Doug Loves Movies - Josh Gondelman, Sean Gunn and Greg Vrotsos guest

Episode Date: September 17, 2026

Doug welcomes Josh Gondelman, Sean Gunn and Greg Vrotsos to the show.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Calling all Doug Gloves movies, listeners, that's you. We're conducting an audience survey at gum.fm slash dLM, and we want to hear from you so we can keep making content you love. You know this, we know this, there are ads on our podcast. We want to improve that experience, but in order to do this, we need to know a little bit more about you, our audience. The survey is a quick, easy, and free way to support this podcast. It'll take you two minutes and you'll be helping us out so much by doing it.

Go to gum.fm slash dLM to fill out our audience survey. That's gum.m.fm slash dLM. Thank you and enjoy the show. I still not want that he... Hey, hey, hey, everybody. My name is Doug, and I love Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. I'll be there all week. Say hi.

We'll probably talk about that more later. This is Doug Loves Movies recording on Wednesday, September 16th, 2026. And tomorrow, September 17th is the 20th anniversary of this show. Holy shit. Yes, my guest today are three repeat offenders. I mean participants, Josh Donaldman, Sean Goddard, and Greg Vrossoz. Hello, gentlemen. Hello, hello.

Happy anniversary. Let's meet everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. Let's meet everybody individually, alphabetically, by first name. He and his movie situations are currently touring the country. It's Greg Vranzos. Hello, Greg.

What's going on, Doug? How are your brother? I'm good, and I'm happy to welcome you back as a returning champion. And to find out more about, like, you know, this is all about plugs going on podcasts these days. So tell us about where your movie situations is headed next. Yeah, no, thank you. We are, and it's great to be back.

We are heading to Toronto this weekend on Saturday. we'll be playing at the review cinema in Toronto. And then next Friday and Saturday, we head to New York City to play at the famous Roxy Cinema. So that's next on the docket. And you can catch more kind of updates on our Instagram page at Situations Film or either my handle, Greg underscore Bronsos.

And you do like Q&As at the screenings. Yeah, so, and we have special guest moderators. This one in Toronto, we have Elizabetha Biakeemini, who is, she works with Yahoo Canada over there and part of the Critics' Choice. And then in New York, the first night with Rebecca Sherman Minty, who is the founder of the downtown festival. And then on Saturday, we have famous photographer Mr. Dutch Dosher doing the Q&A for that one. And I'll be at all of them, of course. What's the Do you have the

moderator just ask you questions Or do you go to the audience for questions? You know what? We started off I Q&As are always awkward So we started off doing it like The traditional way And I was just like I don't like this

So literally the second I get on stage We just say hey this is an open floor We're just going to have a conversation And people just kind of jump in And it kind of evolves into this whole Like this conversation About independent film and life and love and everything else that comes in between it.

So it's fun. It's good time. Yeah, that sounds great. You know, the Q&As are hilarious to me. Whenever I participate in one, this is one of my favorites, is when somebody goes up to the mic or gets a microphone, hands to them, and they go, I've got a comment and a question. If I'm on the panel, if I'm on the panel or moderating the panel,

I will say to them, let's skip the comment. Let's get right to the question. Yeah. It's not QC and A. It's Q and A. It's very simple. Yeah. Yeah.

And I'm feeling the comment is the thing you're more dying to say. And the question is just some, you know, a puff question just to get an excuse to talk. You can save the comments for the bar afterwards. Okay? That's what I say. Yeah, that's nice. Yeah. Also joining us today is a comedian who is making his 12th appearance.

on the show. It's Josh Gondelman. Hey, Josh. Hi, Doug. Thank you so much for having me back to the, to join the 12-timers club. Yeah, I can't wait for you to come back another time and then it'll be a baker's dozen. I skip directly. I will count that as my 14th appearance on the podcast, like hotel floors. You were against the baker's dozen as a concept. I like, you know, I just find bakeries unlucky. I just don't know why they're so bad at math that they have a different dozen than everybody else.

Baker's half dozen still six. Where do they go wrong? Yeah, half dozen should be six and a half. Yeah, it should scale. Yeah. So where are you? You've got some touring going on right now, yes? I do have some touring going on.

I am in Boston this weekend, which I'm really psyched about. But then October, I'm really psyched about. I'm really out. I am making my first stop ever at the Comedy Fort in Fort Collins, Colorado, the second and third of October. I'm super psyched. I've only heard wonderful things about that club. And then I'm going back to the 21st and 22nd. I'm doing the punchlines in Irving, Texas, and Houston, which I'm psyched for. And then the mic drop comedy rooms in San Diego and Chandler, Arizona on the 28th and 29th. I'm like really hyped about it to take this hour out on the road and have a nice time. time. Yeah, what was the first stop, did you say? I'm at the comedy studio in Cambridge this weekend, but we sold out. It's like fun hometown shows. So people, people bought the tickets already, which is an enormous relief. And then what was the next one after that? Comedy Fort. Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk about. Yeah. I've never been to the comedy fort, but I'm, you know, having conversations with them currently to make it happen. But I'm excited about it mostly because,

you know, it just feels like we're on the verge of civil war, so I wouldn't mind already being in a fort, you know, telling my jokes, and it was still like a very safe place. And I think if you've, once you've told your jokes in a fort, that's like earned the trust of the fortsman and fortswomen. And so they'll protect you as one of their own.

And I'm happy to have our third guest back on the show. He's made appearances to promote Super in 2011. and Guardians of the Galaxy in 2015, it's Sean Gunn. Hello, Sean. Hello. I'm very happy to be back. It's been way too long, Doug. Yeah, it's been, what have you been up to the last 11 years?

Not much. Not much. I'm such a nerd. Can I tell you the background of the term Baker's dozen real quick? Sure. Why waste time talking about you? So apparently, this is, literally this is what I heard. I don't know if this is true enough, but this is what I heard,

that centuries ago that when, when Bakers would give customers a dozen items, that if they would find that there were only 11, that if the people, that if they had shorted the customers, that they could be in big trouble for theft or fraud and could even get arrested for that. So Baker's got into the habit of putting in 13 just in case so that there wouldn't be any appearance of impropriety. And so that became why they have a baker's dozen. This is neither here nor there.

It's not about movies, but it's just would have been in my brain. Those penalties must have been so egregious. Those must have been such many penalties. Or they must have had so little faith in their own ability to count accurately to 12. Yes.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah. It's too easy for us to fuck this up. Let's just put, let's put 17 in there and call it a day. Yeah. That's right. Hey, not with inflation. And I've already lost the attention.

Let's put some tariffs on those things. Yes, exactly. So anyway. What was the question? The question was what have you been doing all this time? That was a question because you've been very busy. But you've got a movie coming out on October 2nd called Apophoniacs. Yes.

And so tell us about that. What does that word even mean? It's really cool. The term Apophenia means. a tendency to find patterns where they don't exist. And this is a very modern horror film for 2026. It is about, you know, in a sentence, it's about sort of deep fake technology, modern technology, gone awry.

And I think it's, I think it's legit scary. It's the kind of movie that's like scarier when it's over than when you're watching it, You're like, oh, man, this could really be happening all the time. But yeah, and it's a little movie. We made it on a shoestring budget, but I'm really proud of it, and I want people to go see it. Well, I saw it last year at Fantastic Fest, and it's, you know, it's only become more topical in the year that's gone by. And I liked it very much. It's very, as you say, it's like there were upsetting things visually.

like things happen that are, you know, violent and, you know, disturbing, but then also the overall arching message of the film kind of stays with you. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's right. It's like, what are we doing with it? Like putting the brakes on technology is something that's increasingly difficult to do. Yeah, I mean, you know, the current, you know, administration has come out and just said, we have no interest in slowing down the progress of AI whatsoever.

And so there's already just announcing there's no guardrails when they're desperately needed is crazy. Well, their track record is so good in terms of taking care of that. Why would we question their judgment? Because everything's going so well. J.B. Vask just gave a speech saying, hey, give us two more years. We could use two more years to work this stuff out. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Don't get me started. And that's the longest, like, give me another blank that I've ever heard anyone request in history. It's often like, just give me an hour. Give me a week and I'll get this all settled away. Like, imagine telling the mob, like, I'll have your money in two years. Yeah. Oh, God.

It's so crazy. I don't even want to argue against the ideology anymore. I just want to argue the competence. Like, even if they're right and I'm wrong, they're clearly incompetent. There's no way around it anyway. Yeah, they're goofy. And your movie will be in theaters on October 2nd. Yes.

Yeah, in New York and L.A. on October 2nd. And for the rest of the country, go to where you buy movie tickets from and ask to be alerted because we're hoping to come. It's a small movie. It's a word of mouth movie. And we're hoping to come to a town near you. So that's the goal. Yeah, see it on the big screen if you can because, you know,

you know, for better or worse, everything ends up on streaming. But like, it's great to support movies and especially ones that this one's got a lot of interesting things going on. on visually that you, the bigger the better. Thank you all for being here today. Before we play some silly games, I'd like to ask each of you to recommend one movie. It could be new or old, but hopefully something people can find, you know,

somewhere and watch, nothing that's, you know, out of circulation. Greg, let's start with you. Yeah, I'm going to say, a buddy's movie, Coyote versus Acme. I got to see it. I got to go to the premiere.

My buddy PJ Byrne, who's in my film as well as in it, and Dave Green, our buddy directed it, and I'm glad it got released, and it's awesome to see in the theaters, and I can't believe all the drama that I came with that,

because it's an awesome movie. So I'm going to plug my buddies, Coyote versus Acme. I, you know, absolutely love that movie. It's like kind of perfect. Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah, everything from the cameos to like all of it.

It's just, it was great. And seeing it with the crowd, everyone was just clapping. And it was a great time. And it's, I'm glad that it's getting, you know, the recognition that it should be getting. So, yeah. Oh, yeah. But like, it hits the nostalgia buttons, but has the whole time has the right attitude, you know. A hundred percent.

And it's such a, it was like fast watch, too. It's just like, the pace of it all is just great. It's a great movie. It's very, very good. I saw it opening day and then again the next day. Yeah, there we go. I love it. Yeah.

I wonder who wrote that movie. I'm blanking on... Yeah. Who is it? I mean, that's the thing about your brother, Sean, is that all that time when Coyote v. Acme was like, you know, just a disappeared moment. movie, like all that time it was gone and may never surface.

Like, he was busy. So, like, he probably, you know, was upset about it. But you know what I mean? Like, if he had been any filmmakers that were involved that aren't also running DC, like, it would have been so traumatizing waited for it. But it's still, it's very exciting. It came out. But also, is it, Sean, is, is that movie the only thing your brother is done that you, you are not in? No, it's not. There have been other things. And I should point out for clarity, he wrote the original, I believe he, if I'm not mistaken, he wrote the original treatment, but he did not write the script of the final movie.

So I know that that was, but it was based on, he read the original New Yorker piece and had the idea to do the movie like 25 years ago. He told me he wanted to make that movie. before he was yeah like before and it was crazy and he like he went in I think he he may have pitched an idea to Warner Brothers and ended up getting hired to do something else and it kind of sat

on on you know like sat in limbo for a little while until later and he was able to produce it and kind of put it together and put that great team who actually made the movie you know with John and Will's actors and you know and the movie's

awesome I was also there by the way I would also. Oh, nice. But yeah, no, it was, that was a trip to see that movie after 25, 25 years after my brother James saying, I think it would be fun to make a Coyote versus Acme movie. Anyway. Well, he was right. Yeah.

It's probably, it's finally been proven. Vindicated. That's it. I wonder if there's enough animation in the movie to qualify for animation. awards or is it too much live action? Because it's brilliant but it's also not like the Oscars

you know unfortunately we probably look the other way for a best picture nomination let's say or even the screenplay which is brilliant. The people who did write it, it's really it's so funny.

Because like people keep saying the comedies or you know there's a comedy that comes along every few weeks like oh is this the one that's bringing people back to theaters and back to comedy. And it's always movies that to me, I always end up finding them disappointing. Like, well, that didn't really necessarily deserve my big screen attention. But this one, Coyote versus Acme, is just so, like I said before, I think it's just perfect. All right, Josh, moving on to your recommendation, please.

I am also going to recommend a friend's movie. My friend Isabel Hagen, who's a great comedian. and a concert, like classically trade viola player made an independent movie called On a String about a viola player doing gigs around New York City. It's really funny and sweet and melancholy. And I got to see in theaters. It's got a little theatrical run going now in a bunch of cities across the U.S. And I think it will probably go to, you know, VOD after that.

But it is, it is a limited theatrical release. And if you can support it, I think that's a really nice thing to do. It's a wonderful movie. On a string. That's right. I love how everyone's taking these road shows, man. It makes me happy. These indie films are taking it.

Everyone's taking it in their hands. So good on her. It's awesome. Yeah. It was really cool to see. Like, you know, seeing the process from when she was writing the script to like the premiere Tribeca, and now it's got this little distribution engine behind it, which is just cool as hell to see, like someone bring that vision to life real independently.

I'm going to make an independent film. It's called Baker's Dozen. Scary. Somebody who goes wrongfully on trial for shorting somebody in a bakery. I thought about diabetes. And I hope everybody enjoys seeing it about 25 years from now. Sean, would you like to recommend a movie? Oh, my gosh.

I'm now humbled by the fact that people are promoting their friends' work, and I'm like, which of my friends are going to be annoyed that I didn't plug their movie? Oh, no. Right now. But I'm going to go back a few years. I kind of recently saw Force Majure. Do you know this movie? The guy who made Triangle of Sadness is, like, film before that.

And I was just, it knocked my socks off. I just, like, it's just one of those movies that I couldn't believe. when I was talking about it with people how many friends I had who love movies who hadn't seen it and it's just an amazing movie so I'm shouting that out right now

yeah one of the better movies about like you know just awkwardness uncomfortable scenarios since the heartbreak kid in the 70s yeah and it does go ahead

it does like it does absurdism really deftly you know it does it nicely it's very it's it's subtle but it is it does have this like absurdist slant to it and I think

you're 100% right it's about how uncomfortable it can be to you know just like it's about it's a movie about discomfort in a way so I feel very

force major whenever my wife sees me struggling to open a Talentee gelato container and giving up because the lid is too sharp. I'm like, hmm, a great humiliation and shame in front of my loved one. Well, at least she didn't put her life in danger in the process. As sports major, that's really, it's messed up what happens in that movie. And what's even more messed up is, Sean, did you even watch the American remake? No, I've heard about it And it doesn't sound

It doesn't sound super interesting to me But I mean, you know I don't know if people like it It's so rough It's like I love Will Ferrell and Julie Lee Drive This is so much One of those things where Who knows how much control they had

And how much they realized it was going to Yeah, why remake that movie? There's no reason to remake that movie at all No, see that was the first problem So somehow they got convinced by somebody with a checkbook or whatever. But, you know, and they gave it. They're all.

But it's just, it's just a weird thing to remake. Because also the tone is already different when you have like American movie star comedian actors, you know. Yeah. The reason the first movie works is because they all just seem like regular people. Yeah. But they're also tremendous actors, as it turns out. Well, these are all great recommendations.

I, you know, I'll probably be seeing all of the. because I'll see the ones I've seen already. I'll see them again someday. And I definitely want to check out on a string. But now it's time for some commercials. And then we'll play some games when we get back. We'll be right back. Today's show is brought to you in part by Hymns.

Losing weight is one thing, but looking and feeling your best this summer, that's the real goal. That's why weight loss by Hymns now offers access to the FDA-approved Wigovie Pill and Wigovi-Pil and Wagovi pen. Wagovi is designed to help you lose weight and keep it off

so you could show up this summer feeling like yourself. With Wagovi at Hymns, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. It helps you regulate your appetite, eat less, and keep weight off. Plus, Wigovi is the first ever GLP 1 pill for weight loss, so there are no needles needed.

Through Hymns, everything happens online. You'll connect with a licensed provider who will determine if treatment is right for you. If prescribed, your medication is delivered right to your door. No insurance necessary. And it doesn't stop there. Hymns makes hitting your goals seamless by offering access to 24-7 messaging with your care team

and an in-app lifestyle and nutrition support like recipes, meal plans, fitness videos, sleep content, and more. Even better with a range of affordable GLP-1 options, HIMS makes it simple to find a weight loss approach that fits into your world and your wallet, if eligible. You'll get a treatment plan personalized to you and unlimited dosage changes as needed. Ready to reach your goals, visit HIMS.com slash DLM to get a personalized affordable plan that gets you. That's H-I-MS.com slash DLM. HIMS.com slash DLM.

Weight loss by HIMS is not available in all 50 states. Govi is a registered trademark of Novo Nordisk AS. To get started and learn more, including important safety information, Wagovi clinical study information and restrictions, visit Hymns.com. Back to the show! Today's episode is brought to you by Shopify. Leaves aren't the only things that are changing this time of year. As children go back to school and people start preparing for the end of year holidays,

it seems like a strange time to want to start your own business, but every entrepreneur knows that you don't wait for the right time you create it. Shopify's templates get you a stunning site up and running fast with no coding needed. Shopify checkout means more customers actually buy, and returning ones can do it in a single click. And if questions come up, Shopify's built-in assistant sidekick is ready to help you build, troubleshoot and keep moving. Shopify already powers millions of businesses worldwide from household names you know and love to smaller businesses like my pals over at a special

thing records. Their website has been powered by Shopify for years and it has been smooth sailing. If you're ready to hear the of your first sale today, head over to shopify.com slash DLM to start your free trial today. That's right. Start your free trial at Shopify.com. com slash d lm that's shopify.com slash d lm back to the show we're back the dinosaur's story our first game today is something that i call with little to no reason abc d's nuts it's a spelling game of sorts um uh there's a word we're going to go through every letter of, actually it's two words today, where I'll give you a letter, and then your job is to name a movie that begins with that letter, any movie from the history

of cinema. But I have a theme for today's game, and so every answer I've written down tries to match this theme, and if you match the word, the movie that I wrote down in advance, then you win the whole game. If you don't, we just move on to the next. next letter and the next person until we get to the end. And it's, you know, it's no pressure, but it's a lot of fun when somebody manages to make a match. Now, what are we spelling? Since I'm attending, the aforementioned festival in Austin, Texas this week.

In fact, I should mention it 11 a.m. tomorrow, because this comes out, this episode we're taping now comes out a day later on Thursday. So on Friday, we're taping an episode of this show in the highball lounge at the Alamo Draft House, Lamar, as part of Fantastic Fest. So that's what we're going to spell is Fantastic Fest. And we'll go in the same order that we just recommended movies. So Greg is up first. The first letter in Fantastic Fest is F. Name any movie that begins with F.

and we'll see if we've got a match. Oh, man. Foot-fist way. Okay, so just for clarification, I believe that movie's called The First Fits First Way. Damn, I already lost. No, you didn't lose anything. But I'm a stickler on the titles to begin with The are never,

they're always a T title in my book. So go ahead and, But that's the honest mistake. It's like a jeopardy when they forget to phrase it as a question at the beginning. They get a little leeway. Like Ken goes, don't forget it. That's right. Okay.

Don't forget your phrasing. So go ahead and give me an actual F title. I'm going to say, Forrest Gump. That's a great one. That movie could have been called D. Forest Gump. I was going to say, don't tell me it's the Forrest. Yeah, yeah. Is there ever, it can't be another forest gum, but I don't think.

No. But the movie I wrote down is called From Beyond. Ah. All right. So that's the first clue for everybody that there's some sort of theme going on here. And we go to Josh next with the letter A. I'm going to go with Austin Powers, the spy who shagged me. Wouldn't that be wild if I had written down one of the other two Austin Powers?

I truly was prepared for that to be the case and was already getting preemptively mad at myself. But you had to pick one and unfortunately I didn't write down any Austin Powers movie, even though I am excited to be going to Austin tomorrow. The one I wrote down is an American werewolf in London. Because it begins, of course, with an A in the word Anne. N is the next letter to Sean What movie would you like to say that begins with the letter N?

Let's go with near dark, Catherine Bigelow movie. I love that as a guess, and in a weird way, it's close. Because I said, nightbreed. Okay. Yeah. I'm circling the drain, I think. Yeah.

Greg, the next letter. Fantastic S is T. So you could go with the title here, but I wouldn't recommend it. Okay. I'm going to say Terminator 2. Oh, very good. Often referred to as T2 in a way that it was kind of like, did they change it to that? Kind of like, you know, what's that movie, Tom Cruise movie about tomorrow, tomorrow, never.

End of tomorrow. End of tomorrow. See, that's why that needed a new name. And people just started calling it, you know, live, die, repeat. Mm-hmm. Which is, you know, all the people that are fans of a premise being laid out in the title of that one. I wrote down, the movie I picked for T was them with an exclamation point, them. A is the next letter for Josh.

Any which way but loose? now see what if I said any which way you can Doug I would have been so mad at myself again this game is going to end with me mad at myself Josh would be great at game sequels that begin with the same letter as their predecessor but they don't they don't begin with the same letter it's every which it's every which way but lose

oh I screwed it up any which way you can any which way you can every which way but lose like put some respect on those orangutan movies. Seriously. Those are some of the greatest orangutan buddy movies ever made.

So, that's so good. And, you know, when Clint stopped making those movies, he had to go check into a hotel under the name Dunstan. But, I might have been the same orangutan. They live a long time.

And I guess they're, you know, they're pretty, obviously quite, quite trainable. There's hardly anything funnier to me than orangutan intentionally making a fart noise with his mouth. That's an amazing thing to teach an animal. But I didn't write down any of the which ways or loose ways. Either way, I wrote down a movie that did have sequels that did begin with the same letter, but that's not the theme.

I wrote down Alien. and uh-huh so now we go to where are we at was Sean with the letter S yeah let me try scanners

that's an excellent answer it doesn't exactly fit the theme but I wrote down silver bullet okay of course

like bullet the uh Stephen King adaptation with the always amusing Gary Busey T is the next letter Buse, they call him

Yeah T is the next letter for Gray You got this Just mind meld with me And say the title The thing, the thing No, not the thing Not either version of it

Although I'm a fan of the one With the great, you know, Special Effects Not the one where it just turned out to be a giant carrot it. The movie I wrote down is tremors. Oh, man.

Okay. Good old tremors. I read recently, it had an anniversary, and Kevin Bacon was just like at his lowest low when he agreed to be in this worm movie. And it ended up working out all right. I is the next letter. Josh?

It, wait for it. Follow us. These are, amazing guesses you guys are throwing down because you've got the first two letters right. It was just it. I am going to drink poison. Can I guess the movie? Please.

It's alive? Yes. Wow. It's alive, which had one of the scariest television ad campaigns, this side of the ad campaign for Magic with Anthony Hopkins. Because there's just like a baby crib, like turning slow. with, you know, and you know how lullaby, baby music is always scary in movies and TV.

And then it's just turning. And they're just talking a lot about, oh, this couple of a baby and this and that. And the other thing about it. And then when it finally comes around, you can see a bloody claw coming up, like a bloody claw that would be on a baby sticking out of the side of the thing.

And then it's just like, the only problem this baby is, it's alive. It's so cool. Okay. One of the most, yeah, it's like the greatest poster. That poster is amazing. Yeah, the poster is really cool.

All right, so the next letter is C. And where are we out? We're back to Sean. Wait. Yes, yes, Sean. It's S, right? Fantastic. It should be a,

see? Yeah. Were you planning for an S? Yeah, wait, hold on. F-A-N-T-A-S. Fantastic. F-A-N-T-A-S-I, I mean, T-I-C. Fantastic. But this is only my, isn't this only my, oh, are we already through to C? Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. All right, I'm sorry. We're losing, brother. Okay. Oh, right. I already did ask. I was remembering being on Doug's podcast back in the day, and so I got really stoned for this.

No, I didn't really. But, okay, yeah, see, let's go with Creep Show. Ooh. This is, you're always getting the first couple letters right. I mean, I guess obviously you're going to get the first letter right every time. nobody's unless you think the letter you know unless you think it's s um i went with critters i was almost there critters did you see mariska hargette uh showed clips from gooies on the emmys um the other night uh and you know is that's the movie where the little monster comes out of

the toilet yeah so you showed a clip from that because he was the you know she's like eat your heart out Jamie like Curtis I'm a scream queen too but I think Jamie's been in quite a few more of those kinds of movies F is the next letter back to Greg

who's going to get one extra chance if you get all the way to the letter T Ryan in the 13 I mean first two letters again I wrote down Freddie versus Jason Oh! In the same week, we both, both Jason movies, certainly.

Yeah. E is your next letter, Josh. I know I'm having a hard time matching this one of the theme. So just in the interest of fulfilling the memo, I'm going everything everywhere all at once. That's fair. Not the answer. Not what I wrote down.

I said, eight-legged freak. All right, Sean, bring it home. The letter S. You thought we were thinking about it earlier. Sleepaway camp? Oh, that's a really good one. Has anybody seen teenage sex and death at Camp Measma? Not yet.

Not yet, no. It's really good, and it's basically, it's a spin, like if you've seen Sleepway Camp, then you'll immediately be into this movie because they reference Sleepboy Camp quite a bit. It's like if the screen movie, instead of being like about all our movies, was just about some people really,

really analyzing Sleepaway Camp. What's your favorite scary movie? I hope it's Sleepaway Camp. Well, yeah. Or what's your most like crazy ending that, you know, hasn't stood the test of time? But I wrote down for the S, I wrote down one of the sexiest movies

that would fit in this category. And that was called Species. You know, where she was an alien who kills everybody she mates with. T is the last letter. And Greg's the lucky fellow who gets one last guess. Oh, man. You want to hear all of the titles again

to see if it leads to, oh, this one must also fit? Let's try it. Okay. From beyond, American World in London, night breed, them,

alien, silver bullet, tremors. It's alive. Critters. Freddy versus Jason, eight-legged freaks, species,

and Texas chainsaw massacre. Oh. That probably begins with the as well, but that's a good answer. Can I make a guess? Or are going on order here?

Go ahead. Because you have, you use the for T. right? Yeah. How about the hidden? Oh, that's an interesting one.

The Calam McLaughlin, you know that movie? The Kalam McLaughlin movie? Yeah, great movie. It fits the category, right? Yeah. Well, no. Well, we'll see.

I'll tell you what the category is, then we'll decide, but that movie was not as a great movie with Carl McLaughlin, but it also was directed by Jack Shoulder, the guy that went on to do

the second Freddie movie movie. Whatever. escape it's escaping to what that one was called but it was the one that was kind of an outlier

and is now it's now been honored quite a bit as like you know classic gay cinema but the letter T

stands for troll and all of these movies are about monsters of various types and kinds so I don't know if the hidden

hidden, I guess, is a monster kind of that's getting as much as species is for aliens. Yeah, that's true. It's like an alien creature that inhabits people and dogs and, you know, moves from body to body. And, um,

and that's why species was, I thought it was maybe vampires or something like that for a little bit. And then anyway. Yeah. Explain to explain to me why Forrest Gump still isn't on that. I know. He's probably the biggest monster of them all. I don't know. But the theme of Fantastic Fest this year, they have a theme each year.

Like, not all the movies have to adhere to it. It's just they bring in special, like, classic, you know, old movies that fit the theme. And this year it's monsters. So that's why I came up with the idea to make all the answers monsters. But this also reminds me, I've got to get my own little plug in here. If you're going to be at Fantastic Fest on Monday, September 21st, badge holders can just come into this show, can just sign up for it,

and non-badgeys can get in a standby line and buy a ticket for the Benson movie interruption. I'm asking people to bring in DVDs and Blu-Rays of a monster movie that you'd like to see mocked by me and my guests, and then the audience will vote, and we'll pick a movie and we'll watch it, and that's Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock at Fantastic Fest. We've got one more game to play.

Play after the break. We'll be right back. We're back, ADS. Our final determining game today. It's called top joints. And the reason I called it top joints is because the Great Spike Lee has 23 movies that have been certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and 10, you know, not so fresh. but even the worst ones are like not that low number wise like in the 30s or something.

So he's had quite a run. And in this game, the three of you are going to take turns naming movies, spikely joints, if you will, that you think landed in his top 10 according to Rotten Tomatoes, according to the critical ranking, not the popcorn meter. You'll each get three guesses total, but we'll take turns guessing. We'll reverse the order and we'll start with Sean and then go to Josh and then Greg. And like I said, you got three shots at it. But if you name the number one movie, according to Rod Tomatoes that Spike Lee made, you get 10 points.

and if you name the number 10 movie, that's worth one point, and then there's all the points for each one in between. You dig? Let's do it. I dig. I feel good about this. So enough. Sean, what do you think?

You might as well go for number one. What do you think is the number one best critically received Spike Lee joint? Well, I don't, I mean, you'll have to tell you. me if this counts because it's a documentary, but I would guess that it's when the levees broke. Oh, that's interesting. I thought if you really pulled a fast run on me, because does Rotten Tomatoes just not do documentaries? They do. They must.

They must do them, right? No, they have to. Yeah, I'm pretty sure they do. Yeah, I think so. I think that's true. Yeah, I think they'll just do, you know, anything that the critical body is. writing about now that most of the critics these days are just you know bloggers or whatever they're all over the place so yeah so anything that comes out uh probably gets reviewed by a lot of people

so uh you know i have to circle back and see if it made it onto this list but it's not in the top 10 i know that much for sure i mean that was a great crazy and it must be so it wouldn't be in the top 10 but it's very well received yes okay so uh i would they could do better. Could it be that it was made for HBO? That doesn't affect it. They do HBO. Yeah, it may not have gotten a theatrical release. Maybe that's what it is. Yeah, but you know,

Rod Tomatoes, everything that shows up on streaming now, you know what I mean? The co-straining streaming. That's why I was really surprised. I was like, that's the one thing he's meant. I mean, I would definitely have other guesses for his theatrical movies, but like, I was like, that movie was universally

Yeah. No, it probably got a pretty high rating. But let me tell you this about Spike Lee's top 10. The lowest, you know, percentage of critics that liked a movie in his top 10, and, you know, the last one on the list is 82%. Yeah. All 10 of these movies that I wrote down are, you know, extremely well reviewed. But I think, I think Josh and Greg would both agree that maybe the, uh, that the Levy's Breaking movie is a great, uh, uh, answer for sure yeah and that and that we should we should give Sean like another guess instead okay it's because I don't even remember seeing it on the list when I went through the whole thing so that's just

you know that's just like on the award shows when they do the memoriam and a bunch of people get left out like I feel like maybe this move we got overlooked by rotten tomatoes when they prepared this list if you'll allow me another guest then I'm going to go chalk and pick do the right thing. Yeah, do the right thing. To me is a incredibly obvious one. But interestingly, it tied for number three on the list. Yes. So that means that there's three other movies that are either above it or tied with it. But that is still worth for Sean. Instead of that,

that goose egg he was going to get, now he's coming out of the gate with a very solid, very solid eight points. Thank you for allowing me that guy, so I appreciate it. Yeah, dude, no, for sure, for sure. Yeah, there's a few ties in here, so that kind of messes with the numbers a little bit. So I adjusted accordingly. So if you get either of the movies that tied for third, it's worth eight points. But Josh, let's go for number one.

Let's just knock it out of the park, number one movie directed by. Mr. Lee. I'm going to go with one that I feel like well remembered, maybe not his biggest, most beloved, but I feel like sometimes that's not what it takes to get the tomato meter going, is inside man. Inside man.

Yeah, a very, very different for him. A drama about white people came in at number seven. on the list that clive Owen classic and it got 86% on rotten

tomatoes and it is worth four points for Josh Gondelman Greg it is time for your first guess I'm going to go with Malcolm X Malcolm X

is tied for fifth place on the list Okay. Yeah, he's made some bangers. He has. That's number five. So I give you six points for that, Greg. Okay.

So we got quite a match going here, but it's back to Sean for his second cast. Stay away from the levees. Yeah, and I'm going to stay away from documentaries completely, right? I mean, I was going to hit you with three documentaries, by the way, but I'm going to I was. I think four little girls was going to be my next, my next guest. But I'm going to do, um, uh, I'm just going to go way back and try. She's got to have it. He's got to have it. Fantastic movie. Not in the top 10. Oh, what? You're kidding me. Yeah. He's, he's got a lot of good movies. I went down swinging. Yeah. No, that was a good one. That was his first feature, yeah? Yeah. Yeah. So. also let's look at it this way rotten tomatoes was not a thing when that movie came out

so this is them going back and digging up reviews of this guy who's his first movie probably didn't appeal to everybody you know what I mean but it was got enough acclaim that he continued to make movies but you know so I don't know I don't know about about the older ones but obviously do the right thing you know managed to make number three. So don't listen to me, Josh. What's your second guest? I'm going to Five Bloods. To Five Bloods was, you know, Oscar nominated and also recent, when there's lots of critics with lots of things to say. And so it is the movie that is tied with Do the Right Thing at number three. So that's worth eight points for Josh.

this is really shaping up to be exciting Greg do you have another yeah what I mean you'd like to throw out there I'm gonna go with he got game I mean I'm happy all three of you are the kinds of people that won't run out of Spike Lee movies

to say some people I'd have on as a contestant might start blanking out at this point but which one did you say Greg I said he got game he got game is tied for ninth on the list

with 82% with the other movie it's tied with that as well and so that's worth two more points for Greg so this is still anybody's game anybody can take this

it's a great I'm I'm gonna go with Black Klansman Black Klansman is number two on the list Wow yeah also very

very well received and you know with regards to Oscar nominations and real fun thing if you're working at a theater and have to put the marquee up you got to find all the K's

got to get all the K's he loves his interesting spelling in his titles it's always fun and yeah so Sean you're

you now have a total of 17 points. So it feels like you're in a pretty good position. But if Josh can now name the number one or the number, the one that's tied for number five, he would take the lead. What's your third and final guess, Josh? 25th hour. Great movie.

Whoa. Probably the best. It's a 9-11 movie, right? Yeah. Did you guys watch it a couple days ago just to get in the movie? Do you throw a 9-11 party and watch that movie? And the one with, remember the one with Robert Pattinson? Yes.

Yes. What was it like the twist was that it turned out he was in 9-11? That's the very end, right? He goes into the Twin Towers on the. September 11th. Oh, that's the very end is that then you find out, oh, this guy's about to

have to probably die. What a fun movie. I guess he didn't have great options when Twilight first took off because he's, you know, he probably seemed to a lot of people to be pretty wooden,

but he has turned out to be, I think, so versatile and fun. And then he picks, he picks interesting things. that he's in this movie about Dateline is really really funny to me

I don't know how funny the movie's gonna be. It seems dark. Yes. It is a very, very dark subject, but yeah, looks good and he looks good in it. He's good as the shitty guy in the Odyssey. But, Josh, what's your, oh, you said.

See, this is what happens. I get running at the mouth when I have bad news. Oh, no. Yeah, that movie did not crack the top ten. What? Probably not too far behind, but it didn't make it. So, Greg, you could take this whole game. If you could tell me the number one most well-received, critically acclaimed Spike Lee movie,

according to Rotten Tomatoes. trying to think of recent I mean this game is part of the thing about this game I'll just be honest with you right now is that everyone's going to be probably shocked and surprised by the answer yeah yeah and I don't think that's a great clue to give you at this time

if I thought I was helping you to win I wouldn't have said no I get it I get it I'm going to I'm going to say Is it the highest, highest, highest to lowest? Highest to lowest is the most recent I can think of. That's almost like he's begging to have his movies not be, you know, higher on the list when he puts out a movie called highest to lowest.

It was recent. That's your guess? Yeah. It is on the list at number eight. Wow. Unfortunately, that's not enough points to give you the win. And so that means that after all these years, he came back and he won this thing. Sean Gunn is our winner today.

Thanks, guys. There we go. You were gracious. That means, Sean, you get to, not only do you get to do your plugs first. Okay. You also get to name who is a person. And I'm going to tell you the answers, the rest of the Spike Lee answers in a second. But who would you like me to call a shithead at the end of the show?

I close out every show by saying so-and-so's a shithead. And who should I say today? Let's go with Jesse Waters. Oh, that's a good one. All right. So I'll say that at the end of the show. But in the meantime, Apophoniac's New York and Alabama, on October 2nd.

Yes. Let's go find it. Where else? Yes. Wherever it ends up going. It's a cool movie and it's going to be somewhere. So the best, first of all, if you're in New York and L.A., like, share it and post about it if you get the chance to see the movie. And if you're outside of New York or L.A., like, ask for it on the place where you buy movie tickets, let them give you an alert when it comes to your city.

and hopefully that will be very soon. Nice. Yeah, yeah. I think it'll... Or look forward in streaming when it lands on streaming, all the stuff, you know. Just put it on your radar,

argue about whether the title's good or not, all that stuff. You know, submit to everybody should have epiphenia at this point. It's really all the rage. Okay, let's talk about... We're going to get everybody else's plugs, including my own... after I tell you the very, probably very frustrating answers that you missed.

The movie that was tied at number nine with He Got Game was a kind of more recent one, I think, and possibly one of the only ones I haven't seen, because I've seen most of his movies, is the one called Shyrak. Wow. Which I never knew exactly how to pronounce, because, you know, it's not Chicago, it's Chicago, but it's Shyrak. Never saw. So yeah, but that's that one,

the 82% on Rot Tomatoes. So we missed out. And then, of course, there was highest the lowest, inside man, and then Malcolm X tied with get on the bus. Yeah.

Yep. Yeah. Which was not a documentary, though, right? That was fictionalized. Okay, so those are the two I haven't seen. I think of all of his movies. Okay, and then the Five Bloods and do that right thing. We're tied at number three.

Number two was Black Klansman. And then number one, I had forgot he even directed this. David Burns American Utopia. Oh, my God. What? When we did Scorsese at a live show, wasn't number one the last waltz? Yes. That's wild.

Yes, it was. Like the concert films the critics like, they really like. And that is Spike, isn't that weird that that's, of all the things Spike Lee's done? I mean, David Burns, a great performer. And he has a great band in that show. I saw it on Broadway a couple of times. And it got 97% with the critics because it is very hard to dislike because there's so much energy and fun. And Spike did a good job directing it.

It's his number one best reviewed movie. But also, I started to get a little worried that you wouldn't even think in that direction once we were talking about documentaries not being on there. But then it's also not really a documentary because Spike does bring his own juge to it. You know what I mean? It's not like he just set up a camera and film somebody else's thing. You know, he really directed it. But it's still. But what's the name of the third?

One of the other two documentaries that you mentioned, Sean. on. Four Little Girls, which is an HBO documentary, which is like unbelievable. And then when the levees broke, which is about Hurricane Katrina. Yeah. And it's, and obviously Spike Lee's a great filmmaker no matter what he does. But when I watch his documentaries, I'm almost like, man, that dude could have just been a documentary filmmaker and been one of the greatest ever. Like his stuff is unbelievable.

No, he knows how to make a movie. of all the kinds. Congratulations on your big win today, Sean, but let's talk to the losers. Josh, Gondelman, where can people look to find all your road dates? Josh Gondelman.com slash schedule. And if you don't see a city that you live in and are hoping to,

I have a newsletter that you can find at That's Marvelous newsletter.com. The newsletter is called That's Marvelous. And I send out new road dates when I book them. Oh, okay. I thought you were going to say, you know, you wanted people to call that city. If you wanted me to come to your city, call the city. Call the mayor.

Just like how Sean was saying, find out where I'm having phoenix. You know, get to the show, I'm a phoenix. So get your local club to get Sean, Josh Godleman, to perform. You won't regret it. Greg Rzos. Yes. What would you, obviously, your movie, you're out there with it. Situations is what it's called.

Yep. Yeah. Where's the next stops or New York? So we got Toronto this Saturday and then New York. And then we have a handful of more dates. You can check out the IG page, which is at situations. film and even my handle. We're always cross-posing.

It's at Greg underscore Brutzos. We have a bunch more lined up. We're just starting our East Coast part of the tour. And then we'll be going back to L.A. But just like everyone else, it's like, you know, the community and the people have helped kind of get this thing going, just saying they wanted to play in theaters. And so we've been on this road show since May. So follow us, like us, messages, recommend us.

Yeah, get to work. Find all of these. All of these great things, all of these movies and Josh's jokes. And I'm going to be, like I said, at Fantastic Fest. I go for the whole thing every year. And I also leave my home unlocked, because as long as you're wondering. I'm going to be in Texas where I'll probably be arrested for felony drug use because the Dixon government there to say that vaping is a felony now.

Oh, boy. So I have to be very careful. But I'm doing Douglas movies at the highball on Friday morning, tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. And then the movie interruption is going to be on Monday afternoon. In one of the theaters, we have people bring in movies, hopefully monster movies, and we'll pick one, and then we'll all watch it together.

Fantastic Fest. for the schedule and more information about one of my favorite festivals in the world. And it's where Apophaniacs was shown last year and everybody loved it. Patton Oswald was there and he thought it was one of the best movies he ever saw. That's awesome. I'm nodding. You can't see it, but I'm nodding right now. He's nodding.

You're nodding. A 100 on Oswald Tomatoes.com. Yes. I can't wait to find out Patent's top. 10 Spike Lee movies. Thank you again. Sawgun, Josh Goddellman, Greg Brothuss. And as always,

Jesse Waters is a shithead. That's awesome.