Free With Ads - Sunset Boulevard, with Matt McCarthy

Episode Date: September 30, 2025

Comedian Matt McCarthy joins us to talk about Sunset Boulevard (1950), the classic film noir about how being a screenwriter in Hollywood is easier when you have a famous girlfriend. We watched this week's movie for free on the app Kanopy which is free for EVERYONE with a library card!Tune in next week when our movie will be... Killer Klowns from Outer Space-----Follow Matt McCarthy on instagram and TikTok.Also, check out Matt McCarthy's Video Garage on Patreon!And listen to Matt McCarthy's wonderful podcast VHS Tapes Are Magic!Come see Matt do stand up at the Ice House in Pasadena on Weds October 1st!Watch Emily, Matt, and Jordan on Good Mythical Weekend! On Oct 22 you can get a copy of Jordan Morris's comic book Predator: Black White and Blood #4! Jordan will be signing the book Sat Oct 25th from 4-6pm at Things From Another World at Universal Citywalk. 

This is free with ads. the podcast that asked the question, why pay Apple TV plus 13 bucks a month to watch the studio when you could go online for free and watch a classic Hollywood satire that's way better because everyone talks in an old-time voice. That's right, they all talk in old-time voices, which are better than normal voices. Yep, it's the voice that everyone talked with before 1968. I'm Jordan Morris. And I'm Emily Fleming. Today's movie is Sunset Boulevard, the noir classic, that gets its name from a once-glamorous street that's...

Now I'm doing the voice. Once-clamorous street that's now filled with smashburger ghost kitchens and vape shops that sell knock-off the booboos. With us, as always, is the super-producer, the he-freak hitting us with those classic Hollywood drops. And remember, darling, I don't work before 10 in the morning and never after 4.30 in the afternoon. I love that.

Do you want to know something I know? It's like Elizabeth Taylor said that she would not work during her period or the work prior, or the week prior. Wow. And honestly, that's where I want to get to. And she was a legend. It's true. For legendary cunt, a very beautiful, fabulous, talented legendary cuss. I want to get to the place where I'm only working for one week out of the year.

Oh, yeah. That would be great. Wouldn't that be sick? Yeah. Speaking of legends, someone who's known as a nice guy, not a cunt by any stretch of the imagination. Certainly not a cunt Certainly not, yes, a man A lovely man who everyone likes

Never been called a cunt once, I would imagine Not by anyone here No, no, never He's an amazing guy, he's an actor And a comedian who you've seen in movies like Companion as well as on Dropout And Comedy Central, it's Matt McCarthy Hi, Matt McCarthy

It's pronounced Matt McCunthy Oh, I'm sorry I didn't put the oom loud in your intro So I, we're going to talk about Sunset Boulevard, which is, as of this recording, streaming free with ads and free without ads on Canopy, if you have a library card. But because we have this amazing non-cunt guest, we're going to talk to him in a segment we call Talk to Guest. Talk to Guest. Matt, you're a fascinating guy with many great credits. I want to talk about your VHS collection.

Sure. You have a VHS collection that you display beautifully on Instagram. Thank you. When did this hobby start? I, my whole life. So I trace it back. Out of the womb. You were grabbing, you were grabbing VHSs.

Probably four or five is what I would guess was the, because we, it was our first VCR, which would have been probably 1985. So I would have been four or five. And it took me. many years to figure out what movie we were trying to tape. I only had this memory that when we put the tape in, we hit record, Kermit the Frog

was on the screen, and there were like reptiles that were being mean to him. Oh, no. And then when we woke up the next morning, the tape was static, and we had done it wrong. No! And we were trying to tape Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Ah! Yeah. And I feel

like that was the moment that broke my brain where I was like, I will never not have it on tape ever again. Yeah, and that's kind of like famous lost media, right? There's no, I mean, I think there's probably sneaky uploads on YouTube. There's definitely, I've watched it on YouTube, but I don't know if it's a sanctioned. Right. Hence and shankshankshen.

So has this been something you've always collected, or at some point in your life, you're like, I'm going to go back and find all of my beloved VHSs? Or has this been an ongoing thing? Oh, like, I'm not one of those people that, like, sold off the collection and then is trying to get it back. Sure. I the closest to that is the in in I suppose I don't know where in the country they are I assume only in New England but super stop and shop it's a grocery store they had the one we used to go to on I think on Newport Ave or Patucket Ave in Rhode Island had a stop and shop video hut okay and so I had it time we love a hut so our our childhood was filled with that were huts. Sunglasses, pizza.

Yeah, sure. Yep. So this was a video hut. And it was, I had it time. Jabba. Sure. Sure. That whole race of slugs, they were the huts.

I think they're a family. I don't know if they're, I think they're like a, like a crime family. But I don't know if that's their species is huts. I always assumed. Stay out of my mention, Star Wars nerds. I don't care. I'll look it up myself. Jordan the man.

Right, yeah. Can I digress very quickly? Can you imagine how much cooler the movie Star Wars would be if it was a standalone movie and not this whole fucking, like, bullshit? You mean all three of the, like, first made movies as one movie? No, I'm saying... Just Rogue One. Ninthine 77 Star Wars.

Just the EWalk Adventure. Just existed on its own. Just Caravan of Courage. Yeah. Yeah, no, I don't know. I wonder if it would be, if it would be, if people would be as insane for that movie now, because it hasn't gone and gone and gone and gone. Because when you look at that movie in and of itself,

it's much closer to like the Tarantino Rodriguez Grindhouse movie where it's like, here's a movie about a type of movie. Sure. As opposed to now there's a whole wookie planet and they have life day. Right. It's so embarrassing. I love Star Wars and I love Star Wars. Right.

And it is humiliating. I love the E-Whorpe. walk movies though when I was a kid because it was a little girl in it and I was a little girl when they you know and you love a headband oh my god and the blonde curls she was so cute yeah they were basically wearing like 80s like sportswear yeah like she got abandoned by her parents after a hard aerobics class exactly right yeah I think you know we we grew up we were kids probably when we saw Return of the Jedi for the first time and I think we all probably loved the EWACs. Hell yeah. Yes. But the toxic dudes of 1983 or whenever thought EWox ruined Star Wars because they were

this silly thing in their, you know, man's quest. Yeah. It was clearly there for that. And I think our generation went on to hate Jar Jar, but I think the kids of that generation are like, this guy's hilarious. Yes.

Stepping and poop, falling down. Some people really do love Jar Jar Jar Bing. Totally, yeah. Yeah, I think that. But all those guys also hate that there are women, Jedi and Star Wars. Sure, yes. I think the hate has widened out.

It's not against cute characters. There's some race stuff in there as well. Sure. But, you know, I think that the second, you know, Empire Strikes Back was kind of scary. So I think they had to get kids to come to the next one. Right. So they were like, your dad cutting off your hand. Yeah.

So they were like, let's put some teddy bears in there. I don't know. And they dance. And they have a little song. And they say, yub. The pitch was probably, what if we had a. bunch of yodas and they were cuddly. Right.

And each one was slightly different. It would make a slightly different action figure. And only one of them dies. And only one dies. But man, no, everybody hates everything across the... Like, I'm a big deadhead and it's like, you get people who are like, oh, fuck dead and company. That's not the Grateful Dead.

Fuck John Mayer. If you watch the Grateful Dead movie from 1974, they have interviews with people who are like, man, it's not the same. I used to see them in Golden Gate Park. And it's like, nobody's happy. Ever, yeah. Boy, also, there's some things, you know, things stay the same. More things change, the more things stay the same.

In this movie that we're going to talk about Sunset Boulevard, I didn't know Zodiac shit was still, like, going hard in this time period. Like, the Hollywood Zodiac stuff. Right, right. That really blew my mind. A rich Hollywood space case in 1950 was still into their horoscope. I had no idea. That feels like something new agey, like that feels like,

70s, 80s? We still call it new age. That shit is old age now. So that's the new agey stuff started in the 50s? Is that? Probably even earlier. I think it started more like in the 20s with spiritualism. Whoa, I don't know with new ages. Matt, before we talk about the movie, we're already kind of starting. Let me answer your question.

Covers of movies that I remember seeing at the stop and shop those are ones that I'm like, oh, those are the ones that I'm like, I can't even think of one now. You ever heard of Strip to Kill 2? Exactly. Stripped to Kill 2 was big on my list when I was 8. Like Hamburger the movie, which is basically...

Is there also a hot dog the movie? Yes, but that one's about skiing. Hamburger the movie is about like a college where you learn how to run like a fast food place. Okay. But there's lots of sex in it as well. That sounds like a blast. You're going to get... Yeah, if you're learning how to make a burger, you're going to be horny.

Anybody who's actually seen that movie when it gets brought up. up they often say put those cookies down motherfucker now I want to watch this movie I mean look I'm not recommending it I would love it if you just made this up and then you also made up a catchphrase what is the what is the prize the crown jewel in your collection is there is there a tape or two where you're like yeah I got this well the thing that I really love is stuff that was taped off of TV because it's kind of one of of a kind certainly you know those individual tapes are very one of a kind so of all the things that i have found over the years where people have sent me um i've only come across one copy of

a recording of the last episode of mash as it aired with commercials and a little bit of news before and after cool because there's lots of copies of the final cheers the final johnny carson it dawned on me i was like okay i guess the next thing i'm interested in trying to find is a recording of the original broadcast of the final episode of Happy Days would be interesting I like

I like it I like a VHS tape with a little news on it oh there's nothing dude I found a made for TV movie starring Don Amici and Bob Hope

aired on a Monday it's called like Made for Murder or Manhattan murder something murder right during one of the commercial breaks they mentioned

well they tried but the weather wasn't working for them so they're going to try to launch the Challenger again tomorrow. I kind of knew where you were going. Yeah. And everything's got to go great.

I know I'm not supposed to editorialize on the news, but this reporter thinks it's going to go great. And now back to your movie, Spaceship Built to Last. The spaceship that did its job. Oh, my God. Can I ask, have you heard about the Steve Urkel variety special? no it's a very like impossible to find um recording really yeah so if you ever get a hold of that i would love

to know all right i'll keep an eye on i know that there's like episodes of like in living color that never reran or like sketches on it that never re ran or even like not even for necessarily anything bad but like music stuff i think copy yeah you know what i have found is um when the disney channel started they had some like live action shows the Adventures of Wonderland It's like Poo's Corner something like that But then they also had like Dumbo's circus And I was actually at an autograph show

And I was like just randomly The woman who did the voice of Dumbo on that show was there And I was like you know I found a Betamax tape Of one of the episodes she's like Oh they're all gone And I was like Disney didn't keep them She's like no And the production company had the originals

And they didn't know what to do do with them and then they're all trash now. That's so sad. Those are lost. Nerds will pay thousands for them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're going to be the one who runs the movie theater when the world ends. That's right. And we'll get to watch

And you're all going to pay! Yeah, probably. We'll get to watch TV movies starring Bob Hope. We'll get to watch a taped from TV version of the Godfather saga, which is the Godfather movie but played in chronological order. Which ruins both movies. And I

have that the one that aired I think in like 80 or 81 it starts with maybe even 79 but it opens with Talia Shire giving a warning and saying like this is a metaphor like before almost every

commercial break when they come back there's a Italian Americans with a backbone of this country and in no way is this movie a portrayal of one specific ethnic group yeah yeah but everybody's so sensitive today

you couldn't make your godfather today not with woke yeah well yeah we are going to talk about Sunset Boulevard speaking of warnings that play before things we wanted to let you know that this movie does mention suicide so if that's not something you want to hear us talk about we're going to play some music and give you a chance

to find another episode We're back. We're back. It's free with ads. We're here with Matt McCarthy. We are talking about Sunset Boulevard. Had everybody seen this? Kind of. I mean, I've seen, like, I feel like at a film class it was on, but I don't think I really paid attention.

I know the one, that big scene that I'm ready from. my close-up. Yes. That is one of those. It is in every hooray for Hollywood montage. I've also done an episode of Meals of History on the Mythical Kitchen Channel where I play this character. Oh, really?

And it's the first Academy Awards dinner. So we did the food from the first one and then I was just her walking around, which she wasn't nominated for this movie during that year. Oh, funny. But I just was like, screw it. People know this character. So if you want to see me do that, go to the, go to, go to, Mythical Kitchen on YouTube and look up Meals of History, Oscars, and I'll be there.

Matt's? Have the Matt's seen it? Yeah, I had not. This was my first time. Yeah, I only knew it through cultural osmosis. I knew the line and also the line she doesn't even do it. It's backwards. What? Yeah, this is like the Luke I am your father of fucking lines. Yeah, there is a little bit of a memory whole thing. It's like, I always knew it as. I'm ready for my close up. I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille. But it's Mr. DeMille. I'm ready for my close-up. It is Mr. DeMille, I am your father. Yeah, right.

Here I have it. Yeah. All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up. That was not nearly as dramatic as I expected it to be, and I did wait the entire movie for it. And I didn't. But then you ejaculated right as she said it. Well, yeah. I was waiting long enough.

It's called gooning. Yeah. You're pulling a sting, huh? The old Desert Rose. Don't make me. Well, yeah, great. Yes, I've seen this movie a bunch of times, and I was thrilled to watch it for this.

We start out on a shot of a curb that says, you guessed it, Sunset Boulevard. It's the name of the movie. And the Homicide Squad, they are rushing to a murder in Beverly Hills, and we have voiceover telling us that it involves one of the biggest stars of the day. That's right. Someone has murdered the Rizzler. Boom

No We did boom Boom Yeah Doesn't he say boom Is that Emerald Well that Yeah

Well both of them Yeah They all say boom Yeah Everybody says boom This double Chocolate chunk Chunk

Chocolate Chip Cookie gets five Boom Boom We haven't had any vaccination Boom You know that

Dad is terrifying behind behind closed doors Eat that fucking chicken bait! How many booms you give it? You know the Rizzler's not his kid? What? Just a kid from the neighborhood.

They look the same. I know. There's a different dad who also couldn't get famous online without pimping his kid. And so then they collabbed. And it's like, I think that this works. And they were right? So he just got a random kid from the neighborhood.

So that's how you make it, huh? There's a kid online who dresses up was a hot dog and sings hot dogs themed parody songs. I saw him singing cheese cony club to the tune of Pink Pony Club. Yes. And I'm like this rips. And then I thought

about the dad, the fucking failed improv dad who's been writing a South Park spec script for five years that he'll never finish. Why are you describing me? Because this is what I would do. When are you throw a hot dog costume on that kid, Matt? You're going to be a star, Karina.

Does anyone ever think about the corn kid? at all that was a couple years ago he's like corn a big lump would not have the juice yeah that kid i'm like i hope he's okay i hope all the kids are okay i hope they are too is anyone checking on the rapture kids you know all the parents who were online saying the rapture was coming i think so what should check on their kids oh yeah i think the rapture's happening the day we're recording this right yeah so we should probably finish this up so this will be out for all the people who didn't get rapture for all the cool people get to stay which will be us So yes, there's a body in the pool

of a famous Hollywood star floating face down The narrator says it was no one important A writer who had always wanted a pool But the price was a little high I love these lines That was good How did he get here? We'll find out by watching the movie I like how this is basically the 1950s

Like Oscar winning version of How did we get here? Let's back things up a little bit So we meet our main character, Joe, he's the guy from the pool. Are we supposed to not know that? I didn't know. Was it supposed to be a twist? Well, I thought that I was kind of hoping it wasn't him and that there was a twist because it was like him talking to us at the very beginning.

He's like some guy who doesn't matter died. And I was like, is it some, did he kill a different guy? Is it him? I didn't know because I'd barely watch this movie. Okay. Got a little attention issue. Yeah, you're watching it on your phone in the back of a Waymo. Yeah, that's true.

So, Joe, he's a down-and-out screenwriter, and who comes to pick up his car. But a couple of Repo Men. Not Repo Man, that was the last movie we did. Yay. Cool. Anyway, not that funny, just a fun thing to say. I got to get my car out of this bad area. Yeah.

Toy. You're repo-man fan, Matt? I don't fucking love Repo Man. Hell, yes. Um, so, uh, they, the Rupa Man says, uh, that car better be here by noon tomorrow. There'll be fireworks. Ah, I'm writing in a movie. Um, so he, uh, it's, it's, it's Joe.

He's trying to, like, figure out a way to hide his car from the repo man. He's a down and out rider and he's wearing a fucking suit. Yeah. This movie was being made now. He would be wearing basketball shorts and a teenage mutant Ninja Turtle sweatshirt. Yeah. This guy's walking around in his suit. And they say he looks bad, too.

They're like, why are you dressed like that? He, like, looks awesome. Look at you in a bad suit. With a handsome face and you're tall. With slightly rumpled sleeves. But I also like the more things change more they seem like seem the same or whatever. It's just people struggling in this industry, you know. And he has had work in the past and right now he doesn't.

I'm like, okay, it's just the same all the time. Yeah, sure, sure. It makes you feel a little less alone. That well, the ending kind of sucks a little bit though. Well, yeah, I don't know. No, again, if this was now, that guy would have three podcasts. I was going to say, how many podcasts would that guy have? In terms of, like, dying in a glamorous way, dying in a pool is pretty fabulous.

I would like to die in a pool. Like, during the writer's strike and then the actors strike, like, some of the dipshitshits in the comments online, it was like, man, you really fucking think if you see somebody on TV once, they're fucking set for life. Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, it's like people have. have to have a lot of hustles. Maximumfund.org slash join MaxFundStore.com for your free with ads. Get the merch. Yeah.

Buy a hat. But so Joe, he's down and out. He's thinking a podcast to start. Maybe a Baywatch recap podcast. I don't know. But there's one executive at Paramount, the studio that made this movie, who likes him. So he goes to visit this guy. He has a script.

He's trying to pitch him. But the reader doesn't like it. This is Betty. She's a young, idealistic kid. She wants to be a writer She hated this guy's script Is this job still around? Oh, yeah, yeah

I did this for a little bit When I was an intern I would read like books and stuff And like write what they were about Yeah, it's like one of the like Entry level type jobs Where you're a reader, you read a bunch of scripts Yeah

It's brutal like because you fucking write a script And then some jerk off Just summarizes it And it was like I didn't like it Yeah, a child reads it Sure Honestly we should all find out Who the readers are

And beat them up kiss their asses, like, kind of like how when, you know, back when I had an agent, I would buy like gifts for the assistants as well as the agent. Like you gotta make sure you take care of the assistant too, because if they don't like you, you fuck!

That's right. So, he's having a hard time. This script doesn't look like it's gonna sell. He goes, he can't get a hold of his agent. He goes to visit his agent who is playing golf in the like comical, stereotypical golf outfit. Yeah. He has got one of those hats with a little

pom-pom, I think this is the worst hat. The worst hat. It's amazing how long this golf outfit has been a punchline. I'm like, where did this come from? Where you wear the pom-pom hat and the high socks? Like, what's the genesis of this? Is the pom-pom hat maybe so that people can see it so they

won't hit you in the head with a ball? Maybe there's a functional kind of element like wearing orange camouflage or something. I don't know. I never really thought about that. You're probably dead on. I did some golfing during the pandemic. I went, I learned how Yeah, I went to the driving range.

There was an indoor, outdoor kind of in Korea town, and my boyfriend at the time was a golfer, so he had clubs. We walked to Korea town from, like, little Armenia, and then just do the driving range, and I got pretty good. I need to do it again, though. I need to see if I can do it, but... Got to get a hat with a little pom-pon.

I really want one. Some high plaid socks, I guess. Yeah, I'll do all of it. I miss lockdown. I want the gloves, those driving gloves, too. And those fucking stimulus. checks were so sick. Oh, they were great.

That's Stimmy. I was on fucking, what's it called? Unemployment. Oh, my God. And Stimmy's. Dude. And the biker rallies in Austin were so fun, guys. Oh, wow.

We had a coughing contest. We paid off a car. Oh, really? Good for you. It was fucking unreal. Sure. That's awesome. Yeah, pandemic, good.

We're calling it here. If it weren't for all the death It wasn't for all the death Yeah I mean the economic collapse But many things were fun It was fun to make bread And the long COVID

Yeah and the long COVID Yeah making bread was fun You know banging pots and pans That was fun too Anyway remember that Banging all these pots and pans Banging all the pans

Banging these pans Like their horse Who's this guy This is Andrew no no not the dice Andrew Rice Clay because I love fucking Coocaans

Yeah we love it Andrew Rice Filet Hickory Dickery Doc I boil water in a pan Hickory dickory Walk Yeah that's it

Thank you Good punch up Good punch up Yes So Joe is trying to hide from the repo man he pulls into this old mansion that he thinks is deserted but someone calls to him it's a butler this is max he's a teutonic man and very weird we'll learn some weird things about max later yeah um he's the first one to make fun of him for not being properly dressed again this would now would be the best dressed man in all of los angeles but they're like look at his slob loved this house love the house is amazing yes also as someone who has worked for an elderly um eccentric woman

and gone into a house that looks like this and lived in a house that looks like this in Nashville and it's like this really weird spooky mansion that still exists in Nashville

and everywhere else around it apartment buildings have been built it's just weird random house and it's right next to my elementary school we grew up so we all thought this was haunted and she was a mean lady at the time and then I worked for her

when I was 15 in her estate jewelry store and then I lived with her. Briefly. What's the, what's the mansion and like, is it in San Jose

where it's like the woman, she just kept putting a room. Chester Mystery. Yeah, yeah. It is in San Jose. I was there.

I visited the last time I was in San Jose. Is that the one that seemed like it was growing? Yeah, she just kept putting like rooms on it. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like because she was into spiritualism

and a psychic told her because her husband invented like the rifle or something. The gun. Yeah. John Gunn. So the, The first guy to think of it.

Yeah, the psychic was like all the people who have been killed with this gun, like they're going to haunt you. You have to create more rooms for their spirit? Well, it was to confuse the ghosts so they couldn't find her. And apparently ghosts don't like heavy banging. Like there was constantly noise in construction

her whole life there, yeah. I didn't know it was in the U.S. That feels like a British thing. No, it's in beautiful San Jose. The Britain of Northern California, they call it. That's right. It's fun. They have like Halloween shit.

I kind of want to go for their Halloween haunts that they have. I want to do that, too. Yeah, this house was Victorian era. I'm pretty sure is where it is. And the fact that when he goes in, there's a dead chimpanzee. She kept a dead cockatiel in her freezer. Okay. Kinky was the name of the cockatiel.

Was it wrapped? In foil, yes. And he's still in there, I think. I go to visit her. How'd you find out? Were you like, ooh, a burrito? When I was living there, She was like, don't take this out of the

microwave. What is this, a $5 foot long? And there's rooms in her house that you cannot touch. The dining room has not been touched in, I think, 50 years or something. Hell, yeah. The living room that was her mother's living room

that looks a lot like this movie, not been stepped in. You cannot go in there. And it's a weird house, but apparently I'm in the will. Okay. Nice, it works. You're going to get that bird in the mail.

I hope so. But I also, like, I took her to her, she had surgery, and no one else would take her and I was home for Christmas. There you go. And so I went and it was like, bad. I had to stay with her for days. That's how you get in the will, though.

That's how you get in the will. I'm not in the will. Also, my nickname is Frosted Flake from her because I was not medicated for ADHD in high school yet. And I couldn't find her lighter and her American spirits whenever she needed them. She smoked in the store. Frosted Flake.

A.J. Martin Estate jewelry. It's still there. You should definitely go. It's the best jewelry in the world. So yes, this, this, this, This mansion belongs to silent film star Norma Desmond. Great name. Glorious Watson.

And she's mad that she's not a star. She hates sound. She hates sound. There's a point where a microphone hits her in the head and she looks at the microphone like, fuck you. That was amazing. But also, she's got the best voice in the world. Boy, she really does.

The sound is made for this woman. I know, right? But the sunglasses, you walk in, she's, her whole vibe, the style, the sunglasses. I think she's wearing kind of a turban situation in a robe. My God, she's so glamorous. Yeah, she looks so cool. So cool.

I love her. And this is kind of like Gloria Swanson's story in some way. She was a silent film star who kind of had trouble transitioning. She was not crazy. She, like, did theater and radio and a bunch of stuff and was fine. She was, like, really nice lady, apparently. She didn't even shoot anyone in real life. No, she was very supportive of other female, like other actresses and stuff.

She's a nice lady. A good egg, but definitely, like, you know, when she was cast in this part, they're like, oh, you know, this is like her. Yeah. I think she had some charities that she founded, too. Yeah, I think my own accounts. Yes, the Dead Monkeys Society. Finding homes for dead monkeys. Yep.

The husband butlers of America. Yeah, so this is her monkey has died. They never really explained the monkey, and I kind of love it. You're like, okay, this crazy rich person just probably had a monkey. I think it's a person. Right, yes. Because it's like the table with the fabric on the duvet or whatever on top of it. And then you see the arm of the chimp just slopped to the side.

Great shot. And you're like. A banana rolls out. You know, a pile of shit just like flies at you a little bit. Someone's genitals that he had ripped off. One roller skate falls off of his foot. Cigar. Two symbols

They're like, we get it, it's a monkey We know it's a monkey You don't need to keep having these monkey A organ grinder just goes What do I do? It's out of my monkey But I guess the like the having the chimp thing Again, I didn't

I thought that was kind of a more recent Celebrity thing Right, yeah I mean maybe think of Michael Jackson Is the first crazy Or Tipi Hedron Oh yeah Tip Hedron had a crazy animal Well she had like a cat's things

I don't think she... Oh, no, they lived with lions. Yes. Oh, Jesus fucking Christ. Did you ever watch that movie? No. Yeah, there's some movie like where her lions are in it, right?

I believe it's called Roar. Yes. There's a documentary about it as well, which I'm not sure if you can watch the movie Roar anymore. I'm sure you could find it. But like, yeah, she was married. I don't remember what director she was married to,

but it was like they had lions on the property like that they were living with but also They made it seem like a conservation type thing And then they're making this movie about the lions

Yeah And Melanie Griffith I guess got like mauled a little bit Did you know that Tibby Hedron Is the reason why Nail salons? Yes

Vietnamese women run nail salons Yep I'm sorry, what? She visited Vietnam and was so so just devastated by the state in which the country was in, that the people lived in. And she realized everywhere she went, the women were all like, oh, my gosh, they were in awe of her nails.

Yeah. And so it dawned on her. She's like, wait, this is, like, I can't help these people, but this is the thing I can give them and started the nail tech industry in Vietnam. Which then became what, like, they immigrated to this country with, with this skill set. Yeah. I think wasn't there, like, schools or something that she opened, that kind of thing. So, yeah, I remember hearing about that and being like, whoa.

You probably heard it from me, but it's okay. Yeah, no, no, I've heard about it, but you did a better job of talking about it. You did a nice job. It looks like you can buy Roar on Blu-ray, so. Oh, thank God it's on Blu-ray. Yeah, yeah. I'm sure there's a VHS out there hanging around. I think people died on that set.

I don't know. I mean, people were definitely. Definitely bitten by the animals. Well, yeah. Fucking wild. Yeah. So, this monkey is dead, but also... No, little doggy?

Like, she needs a little doggy. She does seem like the type that would have a little doggy, you're right. Or tons of cats. Yeah. She's a monkey gal, you know? Jesus. She was.

There's monkey broads out there. A dog, it's so pedestrian. A dog eats its own shit. A dog can't light a cigarette. A shit. Show me a dog. that can swing from a chandelier. I wonder if she shot the monkey.

Maybe, oh. Who's this other monkey you've been writing a screenplay with, you slut? You've been sneaking off in the night. Help me understand something, monkey. What brand banana do you eat? From now on, you only eat chicata. That's the prequel. That's the prequel.

Oh, my God. Her and the monkey. Coming soon to Peacock, starring Sidney Sweeney or something. Anyway, so, anyway, so the monkey's dead, but Norma Desmond's also writing a script. She's writing a script in long hand that she has bound together with twine, and it looks, it's covering her whole desk,

and she, like, roped Joe into working on this screenplay. That's going to be her, like, comeback screenplay. Yeah, well, he came in the house because he wanted help with attire. And then they thought he was the coroner for the monkey. They thought he was the monkey coroner, yes. Yeah. But unaddressed for a monkey coroner, friend.

Yeah. And then somehow she finds out he's a writer, I guess, is what happens. And he's like, I'm very expensive. Yeah. So he, like, all his money problems are gone because this, you know, he's now in this woman's orbit. That is a great moment because she's like, he's like, oh, you were big in silent movies. And she's like, I'm still big. The movie's got small.

And she starts complaining about sound. And then he's like, I'm a right. I'm so sorry, don't blame me. Yeah. So, yeah, so they, so they like, you know, kind of absorb Joe into their weird world. It's her and Max and Joe now. Which, it's, here's the thing, they find out, so she demands that he stays in the room above the garage. Like Fonzie.

Yeah, but I'm also like, bitch, you got lots of rooms in that house. Okay, garage, whatever. But the next morning, all of his things from his apartment are there. And I was like, okay, they don't, they can't dox people. So how are they finding this? And I'm like, oh, the fucking phone book. Right. You could literally just find out where everyone lives.

Yeah, we all used to docks ourselves. I know. Isn't that crazy? I just keep thinking about, God, the yellow pages. I know. You couldn't have privacy, really. But nobody did that shit because everybody had lives. And they were like, I don't need to stock people.

Sure, that's true. Oh, yeah. It was like if some, oh, they have an unlisted number. It's like, fuck you. Yeah, you think you're fancy. What do you sell drugs? Sure. I have my address delivered to everybody's house

a couple times a year. Yeah, so we kind of learn some weird stuff. She gets a bunch of fan mail, but we learned that it's Max sending the fan mail. There's no locks on the doors. Max kind of alludes to the fact that she, like, commits suicide, and that's why they, or she tries so they can't have locks on the doors. And then in one of the creepiest scenes ever,

she throws a New Year's party and doesn't invite anyone but has a band and then it's just her and Joe dancing alone while this fucking band plays and there's like catering put out it's terrifying and this is kind of when we learned that she's like romantically into Joe

which could have told you from the get-go but like she does have friends though and Joe refers them as the wax works the wax works because I guess they're older and they're living in the past kind of thing Yeah, so they're all, and these are all cameos. Like, Bruster Keaton is one of the guys in that scene. Yeah, totally.

I forget who the other people are, but yeah. One of the guys is the person from this American, or what is it called? This American Life. It's Ira Glass. Yeah, it's 102 years old. He's a Highlander. No, it's. I go to my friend's house, and we play poker every week, and we were silent film stars, and now we have weird voices and cannot work.

Yeah, he never would have gotten work. No, it was from, it's a wonderful life. of the guy who poisons, who almost poisons somebody, the pharmacist from Old Man Gower. Yeah, there we go. I don't pay to be a canary. Yeah, there we go. I kind of loved her little card game with her buddies.

I was like, have a big, fabulous house like this, have your friends over, you have a pool. Why do you need to work again? I know, and Joe just sits behind her and, like, gets drinks for her and lights her cigarettes and stuff. That's the life. Like, Buster Caten did make the transition to sound movies, and like his sound movies made money but he was such a fucking ugly drunk but he just so he's

between drinks in this movie and then eventually like he's about 10 13 years away from appearing in the AIP beach movies oh yeah that's AIP what's AIP beach movie uh American International Pictures they did like it's like all the Roger Corman movies Vincent Price movies like all those Edgar Allan Poe movies and they did the Frankie and Annette Beach movies. I've only seen the 80s back to the beach, which was a parody of those movies. So I've never seen

a loving homage. You know what's crazy is that song Annette Funicello sings with Fishbone, Skah, Scas, ska, is from the 60s where it's like, you know, she's like there's a new dance called the ska. Remember when Fishbone could open a movie?

Those were the days. The movies don't have fishbone in them anymore. The 80s were a better time. Well, fucking Betty is in all those Disney movies. Like, she's like Fred McMurray's girlfriend in an Appalmindic professor. And I think she's in one of the, she might be in a sequel, like not, what other one is she in? She's in like the son of something. Return of Jafar.

Son of flubber. Son of Mask. Yeah, those fucking... Oh, she is in Flubber. She has a cameo on the Robin Williams one. No way. Yeah. That's what...

Well, I... So, she's... That character, she's trying to become a screenwriter. Yeah. Yes. As, like, one of Joe's scripts. So she's trying to help him out or whatever. And help herself out at the same time.

I really thought this movie was going to go into them putting Norma Desmond in their movie. In their script, yeah. Right. And that's where the close-up scene happened. and boy, was I wrong. Oh, yeah, so he meets Betty again. So after he kind of flees the world's weirdest party, he goes to a party at his buddy Artie's house.

Fucking Artie rules. He's a DP. He's a real jokester. I like everything Artie says. He's got a little sweater on. And this is Artie's like house with all the like kind of working class showbiz people. Like, you know, we see the contrast. We see this big mansion, this big fucking empty-ass mansion in this little apartment.

Everybody's like having fun and having a great. great time. I know. That's a big old house. I think it's supposed to to represent a little apartment, but no, it's fucking huge. It would one day be the friend for friends. Yeah, I know, right? You should see my little Armenia apartment. Sure. Fucking hey, dude, one bedroom. But yes, Betty is there. The reader, they kind of flirt. And then he goes back to the mansion and we learned that Norma tried to commit suicide. And he kind of goes to her on the bed. And

then he like kind of makes the decision he's like okay i'm fucking in this and then they kiss and that's kind of the start of max being like or sorry joe being like all in on this he's like okay i guess i'm just like norma desmond's dude um yeah so yes uh anyway but kind of in the meantime the re betty is trying to like reach him about the script like somebody's interested in the script um and he is like not giving her the time of day he's not yeah he's like which is really confusing to me because i'm watching this going like buddy you and I both know the script with Norman Desmond sucks like right kind of spread out a little bit sure you have a lot of irons in the fire yeah a lot irons in the fire you're gonna drop them all sure it's why you got to start another podcast exactly you got to have so many podcasts that you know it's like at this point it's Stockholm syndrome I think yeah yeah because it's like he doesn't want to be responsible for the death of this well and he wouldn't be responsible but it's like in his mind be responsible for the death of this like iconic star or whatever I feel like, I don't, I think everybody in this movie's a piece of shit.

And I feel like William Holden is just like, I can't let my fuck, like that caviar was good. The party was weird, but the champagne was cold. The catering at the weird party was amazing. But he was kind of resistant to it at first. He was like, please don't buy that for me. Like, I don't want it. Like, because he knew that if he started letting her do that, then he was going to become completely like absorbed and dependent on her, which exactly what happens. See, I feel like it was just, I don't want to feel like I have to fuck you.

And now I have to fuck you. Boy, it's, you should be a woman dating men. It is just, the one dinner. And then they're like, you have to. I'm like, we went to Dave and Busters. It's not, I don't have to blow you. The life of a woman in Hollywood. I beat you in Dance, Dance Revolution.

You know what the power of cards cost, Emily? Yeah. I like for a man, it's like your life is literally a horror film. It's just like the life of a woman. woman in Hollywood was just like oh Jesus Christ imagine what it'd be like if like well the thing is in New York it was worse in New York it was worse because I was really broke and then you would be like okay we're at this thing I officially can't go Dutch on this so I'm going to have to have him pay but out here I'm like fuck you I can pay for this and you don't get any I don't need you but yeah

so I could see him he's his car is being repossessed he's like months behind on rent he's like this person is his savior but it comes at a high cost so so she is getting calls from paramount and maybe we even kind of think as the audience like oh are they actually interested in this crazy biblical script that they're writing right um so she goes they go to the lot like nobody recognizes her except for the old security guard and that really made me happy i know i love that and then they go to visit mr demille on the set of some you know kind of like roman epic that he's supposedly I don't know what DeMille looks like. Is that really?

That's him. Yeah, that's him. I played in his grave. Okay. He's in Hollywood forever. How's the grave? It's big. I bet.

It's bigger than peewees. Yeah, so he is a silent film. Which I think is bullshit. I'm still big. It's the graves that got small. So this is actually the guy. He was a silent film director who, like, you know, moved into, he directed to Ten Commandments. Twice he directed the Silent.

version and the version that plays on TV. Holy shit, I didn't know that. Yeah. I think one of the, is it one of the people at the card game, didn't they play like Moses or somebody? Oh, I don't know. That seems right though. Yeah, this movie is full of that stuff. And yeah, and he's playing himself

and he's fucking great. And he like, so she comes and is kind of like interrupting his movie, but like he gets everybody to kind of dote on her. Yeah. In the director's chair. And used to work with Gloria Swanson. Yeah, totally. Yeah. So This is meta on matter.

Very meta. I know, and they say that, like, oh, the house, Rudolph Valentino was in the house, but they had done movies together. So, yeah, there's a lot of cool stuff like that in this movie. Yeah, but she does look glorious. I mean, in this, and that car, I mean, the car comes into it, but I'm insane about that car.

I mean, that car belongs in pictures. What do you think about the swan bed? Did you like the swan bed? I love that. That's going to go in my list of favorite bedrooms for sure. I've got a whole list of favorite movies. bedroom. Really?

Movie bedroom. I think that's, it's not going to beat the Olson twins it takes to. Yeah, nothing ever beats it. Well, no, that's the greatest bedroom in the history. It's the greatest bedroom houses. What about the brother in just one of the guys where every square inch is covered in playboy centerfolds? Hell yeah, bro.

That's my favorite room. Oh, nice. We watched a movie, I forget which one. Oh, maybe it was stripped to kill where there's a guy's house and it's all covered in framed pictures of airplanes. Yeah. Oh, that's alligator two. Alligator two.

Yeah, yeah. That to me is the most sight. narcotic character trait someone can have. Emily, you go walking in the house, you're like, God, I got to blow this fucking airplane. I mean, no, the worst bedroom I ever went into with a guy, he had Velcro walls. Oh, that's kind of rules.

No, because you'd think I get to wear a Velcro suit and be on it and have set. No, he just had all of his things on it. You're shitting me. Everything. Functional? Yeah, no, he put his TV on there, and then the remote control had Velcro on it.

When I first walked in, he goes, check this. out and he had a pin and he threw the pin against the wall and I was like and I'm dry dry as Velcro because I was like if you got to cry when you took off your pants it went I was like if there's a crotchless Velco

suit I'm in there was no such thing there it was also in the bathroom too so he had his iPad on the wall of the bathroom in the Velcro and then the toothpaste was on the wall toothbrush everything this is like something Kramer would have done yeah he was a steady cam operator He owned his own steady cam.

He sounds very stable. Yeah. He still messages me on Instagram time to time. Ever listening to this Velcro guy? How you doing? He's all right. He wasn't okay.

Sounds cool to me. Sounds cool guy. So, but yeah, I love this scene too. I think that, like, I and, you know, like I like how this movie doesn't just make her a punchline or make her a scary character.

Like, it feels bad for her. that the world has left her behind, like, people like this. And I love how, uh, how, how Mr. DeMille, like, is nice to her and tries to make this a nice experience. And what's brutal is she has no clue. Totally. So, yeah. So what happened was Paramount's been calling because they want to rent her car.

Yeah. Uh, but she thinks it's because of the movie, but they kind of send her off with a vague, like, we'll call you kind of thing. Um, but yeah, it's a really sweet, like, heartbreaking scene. But while they're there, uh, Joe meets Betty. she tells him about the script and that's when they start working on it together in secret.

Yep. And so, yeah, R.D., the guy she's dating who's in AD, he's like off shooting a movie in Arizona. They're engaged. They're engaged. Yes, they're engaged. But then, you know, Joe and Betty are like working on this script together and like, you know, will they, they,

all over it. Oh, yeah. And yeah, and I like this bit of it too. I like seeing two people like bonding over being creative. Like that's a very, like, fun kind of like hot. thing that you don't see in movies a lot as people like, oh, they're doing a project together. I don't know. I kind of liked it.

Yeah. And then she kind of like dumps her backstory on him, which is she is from a showbiz family. She's from a family of like lifers. Mom still works in the wardrobe department. And she was going to be an actor but her nose. She's like, I got my nose fixed and they still said my nose was weird. So I want to be a writer.

No, they said she was a bad actress. Oh, that's right. Yes. Even she got, yeah. She fixed her nose and her acting was bad. She never knows her lines. Yes. Oh! Yeah, all our scenes were real stinkers. Those are those jokes that you can make. But yeah, I love how the movie gives her this, like, backstory that's interesting.

I don't know. I like, this movie is so nice to the characters. Except Joe, who's a piece of shit. Yes. She's just fucking asshole. But to everybody else, it's like. The other cool thing is that she's this girl who has been told she's not a good actress and she's not delusional about being rejected. Right.

Whereas Norma Desmond is just this delusion about being. still the biggest star in the world. This girl is just like, I completely know I wasn't a good actress. And that's okay. I'll do something else. So it's just the complete yin-yang, I feel like. She's like the janitor and the breakfast club.

Oh, yeah, sure. The only person comfortable in his own skin in that whole movie. Yeah. So, yeah. So this is all kind of setting up the shit that is about to hit the fan. And we're going to talk about it right after this.

We're back. It's free with ads. We're here with Matt McCarthy. We are talking about Sunset Boulevard. So Joe is working on this script with Betty in secret, but that's like worse than cheating. Yeah. But they have a little moment where they like. like kiss and then he kind of like flees to Norma Desmond's house who like kind of knows something's going on and so she starts calling Betty who like lives with the roommate

I laugh so fucking hard at this so she's like Betty is like Norman Desmond is like calling the house looking for Betty and her roommate says it's that weird sounding woman again I just love so even they know that she sounds crazy yeah it would have been like in modern like if they updated this it would be like she thinks it's the prank call like yeah it's the woman pretending to be norma desmond again right yeah she's doing this insane character yeah um so and he has an accent too max don't they say he sounds weird too yeah max is like max is like i think supposed to be german uh oh and we didn't we didn't reveal the two giant bombs about max so this is what we learned he was her director he he he was her original

director when she was 16 you and he was Her first husband. Ew. She's been married. He's been listening to them. Fuck. Your first. Well, it makes you think like, okay, she does this thing where she traps you.

Right. By threatening to kill herself, essentially. And ends up just wrapping you into her stuff. Like, he is trapped there and has just learned to love his cage. But what happened to the other two husbands is what I'm wondering. Check the pool filter. This is why we need the. Peacock prequel with

Sidney. I think Max got rid of the other two husbands personally. Maybe. One of them was the chimp. Oh, that would be funny. If there was just in the background a wedding photo of her and the chimp and that's all you got. So,

but Joe has decided, like, I'm going to blow this whole thing up. So he calls Betty, this is so fucking cruel that he calls Betty and makes her do this. I mean, very dramatically taught, but also so crazy. So he's like, he tells Betty to come over and just explains this to her and, like, you know, devastates her, you know, and tells Norma Desmond he's going to, like, pack and go back to Ohio. And, like, write for the local newspaper, which, by the way, fucking great fallback plan.

Oh, no kidding. I love that back then you could just get another job. Right. And that there was a local newspaper to work for. Oh, we're like, oh, we're filled with openings. Yeah. Here's money and a car. A white man, come on in.

Come on in. You're hired. Yeah, here's a house. Yeah. Can you do your... Get another one if you want. Can you write all of your ABCs? You're hired.

Why, we are looking for a new editor in cheap. Here's your 10 a.m. whiskey. Anyway, so, so, like, shit's hitting the fan. You know, Betty realizes what's been going on. He kind of, like, tries to get her to go back to Artie. Which she should. And we learned, this is hilarious to me, too. We learned that Norma Desmond this whole time has been 50.

She's acting so crazy and it's like, eh, you know. It's not that old. Yeah. No. She's 50. Ew. It is very strange in this movie. I know that we're supposed to look at her and think she's old, but that's purely based on her wearing like 1920s flapper like garb.

Well, I think that to me looking at this, because I don't think. that age has anything to do with beauty personally. Sure. Because I've seen plenty of ugly young people. Oh, yeah. And, you know, they exist. But she looks so, I mean, but she's so beautiful. I just think that the style and everything,

it's the most beautiful, glamorous woman I've ever seen. I love her so much that it just was like, God, you could just be this. You don't have to go back and you could just be the most fabulous woman in Hollywood. And she's rich, too. It's not like she's aching for money. she's got oil in Bakersfield.

Right, yeah. She talks about her investments at some point. At one point, I'm just like, girl, just fund a movie. You can make your own movie. That is such a good point. Yes. She's like freaking out over this. I know, like Howard Hughes made a bunch of like movies.

Yeah. Anyway. But a woman had never done it before. We can't go near the cameras. They make us hysterical. We haven't learned to lean in yet. Was William Holden in it or am I thinking of? oh fuck who is the lead in ice station zero but howard hughes owned a television station in

las vegas and obviously this is before the days of vcr's whenever he was going to visit Vegas he would have someone call ahead to the tv station to play ice station zero and it it played more times in las Vegas than in anywhere else in the world because he owned the tv station and then he wanted to watch it whenever he was in town. Damn. I don't know what this movie is at all. I think.

Now I need to see it. Who is the lead in it? Is it William Holden? Well, there's Ice Station Zebra. Oh, what was I saying? Zero. I only know it from that anecdote. I've actually never watched it either. Ice Station Zebra.

With Rock Hudson. Rock Hudson. That's who it was. So, yeah. So Joe's kind of like blown the whole thing up. He goes to leave, but he kind of knows what's coming. She's got a gun and she shoots him, falls in the pool they come out the next day the dudes pull him out of the pool he's clearly breathing it's very obvious uh kind of like you know um i mean you know maybe uh ultra hd doesn't uh help that at all but yes the man is taking deep labored breaths he's blinking and fine yeah yeah smoking he's smoking yeah um but so so you know norma desmond is like now full

crazy. She's just catatonic in her room, but all the press is here, but they need to get her to come down. How are we going to, how are the police going to get this lady out? Just some real white privilege here. The police are like, well, we got to have come out. Maybe we should just leave her alone and maybe she's really sorry about it. Sure, yeah, yeah. No wait. But they, Max tells her that the cameras are there to film the movie and then she descends the staircase and says, we're going to need a bigger boat. And that's the end of the movie. God, Max, too.

It's just like, God, he loves her. Yeah, totally. He fears her and loves her. And it was like, I felt so sad. You feel bad for him. Very codependent. Barry, yeah. You know, if this was, our modern, more open-minded times,

they would be a thruple. Absolutely. Joe, maybe Betty, they fold Betty and Artie in there. Yeah. Everybody just fucks it burning, man. Exactly. And that's a better world. Yeah.

I don't know. Anyway. Velcro wall guy was a Burning Man guy. No. What? Go gas. Gas. Oh, way.

Yeah, you probably heard wrong. You probably miss her. No. He had this thing called the glitter gals that he would do because the money doesn't work there. So his bartering thing was girls who were naked in baby pools of oil and you could, like, there was glitter in it and you could rub the glitter all over the girls. I went to a burning man once I missed that. He asked me to do it. Anyway.

And I said. No. Wait, Velcro guy had two girls willing to... Multiple girls. Damn, he must have been really hot or something. He had his own steady cam. Yeah, and he wore finger shoes, toe shoes. Mm-hmm.

It's all tracks. Jesus Christ. Anyway, a legend. Hey, we're going to rank Sunset Boulevard on a scale of 1 to 10 super loud commercials. But first, you know we got to do the hunk watch. It's Hunk Watch. Matt McCarthy for you, we pick a hunk of the movie. It could be, you know, it could be a dude, obviously.

That's your traditional hunk, but it can be someone of any gender. It could even be things or animals or the predator. The monkey. Do you have a hunk in mind? I don't know, and this is going to sound like a setup, but I don't know if you've ever seen Buster Keaton without a shirt on. No. That dude was jacked for fucking day.

He did stunts, so he probably had to be pretty jacked. This guy, like, didn't, I mean, he invented stunts. I mean, there's a, I forget which movie it's in, but like a, a truck drives by, and he grabs the pole on the back of it. And it just yanks him off the fucking out of the frame. And it was like, if anybody else did that, they would have dislocated their shoulder, died. Fucking core for days. He broke his fucking neck. in a movie

and didn't know until years later Wow he was running on top of a train that was moving and he stayed in the center of the frame and it's right in front of like the water that they would pull in to like cool off the engines or whatever or the steam locomotives

and so then as you're getting closer and closer to the end of the train I think this is Sherlock Jr. He jumps and he grabs the cord he misjudged the power of the water and it sprayed him and just slammed him down on the ground. Oh, my God.

And he said he had booming headaches for a long time after that, and he didn't know that he had broken his neck. So, Buster Keaton, hunk of the movie. The man's a hunk. Check out the cum gutters on Keaton. They call him Buster because he makes you bust. Oh, yeah. He'll drink you under the table.

He'll smoke your old lady's cigarettes. He'll fuck your monkey, Desmond. Matt leave, thoughts on the hunts of the film? Yeah, I have a strange, very random hunk. in this movie the blonde girl at the New Year's party who says the phone is ready.

Yeah, she's hot. Oh my God. The giggly girl. She says she has one line other than giggling and I looked at her I had to like pause it. She was cute. Damn, she like 1940s

Sydney Sweeney. Immediately it was like I want to use your bath water. To make soap that I buy on eBay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I, me personally my hunk of the movie,

I'm an Artie guy Artie was great I love a fun below the line guy I think that's a fun type of guy great sweaters everything he said was funny great fucking attitude I hope everything worked out for Artie Emily what do you think

The car You like the car? Okay I love that car I don't drive anyway Have we watched Titan yet I just thought you had that notion No I mean it's just I don't drive But man every once in a while there's a car

that makes me go, I like cars. That one's amazing. Well, those are the hunks of Sunset Boulevard. We are going to rank the movie on a scale of one to ten super loud commercials when we come back. We're back. It's free with ads. Before we rank the movie, we want to remind you, go to maximum fun.org slash join. That's how you support the show, support the network, and hear all our bonus episodes. Uh, guys, spooky season, it's a here. We're all filled with pumpkin spice and have our witch's hats up our butts. I don't know. We're wearing ghost sheets. We're all wearing ghost sheets. So our bonus episode this month

is the pilot of the twilight zone. This should be available for listening now, Max. Can folks listen now? Maximumfund.org slash join. You get to hear our bonus episodes and all the bonus episodes from all the shows on the network. It's a ton of stuff.

Maximumfund.org slash join and Maxfundstore.com to get our merch. We made a call for picks of your pets with merch. Yeah. We've gotten fucking jack shit. Yeah, what's wrong? Put the hat on the cat. Yeah.

Put the cat in a hat. You ever heard of it? It's a favorite. And we, anyway. Put the shirt on your monkey. Put the shirt on the monkey. You're a little underdressed for a dead monkey. You need a hat that says the worst hat.

We've got it. Maxfundstore.com. Okay. Matt McCarthy, you're our guest. We want you to rank it first. On a scale of one to ten super loud commercials, what do you give this film? I mean probably a nine Nice

Yeah What do I say now Super loud commercials? You can say nine You can just say what you think Yeah you like the movie Nine Flow for Progressive

The Gecko's here I mean it's a perfect movie Right It's a perfect movie But it's like it's not I for me a 10 would be Something I'll want to

I could watch any time Yeah whereas this movie it does feel like school Yeah, I'm with you. It doesn't even feel like a, and I love film noir, it doesn't even feel like a noir to me, but I mean

it fits, you know, it's about the the seedy underbelly. I think it also, it's a little too everybody's an asshole. Sure, yes. So like a big thing for me is, is he really shooting a movie in Arizona or is he getting his dick dry?

That's when you're fucking Arizona You dick gets dried out He's hanging out with the Velcro guy The bigest thing for me with a movie Less with a movie but like with a TV show Is like do I want to spend time with these people Yeah You know like a movie it's it's better

Because I'm like okay the end is in sight Right So it's like all right these people are all fucking lunatics But at least the credit's gonna roll in 15 Yeah That explains your one Star Wars idea He's just like, I don't like that they made a bunch of them. I don't want to hang him with Darth Vader again.

Why do you get to find out who the guy's sister is? It's stupid that they, like, it's, it is. It's stupid. And I love, and I love all of Star Wars. I love the shows. I love the, the, the second trilogy sequels. I dig it all. But it is like, it ruins the point of the first one.

The first one was supposed to be about a type of movie. and it's like it's supposed to like can you imagine if there was like you could have discussions about Star Wars like well you know Darth Vader means dark father in Norwegian or whatever so it's like I think that that because that's

the look that they give each other about like when they mention his dad and instead there's no subtlety there's no nuance they had to make a bunch of not another teen movies I'm just saying like more American graffiti was not the right move yeah it was

better that we just saw the glimpse of them in that summer as opposed to actually making a sequel and Ron Howard having a mustache it's not... Yeah. Also, that's my EWAL. It's also George Lucas. Exactly. That's why I brought it up.

It's, yeah. There's a connection. Like if they'd made THX-113-9, it's just, it's... That's also George Lucas. They made Blue Tales. That's why I brought it up. Red tails. I love that movie. Thank you, Matt Lee, what do you give this movie? Monday 10th Superlac commercial. I am giving this movie a 9 as well.

I really enjoyed it. It was my first time seeing it. And you know what? It was entertaining throughout and I loved finally understanding where certain lines from, you know, culture come from. And it just, to me,

I came in with sort of mid-expectations and they surpassed them. I very much enjoyed it. Great acting. And that lady was ready, who was done with a, The phone was super hot. That's something they could do if they wanted to, like, remake Charles Dickens for, you know, Gen Z, mid-expectation.

Oh, shit, yeah. Yeah, dude. Anyway. Miss Havisham is cap'n. Sure. She's snatched. Her dress be bustling. Emily, what do you think?

One of ten super luck, I'm giving it a nine as well. Yeah. It is, it's one of, you know, when we watched Vertigo, it really fucked. me up. Yeah. This is going to fuck me up for a little while. Like this, it's so disturbing. Sure. And that last scene is so disturbing. I feel like when you're in show business, like, as we are all, the fear of becoming delusional and obsessed with like yourself and what you've done in the past versus, it's like that is a real fear. I don't know, of losing it as you get older. So it just felt it just disturbed me very much. Now that I know

of what the ending actually was and it wasn't like a movie. They're actually shooting a movie but her going to jail. I thought, yeah, I know. That was a twist. I'm glad I didn't know that and going in

because it was very disturbing. You know what I meant to mention? I think it was on the AFI Top 100. I don't know remember who said it if it was a director or a writer, but when they got to this movie, the person made the point of like, he winds up, like he's a failed writer

who winds up dead in a pool instead of just a failed writer dead in the secretarial pool. Right. Which I was like, holy shit. Okay. Bars. Right? Bars.

Yeah, I'm going to join you guys here on Cloud 9 and also give it a 9. Oh, shit. It's totally an amazing movie. I think maybe I will like reserve my personal tens for something that's like a little weird or something that maybe like hits me in the lizard brain a little bit harder. But yeah, it's not a joyful movie to watch. It's not something I want to watch a lot. Yeah. But I'm glad that I watch.

It's awesome, yeah. And, you know, great, great to have an easily accessible, nice-looking version of a classic. We love that. Nine's all around. Nines all around. Nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine. Oh, wow.

Thanks, Hitler. Was that the news? That's inglorious bastard Hitler. All nine's. You know how long I've been waiting to do this? Wow. Really? You've had that.

So you've had. Oh, yeah. You've had that ready and waiting, but you haven't used Desert Rose again? No, I've been just concentrating on this. God damn it. Well, that is our review of Sunset Boulevard. Matt McCarthy. Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you. Tell us where we can see your wonderful VHS collection and talk about anything else you want to. You can follow me on all forms of social media at McCarthy. Redhead. TikTok is the place to be. If you want to join the video garage, video movie club, That's my Patreon. You can have access to all the digitized VHS tapes that I find at estate sales and garage sales and that people send me.

We're up to, we have like over three terabytes of digitized VHS footage. Okay. From, like literally from 1970, might be our oldest VHS tape all the way up until like 2016. Somebody was still taping stuff in 2016. Yeah. And every year in between. I feel like just about, but, um, yeah, and I'm on tour with Pete Holmes. Uh, go to pete petehomes.com. Hell yes. Where, whatever city he's going to be in, I'll be, uh, featuring with

Pete. And, uh, I'm, and I'm starting a, uh, a podcast. I have the, the We Watch Wrestling podcast. We've been going strong for over a decade, and I'm starting a podcast about the history of video stores. And I think I'm going to call it VHS tapes or magic. Okay. Yay. I was going to call it the video. movie club and then we talked you out of it well it's funny you just randomly said one of my catchphrases VHS tapes are magic and I was like holy fucking shit that that is what the show should be called it's so good it's such a good name for anything it is thank you for being here Matt thanks for having me check out Matt in all of the places he mentioned um Emily uh anything

to plug well I just want to plug a good mythical weekend which Matt Jordan and myself are all part of it's on saturdays on the good mythical morning channel on youtube so check us out on saturdays also watch good mythical morning all the time sure yeah uh we're on there doing doing stuff uh eating weird shit playing games doing challenges it's a ton of fun uh good mythical morning over there on youtube uh matt you got anything yes tomorrow uh october 1st you can go to the ice house in Pasadena and see myself and my wife, Francesca, Fiorentini. My wife.

Yeah, it's a fun show called New World Disorder. Get your tickets now. Pasadena, Ice House. Do it. And a little something for your comic book pull list. On October 22nd, you can get a copy of Predator, Black, White, and Blood, a Predator anthology with a story by me, an artist Raphael Lenko.

It's about a cute doggy that fights the predator. Predator Black, White, and Blood, number four. And if you're in the L.A. area, I am going to be signing that book with the great Cody Ziegler, who's also part of that book. We're going to be signing the book Saturday, October 25th, 4 to 6 p.m. at Things from Another World at Universal City Walk. So come on down to that. Predator, Black, White, and Blood, number four. Next week, October is a here. Spooky season, she is laying her breast upon us. this hallows Eve.

So we are, we are celebrating once again the festival of Halopin a month of spooky movies where we'll probably also make penis jokes because, you know, you've heard the show. So with that said, we got a lot of fun, spooky stuff coming at you for October.

Tune in next week when our movie will be Killer Clowns from Outer Space. Yeah. E-pop, orc, ah-ah. Maximum Fun. A worker-owned network of artists supported directly by you.