah. He fucks her mom. He doesn't fuck her once. He fucks her for like months. Fucks her a couple times and then like ruins her wedding and and

and harasses her like when she's 40 and he is never allowed to be in her life she's gonna be like god that was a weird three years you know

when he fucked my mom then broke up my wedding and then made me date him for a while and then made me take the bus yes take a bus

take a bus that's a relationship where when they were in it there were people who said to her blink twice if you need to and she did The problem is I think the but I like her genre great job coining that

I think unfortunately almost every romantic comedy falls under that A lot of romantic comedies with not a lot of plot fall under that. And this is one of those. Because you know what it is. In this movie, he's a monster. And obviously it also is

I'm going to smack you down. I actually think Groundhog Day... Wear you out until... Look at Groundhog Day, another one, but in a way that I think actually is more commendable. This is a guy who basically goes from I'm going to try to use this situation I'm in to trick Andy McDowell basically

I mean sort of almost I will figure out her whole life so I can just like by modern definition he's almost using this weird time travel you loop to rape and you watch him do that a number of times he does it with the blonde woman at the restaurant he does it with Andy McDowell, but it doesn't

fucking work. It always blows up. And then by the end, he does legitimately realize, I need to become a guy who's a much better person, who's much better at jazz piano. It's so much better at jazz piano than he had been. Have you seen the trailer? There's some new Netflix movie

with Adam Devine where it's Groundhog Day, but but with a friend-zoned guy. And is there some time travel? It's sort of about time. There was a magic night they had together where he didn't have the courage to kiss her. And now seven years later, he's friend-zoned. She's getting married. And somehow he finds a time portal where he keeps on resetting to the night.

To try and find a way to make it work. It looks sweaty. I'll say that. In that genre of like, yeah. As good as it gets, I think one of the problems I have is,

I don't know, it's Melvin, right? Yes, Brace Yourself for Melvin was the tagline. The tagline is Brace Yourself for Melvin. Accurate tagline. Yep.

Something has survived. I don't know that I buy Melvin's growth as much as I buy Phil Conner's growth. Interesting. Well, we'll talk about it. Melvin makes some big steps. He does take some big steps.

I'm on the fence because there's a part of me that feels like Melvin kind of wins a little more than I think. Beginning of the movie, Melvin wins a little more than I would like. But I do like that this movie promotes the idea that the mentally ill deserve love. I do like that. So this movie's take on mental illness and obsessive compulsive disorder, I'm not an expert, but I don't know how thought through

it is, right? A lot of times it's just sort of an excuse for Jack Nicholson's an asshole. I feel like Nicholson worked a lot on the asshole aspects of the character, like how do I make this engaging, which Nicholson's an asshole. Right. I feel like Nicholson worked a lot on the asshole aspects of the character. Like, how do I make this engaging? Which Nicholson's one of those guys where, like, the audience is always with him. Even if they hate him, you're, like, willing to follow him.

So it's like. It's Jack. It's 90s Jack. It's the one actor who could have pulled this off. But I feel like his depiction of obsessive compulsive disorder is kind of like what you would do if someone pimped you into that in improv scene. I had no time to prepare this. Fuck, I'm going to go way too big with this. What do I do?

I just touch shit and throw out four bars of soap. It feels very... But then there is also the thing of being someone who notoriously has mental illness. You do at times, you can use it as an excuse to just be an asshole so there's also something

maybe it's the most well researched movie ever so I had seen this movie ages and ages ago and then I rewatched it on vacation because it was on Hulu and we were just like fuck we need a movie to watch yeah seriously and I was like as good as it gets

alright I put it on and i 10 minutes in after a dog got put in a garbage can and uh great senior got berated for five minutes about like being a quote-unquote fudge packer describing the first 72 seconds of them i was like wait wait i forgot about this i knew he was a jerk, but like, this is so brutal. And then 10 minutes in comes that scene where he makes the remark to Helen Hunt about her son. And the movie literally just stops. And she just stops the whole movie. And she's like,

you can't do that. This cannot sustain two hours and 20 minutes. It's such a frightening and amazing scene. And you're, and I was just like, wait, is this like an amazing, perfect,

like not like a weird, like staggering movie that I've just forgotten about. And I was just like wait is this like an amazing perfect like not like a weird like staggering movie that I've just forgotten about and I was then I came back to you and I was like we gotta do James L. Brooks. I definitely think this is a movie that works in spite of itself like it's somehow I like this I'll go on record I like it. Oh I really like this

I really like this movie. This is a movie that works I don't know if I'm allowed to. It's one of those things where it's like I saw it in 1997. I am older. Is the fact that I'm like I like this movie reflective maybe of the fact that I'm hitting one of those ages where I'm like things were different in my day. I watched it recently and I know because everyone loved this movie when it came out. I have definitely heard people be like I rewatched it. That shit doesn't hold up.

And people who swore by it in 97. Well, I have two big questions. I have two performance questions in this. One of which I think might actually bring this podcast to its fucking knees, so maybe I should hold back. But that is one question that I had was, is

growing up, being born in 1980, northern New Jersey. Sure. Yeah. An era where homophobia, like the treatment of gay people in both society and pop culture, extraordinarily different. Yes.

Extremely different. Right. From my perspective. To give you some perspective, this is a year before the TV show Will & Grace debuts. I would say. Which is a game-changing moment in cultural depiction of homosexuality. Not that it is.

Notoriously so. I'm sure many American studies majors have written articles about Will & Grace in college, right? Yeah. From my perspective, and I don't know your guys' perspective, being younger than me and seeing it post-release, I felt like Greg Kinnear's character and the way that people turn and treat it was one of the first things I ever saw that was a gay character treated non-cartoonishly. A three-dimensional gay character on screen, even though it's sort of a proto version of maybe like better takes on this. I also think Kinnear's performance is pretty phenomenal in that regard because I can think of very few examples of straight actors playing gay characters from this time period who are not so grossly over the top.

And all this stuff where, I'll say this, there are some times where he talks about his dad and the soulful eyes of Greg Kinnear. Greg Kinnear is crazy good in this movie and the soulful eyes of Greg Kinnear. Greg Kinnear is crazy good in this movie. He's the best performance in the movie. The soulful eyes of Greg Kinnear. The soulful eyes of Greg Kinnear tug at your heartstrings in a way that I can tell you, for a lot of people who I grew up around, probably the first time they felt sympathy for a gay person.

And this is a guy who a year or two earlier was the talk soup guy. He was the talk soup guy. It's not like this is some character actor. Everyone's like, oh, yeah, well, Kinnear, he's good. Kinnear has a couple crazy years because he's the talk soup guy. For four years. Then Sidney Pollack, and people thought his pipeline was, oh, he's going to be a late night talk show host.

That's his rejection. Everyone thought he was going to be the next Craig Kilbourne. That's what they thought. He was going to get the late, late show or whatever. And he probably could have been. A hundred percent. I think he could have been if he wanted to do that. A hundred percent could have done that.

That iteration of TalkSoup 2 was can't miss television. Yes, absolutely. He was killer. And the guy, fucking megawatt charm. Sure. Crazy soulful eyes. Good looking guy. Great fucking patter.

Like he's just got a good rhythm to his speak and everything. And then you're saying Pollock puts him in the Sabrina remake. Right. Sidney Pollock, Academy Award winner, plucksucks him to start a remake of sabrina one of the most adored romantic comedies of all time here you are with harrison ford and you're the co-male lead in this movie and everyone went the fucking talk soup guy what are you talking about you know yeah it was like it's like if fucking you know christopher nolan casts like a youtuber to star in like his next movie you know it was like

he did but it's almost like that where it's like that guy shouldn't be you're a serious filmmaker sure and that movie's a disappointment yes and then there's also Dear God a Gary Marshall movie let's not forget which is also a disappointment I think that was like a stacked vehicle where they were like oh

Sabrina's gonna be huge we gotta get a canier vehicle in the can right for the next year that's going to be huge. We got to get a Kinnear vehicle in the can. Right, for the next year. That's why I feel like one of the, to me, and I'm sure you guys have your own talking points, but to me, as I was on my way here today, one of the questions in my head on the subway, as good as it gets, is it peak Kinnear? I think so. I think it has

to be. Because this is the fulcrum point. I'm sorry to bring that up so early. We got to talk about it. There's the sigh you let out. No, but you're right because it's literally kaneer's career starts in like 91 with talk soup right this is 97 there's been 20 more years and i think it's all a downward slide mystery men right so good mystery he's very funny in mystery captain amazing captain amazing what happened to kaneer he got pigeonholed as the other guy is that that's the thing they thought he was going to be the leading man.

Then James L. Brooks gives him this fucking great role. He gets an Oscar nomination. The other guy gets an Oscar nomination. People go, okay, we accept it. Kinnear, serious actor. Not the talk soup guy anymore. Serious actor. He can sit at the table.

But then you go, what are the next couple of years? His next movie is You've Got Mail. He plays the Baxter in that. He's the bad guy. He's the dude you got to get out of the way so you can get Hanksed. Then Mystery Men. He plays pretty much the Baxter in that He's the bad guy He's the dude you gotta get out of the way so you can get Hanksed Then Mystery Men He plays pretty much the Baxter in that as well He's the fucking dumb hero you gotta get out of the way

Nurse Betty He gets his scalp cut off Cause he's real Baxter in that He has a real dickhead The Gift, Loser Loser he plays creepy college professor Sleeping with Mina Savari Jason Biggs

wants to date the girl of his own age and she's sleeping with some 40 year old dude someone like you in 2001 he's another that's another other man

like Ashley Judd goes from him to Hugh Jackman he's playing a lot of assholes weirdly for a guy who's that charming and he's always the other guy the dilemma

and then in 2002 he makes Autofocus which everyone's like oh here's an Oscar movie about a guy who would film porn in his apartment and was also on Hogan's Heroes. Was on a Nazi sitcom. And that's just that.

This is making me wonder. And then Stuck on You in 03 with Matt Damon. Has anyone's, is Kinnear in the running of people whose agents have done him wrong? Probably. But I also wonder if Kinnear is like. A poorly whose agents have done him wrong. Probably. But I also wonder if Kinnear is like... A poorly managed career. Is this why you need a manager?

I wonder if Kinnear likes playing assholes. He might. I think he's got that Bill Pullman look too where he just is sort of like somewhat generically handsome without enough like to distinguish himself. I don't know. I mean, I like him. Anytime he pops up, I get so excited. Anytime he pops up in a trailer I go I'm seeing that

you know what he you know what he was great in what Brigsby Bear last year really liked him in that really good performance but I'll say he's a guy who I think has become

even more interesting as a character actor since he's gotten a little older because he kind of had that Ken doll face he was like a little too perfect looking

yeah in a way that isn't even really sexual it's just like that's a well designed face like that was like a little too perfect looking. In a way that isn't even really sexual. It's just like, that's a well-designed face. That looks like an emoji. That's a Midwestern American face. And you get some crevices in there and the guy starts to have a little more weight to him.

That's the best looking kid in an Iowa town who moves to California and makes it. Yeah, 100%. I don't know where he's from. Greg Kinnear? Let's find out. I want he's from. Greg Kinnear? Yeah. Let's find out. I want to look at some recent Kinnear.

He is from Indiana. I mean, yeah. He is the son. Nailed it. He really did. He is the son of a career diplomat. Oh, of course he is. Edward Kinnear. Of course that's his name.

And Suzanne. Edward and Suzanne Kinnear of the Indiana Kinnears. Grew up in Logansport indiana logansport he went to the university of arizona this guy how was this guy not like uh he could have been he could have been a leading man he could have been there's there's a there's a world can i go through some recent slept on canier performances He married a model in 1999. Still together? Still together. They have three kids.

Really? Her name's Helen Labden. I mean, that's lovely. Sure. Helen Labden. If I can just run down a couple slept on Kinnears. I like the way

Chris just said Helen Labden. She looks like a nice lady. I don't know. She's like an ex-model. We're forgetting the single worst career decision

from Kinnear, which is Flash of Genius, the movie about the invention of the windshield wel. We're forgetting the single worst career decision from Kinnear, which is Flash of Genius, the movie about the invention of the windshield wiper. Of course. Do you know what? It's like the joke Oscar movie where it's like they literally made a movie about the guy who invented the window wiper.

What if we could wipe the windshield and it's two hours long and no one saw it? Isn't it a movie about how he got like screwed out of the invention or something? Isn't that what the story is? Yeah. Right. He is crazy good.

Crazy fucking good in the Nicholas Sparks written Miley Cyrus starring The Last Song. Never saw it. He plays her father dying of cancer who she's sent to stay with for the summer. Interesting. Now she's got to live on a farm. She hates it. That's what with Liam Hemsworth. Yeah.

That sort of sparked their relationship. What's the most recent Kinnear? The most recent Kinnear? Is Kinnear still cranking him up? Big announcement recently. It'll be less recent by the time this episode comes out. Oh, right. He's on House of Cards.

In the wake of Kevin Spacey. He is the new guy they're adding to sort of, I don't know if that, not recasting, but we need a new heavy hitter. Chris is not happy about that. Well, that's like Robert Patrick replacing Duchovny on The X-Files, right? Sure. Sure, except Duchovny isn't a criminal. No, and of course people will be more justified that Kevin Spacey needs to go.

Yeah. But other than that, I mean, he did that movie same kind of different as me, which is like he's been doing a lot of spiritual dramas. He does a lot of faith movies. Yeah. It's weird because one thing- He also had that show Rake a few years ago. Remember that where it was the steak on his face?

Only you two remember Rake. Only you two remember Rake, the movie about a guy with a steak on his face. You're the only two people I've ever heard mention this. Crazy, crazy Knieer credit I just found.

In the Anita Hill biopic. The. In the Anita Hill biopic. Sure. The Kerry Washington HBO Anita Hill biopic. Confirmation. Greg Kinnear played the role of Joe Biden. Oh yeah. Of course. Yes he did. He probably crushed that. It's so funny to me to realize It's crazy to me to realize

we're diving so hard into this because it makes me realize I don't think there's too many people out there who don't like Greg Kinnear. Sure, he's likable. I don't want to spoil this, but we had a guest on for an episode that hasn't come out yet

who cited Greg Kinnear as her number one crush. What? Really? This is... For an episode that's coming? Like in the future. I'll just blow it.

Oh, no, I remember. As good as it gets. Representing the untapped potential. That's my ultimate guy, Greg Kinnear. He just seems like a nice man. He does. And almost like a Stephen Colbert way. Yeah, yeah.

Sure, sure. And just like a pro. Just a dude who's like a steady hand. Like I was going through that filmography and it's like, it doesn't matter what he's in. He's fucking delivering time cut. And I mean, think about, i certainly think in the 90s right you're a straight actor they go hey big deal right james l brooks wants you for a movie right

you have to play gay and at that time that was viewed as like toxic yeah if you play a gay man in a hollywood film that might kill your career right that was like the level of homophobia within the industry don't even think about coming out of the closet. But if you're straight and you play gay, audiences might turn on you. They might think you're gay. Right. That was like the insane thinking. And most actors who did do it

would go so big, so swishy. Or they would be written as cartoon. Right. But the actors would also, I think, lather that on even thicker because it's like, I gotta make this so different for myself because I'm so not gay that this has to be a total transformation. Greg Kinnear just kind of plays

this role like Greg Kinnear. Yeah. This is one of the few times I think... He's styled, you know, he's got like the open shirts and the sort of... But I'm talking about his performance. I'm talking about his acting. His choices. When you go just to his face. The things he, the things only he has a say in. This movie is the king. When you go just to his face. The things only he has a say in.

He's the king of the close-up on the face. This movie has so many close-ups on four faces. Nicholson, Hunt, Kinnear, and that dog. That dog. Early on in the movie, right at the start where Kinnear rings on his doorbell again and Nicholson opens the door and delivers

two minutes of invective at this man. And Kinnear's like, yeah, it's not a subtle point you're making. His eyes are like shimmering. He looks, you're immediately, again, it's this movie that like stops your heart

like with all this. They're like infinity pools of feeling. That's the counterpoint. He's an asshole, but it wants you to feel like what an asshole he is. Like how much it hurts the people around him. Rather than just like, oh, he's an asshole.

And in such a New York way. In such a New York way where it's like, that's the motherfucker down the hall. Yes. Speaking of doorbells. That is such a New York thing. Ding dong. Oh, get the door, Griff. Oh, God, why is it so dark in here?

You have sunglasses on. Oh, right. He's not taking them off. No. I don't know who he's applauding sitting in the front row that's what i do oh it's you again it's me jack nicholson i i love you on screen but i really hate you as an interrupter ready to rob another man's rhubarb you say that every time and i don't know what that means gotta be honest i'm having some troubles uh what's going on jack my dick won't stay up so you're saying that you're having

some sexual performances yeah and that's my main jam baby let me stop you right there that's actually more common than you might think in fact 25 of ed cases are guys under 40 oh well i am well over 40 i wasn't gonna say anything about your age but but i'm sticking it well under 40 if you know what i'm saying i'm gonna decide not to yeah you ever sex with the devil in the pale moonlight um it's a riff on batman yeah ben what do you think of this 40 of men by age 40 struggle from not being able to get and maintain an erection it happens okay even the world's greatest actor yeah can't fake one yeah so why do you guys who are struggling with this stuff turn to weird solutions or don't do anything about it when you could just turn to medicine and

science medicine science jack i gotta be honest with you it might help you out well you know i thought my my limp penis was as good as it gets but now i'm realizing there might be something better i great stuff okay all right so here's the thing jack you got to check out forhims.com that's right it's a one-stop shop for hair loss skin care sexual wellness all for men so thanks to science ed can be optional they're going to connect you with real doctors at hims they're going to give you medical grade solutions to treat ed you're going to get generic well-known equivalents to brit name brand prescriptions to help you combat ed there's no snake oil pills or gas station counter supplements that's great because i i got a lot of sexing to do i one ed pill starting with a v just came off

of patent on december 11th that's a game changer game changer. You see my to-do list here? I'm looking at it. You just drew a erect penis. And then look at page two. It's going inside. Put that one down. You know what I'm saying? There's children in this office.

Yeah, sure. Here's another great thing about Fort Hymns. There's no waiting room. You don't have to go to a doctor Yeah, sure. So here's another great thing about 4HIMS is there's no waiting room, right? You don't have to go to a doctor, have a weird conversation. I don't got time. I'm making picture after picture.

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And it's okay if you want to fix it. You're saying it could happen to young, hip guys, and there's no shame. Exactly. But I'm saying that Jack is going to be back sitting courtside at a Lakers game. Dick Akimbo. And this is how you can do it.

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Jack is back, baby. Get out of here. Sorry, carry on, Chris. Sorry for that interruption. I have a question that I think could be a real bomb that's being dropped. Okay, is this a thing that's going to bring us to our knees? I think it could. Okay. I don't know if it will, because you guys are very good at what you do

and very adept at handling curveballs. You try. But something really revealing just happened in what you said, David. Sure. That leads into the question. You mentioned so many great performances. Kinnear, Hunt, Nicholson, the dog. Right. You left out someone

who I have a question. I have a question that we're all going to have to pause and think about. Yeah, it's a big question. I think I know what your question is. Is this the other good Cuba Gooding Jr. performance? Is there any competition? I'm trying to think. Boys in the Hood.

Yeah, he's good in Boys in the Hood, actually. Jerry Maguire. Obviously, you've got Jerry Maguire. Snow Dogs. No, let's not. Let's not. Because the Hood, actually. Jerry Maguire. Obviously, you've got Jerry Maguire. Snow Dogs. No, let's not. Let's not. Because the fact that Ben Jones did on that, a universally reviled and mocked downfall of maybe unprecedented proportions. I mean, he won the Oscar for Boys in the Hood, right?

For Jerry Maguire. For Jerry Maguire. Oscar winner. And when this movie comes out, that's the next year. So he's an Oscar winner. My guess is he might have filmed this before he won the Oscar. This is one of those interesting phenomenons I think of. It's not a big part.

First movie to come out after the actor wins the Oscar, a role they probably wouldn't have taken if they had won the Oscar before. Like I think post-Oscar he would have gone like, I'm fucking Cuba Gooding Jr. I'm first builder nothing. I would say between Boys in the Hood and Jerry Maguire, this guy is like, like,

he's supposed to be what Will Smith wound up. Felt like he was the dude. As far as, you know, as far as an industry that tokenizes people

and means that there's only going to be a handful of people from each demographic if you're not a white guy. Oh man, and I just, I'm sorry,

I just saw his next three years after this. And like, they put him in starring roles, you know, because he had Instinct with Anthony Hopkins. He had Chill Factor. Chill Factor. Which was an action movie with Skeet Ulrich of As Good As It Gets. One of those ice cream

truck based thrillers. That was Speed, but it has to be cold, right? The Speed, but the bomb needs to be cold. Chill Factor. It's him and Skeeter Warwick. Plays the scum bomb model who beats Greg Kinnear.

Yes, he's in this movie. They clearly just hit it off so hard at the craft service table on as good as it gets that they said, we got to find a vehicle for the two of us. And they got a bomb. If the bomb isn't cold, it will explode. I think they're in the jungle. I think they're in the jungle i think they're in some sort of tropical location so they've hijacked an ice cream truck and they gotta drive it to

some place where it can be oh it's gotta remain below 50 degrees fahrenheit i have not seen it i this is what i remember about chill factor vividly you know those trailers where it's a comedy but they want to make you think it's like a serious movie at first until they cut to the reveal of like Chris Tucker on the other end of the phone? Yes.

Chill Factor is one of the only trailers I've seen that pulls that off successfully. Where the first, the misdirect in the first 20 seconds of the trailer is so boring

that you're like, this isn't a comedy they've re-edited to look like a thriller. And then you get to Cuba and Skeetorik hamming it up. Okay. Yeah. And then Men of Honor in 2000,

which is like an Oscar-y movie about the first black naval diver. And like Robert De Niro plays his racist captain. Right. Another movie that does not exist. And definitely doesn't exist. And then Pearl Harbor in 2001, where again he's playing a real life military hero but that movie obviously didn't

work. When does Radio come out? That's 2003. And is that the same year as Snow Dogs? Snow Dogs is 2002. So you got Pearl Harbor and Rat Race in 2001. Rat Race. He's going big in that one. And then Snow Dog's boat trip.

When his boat trip? 2002. Oh, wow. And then in 2003, you've got The Fighting Temptations, the launching of Beyonce's acting career. She'd already done Goldmember. Oh, you're right. That's the original. Who hated him?

And then radio. I mean, radio's rough. I hated him. And then radio. I mean, radio's rough. Someone on his team, one of his own agents, took out a fucking nail gun. Whose wife did Cuba Gooding Jr. sleep with?

That's the question. Someone pushed him into a coffin and then took a nail gun to it. Whose car did Cuba Gooding Jr. dance? Think about that. Boat trip radio snow dogs all within 18 months it's like crazy in Norbit he plays he plays the Greg Kinnear like he plays the other boyfriend that Tandy Newton has to lead he plays the Baxter in Norbit and then by the time Norbit was it was that Eddie Murphy and Eddie Murphy and Eddie Murphy Eddie Murphy right that was like a nutty professor. Yes, he plays Norbit. He plays Respusha,

Norbit's gigantic wife. And he plays the Chinese owner of a Chinese restaurant who adopted Norbit. He plays a Chinese man. I've seen Norbit. But then, you know, a couple years ago,

he's OJ in the OJ show. Which I thought he was very good at. And he's good in that. And you're like, oh, right, Cuba. Not a literal depiction. I like that he didn OJ in the OJ show. Which I thought he was very good at. And he's good in that. And you're like, oh right, Cuba. Not a literal depiction. I like that he didn't even try to impersonate him. Obviously physically doesn't match him. That was last year. Two years now. Two years ago. I mean, it's 2018 now. Very good in that. But it felt like, okay, here's a second

wind. He's going to capitalize on it. What's going to happen? I think I want to get back to Chris's question before he raises another question. Yeah, because I have a very tangential question. Okay. Well, what's your tangential question for you two in particular?

Here's something. Cause as someone who enjoys you guys. Yeah. Thank you. And here, I mean the, the fact that you have, cause I should just know it for anyone listening.

David has a computer and you're getting the dates with that. Yeah. But Griffin has no computer, no phone. And, and, and your details of movies, like you're getting the factual information,

the logistical information out of that computer. But very clearly, there are times where like Chill Factor comes up and you're looking away from the screen and you guys just know things about Chill Factor. We're kind of sort of the context. What is the worst movie you have each seen in the theater that you've paid to see?

Book of Henry. Oh, but I didn't pay. I paid to see Captain Underpants and then after Captain Underpants ended snuck into Book of Hammer that doesn't count that doesn't count

that doesn't count what's the worst movie you've paid full ticket price to see good question right that's a good question that's a great question can I think on it

yeah can I do you have an answer I know mine what's yours Martin Lawrence Black Knight never saw that one he goes back in time

he is at a medieval times-like restaurant, falls into the moat, and wakes up in a real medieval environment. And he's black, so that's weird. They're all like, what? Do you know why you're a great comedian? No. Because you didn't say Black Knight.

You said Martin Lawrence Black Knight as if his name above the title is important. You gotta remember. I'm sorry, title is important. You got to remember. I'm saying this is what makes you a great comic. That's what drew you. A guy that had a sitcom that people loved, I think rightfully, and then after, I think, and also went insane. Yes.

And this movie has to be rooted in the insanity part of his brain. Speaking of insanity, breaking news over the wires. Guess who's in talks to play the Joker in Todd Phillips' standalone Joker movie. Wow, topical. Ties right in to the Jack Nicholson. And this episode comes out in June. April. Todd Phillips.

Todd Phillips. Todd Phillips is making a Joker movie. Okay, can we actually guess? Yes, we can guess. Because listeners will know at this point. No, we can guess. So they're abandoning Jared Leto already. Possibly.

Right now they're saying they're going to do two different Jokers, and this is going to take place in its own universe. Come on, DC. Agreed. This is why I'm on record many times over DC Comics is the fucking

wackest shit. It's so whack. Get it together. You famously have led the charge to have Washington DC be renamed Washington Marvel. Yeah, come on. It's our capital.

It's a stain on our nation that that's named after DC Comics. This is an Oscar nominated actor. Not win. Three time Oscar nominee? I'm pretty sure. Maybe even four.

Give me the age range. With no win. Four time nominee with no win. How old is he? I mean, my guess is he's in his 40s. Yeah, early 40s.

Bradley Cooper? No. Is it someone who's... Only three-time. Only three-time. More for, like, supporting stuff or... Is he a leading man or a character actor? He used to be a character actor.

Now he's a leading man. This feels like a question you should definitely already know. Yeah, because that's my kind of guy. He's someone you might think of for a role like this. Background in comedy or not? No. No, he's a very serious actor. He's a very serious actor.

Sometimes I think he's a little too serious about being an actor. You know, about his performance. It's like, why so serious? I have comedy points. I have comedy points. Is he like a very, like, look at me, method-y actor? I think he is a bit.

Sometimes I refer to this man. It's Joaquin Phoenix. Yes. It's a slice of ham between two pieces of bread. You say he's a ham sandwich. I do. I could see him being a decent joker. How do you feel about this?

I walk the walk. I'm down for guacamole at any point in time. You do. You like him. I like him a lot. I'll say I really appreciated his performance in Gladiator. He's good in that. A movie that I saw when I was 18.

Great movie. And it was built for an 18-year-old boy. Yeah, I think he's great in Gladiator. I think he's great. You know what? I love him in I'm Still Here. When he makes fun of Ben Stiller to his face. I've never seen I'm Still Here.

It's so funny. What a Ben movie. I love Still Here. It's so funny. What a Ben movie. I love that movie. It's so great. Ben, you need to write a book about like Ben's favorite scumbag movies

where you're like leaning on the cover. You know what I mean? And you're like wearing a wool cap. Like, yeah. Right? Yeah.

Also, I don't know if I think that's a good choice. Oh, for the Joker? Yeah. Oh, Joaquin Phoenix in 8mm, by the way. Really good performance. That is a fun performance.

A movie that I saw. In a bad movie. I like that movie. I like that movie, too. Hells yeah. I snuck into that movie. Here's what I'll say about that movie. I don't know if I like that movie.

I saw another movie that, I forget what it was, but it was bad, and I left and snuck into 8mm, having researched 0% what it was was and all of a sudden I'm watching a snuff film movie. But I'll say, I don't know if that's a great I'll say I don't know if that's a great movie and maybe this is something that they stole, you guys can tell me, but the technique of being in a house looking for someone you know is a fucking

dangerous psychopath and there's a vinyl record playing and it runs out and then you hear the needle get reset from another room that's a terrifying chilling moment I wonder if there's an earlier example of that what a pretty brilliant scary way to say no yeah I'm in the house

with you motherfucker and I'm not even scared that you're here I'll let you know that I'm here I once saw I once read an interview I once read an interview with Julia Roberts and James Gandolfini when they made The Mexican. Uh-huh. And they were just chatting.

And the guy asked, like, what's the worst movie you guys ever did? Like, what's a movie you guys regret? And Julia Roberts said Flatliners. And James Gandolfini said 8mm. And then Julia Roberts said, we both said Joel Schumacher movies. I feel so bad. Like, it was a very candid moment. Wow.

You know? I think we've talked about him a lot. As good as it gets, do you think Cuba Gooding Jr. is good in the movie? Big performance. It's big. He's doing a lot of stuff. He's coming in real hot. I knew this one was going to be divisive.

He's coming in real hot. I don't know where I land on it. I will admit I started watching this movie. Nicholson fucking with the dog, throwing it down the chute. Yeah. Kinnear confrontation. And then Nicholson starts saying some incredibly racist stuff after, like, here's another thing. First he ladles on two minutes of homophobic bullying.

Then Cuba Gooding Jr. is in town. And the thing with this movie. And he says the thick molasses line. Yeah. And this movie is really trying to have its cake and eat it too. Because it definitely makes it clear that this guy's an asshole. Yeah. And this movie is really trying to have its cake and eat it too because it definitely makes it clear that this guy's an asshole

and we're supposed to think he's an asshole but also they could've just had him gone you know, slur, slur, slur. Instead he's throwing out zingers.

Sure. Like ideally, James L. Brooks wants the audience to be like laughing and going like, oh my god, I can't believe he said that. I think.

Oh, I don't think so. Not relating to him but it's like, oh, good joke construction. I feel like that's the needle they're trying to thread, which makes it a little uncomfortable. No, I think that would be true if you weren't then cutting to their reaction so powerful. Which I think is the saving grace of the movie. Okay. Because there is something you said for James L. Brooks is good enough at what he does

to capture that idea of he is kind of like your fucked up uncle. Right, sure. That you love him. He's got a couple speedballs. And like you and your cousins and your siblings, when he's out of the room, you're like, that's pretty crazy what he said, but kind of hilarious. But the other thing about Melvin,

I think that you sort of quickly realize, it's not like Melvin is someone who subscribes to any belief system. He just needs people to not be near him. So he radiates toxicity. He's like a guard dog. It's like he barks if people are within his range. And of course, early on, Cuba Gooding Jr. grabs him and he's like, no touching, no touching, and freaks out. But Nicholson is this just electric dude, right?

Nicholson owns any scene, any frame he's in. Even when he's understated, he just has this like live wire energy. And then when Cuba comes out to confront him, Cuba like kind of acts him off the screen for a minute or two. Sure. I'm not saying in terms of like... And also Nicholson needs to be sort of shrinking from him. Empirical acting qualities.

This is when he's getting in his face. Right. This was a moment where I think Cuba's greatest strength was he had more energy than any other actor alive. And he wasn't afraid to be big. He wasn't afraid to be big. And like Jerry Maguire, that's like a lot of fucking energy. I'm not saying that in a bad way at all

obviously with Jerry Maguire. And great in that. Right. Unbelievable. But with this, it's like he's just coming in so fucking hot. And we're in a movie that's already like walking on real thin ice. Yeah. In a lot of ways. And Kinnear, I think, is so sensitive.

That's what it is to me. Because Kinnear, he's so good at playing such like a sensitive shrinking violet. Yeah. And Cuba, he's good in it, but it's an early sign that he's not versatile. No. He's got one mode. That's exactly versatile. No. He's got one mode. That's exactly it.

Yeah. And then, you know, when he does OJ all those years later, you're like, has he been versatile and he just never bothered to be? Because you're right. For 10 plus years, your boat trips. Yeah. Your snow dogs. But is he versatile or did someone just very smartly say, I think Cuba Gooding can do this OJ thing?

I think it was that. Because it's not like that OJ went in too many different directions. So much of that show, he was just like, I don't fucking get what people don't get about this. And I'm the center of the world. And they threw it in his lap and it's good. I think the OJ thing is kind of like Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. Where that character fits his own narrative. He's in that slot.

Where he still can't get over the fact that people don't love him as much as they did in 1997. Like, I was Cuba Gunn Jr. I was top of the world. And like, that's how he feels. He feels like OJ Simpson

in prison cell now. What was it? Boat trip, snow dogs, and radio. Back to back to back. Yeah, that's three years.

Like, 01, 02, 03. That is, I mean. Yeah, it's brutal.

This is, his career is like a boxing match. Where he comes out in the first round and knocks his opponent down three times career is like a boxing match where he comes out in the first round and knocks his opponent down three times and is like

jitterbugging over him and then the guy comes back the guy just sustains his body blows and then it's a 12 round fight where he walks away

with CTE by the end and his whole life changes like his liver dissolves in round 8 yeah yes okay so this is a movie with a lot of plot

or no it's a long movie actually saying it has a lot of plot is weird so there's a movie with a lot of plot or no it's a long movie actually saying it has a lot of plot is weird because actually it doesn't have a lot of plot like it's not like a lot happens in the movie yeah it's just about three people who sort of come together i think the amazon prime description was a touching story between three unlikely characters i mean helen hunt in an interview said this was not intended as a romantic comedy but as we were making the movie we were like i think this is a romantic comedy interesting and then when they filmed the final scene james l brooks was like try kissing her like you know and they were like all right let's try that like

they were not is this was not explicitly planned as like, it's a movie about these two people. It was just supposed to be a bunch of oddballs. And it was going to come to them being like, you saved my kid and we have this understanding and we can be friends now. Exactly. It was about them changing.

I almost would have liked that better. I do think the romance is the toughest sell of this movie. Like, yes. And I also think they can have the same effect on each other without it having to become a sexual thing. Yeah. Like, I prefer reading the you make me want to be a better man speech without any sexual charge. Literally just you are an aspirational figure to me. No, but that's what I think is the point of the movie

yes she is turned on or attracted turned on is too strong yeah by the idea that he wants to change for her because that's such a crazy thing to think of i also think i would say that line as we bring it up is one of the great like three point shot swish dialogue lines. It is. That's Brooks. Right. My experience, too, again, just my age, seeing it in the theater, this was, I didn't know who James L. I'd never heard of James L. Brooks.

So you'd never seen broadcast news or Terms of Endearment, these movies. I mean, you'd watch The Simpsons. The Simpsons, he was a name on the screen for The Simpsons to me. And then I watched this and was like, whoa, holy shit, who is this guy? In a way, I've maybe only had that experience.

As far as realizing that movies are made by people and the people can make choices that define it and they have their own styles, it was Brooks and Cameron Crowe are the only two people that I— And Cameron Crowe was like his protege. Brooks was the guy who got Say Anything Made. He produced Jerry Maguire got Say Anything Made. Brooks produced Jerry Maguire and Say Anything Made. Yeah. But they have a very similar tone and sort of like touch and mix of

emotions and all of that. I wonder, I don't know what Brooks' relationship... Cameron Crowe worships at the feet of Billy Wilder who when I got older was smart enough to look up old movies from him. Another one who has that similar versatility can go in every direction. Yes.

I mean, you know, Brooks, massive sitcom guy moves to movies at a time when that was not really viewed as possible. Wins three Oscars in one night. For his debut movie. Huge success in terms of endearment.

Then broadcast news, which we argue is even better. Right. And then doesn't make a movie for like seven years. Whoa. Right. Creates The Simpsons. No, seven years.

You're right. Yeah. And then makes I'll Do Anything, which is like a disaster. So this is definitely his movies. This movie, he has to get his groove back. Like he's trying to avoid a Cuba Gooding 2002, 2003 run. Yeah. And this script wasn't originated by him. Which every other movie he's done.

This is someone else's script that he adapts. Even if it's an adaptation. But he punched up this dialogue. A lot. I think he did it. It's all his. Who make you want to be a better man is like a distilled core statement of all movies. And it'd be one thing if he said that 20 minutes in.

But James L. Brooks is like, that's 90 minutes in. And it's going to take, there's going to be flim flam with the, he needs to get a jacket. There's going to be a conversation about lobster for a while. Take the breath out of the theater. Yes. But I think they went, you know, there's a script kicking around Sony. He needs to make another movie quickly because he's got to get his mojo back, right? He doesn't have time to incubate a script for another eight years.

And they go, look, here's this thing. It's kind of interesting that we've never been able to crack it. A gay painter, misanthropic OCD novelist, and single mother just trying to skate by with a chronically ill kid. And he kind of takes that and redoes the whole thing. Right. And also, he'd work with Nicholson on Terms of Endearment. He wins an Oscar.

Nicholson also pops up in broadcast news. But maybe he's like, I'd love to give him a lead role. A big Jack fiasco. I want to do a real Nicholson movie. And this is where Nicholson is. He's already, I guess he's still making maybe a movie a year. I'm surprised I didn't see this movie in theaters. Did you love Jack?

This is the same year as Mars Attacks. And I was all fucking about Mars Attacks. And both Jack Nicholson performances. Blows the roof off. I was into that. I was into fucking adult dramedies. Like as a 10 year old I was like I love a nice soft adult dramedy. Of course.

I cannot believe I didn't see this movie in theaters. I knew Jack just as the Joker. Right. Sure. To me an exact kid of my age. I was Jack just as the Joker. Right. Sure. To me, an exact kid of my age. I was nine when Batman came out. Yeah. Killed it.

And I was old enough to remember the dialogue that people were like, wow, this is one of our great serious actors. What's he doing playing the Joker? Sure. Right. And then he killed the Joker. He did. Yeah.

Great performance. I mean, he rubbed another man's rhubarb. Yeah. This town needs an enema. This is the last movie he makes before he becomes Once in a While Jack. Yes. Because the next movie he makes is The Pledge, which is four years later. Wow.

And then Anger Management's like two years. Then you got A Voucher, Anger Management, Something's Gotta Give, which are all in two years. And then The Departed, and then The Bucket List, and then How Do You Know? Like, that's it. A crazy stat I was surprised by looking at the Wikipedia page for this movie. This is his second highest grossing film ever, only behind Batman. Is that true? This movie is a fucking huge hit.

This movie was huge. We're going to talk about that. Don't you worry. Like, this was like, okay, let's just make a solid, like, late period Jack Nicholson comedy. And then people went bananas for it yeah i mean they did and this is kind of like in a certain way is like the the sort of softest cheeriest jack nicholson movie like it's a movie about an asshole but jack nicholson usually the movies he's in have a harder edge right yeah and he's a little more lovable in them right and this is kind of like flipping it

where it's like, this is like a very nicely shot, like upbeat Hans Zimmer score movie with like shithole Jack Nicholson. Right. Because the earlier movies, like in the 90s, like Wolf,

Hoffa. Right. Wolf. Blood and Wine. Mike Nichols. The animal is out. Was Wolf, did any of you guys see Wolf?

I've never seen Wolf. I've never seen Wolf. I remember being so confused. My parents went to see Wolf. Really? Because I was like seven, I think, when that came out. That was like some dinner and a date movie. That was part of that loose, unofficial 90s trilogy of Monsters Who Falk, which was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Wolf.

Did Mike Nichols direct anything after that? Yeah, because he made Closer. Yeah, Charlie Wilson's War. Yeah, he made a few movies after that. He did that weird Gary Shandling movie. What planet are you from? Yeah, remember Gary Shandling's alien sex comedy? Which I believe Greg Kinnear is in.

Greg Kinnear is in that. I almost had a chance to meet Mike Nichols, and I didn't follow up on it. And then he died? Yeah. Oh, man. He also made Primary Colors and The Birdcage. Oh up on it. And then he died? Yeah. Oh, man. He also made Primary Colors and The Birdcage. Oh, he made a lot of good stuff.

So Wolf was just like a weird hiccup. Yeah, Wolf's just an odd one. Otherwise, pretty smooth career. Yeah. But I mean, like, on paper, not a bad idea. Nicholson and Pfeiffer, like modern werewolf thing.

That pitch was definitely just... Wall Street satire. Jack Nicholson plays a werewolf and they went, here's $70 million. That's exactly the budget. How did you know that?

That was the entire bit. When I was on Anchorman 2, very, very small role, only showed up in the special edition, Judd Apatow was on

set and I'd met Judd once before and we were talking and he was very nice and he mentioned that he had just met Mike Nichols and I was like, I've always wanted to

meet him because out of all that early, because you know he was like one of the first improvisers. Nichols and May. Nichols and I was like I've always wanted to meet him because out of all that because you know he was like one of the first improvisers Nichols and May Nichols and May Compass Players

Second City Founder I was like I've always wanted to meet him and talk about improv because I always got the sense he was like the smartest of that first wave and he's like

he loves talking about improv he loves it he's like I sat down and talked with him about directing and he kept bringing up improv he's like we should all three sit down

because you could really get him going on that. And I was like, oh yeah, but I didn't think Judd was serious. And now I know Judd much better and realize, oh, he was totally serious.

You could have taken him up on that. I could have sat with Mike Nichols and just talked about the earliest days of improv. That would have been amazing. Would have been such a geek dream come true. And it sounds like he would have loved that conversation.

Like be able to just talk Krav with someone. But Nichols would be good. Nichols would be good. He's got a lot of movies. Motherfucker made Wolf. Some people forget Motherfucker made Wolf. You regarded Henry? Podcasting Henry.

I don't know. We're still on the first five minutes of this movie. We're doing fine. So Helen Hunt. So you got Melvin you got Greg Kinnear and then you have Helen Hunt winning an Oscar as Carol Connelly

right she's a waitress becomes the first actor to win the Emmy and the Oscar in the same year that's right she's riding hard

on Mad About You right real brassy dame yeah light affectations of a New York accent yeah which I think she could've

done without I think no one else in this movie is doing any sort of New York accent and you don't go that's weird that they don't all sound like truck drivers you know that they don't all sound like

tinctures I mean in Brooks' conception of the movie she's a Brooklyn girl she's a Brooklyn girl probably of a few generations I mean her mom's in the movie still her mom's in the movie played by Shirley Knight

she's great neighborhood people and they live in Windsor Terrace. That is Windsor Terrace. Those are blocks I recognize. And the last scene is in front of a bakery in Windsor Terrace. Old school Irish neighborhood. Yeah, and you can see Terrace Bagels in the background,

which is where I go buy my bagels. That's like old school Irish fireman and cop neighborhood. It's the fireman neighborhood. Now, obviously, it's like Park Slope adjacent. But there's still that one bar full of townies that hate the hipsters, right? That is fucking scary. That's what I heard. I've been in that bar and it's scary.

Like sometimes because there's the hipster bar across the street. When it's full, you're like, well, why don't we just go? Like you walk in there and you're like, oh, no. What's this bar called? Oh, you've never heard the legend of this Windsor Terrace? Old school. It has a very bland name, so I'm trying to remember it. It's always there like mocking me. Because Noah Foreman grew up in Windsor'm trying to remember it. It's always there, like, mocking me.

It's like a... Because Noah Foreman grew up in Windsor Terrace, and he says it's been there forever. It's like the last stronghold of, like, old Irish working class firemen. There's also Jackie's Fifth Amendment in Park Slope. That's a great name for a scary bar. Which is one of the best named bars ever.

But that's Park Slope, you know, because Park Slope is also an Irish neighborhood. Right, yeah. But, yeah, anyway. I'll say something about Helen Hunt. Farrell's Park Slope. Because Park Slope is also an Irish neighborhood. Right, yeah. But, yeah, anyway. I'll say something about Helen Hunt. Farrells, thank you. Jesus. Yeah, Helen Hunt.

Now, it's a little inappropriate. I'm going to put it out there. See if you guys finish the second half of this thought. I want to remind you, I was a 17-year-old boy when I saw this movie in the theater. Do you know the scene that I saw this movie in the theater. I know where this is going. Yeah. Do you know the scene that I'm referencing? Yeah, the wet scene.

The wet, the formative. That was formative. Formative scene. Yeah, yeah. As some, because you got to remember, 1997, the internet was not. Sure, right. You couldn't. Sure.

You had to think on these things. Video was buffering. Video was buffering. You would only hear rumors about, I think that actress got naked in this movie. You know, in the same way you'd hear, like, I hear this movie has a scene where dude's head explodes. Yeah. Like, it would be like cool things you want to see in movies where like hearsay. The wet t-shirt scene was one of the prime me growing up. Oh, Ben's nodding.

Yeah. Me growing up scenes. Well, also because she was on TV too. Chris and I are somewhat close in aging. This was very formative for me. Uh-huh. And I think this is sort of where I was like, wet is

better. Ben likes slick flicks. He thinks all movies are better wet. Well, it's just like you could make a dry movie or you could get a rain machine and get that shit soaking. Have you ever seen Toxic Avenger 3? Have not. When 50 naked Japanese girls

run out of a communal shower in a locker room. Wow. It's a Jersey picture, too. Yeah. Oh, for sure. Another formative. My uncle had a copy of Toxic Adventure 3, and we watched it. Although the first time I saw Boob, National Lampoon's European Vacation.

See, that's interesting. Interesting. Is it? Maybe not. No, but the Hunt thing is what I'm turning over. Because I have a bit of a crush on Helen Hunt in this movie now. I do too. Now that I'm watching it.

100%. I love that scene where the guy is putting the moves on her and he grabs the boob and gets the throw up early on. And she just gives him a sort of like, you know, she shrugs. She's a strong mom. She's a strong woman. She does stuff like that. And then later at the end when Kinnear is like, you know, like she shrugs. She's a strong mom. She's a strong woman. She does stuff like that. And then later at the end,

when Kinnear is like, I can paint again. She was like, ha, one night with me. Like I, that, that just gets me.

A thing about her in this movie that antithetically almost makes her more attractive to me, but also is why I think this performance works. I love this performance. She seems really tired in this movie. She's tired. A lot of times when it's like the put-upon single mother, you're like, no, you look like you're dealing with this too okay. Helen Hunt, you feel the weight in every shot of this movie.

When Nicholson early on is like, what's with the dark circles? She's like, what are you fucking telling me? Look at my life. Yeah, exactly. Come on. Now, this character is supposed to be in her 40s. Hunt, when she plays it, she's in her mid-30s. Interesting.

But I feel like she's playing it like she's in her early 40s. Yeah, and I think she sells it. The plot is that he goes to this restaurant every day and she's his waitress. It's part of his... His routine. He has a strict routine. He needs to play. He's got to tap dance around the cracks.

Sure. He has to throw the dog in the garbage. There are things he has to do every day. What I love about that thing where it's like he needs to throw the dog in the garbage uh there are things he has to do every day what i love about that thing where it's like he needs to throw the dog in the garbage we don't know why the dog pisses him off no it's the first thing we learn about the opening shot is that he's had enough of this dog picking up the dog so he can throw it in the garbage it's also like it's pretty audacious of brooks to be like i'm literally gonna do the opposite of save the cat in the first shot of my movie.

Kill the dog. They say Save the Cat, I'm going to throw out the dog. This dog that literally just looks like a muffin with two eyes on it. That's the dog. The dog doesn't even have a shape where you're like, how does this dog's body work? The dog is definitely a new pastry

gimmick that people would line up around the block for. It's like a pound cake plus a croissant or something. And people have to remember, the marketing campaign for this movie, because I hadn't seen it when it came out, but I just remember everyone was fucking talking about the dog. The poster is Smiling Jack, sunglasses, holding up the dog. And I just remember my grandma being like,

Griff, you gotta see this movie. This dog, you won't believe the things this dog does. The dog's the fourth lead of the movie. 100%. It's a four-hander. You put him not just ahead of Cuba Gooding Jr., but did not mention Cuba Gooding Jr. Nicholson Hunt, can hear, dog.

Dog, dog. It's a four-hander. It's funny, as we talk about it, I feel like one thing I've never realized about this movie that this conversation is proving true to me, this is like a real New York movie. It is. But it doesn't wear it on its sleeve like some of the classic New York movies.

But the idea of you got some asshole down the hall you got to deal with, you got your favorite restaurant and you see the waiter all the time, the waitress all the time, and you don't know anything about each other, but you know each other. Yes. That's such a New York thing too. I also, this movie, because it feels, anything that's indoors feels very

soundstage-y in this movie. But the exteriors are all like real New York as we were saying. Yeah, downtown. Nicholson's building is like right around where I grew up. And so this movie activates a lot of weird nostalgia stuff for me for like storefronts of places that closed when I was like

in my teen years and stuff. It feels very New York. It truly does. While being a very like heightened kind of glossy movie. Also just those dynamics. The things like him leaving the restaurant and everyone applauding.

Like he is playing a character that everyone in New York has at least tangentially seen. Yeah. Been on a subway car with some asshole. Weird asshole. Right.

Like some guy where it's like what's that guy's problem like you know it's there's nothing more like we're all trying to get where we're going shut up we all want to eat bacon like it's or whatever we all want our breakfast it's not but it's not about you he's got the weird look jack nicholson designed the wardrobe for this yes and let me tell you well done literally sewed it himself daniel character. No! And let me tell you. Well done! Literally sewed it himself, Daniel Day-Lewis style. Let me tell you what the trivia fact

says. He wanted the character to have a downtown look. I mean, Mission Accomplice. Do you agree? Do you agree that this is a downtown look? I would argue Mission Accomplice. Way in. Downtown, uptown. What are you thinking?

Where does he live, do you think? He lives in the West Village. Right, exactly. Yes, of course. We see where he lives. And where she lives in Windsor Terrace. And, yeah.

What are you looking at, Griffin? Nothing. Griffin's got his phone out. I don't know what he's doing. After I gave him props for no phone in it. Maybe load something up for later.

Okay. I think he pulls off the downtown look because downtown motherfuckers don't give a fuck. I say this as the most notoriously chill person of all time, downtown Griffey Nooms, never a worry. The epitome of cool. Skating by on charm. Fucking downtown cool.

He's not like evoking a Warhol coolness. No. No, but the 90s, I'll say this. Or CBGB's coolness. That's what you think. When I think downtown, I think artsy. I think Nicholson is thinking of 60s downtown. I think coffee shop, like

Cafe Wah. Exactly. This is what I'm going to argue. I'm going to argue that mid-90s West Village was very uncool. Mid-90s West Village, sure. Was very uncool. That's like we're coming up on like Magnolia Bakery West Village. Right. Right. And it's a little past like 80s grit and grime West Village.

Right. I think this was a kind of dorky period. Oh. Where this guy would fit. This was the dude I would see in my local library. And he literally lives on the block of my local library in this movie.

I buy it. All right. Downtown Griffey Nooms himself. Yeah. Okay. Oh, God. Oh, hi. What's up, buddy?

No, I just keep on getting these Valentine's Day party invites. Okay. For some reason, I just keep on getting these Valentine's Day party invites. Okay. For some reason, all my friends keep on throwing Valentine's Day parties well into the spring. I've thrown a few. Yeah, you throw one every weekend just to lord over me the fact that you have a girlfriend. All right, I'll admit it. I'm doing it to lord it over you. You got a romantic partner. Good for you. You found unconditional love.

All right, let me me guess you've been trying some online dating and you've run into some lazy text messages or weird random matches that don't even turn into dates yeah i don't know sometimes hypothetically you finally get approved for an exclusive dating site for famos and you find out it's not all it's cracked up to be all right well i want to i want to connect with the people that's because most of those online dating services are just like you know not very helpful yeah they don't know how to match people up no but what have you seen the success stories from e-harmony oh real people real people are finding real matches well i mean real but not like bruce and laurie right we never thought we'd meet someone online that was so compatible and we're grateful that we were able to find each other.

That's Lisa and Mark. What? Yeah. I mean, look, I heard about Bruce and Lori. Okay. I actually have their pictures right here. I don't want to brag, but I heard about them. Married June 18, 2011.

That's already coming up on seven years of good marriage, let alone the courtship leading up into that. My gosh. Look at at this i'm actually just reading their story they did the amazing race yeah their team name was perfect harmony yeah because of the site they got married in harmony california yeah i mean they really are on brand here all right well good for them i mean obviously e-harmony knows what they're doing when there's love it's just when it's love there's just no stopping it that's jason and anna they're seeing the praises of e-harmony right now there are plenty of hookup sites out there that is not what they are we're lousy with those i don't need any

more of them e-harmony is the number one most trusted dating site or app based on a 2008 survey of 1616 us singles based on a survey. We're talking about the real stuff. Real relationships. Adult relationships. They use decades of science data and psychological research to send you the right matches. eHarmony. It brings compatible people together. They're like love doctors.

Doctors of love. Doctors of love. I actually used eHarmony. Did you? What? Yeah. And it's really a great experience comparatively to some of the other dating apps

and services. I just get anxious on these other dating apps. Oh, you mean because they don't like they actually take steps to find you a more compatible match? Right. They have like a questionnaire and they have different ways to kind of pair you up with people that you're actually going to have a genuine connection

and match with. This is a gross hookup culture. You know, this is like you're finding love that's what we're looking for no but this is for really this is for serious like this is for right people who are looking for meaningful relationships not just to hook up with someone this is not a hookup site it's like a site that uses science and data and research to find you the right matches. Which, that's the thing. Like, I've been working in the lab trying to come up with a good formula to meet somebody. The bathroom is not a lab. I call it the lab because it's where I do my serious work. Well, right now, Blank Check listeners can get a free month of eHarmony when they sign up for a three-month subscription if they enter code CHECK at checkout.

Okay, so you check to make sure that your marital status is single. No, no. Stop waiting and start your journey to a satisfying, meaningful relationship. It can be fun to play around with the online dating apps, but when you're ready to fall in love with someone, you have a meaningful and have a meaningful relationship, there's one app that's built to bring you real

love, eHarmony. Come see how eHarmony can change your life. Go to eHarmony.com and get started. Yeah, I mean, I'm ready for that because I'm looking to have a summer wedding. Enter the code check at checkout. Okay, cool. Oh, there's Lisa and Mark. Handsome.

Handsome couple. He proposed to her on a mountain. Wow. On a mountaintop. Valentine's Day 2010. Alright. Well, anyway, they're new friends of the show and we're excited to have them I feel like maybe I should ask eHarmony out it feels like

take your shot shoot your shot yeah alright we're on minute 20 of as good as it gets we're gonna wrap this up soon yeah

but what happens really quickly is Greg Kinnear's doing okay in his life this is the other thing the opening of this movie is Melvin's a dick for 10 minutes sure he meets the waitress sure

Greg Kinnear is beaten half to death by a gang of street prostitutes yes including Jamie Kennedy including Jamie Kennedy the cruelest exing of all he's a portrait painter that's what he's doing that is definitely not a thing that's happening in the 90s downtown brooks is missing like he did in what was the

other movie though oh the the chef uh profession english sure um where it's just like it this is not a good portrayal of a painter okay this is a bad portrayal he just wants to kind of walk around until he looks like a painting that way they do not live that way come on can i tell you what the west village was like in the middle oh man there's more downtown download floral if he knew should i put some jazz music on for you? Shortsleeve shirt, leather duster, tiptoe around, cracks, painting portraits. That's what everyone was doing. Let me ask you seriously, though. I think that was well past the era where you could be a portrait painter and afford to live in the West Village.

Agreed, 100%. Makes no sense. West Village in an apartment with a greenhouse. It is science fiction. Yeah. It is science fiction. You're a portrait painter? Especially because the movie acknowledges how expensive the apartment is by creating the conflict of he can no longer afford it.

And it's like, bitch, you couldn't afford that to begin with. Like maybe he's a conceptual artist. Okay. Then he can afford that apartment. You know? Right. Maybe he's like a piss Jesus type. Then it makes sense to me.

There could have been more Giuliani in this movie. That would have been fun. Like, you know, he's fighting Giuliani in some way. Giuliani is the fifth character of this film. Oh, yeah, you know, he's fighting Giuliani in some way. But in a certain way, Giuliani is the fifth character of this film. You know, I mean, he looms large over the proceedings. This is the New York he was just cleaning up when the era came out. That's, that's, that's actually

When I heard we were talking about as good as it gets, I wondered who was going to be the first one to bring up Piss Jesus. Believe it was Piss Christ was the technical name. That was a big, was he the same guy? What if that was the technical name. That was a big... Was he the same guy? What if that was the scene where he's like,

all right, Skeet, I'll pee in this jar. I did think... And put a crucifix in there. The scene where he draws her, though, is beautiful. It's a wonderful scene. Yeah, and I'll say this. More so than Titanic this same year, where they want you to be aghast with Jack's drawings.

Sure. These drawings are actually impressive. They're by a real artist, Billy Sullivan, a New York artist. Maybe he was a downtown artist. I don't think so. Do you think, here's the thing I'm realizing too. Do you think the success of this movie, the explosion is that in a year where it was like Titanic, Men in Black, all of a sudden here's this like.

A movie for grownups. Thoughtful character piece. Yeah. And I just think that this movie would just, like you said, it would just be TV show now. Right. Like it just like, that just wouldn't, there's no space for it anymore. Right, that's like, Terms of Endearment was the second highest

grossing film of its year behind Empire Strikes Back, is that right? Uh, yes, that's right. Right. No, Return of the Jedi. Return of the Jedi, sorry. 84? Right. 83. Humongous. 83. That's fucking, you're serious? It's 83? Yeah. That fucking son of a bitch. a bitch I'm so sorry

you got in a fight about this I did bar trivia and you had to there was a question where it was about you had to do the math and the early reference point was if you take the year return of the Jedi came out and then subtract blah blah blah

they were every three years it was 77, 80, 83 yeah that's what I thought and then they said it was 80 they had the year wrong blah, blah, blah. They were every three years. It was 77, 80, 83. Yeah. That's what I thought. 77, 80, 83. Yeah. And then they said it was 80. They had the year wrong. They're liars. Yeah.

A bunch of liars. Crooks and liars. But so, right, the inciting incident in this movie, Half Hour In, is that Greg Kinnear is savagely beaten

by a very attractive bunch of street prostitutes who are robbing his home of the 14 crystal sculpture that he owns. He does have a lot of crystal sculptures. Right.

Which I do feel like is... I'm trying to figure out how to phrase this. I like that the movie very casually sets up without having to explain it. Like, this guy's a target because of homophobia. Like, these are desperate kids living on the skids, right? They want to rob him, but I get the sense they would not have beaten him were he straight.

And there's even the implications. They're yelling shit at him like he's fucking pervert. There's like the Jim Carroll basketball diaries. Like, I'll let you jerk me off in Grand Central Station, and then if you look me in the eye, I'll punch you in the face. Right, that kind of thing. That New York.

That's the Steve Dahlberg character. I feel like that is a very real, more 70s, 80s thing. But the movie doesn't make a big meal out of it being a hate crime because it's just like that's the world

Kinnear expects to live in. Like he hates that he was beaten but he doesn't expect anyone to show him any respect. But because of this Yes. Melvin has to take his dog. He's got to take that dog.

And that is I guess what James L. Brooks has decided is the emotional core of his movie is that bacon in the pocket walking that dog first time in his life melvin understands what it is to love a thing uh anything one could say it becomes as good as it gets i mean the scene where he walks into the shrink's office is great uh i love that scene anywhere where the shrink is like okay melvin like you know and then just the idea of him walking into the waiting's office is great. I love that scene anywhere where the shrink is like, okay, Melvin. And then just the idea of him walking into the waiting room

and saying, what if this is as good as it gets? That's another, James L. Brooks must have just thought about, like, how better to ruin eight people's day than just put that in their minds and walk out? What if this is as good as it gets? A thing that is very interesting about this way to me is like six directors who are not usually actors all appear in this film uh okay give me give me him because uh i mean you have harold ramis as the doctor who's so good so good one scene performance

just just nails it uh you have um uh who's the other one Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Kasdan as the shrink screenwriter of Empire Strikes Back Rares of the Lost Ark plays the shrink with the new

the new goatee I also re-grew my beard and you don't seem to care about that Melvin Shane Black plays the manager of the cafe oh I didn't know that director of Iron Man 3

who later cut me from his film was he nice he was very nice that's good yeah I love that movie Brett Ratner

plays Helen Hunt's son there's another big one oh Todd Sollins is the guy on the bus Todd Sollins is the guy on the bus yeah there's the scene

on the bus what is it I think it's Helen Hunt on the bus and the kid her kid is chasing her yeah and it's helen hunt on the bus and the kid her kid is chasing her yeah and he's like she's like leaning over and kind of getting in the guy's face and it's welcome to the dollhouse director todd solon's just sitting there awkwardly there are a lot of directors in this movie clearly he just was like i don't want to have some buddies

on set the guy who plays the kid who plays the kid is called Jesse James, which is weird. Didn't know that. Yeah. Just saying. Did you also notice Maya Rudolph playing a cop for one second? Maya Rudolph's in this movie

for a second. Yes. She's one of the cops cleaning up after. She was already on SNL. No. No. This is 97.

This was like a lot of people when she was Missy Pyle before she's like. Missy Pyle's one of the waitresses. Is that when Maya Rudolph was just like a backup in the rentals yeah

do you know that she was in that Weezer spinoff yes yes this is she had also been a nurse on Chicago Hope for five episodes

but this is her first film role wow she doesn't get SNL until 2000 Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph who knew road trip

they go on a road trip I love a road trip movie you love a road trip I love a road trip movie but like what's the yeah he gives the dog bacon and then the dog leaves and he cries. Yeah. And he realizes what it is to have a connection to something.

But also Helen Hunt has stopped working because the kid's sick. The kid's too sick. So he sends the doctor to cure her entire life. Goes to the publisher and says, I can't write my book unless you hire a doctor. No, your husband. We also aren't mentioning that he paradoxically writes romance novels. That he's a mean son of a bitch with no love in his life.

How do you write women so well? I mean, classic line. Do you know what this line is? I take away all reason and accountability. I think of a man and take away reason and accountability. Do you know who said that? That's a real line from a real author. John Updike said that. Oh, really? Yep. James L. Brooks thought that was funny. Did he? Wait, was Updike? I don't know much about Updike. Was Updike dead or did James L. Brooks thought that was funny that he said that. Did he?

Wait, was Updike? I don't know much about Updike. Was Updike dead or did James L. Brooks have to go get permission? He's still very alive. Yeah. I think he's just trolling him. Yeah, that's a pretty brutal troll. Good troll. Because if you want to get angry that James L. Brooks stole your line, you then have to

take credit for that awful thing. The most misogynistic, ridiculous scene. It's like he's pretty much calling up Dykes Bluff. That scene where the doctor is there to, and it's like, it's such, and even now it's so resonant where it's like, oh,

just the idea of like normal healthcare is enough to change this whole woman's life. She starts like crying. Right. And Remus was just like such a soothing premise. Like where he gives him the business card where he's like, oh, my home number's on there. And it's like,

he just like spoke in like Cthulhu language. Working class broad who's doing it on her own all of a sudden gets to cut through all the red tape and bureaucracy and bullshit

and phone calls there's that great question he asked where it's like have you ever had a test when he wasn't sick right like you've only

gotten him tested when he's already in the emergency room because there's a problem right have you ever tested him in like a normal state? And it's like, no.

No, we didn't think that was possible. And we should point out, a pretty funny... Melvin does this ostensibly because she's his favorite waitress and he wants his life to stay exactly the same. Disrupts the order and the new waitress comes in and he flips out.

He spends presumably thousands and thousands of dollars so that she can still serve him breakfast food. His insane breakfast food order, which is like Daniel Day-Lewis and Phantom Fred level. Yeah.

He like wants pancakes, bacon, sausage, coffee with cream. What else does he want? Welsh rarebit with a sunny side egg. And then they go on a road trip because Greg Kinnear

is out of money so he needs to ask his parents for money and he weirdly like still has no respect for Greg Kinnear but loves the dog so much that he can't lose Greg Kinnear in the building but he has a little respect for him because there's this scene where they're calling a dog to each other

and Nicholson, Melvin actually wants the dog to go to Kinnear he likes that it goes to him but he does want it to go to Kinnear that's the scene where he to Kinnear. He likes that it goes to him, but he does want it to go to Kinnear. That's the scene where he visits. Kinnear's post-beating makeup is very odd in this film, especially the trajectory of it. Because the first time they go to the hospital, when Yardley Smith, Lisa Simpson

herself, is crying. She's the one with the mirror. That's Lisa Simpson. Yeah, I know you're Lee Smith. I'm three o'clock high, right you're okay sorry three o'clock high right three o'clock i think brooks just likes to have a simpson right one or no oh was she because he had no no no you know let's check which which classic 80s movie am i like the underground it was at three o'clock high i think it's three o'clock i think it was legend of billy

jean she was in i want was she in both i want you to tell me how old Yardley Smith is. Who has been doing The Simpsons for 20 plus years. The movie you're thinking of is 3 O'Clock High. She was in 3 O'Clock High. Also Maximum Overdrive. Was she not in The Legend of Billie Jean? She is in The Legend of Billie Jean. Wow.

She ran the table in the 80s. I would guess Yardley Smith is 65. 65? What are you guessing? 57. 53 years old. I originally said 55. She's a young woman. Yeah. A whole life ahead of her. And she's been playing Lisa

for... 24 years? How long has that show been on the air? 28? How many generations of her family don't need to work because of The Simpsons? Until, like, yeah, there's war. Right? That wipes out all humanity. Six? Until, like, yeah, there's war, right, that wipes out all humanity. I mean, think about fucking James Bond.

Until the American economy falls, and maybe she even already has it invested. Until someone's just like, wait, we give out residuals? No. Like, you know, someone finally 200 years from now. Think about how much money James L. fucking Brooks have. Wait, let's go through the sitcoms.

James L. F. Brooks. Taxi. Mary Tyler Moore. It wasn't Cheers. That was the Charles. But then Lou Grant, Rhoda. The Mary Tyler Moore. It wasn't Cheers. That was the Charles. But then Lou Grant, Rhoda, the Mary Tyler Moore spinoffs.

There's another big one I'm forgetting. I don't know. It's already, he's like set for life. Taxi, Tracy Ullman, obviously.

That's it. Taxi, Mary Tyler Moore were the two. The Critic. It stinks. I mean, and it didn't.

So they go on a road trip. Yes. I'm just finishing this up here. He has lovely leather gloves and he has a bunch of weirdly labeled CDs for different situations. Yeah, different emotional moods. Yeah. He also has a weird sports car. Yeah.

I really like the touch that even when they're not driving, like when he goes into the restaurant, he's still wearing the leather glove. Like being that outside of his comfort routine. Has to wear the random jacket at the restaurant. Yes. Hates it. And then has to go next door. He goes next door and buys.

Confronted with that. Goes next door to buy clothes. But doesn't want to step into the store. Right. One other weird aside. Okay. Along the line of how many director cameos that were in this

do you notice the scene where he goes into the restaurant and he starts doing some real anti-semitic heat just to round out the trilogy yeah to Lisa Edelstein

and Pete Jacobson two cast members from House I know 15 years before House I know it's weird it's weird it's a funny it's a funny moment

playing two Jewish targets I know well Brooks he I guess he just wanted to get that in there too yeah but no I also just like that when Kinnear and Hunt meet it's weird it's a funny it's a funny moment playing two jewish targets i know well brooks he i guess he just wanted to get that in there too yeah but no i also just like that when kaneer and hunt meet they're like isn't this fucking guy weird like they're immediately friends because they're just like what is it how much nicer to be in a movie with someone who's chill what about the letter scene though we need to talk about that for a second don't we there's that scene which letter where she reads the letter to him thanking him well that's isn't that the wet t-shirt scene no that's before

that's her coming and saying i'm not gonna sleep with you yeah she flips out runs in the rain to let him know i will never sleep with you which i don't think is something that's occurred to him until that moment his reaction to that is so funny too where he's like wait we don't open for the no sex uh pledges until nine in the morning or something it's a good line jack you are my number one guy but i feel like that isn't that the moment where he has sorry i'm sorry you ever dance with the devil and i can't do him never rob another man's rhubarb that's still my my favorite one. The letter scene is nice too because I think that letter

is written very accurately from the sense of like, this is a waitress who grew up in Brooklyn. This is not somebody who did great in school. Right. This is not someone

who knows automatically how to express these feelings. It's not your fancy book learning your big $10 words. But also is reading it to a professional, very successful novelist who can fake it so well that his personality never shows up right right it's a pretty good subtle touch

it's so his personality is so mercenary that he can just make all of these emotions pluck them out of the air yeah um but when she says i won't have sex to you is when he's like i guess finally like oh i am as greg kinnear puts it a horror of a human being. Yeah. Like, no matter how kindly I behave. And that's what Kinnear does so well. There's that, I mean, it's like fucking Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. That moment where you as the audience, even though Steve Martin's clearly a dick, are like, yeah, but fucking John Candy, this guy is a nuisance. I'm with him.

Right. 30 minutes in. Like, early in the movie, they do the I like i like me my friends like me my wife likes me speech where you realize like oh fuck and you gotta live in that moment like this is a real guy with feelings kanir just keeps on fucking keeping that dial in place because that scene where like nicholson comes in as just delivering body blows and it's like i went to fucking urban dictionary here are like six more like gross I'm going to call you. And then just like one Kinnear close-up is just like,

nah, this fucking sucks. And Nicholson can't keep doing it. He loves throwing out those killer zings. Is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles the weirdest ending of any movie ever? Very weird ending. Or Easy Rider, maybe. Easy Rider's got a weird ending, but it's going for weird. This movie has Very weird ending. Or Easy Rider maybe. Easy Rider's got a weird ending but it's going for weird. This movie has

a weird ending. But first there is that painting scene that's the emotional breakthrough Kinnear needed not forgiveness from his parents. Right. So that's the idea but then Hunt and Nicholson go out for dinner. The lobster dinner

scene. Right. And Hunt has been complaining about the fact that she doesn't have any time for her social life. Right. Which that's that's pretty much like her Oscar scene.

Right. Are you kidding me? She has like 50 Oscar scenes in this movie. I feel like you're too down on Hunt. Like she deserved the Oscar.

See I I'm not down on this performance but I can't believe that either of them won. The last movie where the actress and actor won Best Actor. Yeah. Together. Who else was up that year against her? Oh, let's talk about that.

I wonder if that's part of your bitterness, if you subtly remember who else was there. I don't know. That's what I'm trying to think because this was definitely the first year I was very engaged with the Oscars. Helena Bonham Carter, Wings of the Dove. No chance. Julie Christie in Afterglow. She has two Oscars. Yeah, never seen that movie.

Good movie. Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown. Which most people think should have won, right? That's a ridiculous opinion. And Kate Winslet in Titanic, who is young. Yeah, I mean,

that's not a very loaded year. Yeah. She kind of walks away with it. She does. And like, yeah, Judi Dench should have won for Mrs. Brown. It becomes like a weird Oscar opinion. Which is like, no, shei Dench should have won for Mrs. Brown. It becomes like

a weird Oscar opinion which is like, no she shouldn't have. But that's why she gets the fucking Shakespeare love makeup. That's called Harvey Weinstein.

That's called Good Campaigning by a monster. some other things are called Harvey Weinstein now. I don't think that's the first thing

that comes to mind. Here's who Nicholson beats. Okay. Robert Duvall in The Apostle. Good performance but he has Oscar. Bob Duvall.

Peter Fonda, Easy Rider Zone and Uli's Gold. It was a very good performance, but he has Oscar. Bob Duvall. Peter Fonda, Easy Rider Zone, and Uli's Gold. It was a very good performance. But not going to win. Dustin Hoffman and Wag the Dog, that's not going to win. He has two Oscars. Yeah. Matt Damon and Good Will Hunting, but Winslet. I would have given it to him. No. I would have given it

to Damon. Oh, I think he's bad in that movie. Really? I don't like that performance at all. I love Matt Damon, but I remember Jack Nicholson's performance a lot in that movie. Really? Yeah. I don't like that performance at all. I love Matt Damon, but... I remember Jack Nicholson's performance a lot more. Yeah. Ben, how do you like them apples? I love that line, and I love apples.

Diplomatic answer from Ben Hosley. So Nicholson wins there. Weird. So those were not big acting yet. No. Because Titanic is sort of just running the town and then la confidential is the critic hit of the movie of the year right but that's not a movie with like lead performances the other three men in it right they kind of split it yeah just on a

plane long flight panderhooks 24 hours of flying with the transfer watched many movies la confidential was very clearly the best option never seen it didn't watch it didn't want people to walk by and see me supporting Kevin Spacey on a plane

oh yeah he's in that one like do I really want to watch a Kevin Spacey movie right now I feel that way I can't watch

K-Pax in public anymore your typical lunch movie yeah you set up your iPad throw on K-packs with your poke bowl have a poke not anymore you know what movie i did watch for the first time on the plane that

i can't believe knowing me and my personality i cannot believe i've never seen this movie before 2018 yeah the fucking uh the one with the cutters and the bike race the cutters and the bike race? the gang called the cutters in Bloomington, Indiana and they have to go up against the frat guys in the bike race you guys know what I'm talking about cutters, all their dads are stone cutters

breaking away I've never seen that movie it's built for me Greg Kinnear could have been in that. Indiana's Own. Breaking away. Weird Dennis Quaid performance. Dennis Quaid is like a low rent white trash dude.

Yeah, that's a scrappy movie. It's a movie about scrappers. Yeah, I watched that and The Outsiders back to back on planes. I wanted to just drive directly to my neighborhood in North Jersey when I got off the plane. Get in a fight. Yeah.

So. So yeah, well. At the restaurant. Oh, you want to off the plane. Getting a fight. Yeah. So. So yeah. Well, this is a movie. Oh, you want to do the restaurant? Okay. Cause that's the big,

that's the big scene. Well, that's the, I want, you make me want to be a better man. Right. Right. Right.

Where he keeps on. She wants a compliment. But the bigger move there is the fact that for the first time he realizes that maybe he should not say everything he wants to say. It's not even once. He just says every thought that goes through his head. But he says that he everything he wants to say. It's not even wants. He just says every thought that goes through his head. Right. But he says that he makes that line about her dress.

Yeah, it's the house frock line or whatever it is. Yeah. And she tells him directly. She's like, why do you do this? Right. And you need to compliment me right now. Right. And he makes the whole speech about the pills.

You make me want to be a better man. And then she like leaps on them. Right. She's into that. It's me right now. Right. And he makes the whole speech about the pills. You make me want to be a better man. And then she like leaps on. Right. She's into that. It's a good line. Right. I mean, she just got a good James L. Brooks line. Right.

And she goes like, look, I'll be honest. When you came into the restaurant, I thought you were kind of handsome. Sort of Jack Nicholson type. Yeah. You know, one of those things where it's like, huh, 20 minutes of thinking about this. You actually are handsome. Yeah. You know, even though you look like Satan.

Like he looks like Satan. You know what I mean? Like if Satan, Satan was a businessman, he's like, just sign on the dotted line. And also, if Satan was made of,

of worn in leather, and had a downtown look, he's got a chill downtown look. And he's like, oh, do you want to live deliciously? Like, right?

Like, he's definitely, he's leathery in this movie. Like this is a chill downtown look. And he's like, oh, do you want to live deliciously? Like, right? But he's definitely leathery in this movie. Like, this is a movie where like 30 years of Nicholson doing like a lot of face acting is showing in terms of like the crevices everywhere. The lines are there. The lines are there. Now wait, shortly after that is the scene, if I'm remembering

right, again, I watched it a few months ago. There's the, Kinnear calls his mom, right? That's a heartbreaking scene. It is a tough scene. Yeah. That is a heartbreaking scene. And it's where, yeah, like I said,

he's not getting the catharsis there. That's what he was trying to do with this road trip. And Nicholson makes the gross reveal that he says the reason he brought Helen Hunt on the trip is because he wanted her to have sex with Kinnear. No, but he doesn't really think that. Okay. No, but he doesn't really think that. Okay, so you think he doesn't really think that. No, that's just a weird thing that he goes through his head.

Because it's a very weird thing. Because he cannot expose himself emotionally. That's the point where he's realized he has actual feelings, so he has to say something to kill any potential that they are expressed. But then he gets really angry the next morning when he thinks they slept together. Kinnear also rips his own cast off like a boss yeah that's pretty good that's like the rock but i also just love that i've had good times noodle salad that's like my favorite yes that's my nicholson oscar mode where he's like he reveals like my dad used to hit me with a ruler or

whatever and he's like it doesn't matter like he has no understanding of his own self as a person right he can say these things out loud without thinking about how they reflect on him yeah and then you know some of us have great stories pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad it's such a good speech i didn't feel about this come on good fucking speech what is noodle salad you know macaroni salad but why wouldn't you say macaroni salad? I think because noodle salad sounds better. I got a little spin on it. Alright, we're done. I have one final... Except for the

romance. We have to talk about the kiss. One final question because we're talking about quotes. What's up with that hug part? Where she's like crying and she's talking about how she hugs her son a lot and it's like the tone of it is really weird. Do you guys remember this?

Yeah, I remember it. It's like kind of a subtle joke about how she needs to hug her son because she just doesn't get laid a lot. It's super weird. Yeah. And out of all the stuff, like, you know, revisiting this movie after not seeing it for a long time. That's the thing. That was the one thing I was like, whoa. That revisiting this movie after not seeing it for a long time. That's the thing that.

That was the one thing I was like, whoa. That scratched you the most. Yeah. Chill. I also just remembered the scene where Greg Kinnear talks about painting his mom in the nude. Great. That's what. Yeah.

That's what sparks the Nicholson speech because Hunt's like really empathetic. Right. Right. She pulls over the car to listen to him. Nicholson's like, who gives a fuck? Who gives a fuck? My dad used to throw me in the garbage chute. You know, it probably doesn't mean anything i was the president when mars attacked

threw me off a cathedral that jerk no i like this movie is loaded with like 15 monologues for each guy and uh it's i don't know it's just you said i can't remember what you said exactly but like you watch spanglish after this and you're like wow like this is the bad version of as good as it gets yeah where he's like how about no plot lots of monologues nothing makes sense right but it'll all come together in the editing room and it just didn't it's like from broadcast news on he takes the wrong lessons from each movie about what he used to do well. Right. And it just gets, like, watered down.

But, yes, I mean, Kinnear and Hunt form this relationship that, for her, like, fulfills the role of what she felt like she was missing romantically, just having this kind of, like, adult, intimate connection with someone that doesn't have to be physical, which pisses Nicholson off. And he jaws her, treats her like an actual work of art. Right. Yes. And Nicholson says, did you sleep together? That moment's funny too.

Right. Where he goes like, did you have sex with her? And then she walks out and he's like, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there. Right. Did you have sex with her?

But she's like, no, he drew me and he held me and it was better. Like, you don't understand. One night with me. Being nice to a person.

Right. And then she decides she doesn't want to be with him anymore. She says like go away Melvin. I don't want you in my life. Yeah. I have a question. I forget how the Kinnear thing wraps up with the parents. Do they give him a payoff? No. They just leave. Yeah. Because he moves in with Melvin. Yeah. Remember Melvin puts

Kinnear's whole house in the bedroom. And he calls him. Which is nice. But he calls him the morning after Hunt and says like actually I'm good. I was just calling to the bedroom. And he calls him the morning after Hunt and says, like, actually, I'm good. I was just calling to check up. Because he's like, I got my life back. I don't need money. And you hear his mom being like, we're sorry we didn't come when you got beaten up. We were gonna, but we didn't. You know, there's like, yeah.

It's rough. It's rough. But no, the thing is just they kiss and do you like it? That's like the last thing. I don't love it. I agree with Chris that I would like it more if they did. I like the walk through the neighborhood. Yeah.

And I like that shot. I also like his line about like we'll just be two people like you know who like bread or whatever. It's weird like that wasn't a bad Nicholson

right there. That's the closest I think you got. And he's still skipping the sidewalk lines right? But she's like forcing him to at least go at her pace.

Yes. Yeah. That's as good as it gets. Gotta make compromises in life. Yeah yeah i mean like i don't know if they're gonna stick together i don't think they're going to have a weird relationship with each other like be it romantic or not i don't know i just i you know it's a gripe of mine i bring it up a lot i'm not throwing the movie under the bus for this but i think there is a lack of movies in which a straight man and a straight woman have mutual respect for each other that isn't romantic. And that's how it ends. You know, and anytime I see that, I'm like very refreshed by that.

And so I just this is one of those movies that feels so close to being able to do that. Sure. It feels like they could pull that off because it's not such a didactic romantic comedy that I'd rather if it was one of those movies where it's like, yeah, you know, we had a moment where we almost had a thing together and it's very clear we wouldn't be good together, so let's just, you know, I'll keep on paying your hospital bills. So you were impressed with me being able to recall stuff before. Yeah.

This is the game where I try to recall from memory the box office, the week, and the movie open. Okay. As Good As It Gets opened on weekend the movie opened. Okay. As good as it gets, opened on December 26th, 1997. Yeah. A little jack under the tree that year. Sure. A little bit of jack under the tree.

Okay. It opened at number three. We've basically done this weekend because this is the second weekend of a very popular movie. Titanic? Correct. That's number one. Did you say Titanic? Titanic. The film Titanic about the ship Titanic? So that's number one. Do you remember the other movies?

Because two of the other movies we've talked about are in this top five. Okay. So 1997. If you remember, Titanic opened against like a big franchise movie. Titanic opened against a big franchise movie. But this week, Titanic went up and that movie went down. Family franchise? No.

Action franchise. An action franchise. An actioner. It's an actioner. What number was it in the franchise? I don't know. 16 or something. It's a bond.

Yeah. And it was Tomorrow Never Dies? Correct. Okay. How do you feel about Tomorrow Never Dies, Chris? Zero opinion on it. Great. Yeah.

I feel the same way I like that movie Number three, As Good As It Gets As Good As It Gets, okay Which opens to $12 million Yeah Perfectly fine It's gonna make $148 million

Big Big Adjusted for inflation, that's like $300 million And it makes another like $150 million overseas Yep Jack is back Sure Number four is a movie you really struggled to identify the last time we played this game.

It is a family movie from a director we may cover on this series one day. Mouse Hunt. Motion picture Mouse Hunt. You seen Mouse Hunt? Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, and Mouse Hunt directed by Gore Verbinski. No. Captain of the Pirates of the Caribbean. Don't get so mad at us, Chris.

Franchise. Gore Verbinski, Oscar winner for Rango. You're not familiar with the works of Verbinski? He made the Pirates. Yeah, he made the Cure for Wellness. That's good. You got to go on the hunt, Chris. Number five.

Got to go on the hunt. Number five. I forgot this movie opened at Christmas. It's from a big auteur director who's been in the news recently. Oh, I know what it is. Because this was him being like, ha ha, look at me. I'm releasing it on Christmas. He made a big deal out of the fact

that it was a fucking Christmas release. It's his best film though and it's called Jackie Brown. That's right. Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Yeah. Which is my favorite Quentin Tarantino movie.

Bombs really hard. Fantastic movie. You know, 40 million. In the wake of... It tripled its budget. Great Chris Tucker performance. Yeah. Yeah. Love that performance. And one of my favorite Robert De budget great Chris Tucker performance yeah love that performance

and one of my favorite Robert De Niro performance great De Niro performance I don't think he gets enough credit for that one oh he's so good in that movie so good

Fonda we're fond of her I'm fond of Bridget yeah Scream 2 oh the 2's is number 6 an American werewolf in Paris

speaking of horror sequels eee Flubber oh yeah Mr. Magoo Oh, the dudes. Number six. An American Werewolf in Paris. Speaking of horror sequels. Hey. Flubber. Oh, yeah. Mr. Magoo. Remember that? With Leslie Nielsen. Yeah.

The live action Mr. Magoo. Yeah. And The Postman. Opening this weekend. The Postman. Kevin Costner bomb. Costner's The Postman. That's a bomb. It really set off.

Opens to five million dollars. For Christmas. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Amistad's also postman. That's a bomb. It really set over five million dollars. For Christmas. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Amistad's also in there. Yeah. Well,

sometimes we're covered. I guess to answer your question, if Kit Fisto had lived to the events of The Last Jedi, I think the whole strategy would have revolved more about like

espionage, subterfuge, embedding Jedi warriors in situations where they could assassinate powerful figures of the First Order instead of these ill-advised

military battles that they didn't have the equipment or money to pull off. To answer your question, the worst I've ever seen theaters that I paid to see might be Norbit. I've been going through my mind to...

I kind of like Norbit. I will make a norbit based admission right now uh-huh you walked out no it was one of the very few times in my life i have ever smoked pot and i lost my fucking mind watching oh i found the movie terrifying that movie is a little it may be not a good physically uncomfortable that's probably the reason i do not do any drugs is because of watching Norbit. I'm thinking of a stuck Catwoman is a movie I paid to see in theaters and I was stoned for that one. That might have been the worst.

That's rough. That one's rough. I saw Dude Wears My Car twice. I saw that movie. I saw it once. Good movie. Underrated. Yeah.

Ben? I know another one in the running. Before we get to Ben, what would you guys say Black Knight versus what's the other one I saw Black Knight versus Coyote Ugly saw both of those in the theater

Coyote Ugly's not a good movie I think Black Knight's worse though I mean from just thinking about it I haven't seen Black Knight just premise I saw Coyote Ugly Coyote Ugly is flawed

because she lives in South Amboy, New Jersey and the whole movie is like oh she's gonna move to the big city and the parents are freaking out if you lives in South Amboy, New Jersey. And the whole movie is like, oh, she's going to move to the big city. And the parents are freaking out. If you live in South Amboy, New Jersey, you can literally see the New York City skyline from your house. You're saying it's not that big a deal.

The land of fucking Oz. Anyway, sorry to interrupt. Do you know what's another movie I fully despise that I definitely paid full ticket price to see opening day? What's that? Van Helsing doesn't get enough shit. I've never seen that. Van Helsing doesn't get enough shit. I've never seen that. Van Helsing deserves more shit than it gets. Van Helsing has gotten off easy in our culture.

I walked out on a, what's the Benicio Toro? The Wolfman? Yeah. I never saw that either. I was at the Union Square Theater killing time. You walked out? Well, I had therapy on Fridays, and then I used to perform every Friday night. Yeah.

And I would sometimes go see movies by myself to kill time. It was pretty great. Therapy, a movie, and then go do some improv. Yeah. And I would sometimes go see movies by myself to kill time. It was pretty great. Therapy, a movie, and then go do some improv. Yeah. Pretty good life. It's a hat trick, yeah. Went and saw The Wolfman, and it was so bad. And then maybe 20 minutes in, there's a line where a guy says,

sometimes you don't hunt the monsters. Sometimes they hunt you. Sure. And I popped out of my seat. In Soviet Russia. I popped out of my seat and walked out with such good timing that the crowd applauded my walkout.

I'm going to throw him under the bus for a moment but I saw that movie with my brother and the lady he had a crush on and I was like I'm clearly third wheel

wingman because my brother's kind of awkward in these situations and he forcibly placed me between the two of them. Oh, at the wolf. Like she clearly was like excited like going on a date a little less excited when she saw the brother and he forcibly placed me between the two of them. Oh, at the Wolfman. Like,

she clearly was like excited like going on a date, a little less excited when she saw the brother was coming along and then even less excited when I sat next to her. Ben, and my brother just sat

in the other seat shaking his legs. Who needs to go get a sandwich? Yeah, Ben needs a sandwich. So we're wrapped up. Yeah, I'm awesome.

Do you have a movie? Um, because I like bad movies. Right. So I'm like kind of struggling. But there's always that bad movie where you're like i can't wait to enjoy this and then you're like oh fuck this is just a bummer like it's not even fun i mean think about it this way ben oh i actually i know i do know

what it's it's uh i went to the new school the village cinema that little guy on 12th sure i would go to kill time between classes and I saw a movie. Gandolfini's in it and it's a musical and it was like. Oh, this is the one that John Turturro directed.

It was. It's called Romance and Cigarettes. Yeah, that's right. It's a John Turturro musical starring James Gandolfini. I didn't know. I was just killing time. I'm like,

oh, Gandolfini's in it. Sopranos. I like that show. I'm going to check this out. And I hated it and I think I left yeah that's one of those movies where it was like barely released and

Totoro always like blamed the industry and said it was like a conspiracy and everyone saw it and was like it's a bad movie you should have made this I took time out during a Hawaiian vacation to go see Little Man with Greg Kinnear oh no no no the Wayans Brothers I The Wayans Brothers.

I never saw that one. I saw White Chicks. At the same theater, I saw Catwoman, which is the theater in the Adirondacks where tickets used to be two bucks. And I had a great time

with White Chicks. I took a lady. I like Little Man. I knew what I was getting into. It was everything I wanted. Yeah, yeah. You knew what they were selling and you bought it.

I did. I took a lady on a date in high school to see Soul Plane, which was my second time seeing Soul Plane in the theaters. Yeah. And the audience was 95% Hasidic Jews. Two 15-year-olds on a date and one black guy who was super uncomfortable any time anyone laughed. Jesus, why were they all?

No idea, but they loved it. And the black guy was furious. Yeah. This is not for you. That's a good downtown story. Nor for these two kids who are too nervous to kiss. Alright, we're done. Okay. Right? That's how it ends? Yeah, we're done, right? That's not literally...

I'm announcing it to the audience. We're still talking. We're finished. We're gonna bid you goodbye. Is Daniel Plainview throwing the bowling pin down? I was supposed to get lunch with Drew an hour ago. I'm sorry. No, that's okay. Scheduling around our podcast. This is so fun.

Thank you so much for being here, Chris. Thanks for having me. Oh, I took the headphones off because you said we're done. No, it's fine. Gethert will be back on air. March 20th? Yes. This will be coming out after that, so you'll be in the middle.

But not long after that. Every'll be in the middle of Tuesday night Tuesday nights that's exciting ever since you've been live it's been so much fun I mean it was fun always but I think you know

being live is great thanks yeah it's much preferred yeah it's awesome thank you you've both been two of the hugest supporters and sometimes participants

in the show it's an honor and a privilege yep and beautiful anonymous. Yeah. Great podcast. What else?

What else? I got a book coming out. Shit. New book. Later in the year. I don't know why I'm announcing that here. That's not announced. I don't know why I've chosen the Blank Check podcast to blow my wad on that.

You can cut it out if you wanted to cut it out. Maybe. It's been coming out for a while. So you have the time in between when we're recording this and when it's released. No, it's fine. Leave it in. It's a scloosie. Hot scoop.

It's a scloosie. Downtown scoop. It's a scloosie. Downtown Griffey Noobs gets the scloosies. Super chill. Thank you all for listening. Please remember to rate, review, subscribe. Thanks to Lay Montgomery for our theme song, Joe Bowen and Pat Rounds for our artwork, and for Guto for our social media. Go to blankies.reddit.com for some real nerdy shit.

And thank you to our sponsors ZipRecruiter, Hymns, and eHarmony. And as always, forgot to introduce the Ben Dooster. Yeah, we did. We were so busy. Poet Laureate. The Haas.

Chris, we traded for Moutier. So can White Benny. I turned on my phone and J.D. Amato said, are you seeing these trades? Text came up right now. The Cavs offloaded half the team. The Cavs did. Meat lover. They got rid of Derrick Rose, Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye.

Fuck Matt. They got Rodney Hood. They got George Hill. He is a close personal friend of Dan Lewis. I mean, they remade their team. They kept Kevin Love graduated to certain titles over the course of

different miniseries Kylo Ben we didn't even talk about Chris Depp Bruce or Ben Kenobi I like Moutier Ben Nitroman good recommission project

yeah Moutier and Beasley you're gonna have Moutier and Beasley I want Beasley gone really because I'm like worried he's won a couple games

well that's the thing I'm like now Chris Depp's is out let's just tank and like Beasley's the guy's gonna I'm like worried. He's won a couple games. Well, that's the thing. I'm like, now that Chris Epps is out, let's just tank. And Beasley's the guy who's going to be like, no, man, I'm going for 35 every game. What happened to Frank?

2019, the filmmaker. Is Frank benched? No, he's just been playing like 15 minutes a game. And now I'm sure they'll play more. He's not starting anymore. Ben left.

They haven't started him because they were trying to win. Studios. I think this is still recording, but I don't know how we end it because he's gone. He's gone. He left.

He went and got his hand one.