How Did This Get Made? - Circus Island LIVE!

Episode Date: June 19, 2026

For our 400th episode, Paul, June, & Jason take you on a magical tour of 2006's Circus Island (aka Circus Camp or Island Fever) starring the Landers Sisters and Ed Marinaro. LIVE from Largo in LA, the gang discuss this straight-up bananas movie about long-lost daughters, ghosts, sisters in love with an aging trapeze artist, a pervy kid with a video camera, an absolute psycho mean girl villain, a man named Jamaica Joe, slippery seaweed, and a whole lot of circus training montages. Plus, Paul teaches everyone what it means to have a "sock on the door kind of house." Buy our "Jesus Motorboated Me On Circus Island" t-shirt HERE. • Go to hdtgm.com for tour dates, merch, FAQs, and more• Leave us a voicemail at speakpipe.com/hdtgm• Submit your Last Looks theme song to us here• Join the HDTGM conversation on Discord: discord.gg/hdtgm• Buy merch at howdidthisgetmade.dashery.com/• Order Paul’s book about his childhood: Joyful Recollections of Trauma• Shop our new hat collection at podswag.com• Paul’s Discord: discord.gg/paulscheer• Paul’s YouTube page: youtube.com/paulscheer• Follow Paul on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/paulscheer• Subscribe to Enter The Dark Web w/ Paul & Rob Huebel: youtube.com/@enterthedarkweb• Listen to Unspooled with Paul & Amy Nicholson: unspooledpodcast.com• Listen to The Deep Dive with June & Jessica St. Clair: thedeepdiveacademy.com/podcast• Instagram: @hdtgm, @paulscheer, & @junediane• Twitter: @hdtgm, @paulscheer, & msjunediane  • Jason is not on social media• Episode transcripts available at how-did-this-get-made.simplecast.com/episodesGet access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using the link: siriusxm.com/hdtgm Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Famed English historian, Christopher Booker once said, there are seven basic plots. This film fits into none of them. We saw Circus Island, so you know what that means. To how did this get made today? We are talking about, and believe me, I checked this multiple times the 2005 film Circus Island, a movie that is hard to find on IMDB. On IMDB, people call it Island Fever, also Circus Camp.

But tonight, we will be calling it by its God-given name, Circus Island. rated PG, tagline, danger, tears, love, and laughter, dot, dot, dot. It all happens under the big top. If you've not seen Circus Island when it came out, probably because you weren't watching terrestrial television because that's where it aired. It did not come out in the theaters. But I'll tell you about this movie.

It is about two sisters separated. because one has a fear of water, and the other one does not. It's about long-lost daughters. It's about ghosts. It's about the circus. And it's about a girl who's really mean. But more importantly, it's about a pervy kid with a video camera. And I will tell you, this movie defies everything I thought it was going to be

and continue to surprise me until the very last scene. It is very, very, you know, unique in the fact that everyone in this movie is related. Pretty much. And we'll get into all of that, but I don't want to say too much more than to say, buckle up, get ready, because I want you to meet our co-hosts for the night. Please welcome Jason

Manzoukis. Don't come along that often. Movies, this, straight up bananas. Don't come around, oh, just every once in a while, you guys got a good one. Truly, wow.

This was and I feel bad because I think I'd watched the wrong movie because the one I watched was 100% filmed in the 1980s you said when you said 2000 did you say 2005 I was like no way it is shocking because I also had the thought is this someone's home movie oh I mean everything we gotta just let's just do it do it get her out here

we will do it all get her out here let's go Let's go. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the stage. June, Diane, Love You! Wow, wow, wow, wow. I've, honestly, I was back there buzzing, like a buzzard. We simply don't have enough time. I want to start now! I want to start now!

I wanted this, I literally had a thought on the plane and said, would it be crazy if we just called tonight? You get it, you've been on a plane. And we devote plenty of time to part one, and then we come back for part two, because there is too much. Too much. And I know I've said this before, but the amount of notes I took

on a movie called Circus Island that I believe I now own or perhaps owns me? I don't know. What is this movie a spell? Jason, my hand never stopped moving. Never stopped moving. There are more notes here.

It hurt. I wrote a Tom Clancy novel. Here's the thing. At a certain point, I started dictating my notes. But I just left it on. So it's just stream of consciousness, the ramblings of a stoned lunatic. Okay, here's where I actually want to start.

I want to start. I want to start. Oh, you know what? I don't, I don't want to. Wow. Sorry. Wow. No, because, wait, sorry.

You'll understand. You know why? I'm going to say, I want to say one. I want to say one thing. Before we start tonight. Hey, I just want to say, June, I'm sorry. this is happening to you. No, I'm so used to it. You'll understand why in one second.

You'll all come on my second and one second. Before we continue on with the show, I want to say, congratulations, this is our 400th episode that we've ever done. What? 400th proper episode. It just happened to be this live show.

I wanted to celebrate that moment with you all. And how many times have you interrupted me over the course of the podcast? Is it also 400? I just, I wanted to say it, but at the top of the top of the show, but I wanted you both to be out here. No, no. I wish I was happier to enjoy it. Zip it. Listen.

June, zip it. I need to talk. Right now. I'm so sorry, June. So sorry, June. I need you to zip it. Because here's the thing. We said when we do 400, we'd stop. That's it. Bye.

And that's why I needed to get it off our chest early. We would have gone through this whole show after we already said 400 was the end. No, so I just want to say congratulations to us and 400 shows. That's very special. It's a special moment. We're happy to be here.

Here's the thing, though. It's like special and horrifying and, you know, I'm really proud of it. I'm really upset by it too. It's a lot of different feelings. And I know we've said this a million times, but the fact that 400 episodes in, we still have gold.

That's true. That's true. Island, our work is not done. No, I know. You think we want to be here? We don't. It's right. We're all breached the radar of us in the first 400.

This was a timeline reset. This was like, we went back to one. Watching this was like someone control all deleting my brain. This is before C-I, B-C-C-I. Yes, exactly. Is it a good time for me to speak? Yes. Go for it.

So. So. So I want to start with, I want to start with just the lore of Circus Island. I want to start there because over the course of the movie, well, we see a tent. We see a circus tent in the beginning. We never go in there until I think you said this in the intro about 45 minutes into the movie. That's the first time we see a trapeze, which is, by the way, on the beach, not in the tent. So we don't go in there for a long time.

and all you see from the water is there's a giant big tent. It looks like it could also be like a medical waste plant or something. It doesn't have the colors or the flags. It doesn't look fun. It doesn't look fun. It doesn't look fun. It's a dome. It looks like during COVID when a lot of those weird tents popped up like on Riverside and Los Phyllis and you were like what's going on there.

It felt like a COVID tank. Are there dead bodies? It's some sort of FEMA tent. Yes. Absolutely. It feels like a giant house is being fumigated or they're storing dead bodies inside of it. Yes, but I believe at one of our leads, Carlos,

and we'll get into him. I can't hear you. Carlos. Who? Carlos. Oh, Carlos. We're going to get into him. Yes.

Ed Marinera? And a current, believe it or not, a current trapeze artist. By the way. Oh, I'm sorry. Let me be clear, June. in this movie, his dreams come true because he's accepted into circus Mexicana. Right?

What is it? The guys, we have too much to talk about. But at one point, he says, so we find out that his father, who's a ghost in the movie? Oh. Also, ghosts are real. That his father was a trapeze artist

and ran this, ran Circus Island, which at that point was, thing called sailor circus? Don't know. There was, he talks about that the sailors used to come to this island and they were taught circus. Like there's some. So what I thought, that's interesting, Paul, because what I heard was that this was an island,

and this was interesting to me, almost like mermaid lore. This was an island where the sailors could get some respite for a bit. Watch some circus. Yep. and continue on with their journey. I love it. Restored. In a pirate kind of way.

Well, let me ask you this. Do you guys know where Circus Island is? Where do you guess Circus Island? Yes. Well, because here's the other thing. It seems like Circus Island, you get there by car. Or you get very close to Circus Island by car. Very much.

Or by bus. Right, yes. And it seems like to get to Circus Island, you may just have to get on a boat for about five to ten minutes. I believe Gabby takes the bus from Patterson, New Jersey, to Florida, and then is a quick boat ride to Circus Island. Can you imagine? Circus Island is a place you are dared to go and stay overnight.

Listen, though, if it's going to be anywhere, it's going to be in Florida, so that wind up perfectly for me. 100%. But why does Jamaican Joe take them there? By the way, I'd love to hear someone sing his song. The challenge is out. Jamaica Joe, and I will say that the movie even opens with the steel drum sounds. So it made me think we're deep in the Caribbean. We're in Jamaica.

We're somewhere. Yeah, we're not. No, we're in Jimmy Buffettland. We're like, we're a hop-skipping a drum from Margaritaville. Now, I do want, just from the geography standpoint, I'll tell you what I think, you tell me where I might be wrong. this island is deserted This island has no one on it

but a house and a circus tent Yes that's right Okay but yet It does have a functioning police Wait what do you mean I think those cops came from the main Last oh yeah yeah okay yeah okay Which you get is a three minute ferry

There's a big edit right so he had to come by boat Okay got it okay so he came by boat I have a bigger question is that his jurisdiction Here's a bigger question what the fuck is Ashley doing at circus camp? Why is Gabby's bully from Patterson, New Jersey at circus camp in Florida? And also, not for nothing,

I wish the movie was about Ashley. I like it. If you're not going to tell me that this isn't a poison ivy movie for the ages starring Ashley, the minute Ashley arrived there was like, fuck, yes, now we're cooking. Ashley, what is she doing there?

Really and Ashley show up at circus camp. Well, Ashley had to because there's that moment in school where they all talk about the great summer field trip. You know, the thing that we all do, when schools go on field trips in the summer, when school's out, when they have access to all the faculty to supervise students. So the summer field trip, some people call just camp, is why she is there. Now, wait, where were they originally going to go? Because I believe that one of the sisters is the principal of the school. She's like, I'll just make it up. Like, because she says, I haven't.

So you think she brought Ashley? You think Gabby's mom brought her? Oh, she definitely did. She definitely did, Jason. Because I remember thinking this woman, yeah, Lena, the principal, is running a crazy scam here. Like, imagine. School was crazy. School was out.

They came up with the idea of circus camp. She's like, I'll get it back to, I'll get the word back that that's our summer. Imagine. a world in which you are Gabby, your mom is a nightmare who doesn't seek to know or understand you. She invites your bully to camp

to attempted murder you. Your father who maybe we're supposed to be rooting for is a deadbeat dad who left without saying goodbye and has not been in touch in 12 years. Gabby is cooked.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, but you didn't bring up my favorite part about Lena, which she also offers to adopt sight unseen her boyfriend. Yes, Billy. Billy, who's in foster care. She's so much of a better mother to Billy. She doesn't offer, Paul. She saw Billy once in a shed, and she's like,

I'm going to adopt this guy. Yeah. And meanwhile, she's like, where's my daughter? Who cares? Who cares? She's not really offering. She tells him, like, I'm working on becoming your legal guardian. Right.

Yeah. It seems like a very loosey-goosey thing. So, okay, I just want to make sure, I want to make sure that we are just on the same page that this is an island, that there is no one on it. Right. But now I'm going back to Sailor Circus. And I am thinking it's so close to the mainland that we can't be for sailors. Like that's crazy.

Maybe you're right. Maybe it's a place for sailors to learn circus. Like sailors are like, you know what? Well, it doesn't seem like teaching. Wow. I mean, like, let's imagine a world in which sailors are also. doing circus? To blow off steam.

I also am just fascinated because when we meet Ed Marinera and obviously we know him by his before, that's his stage name, his first name was Ed Pasta Primavera. Now, so when we met, when we meet him,

he is a deadbeat dad who, the lean is like, He's like remorseless deadbeat dad. Well, like, well, Lena, his wife at the time, basically says, like, can you just please look for a job? He's like, the only job I care to look for is as a trapeze artist. Absolutely true. And I'm like, sir, sir, sir. Sir, it's over.

And it's been over. And it's been over. And as someone who also has gray chest hair, I'm not out in these streets being like, you know what? I need to do, perform in the circus at an elite level in Mexico. He says to her, I wrote this down. Mariposa. Oh, yes. That's what he calls Lena.

She not sleep on this. Her name is Lena. It's not easy getting a job as a trapeze artist. And that is what I do. I wrote he's a trapeze flyer by trade question mark. There's no way. And this is not to shame his body. You know, this is not, this is not, he's too old.

You can't shame it. I guess I'm going to be ages. He looks great. He looks great. He looks great for the age he is. 20. And for the position in life he's in, which is retirement. Yes.

There's no world in which another trapeze artist, another male trapeze artist, in the prime of his artistry, there's no world in which he's going to get on a trapeze and, and grab Carlos. No. He's Carlos. Gabby. No, I'm saying another man.

He can't work as a trapeze artist. Well, the evidence, the only evidence you need is the scene in which we're meant to believe that Carlos is doing an entire trapezee's routine. Now, it is so jarring because I watched the entirety

of the routine, assuming it was one of the circus kids, because it's very clearly a 16-year-old doing the ball. the entire routine. Then he flips himself off of the net onto the ground and like Ed Marinera plops off the net and is like, I'm here, it's me Carlos. And I'm like, that was supposed to be him?

No, thank you. They try so hard to obscure the faces whenever real circus is used that they're shooting underneath through a net and you can tell that these circus performers are like trying to tuck their head in as hard as they can. We don't see any facial features on anyone. What's crazy is at the beginning of the movie,

when Carlos and Lena, aka Mariposa, are together, and they have Baby Gabby, they come back from vacation. She's like, I want you to get a job. He's like, I'm a circus, I'm a trapeze flyer. She's like, then I want a divorce. It's over. He just leaves. He's done.

He's done. He's literally done. But by the way, they keep on cutting to this young girl who will meet older because it does do a time jump. And the parents are having a conversation like this. Look, you need to get a job. I can't get a job. Well, then we should get a divorce.

They cut to the girl sobbing. Sobbing. Cheers. Like, you are hearing the biggest fight that has ever happened. And it's almost so polite that I'm like, did they just get divorced? They are so, she's like, well, you have to get divorced. He just walks out with the same bag he walked in with. He did.

And at which point, it's 10 years later. Cut's to 10 years later. So I'm going to assume it's been about five years that he hasn't worked. It's 15 years since he has done trapeze professionally. He's been doing what the fuck on Circus Island. He's doing very well. I'll tell you what he's doing. He's raw dog and his wife is what he's doing. He's not doing well.

He's not doing well. Lina's sister can't remember her name, not Mariposa. Can I explain to you how I decided to tell them apart? Sure. In one scene, Mariposa is wearing a cowboy hat and the sister is wearing a trucker hat. So I just started referring to them as trucker hat or cowboy hat. Got it. I know it as straight hair, curly hair. Straight hair, curly hair.

And we're all aware they are actual sisters? I assumed they were. Well, I mean, I'll just say it right here to. You know, written and directed by Audrey Landers, written and directed by Judy Landers. So they wrote and directed it together, and it was produced by their mother, Ruth Landers. And the daughter is actually their daughter, another Landers.

Gabriela? Gabrielle. Gabrielle. Yes, we're going to get in Ann. That's so much to process. But I'll tell you, by the way, I'll tell you how Carlos has been living on that island. When Curly Hair shows up, Curly Landers shows up, he's like, I'll take you out for some sushi and whatever. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait.

And she's like, oh, well, first of all, she says, I brought a granola bar. That's, I couldn't make, I rewound that three times. I couldn't make heads or tails of what was happening. But I believe from that point, forward, he's living off of her dolphin training salary. Oh, for sure. That's crazy. Well, I mean, we are meant to be rooting for him.

He's the villain until Ashley shows up and then she's like, hold my beer. Now, I just, the way that you just painted that meat cute, it's way weirder because she has to go to that island that is told to her it's haunted to wait out a storm. and he's like, let's go have dinner. Cut to, it seems like maybe an hour has passed. And he's like, it's too late now, we're in love, and we find, like, they find, first of all, finds out that it, that this is his wife's twin sister. They find that out immediately. And he goes too late for me to change because I'm already in love with you.

He just met her an hour ago. He offers her sushi and a surprise. Oh, that's what it was. Which I thought was not cool at all. But here's what's so crazy, though, because she says, it's moving so fast. She says, Curly Lender says that her sister Mariposa has stopped speaking to her because she got into bed with a man who stole all of her money from like a bad business venture or something like that. And it's so wild because as the movie's going on, I'm like, oh, wait, is she doing that all over again? And then, but then here's what's so crazy about the Landers sisters and their body of war.

Here's what's so crazy because then as the movie goes on, we see Mariposa apologize for that and say that she's sorry. She judged Carlos. And I'm like, no, everything you thought, every warning you gave her was appropriate. Yes, he's been living off of you and your dolphin work. Yes. And by the way, what's happening out there that they stopped dolphin research? And then for sure, like when she loses her dolphin job and they're going to lose the island, the kid's right to the aunt.

The aunt comes in. She has the camp idea. She's going to save the day. And he's still like, no, I've got to go to Mexico and wrestle. I'm Ed Mariner. I'm Ed Mariner. I'm a name's Carlos. I do want to just say that Lena, the straight-haired, more serious sister, does just suggest a camp that can fit.

10. She's like, you can open up a can't hear her for 10 people. That's not going to save anybody. How much did they charge you now? Why even open the doors at that point? Here's the other thing I'm going to say. And maybe you guys didn't notice this. There were a couple of training montages in the movie. Did you notice?

I don't think I remember. There were a couple of montages set to music. Were the whole songs played? I don't know. Whole songs were played, and they usually went in this order. Jumping springboard, balancing on globes that are the earth, climbing a rope, all set to be... No, I'm not kidding. And there's no improvement every time we saw them, right?

There are four complete song training montages in which all of the people are doing all of the circus training. There are, I'm going to say, conservatively, 40 people in those scenes. Well, there are real circus people. There are real circus people. Now, let me ask you this. I just want to get one more thing straight because we are, there's a lot we're laying out here. And we haven't even really...

We haven't even cracked in. We just have to get the baseline. I get it, but I just want to say that in the scene by the fireside, Ed Marinere does say, your eyes are so much like my ex-wives. Before he figures out that their sisters, what the fuck is this movie? And then he's like, well, what do you want me to say?

They do look like my ex-wives. At that point, that's a signal that she should leave, even in a thunderstorm. There's also, before any of this happens, when she does crash on the beach, or not crash when she sets her boat gently on the beach, there are footprints in the sand happening. And I'm like, ooh, ghost or Jesus, because I was thinking about that famous poem, like, when, you know, why are there two footprints now? But one footprint, Jesus is like, because I was carrying you. and I'm like, oh, all right, is this the Jesus beach?

I didn't know. But they really let that go sit. Is this the Jesus beach? So, Paul, you think that just happens on one particular beach? I thought that that's the beach where it happens. And you think just for, I'm just, I just want to drill down into this for a second. Do you think that Jesus has been to Florida? I think he has.

Never mind, circus island, because if so, it disqualifies him as the son of God. I think that Jesus has the most work to do in Florida, so he's spending a lot of time there. Can we make how did this get made shirts that say Jesus motorboated me on Circus Island? Like, I want to... The little kid with the rat tail motorboats everybody in the movie. Spoiler alert, he hugs everybody all the time. All right.

Quickly, you'll see why I'm asking a second. when we do the time jump, how old is the daughter? The daughter that is Ed Marinera's daughter. Gabrielle. Yeah, she's in high school. Four or five? No, no, no. Sorry, sorry.

When we see her in high school. Oh, 10 years later. Oh, yeah. So 15, right? Yeah, 15. 15. Okay, great. So that would say that he left the house for about 10 years.

It says 10 years later. Okay, 10 years later. I'm just running hit these numbers. Go ahead. And then when we meet his new family, he seems to have kids. that are about 10 years old or older.

Yeah. If you don't think that the daughter of him and a trucker hat was conceived at that fireside the second they met, she says, I'm so sorry, oh gosh, I'm falling for my sister's ex-husband. It's over, it's done.

She's so fertile. So you think that you think that they basically had three kids in three years and then they come. Done. Boom, boom, boom. Got it.

All right. That's all I really want. Let me hear you say, hey oh, hey oh. Because I was like, that's a lot of kids. It didn't seem like there was any time for pregnancy. Right. Yeah. But again, it's a magical Jesus speech, so who knows.

And not for nothing. These kids look nothing like. Nothing. No. I've got questions. Rat tails are a real mischief maker. And the videographer, I don't know what he's doing, but it's not cool at all. Not cool to just go up and.

down. A woman. Your sister. Not just a woman, your sister cousin. He's looking at her. Like Roger Rabbit looks at Jessica Rabbit. What's going on? So I get... These kids are creeps.

I wanted I wanted to pull up I wanted to pull up our family tree because now we've identified everybody. Carlos is at the center of our family tree married to Jenny and Lena. Did we make this or did

Someone made. No, this is, our producer Scott made this amazing family tree that we can kind of check in. I did not know Mandy Tyler and Tucker's names at all. Wow. I love it because right now it looks like Bobo's the mom. Yeah. Because I called them in my notes Rat Tail Videographer and the Girl. Well, I guess

the question here is and again, this is why I'm leading to this moment to say that is Ed Marinera a homeschool teacher. Okay, great question. Are they going to school? And that's why, that's why, again, the moral of the stories, they stay on the island and, like, and Lina realizes, like, this is what her daughter wants and this is the right decision for her daughter. And I want to say, no, it's not.

This is a terrible decision. Now, but. It's not a beached town. It is a deserted island. There's no infrastructure. They don't have a grocery store. There's nothing on this island. Everything's on the mainland.

Barely, there's power on the island. And it seems to me that for 11 years or 10 years, the one piece of infrastructure they have, they have never touched. Like, that circus tent has been cobwebbed up. Yeah. For 11. I love that we're calling the circus tent infrastructure.

Yeah. I just want to say, like, so the only thing they have, they have not even turned their lights on. They don't have touched it. I wish I knew their day-to-day. You know? Well, all I was, I was working with anything I had. at one point Carlos does say to his daughter, when Gabrielle comes into the picture before her,

her sand bottle falls. And he realizes, because that music plays, this is my daughter. Before that, he says to the other daughter, Jennifer, or whatever her name is. Mandy, Mandy. Mandy. Like, you couldn't be farther away from Mandy than Jennifer.

He says to her, is this one of your friends from school? Yes. And I thought school. Yes. Where? Where? Well, I think they go to school On the mainland?

Oh, so they're on that boat every... So people are coming in an hour. The kids are driving the boat. They must. Oh, yeah. They must. But at one point, when Mandy and Gabrielle are heading towards the island, they seem to be in the backseat of a boat and no one is driving.

Like, they seem to just be, like, the ghost is driving that boat to the island. There's a lot of questions I have about how they're getting there. Oh, yes. Well, I have a lot of questions about also the economics of the camp because there are, we watch so many training montages. There are, you never see Carlos train anyone, by the way. He's not spotting. He's not good. He's not nothing.

And the person saying that, I don't know who that is. Who is that? Who is that? There's two trainers. Who is like an old gray-haired man with a mustache? To me, I was like, who the fuck is this guy? to make a circus movie and then insurance is like, well, you need to have a professional

on set. But in the world of the movie, those two people have to be paid. Yes. Right? So it's like, well, okay, all these kids need three meals a day. They need some sort of, they're living in tents, that's fine. But they have, we have two at least trainers. We've got to buy all those balls.

But by wait, they're not living. They're not June. We got to buy the paint to make them look like Earth. June, they're not living in tents. They're living in in full structures because when the evil girl comes to trick the boy. When Ashley goes to get Billy. When Ashley goes to get Billy, Billy, who by the way is the main love interest in Russian doll the first season. Oh, cool. Yeah.

By the way, I thought he might be a real trapeze artist. No. There's one shot at the very end where he hops off the, you know, they all do that very specific role off the net. And it seemed, it was very good. Well, you know who's not good is Carlos, who seemingly only hangs from a bar, swings back and forth, and then triumphantly jumps off. Like, he just basically is doing the basic swing technique of a child. Now, Paul, in your introduction, you said that one of the sisters was scared of water. Yeah, Paul, you said that.

You said that. That's something you said. Jason, I heard it. You said it. Yeah, I did. I didn't. Prove it. I did.

When did you find that out? Well, because when they're on the beach having their romantic wine and talking about falling in love. Oh, and they have like big glass glasses. Yes. He says, my wife hated the water and she goes, I know somebody like that. And then the first time that Lena gets on the boat, she's like, and then that plotline drops. Aggressively. But she could not, like, she was so freaked out on the boat.

She hates the. The water. And the other one loves the water. Another way to tell them apart. Cowboy hat, trucker hat. Okay. Did you wish that trucker hat, her profession,

her work with manatees, her work with dolphins. Did you wish that tied in at the end somehow, some way? We see so much nature footage of manatees. So much. And dolphins. I think there's only like,

like I'm going to say 35 to 45 minutes of actual like movie. Yeah. And the rest of it is montages and B-roll of Wild Life. I honestly, as I'm looking back on it, I'm rolling it back right now. I don't think Gabrielle, who I think is the

star of the movie? Question mark. I don't think she has more than five lines in this film. There's a moment in the movie where there is a full song training montage, a 30-second scene, and a full-song identical training montage afterwards that I was like,

what? I thought I was having a panic. attack. I was like, didn't I just watch all of this happen? Like, is this possibly happening again? Are you talking about the song Tabula Rasa? Guys? Tabula Rasa, a song that makes no sense. I'm talking about both tabula Rasa and, if I'm honest, also Island Fever. Okay, well. Which you might remember from its, I'm going to say,

eight times being played in the movie. I'm going to let you know. that island fever, no problem, boom chug-a-l-l-l-l-te, and down-by-the-bay, not only are... Boom-chug-a-late? Yep. Are written and performed by Audrey and Judy Landers. They wrote most of all of this. They also for boom-chug-a-lotte, they did team up with Vito and Alberto.

Manifresco Hang on I have a real question to ask And we'll cut this out of the episode If it turns out to be true Did the mafia make this movie Jason they did not I can give you some details

That are insane I mean I would love to see a movie About the Lander sisters Making this movie Like that I would love it Hard saying

I do love them Like here's a thing Like this movie As wild as it was, it has a very special place in my heart. No, it did before I knew about Judy and what's the other one's name, Jennifer. Yeah, do you mean, do you guys not remember these people? Oh, I do. Oh, yeah, I was going to say, yeah.

I love them. I feel like they are a part of my age TV and stuff like that. So I feel like they are young people would not know. I don't know them. I'm young. Okay, well, I never know them. Do you remember when they sang the song, No Problems Be Happy? That's what I want to hear for second opinions. No problem.

No problem, be happy. And you kind of wanted to sing it, you know. Be happy, but you couldn't. It almost feels like don't worry. Well, but it's so not, but it's so. No problems. Be happy. That's a definite Alberto Manifresco.

Original. I would love Paul to talk about the psychological makeup of Ashley. I couldn't. I really. I really would. Please. She is by far the most complex character in the entire movie.

And the fact that she's not in the family tree is a shame because she's, in my opinion, the most important person in the movie. So here's the things we know about her. And I think really, like, the only thing we know about her home life is that her parents are in Paris. Now...

And they're rich and he's a lawyer and he'll get her out of anything. She's giving me Paris from Gilmore Girls Energy. She also is being driven to a public... public school in a private chauffeur limo. And her first line is, I don't talk to the help. Yeah. I don't talk to the help.

So, she, but why does she have it out for Gabrielle so bad when no one at the school seems to care about Gabrielle? No, Gabrielle is no shining star. Yeah. She seems shy and like she's not seeking attention or anything. Like, yeah, why? But the other thing that surprised me, and this might just be, because. because of the small scope of the movie, but Ashley didn't have, like,

a group around her mean girls style. She didn't have, like, cronies who were, like, backing her up. She was alone, which was strange. So she had two girls at school, but by the time, they didn't seem to make it to circus camp. Apparently not. I don't know what happened there. They were lost at sea.

Okay. They were killed by a manatee in another scene. It's very funny because when the boat arrives carrying the people from circus, camp. Ashley, I'm assuming this was a choice that was made or was just part of the real experience, Ashley looks seasick. Very, genuinely seasick. These are the things we know about Ashley. Yes. Or she's an incredible actor, but she looked very seasick. Everybody else is having the time of their lives. It's like spring break. She's also during circus camp wearing pink high heel pumps.

Which I was like, what's happening with Ashley? I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, too, thought this movie was set in 1984, and made then, but for Ashley's wardrobe. And specifically that, like, juicy, coated sweatsuit. And it really brought me back because I was like, oh, okay, now we are in 2004. There were references where it's like, oh, I want a Starbucks and Hermione. There's things, but none of them felt right. Time stands still on this island. Truly.

And it felt like, wow, are they in the past seeing into the future? Like, I couldn't accept. that this is in real time. I didn't like them talking about Starbucks. I did not like them. I'm talking about Starbucks at all. They're on a deserted island. Is there a Starbucks here?

I'm dying for a latte. I was like, are you insane? And then her sister's like, I'll get you a margarita. They go to a bar where everyone is drinking. And she's like, I'll have a latte with almond milk. And the bar turns like, huh? And then... That scene in the bar, every single background actor is due to

level 20 stuff. Yes. Yes. Everybody's going bananas in the background. It's so good. But Ashley's, just to go back to Ashley's velour sweatsuit, the juicy sweatsuit, because those, that look

to me at that time in my life was everything. I was like, there's nothing better. This is the most, I've never looked better than I do in this. It was so, that look was so important to me. And now, I look at it and I'm like, and it's not just her body, it's any woman's body at that time. They were so low-waisted and then they were cropped.

And boy, does it make the proportions of a body look strange. And every woman looks like a lizard. Well, it hits. I did too. I did too. It hits, it makes lines where there shouldn't be. It's so strange. It's like you can't find the waist and then you think you're at the waist.

That's the hip. And then you're going around. No, they create a da-di-esque body. which works perfectly for this movie because it's full of clowns. And so they're also warping our perception. By the way, I was so upset that there was no real clown work. Zero. Well, there's a lot of clown paintings in the house.

Sometimes the same clown painting in different rooms. It seems like they had run out of enough. They had to make sure the house felt circusy. One of my favorite moments in the entire movie is in the scene where Ashley is seasick and all the kids are arriving for circus camp. They're all getting off the boat. And there's the last kid. They have to ADR a line of someone saying,

watch up for the seaweed. It's slippery or something like that. Because the kid walking wipes out so hard and then looks directly into lens. I got to say. I was like, you know they wanted to use that so they had to ADR the line. Watch up for the seaweed. It's slippery.

So I question this because our... Our, whee-na, Mariposa, also slips on the seaweed when she arrives. And her slip and fall, Prap Fall, is also amazing. Yeah. It's so well done.

Well, but then, can I also say that the final scene of the movie is a kid covered in, we don't see the slip and fall, we just see the seaweed on his body, and he is the one who sees the ghost at the end. I'll show you, he is covered in seaweed.

Oh, my God, I didn't know that. So the falling on the seaweed is a gag that this movie has adopted because also the dock is full of seaweed. So I do, I do, I don't know what that is. It seems like the dock would be seaweed free. Yeah. Because it doesn't feel like seaweed is coming on the top of the dock unless they built it very low. Now here's my question about the ghosts of the island. Oh, wow.

Ghosts. Ghosts. You're really, you're really going there. Okay. I am because I would think that what we are building toward in this motion picture is that Carlos would man up and realize at a pivotal moment that Gabrielle needs him. First of all, she shouldn't be up there. She doesn't, hasn't been trained correctly. There's no, there's no.

Are you saying that the circus camp isn't training their professional kids for the big end of summer show? He should have had a moment. Also, he's pressuring her in a way that I'm like, dude, you're not part of. her life. You have no... Who's coming to this show, by the way? That was a packed house. Also, not to jump back too soon, but before even that happens, where did that

country western band come from? On the beach. They seemed like they were campers. His microphone, not plugged in. They seemed like they were campers who were just singing. I don't know. I don't know. I couldn't figure that out at all. Where did the full country western band come from? Don't know. But my question

or I think there's a better movie in here in which in which Carlos has a come to Jesus Jesus on the beach come to Jesus as he's pulling away in the boat toward the mainland to Circus Mexicale and realize he's left this daughter he's just reunited

with and he's put her in a position where she can't succeed and he should come back and maybe maybe that's the ghost telling him that maybe that's his father who's also jumped on the boat and maybe he's sort of turning he's holding onto his hands on the wheel and he's turning him back that's interesting but can I say one thing though?

She could handle it. She was sabotaged. She only failed because the net was cut. That's fine Paul but the story is not she doesn't need it. That's fine but the story is not about like can she handle it or not It's like, are you a father or not? Here's the thing. Carlos learns nothing.

Carlos learns nothing. And he is the villain of every person's life in the movie. Full stop. His children should be taken away from him. He should be put in jail. Now, that's it. Now, I will say, I have more empathy and respect for Carlos's grandfather, the ghost, who decides. Now, is that Carlos' grandfather?

I believe it was his grandfather. I think it's Carlos' father. Was it his father? I thought it was grandfather. Oh, I apologize. So you guys said father before. I didn't want to correct you. I did check the text of the script and I really was getting into it.

The grandfather, because he had the old-timey mustache. That's how we know. He's got one of those whoop mustaches. And he's also wearing one of those. Here's the thing. If you really drill down into it, for how old Ed Marinera actually is, the father figure that they're calling grandfather would have had to have been the age of Ed Mariner's actual father in that era. Also because he's Ed Marinera at the age of, I'm going to say, conservatively, 57, is playing his grandfather from the past at, I'm going to say, 57?

Now, if we're just saying the grandfather is dead, right? Well, no, we are saying that. Right, okay. I think, we're saying it. He's not up for debate. But he's dead, but he hasn't fully passed over. He still's work to do. He's been dead for, let's just say, conservatively, at least 10 to 15 years, at least.

The grandfather? Yes. You want to say longer? Oh, I think the great. You're telling me. You tell me. Ed Marinera's grandfather has only been dead 10 years. I'm, I'm trying to.

Well, because what Paul's saying is just spicy actors age. He's assuming that Ed Marin, that. Carlos, not Ed Marinera. Yeah. Carlos is a 30-year-old math. Okay, well, that's badly insane.

What I'm trying to get to is this. Conservatively, tell me how many years the grandfather has been dead. 50. Great. If we can all agree on 50, so this grandfather waits 50 years

to fucking show up like a fucking Yoda and the end of the Star Wars movies where he's now the ghost. is fully sitting in a chair having full long conversations. He's fully corporeal.

So for 50 years, while his son has been here, while everything has happened, he's like, that won't use this trick yet. Do you think, and this is a real question, do you think the grandfather hasn't moved on because he's there to save Gabby's life in this moment? like that he his unfinished business is Gabby's fall in 2005?

He does say that some, you call me ghost, I say I'm an angel. Right? Because that's like, here we go. How could you be here if you're dead? Who knows? And that's the best writing you're going to get. But continue. Who knows?

Take the note, M-night. How does it work? Who knows? Don't look too deep at it. You're a ghost. Some call us ghosts. And some call us angels. I came because you needed me.

I wish Daddy was here. He will be. So now, here's my question. So he also can see the future. What's his name? Joseph. Joseph. Where's Joseph from?

Italy, baby. Oh, I almost got you. I almost got you. Wow, that was close. But real talk, where's Joseph from? Because this guy's got an accent. I can't believe that we have not even talked about the boy who's being abused. Billy is being abused by this man who looks like a, by the way, best performance in the movie.

Incredible stuff. Incredible. Incredible. Now, okay, so when we see Billy in his foster home, what a indictment of the foster care system. I did appreciate that. When we see... The lander's just really took it to task. When we see him in that home, he's in the shed.

And then when he goes to the main house, he knocks on the front door. And I wanted to say, Billy, you live there. Don't you? Are we to believe that he lives in the shed with the tools? He lives there. Is there? Wow. So many audience is very adamant that he does live there. I didn't get that.

I just thought he got like, you don't fucking enter the house. Unless you knock and say that I could be busy in here. Like, I feel like it's a sock on the door kind of house. Wait a sock. A sock on the door kind of house? I don't think you can put a sock on the door of a whole house. Well, I mean, that's fucking, that's a fucking. ball or move to be like

don't come into the whole house because I don't know where we are and it's fucked up I don't want you to see so don't even come into the whole ass house I believe that that guy is up to a lot of bad stuff and seeing a sock on the door

being like you know what why don't we take a walk why don't we find a diner oh my One of those socks in the doorhouses. That's, by the way, anybody who has been through the, you know, that program knows. What program?

Foster care. What? Now we're getting somewhere. Have you been putting socks on the door of our home? You know what? I got my business. They got their business. June, when you get home, check your shed.

Holy shit. There's so much back and forth. Lena and Gabby do so much back and forth between Florida and Patterson, New Jersey, for no reason. They go back and forth and back and forth. I'm like, just give us Circus Island. I mean, well, I don't think the audience can handle that much of Circus Island.

Holy shit. The use of... Can we talk about the use of slow motion? Sure. In another, I'm assuming bid to make the movie longer. They just inexhausted. Explicably at times do slow-mo on scenes that are do not warrant slow motion. It is like someone like bouncing off of the net.

It's just slow-mo of people barely in frame, falling out of frame. It's so weird. The thing that strikes me is weird. We've talked about a lot of weird things. What bothered me the most was Billy when they were sleeping in the living room. He's like, I can't sleep here. Bobo, come with me. Bobo's the bird, and him and Bobo leave.

So is he treating Bobo like a dog? Like him and Bobo sleep in the same room? Here's the thing, and I wrote this in my notes, the bird freaked me out. Me too. And Paul, I apologize, I know you were raised with birds. Yes. I don't like it when birds are in the house.

I don't think they should be in the sky, period. Yeah. Paul was raised with birds, but he didn't like them. No, no, no, I know. I'm just saying, I really, the bird's presence concerned me. Yes, very upsetting. And I felt like the bird was a better father than Billy's foster father. Yes.

And possibly Lena as a mother. I'm not sure. Let me break down a little bit about these. Can I just say one thing, Paul, before your stats? No stats. So, oh, okay. So Ashley, I just want to ask, when Ashley, um, you know, lies about being sexually assaulted and rape.

So that happens. Can we watch that scene for one second? No. Let me ask my question first, fall. So Billy rejects her. She immediately changes course and jumps in the water. Now, I'm not sure looking back, I'm like, was she being pulled up by the riptide? I don't know.

It felt like either she really was being affected by a riptide, perhaps. But more it felt like if you're not going to give me the. attention that I want this way. Here's another way to force you to give me your attention. But then there was the storm which confused it as well. So I couldn't quite tell. It was so difficult because I was working

with the reality that she actually was struggling in the water. That she did almost die. And that Billy saved her and she still did what she did. Which is really wild Ashley. Really troubled stuff. So this is her

splashing around. Let's get out of here. Oh yeah, and that these creeps are filming the whole thing. Filming the whole thing, but also... And don't do anything with the footage? And leave her for dead. Yes. But also why...

Let's get out of here so we don't get grounded? Why don't they admit it? They're afraid, like, they're letting Billy get kicked out of camp. He's being kicked off Circus Island. They're letting it happen. I would believe that if... Well, here's... Honestly, the story I told myself, because the movie didn't give this to me,

but it was also there somehow some way. My story was that Carlos... This is a man at the top of his game. V-a-vis trapeze. This is a man that is Olympic-level athlete? Carlos. Elite trapeze artist. My story was that he has such an anger issue.

and such a rage problem that to tell this dad that they went outside at night and got out of that tent. By the way, why were they sleeping in the tent when their bedrooms are inside? Yeah. Anyway. And the campers had their own huts. They were really terrified of him. Yes. Right.

I think so. Well, he also like, he abandons everybody all the time. He abandons Gabby when she's a baby. He abandons them on the, they're like, oh, tomorrow is going to be the big show. Your friends and family are coming. All this stuff's happening. He's like, but I won't be here. I'm gone.

I can't make it. I'm out. I wish I could, but I won't be. I have to go achieve my dream, which is not you. Family or not you, other family. It is neither of these families of the sisters I fought.

I just want to drill down into that like Carlos did. He's fucking these sisters. And he's like, but I still got to go do the circus in Mexico. By the way, he says that whole thing. You have the same eyes as my sister. and face and nose and body.

These are twins that look identical, and he's like, wow, you, the eyes. It's everything, buddy. Now, I'm just going to give you a quick rundown because I'm sure this will come up as we go out into the crowd. Three generations of Landers women and boys collaborated on this made-for-TV movie. Ruth Landers, okay, she escaped Germany in 1938,

and Audrey, she was born in 1956. She plays Lena, that one with the straight hair. She married Donald Berkowitz, an executive. of some sort of packaging company, they had twins Adam and Daniel who appear in this movie. Daniel plays Tucker, the kid with the Rat Tail, and he continues to act. Was Rat Tail

the one that the sort of circus MC? Not video camera. Yeah, ringmaster, what are they called? Yes, yes. Yes. I thought he did a great job in that role. Oh yeah. And I could see even up here that he's got something.

Well, Adam, Adam who plays Tyler, the camera kid, took his father's last name and is not involved in entertainment. Now, Judy, born two years after Audrey, she plays Jenny, the one with the Curlier. She's married to a Dodger. They have daughters, Lindsay, who plays Gabrielle, and Christy, who plays Mandy. Oh, wow. Okay.

Yeah, I figured. Now, they are also on my Super Sweet 16. Yes, Christy's birthday was on my Super Sweet 16, where, and this is where it all comes together, she had it at the Ringling Museum because the Sweet 16, that MTV show of My Sweet 16. Now she had at the Ringling Museum because, and this will tie the whole thing together, the family is from Sarasota where Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus do their winter training. Hence the circus tent, and that is probably with the genesis of the idea, and we all go backwards from that.

Wow. By the way, here's the thing. I think that the idea of a circus training movie, that's really interesting. I'd love to see that. Right? Why does that start at minute 50? Don't know. But also, why on an island? Yes. But but, even still, I'm like, okay. I'm willing to be like, weird island, haunted, circus. Okay. But why is everybody so old? Yes. And why is there an attempted murder?

Here's the thing. Everybody in this movie is somehow both too old and too young. They're too old to be vibrant, thriving athletes, and the kids are too young to be, like, sexualized in the way they're being sexualized. If you don't mind me saying...

It's Sarasota, so rules are different there. But that's it. You're right. It's Florida, baby. This movie's playing by Florida rules. It's true. Ed Marinera is like hot to go. Like he's like, you know, so I can see how in the retirement community, in the 55 and over community, he is an elite athlete. I also see how.

When he's like, because they say she begs him. His wife begs him. She says, the camp is doing great. We're no longer in debt. You don't need to go to circus Mexico, you know? And he's like, this is my dream. This is my time. He says the phrase, I hold the world in my hands.

vis-à-vis how big he's going to become after performing trappies. I really wanted to know, though, how much do you get paid? Like, this is a professional road to nowhere for him. And by the way, he also talks about learning a special maneuver, like a special triple flip, which we never see executed. No, he. Nor does he ever train for. What a great, like, little bit of a thing you could put in the movie to be like, to watch him getting better and better and succeeding, you know he's going to do it.

Would it be more fulfilling to be like, oh, he actually learned how to do this thing? The movie would be better if he died. I mentioned earlier. Everybody would be better off if he died, period. I bet he has a life insurance policy. Honestly, it would be so wonderful for these sisters to raise a family together on an island. Like, that's like a dream for true. the ghost take the corporeal shape of the guy and then have the...

So you think the sister should fuck the ghost? I smell a sequel. All right, let's go to the crowd. We've talked, and there's a lot more on the bone here. Hi, what's your name? What's your question? Hi. My name's Nathan.

So assuming this camp is for profit, given that Billy... 100%. I don't think they got, like, the 401C application done and time. Are you doing forensic accounting on circus island? No, no, no, no. Like, but how did Billy make it there and is the camp funded from foster care money? Well, I think, I think. Oh, that's a great question, actually.

You're right. Billy should get kicked out. I think that the public school provides them field trips. Like, you don't have to, you don't have to pay extra to go. I also think Lena is trying to take care of Billy. So I think she kind of insured that he got there so that I guess he could drill her daughter. What's your name? What's your question?

Hi, Jesse, I just have a quick theory. I actually got the vibe that they made this movie because Mandy, the younger daughter, she was the only one they actually showed, do all the tricks that she said she could do. I think that she was actually part of the ringling or whatever, and they decided they were going to make the movie for her. I wondered about that, too. That makes sense. The tough thing about Mandy's actual skill level is she had one trick.

And she did it over. We saw that one. 15 times She did the flip at the picnic bench She did the flip at the picnic bench I'm sorry sir Do you rep Mandy We get it

You love Mandy What she should get more work Here's my question though We know that Mandy's been training For circus since she was five Why didn't Carlos Train his sons? Yeah

Well I will say rat tail Rat Tail is training Like he's doing in the montages Rat tails very present. But the other kid just does video. Just, yeah, he's just recording it. He's just peeping and creeping. But why hadn't they been starting their training process earlier?

Because, by the way, they didn't know that they were going to get video evidence of a fake sexual assault. Yeah. They were just straight up getting... Keeping and creeping. Well, I mean, I guess they saw that it was a little bit of manipulation, but they're just taping. I mean, they got stuff on there. They definitely have Ed Marinerer fucking their mom. Release the tape.

Release the tape. Release the tape. the tapes. Please, release the tapes. Wait a second. Is this Epstein's Island? Is this? This is, yes, circus island is Little St. James. You're right.

Ed Marenera hung himself? I don't believe it. All right, yes, your question. Hi, what's your name? Linnea. Hi, Linnea. So, Jesus is actually credited in the IMDB credits. And apparently, it is, it just says Jesus and then self.

as who he is. And apparently there is a special thanks in the credits of the film to Jesus. So someone from the production specifically made a Jesus IMDB account to be able to credit Jesus. I will say, and now look, you say like he wasn't there.

I do think that those were his footprints going back to my beach theory. Right? That's what he does. He's known for the footprints on the beach thing. You get Jesus. I tried to get him a couple times. He's hard to get because you got to fly him from Florida. He won't. He was in.

a dictator with me. Yeah, he'll do he'll do local hire stuff, but he won't travel. All right, hi, what's your name, what's your question? My name is Jason, and this is a question. Cool, this guy gets it. And I think you're going to like this question. It's been a while since we've had one. In the climax, when Ashley is

like behind the pole and being like, no, you know, she's concerned about the net, there is a shot of her. She's wearing a wedding ring. Which adds an entire dynamic to her character that has not developed at all. So I think Ashley's married. Yes.

I saw that as well and I was like what the fuck is this but what I thought was because she's in that scene she's stealing from the house she snuck into the house and it's stealing money

and stealing stuff so I was like oh did she steal that ring and put it on and maybe they cut the scene in which they show her put it I was like is because I also was like is Ashley married because I was like

heartbroken because that's my girl I did I did do a little research on Ashley and where she is now, and she's a life coach now. And I just want to be clear, Paul, you mean the character. Yes.

Hi, what's your name? What's your question? Hi, my name is Van Duncan, and my question is about Jamaica Joe. We haven't been talking about the most interesting character, Jamaica Joe, with his fake dreads. We're obviously not in Jamaica. Is this his only job is transporting children to and from this little St. James? Because where is he getting this paid for this? And also, he enjoys it too much? Like, what is that?

By the way, it does feel like that was an actor choice. Oh, I have this, like, it's like, well, you've got like a hat with dreads in it. Like, yeah. And he's like, I'll wear that. And no one can tell me no. Paul, I disagree with you. I feel like the Lander sister showed up and said, you're wearing this. Your character's name is now Jamaica Joe.

I did wonder about Jamaica Joe, though, because also, because the trip from the mainland seems to be five minutes. Yeah, yeah. So for me, I'm like, you're giving every. everything you have Jamaica Joe in the hopes of, I think, a tip, but this has been such a short trip that, like, you're not getting much. Jamaica Joe is like an Uber boat driver. Sorry, Guy. I think Jamaica Joe is like an Uber boat driver, right?

I mean, that's where he's supposed to be, like, right? He's like, water taxi. But he's also, I think, responsible for the party vibe. Like, when they show up, like, it's spring break, I believe it's not because they're excited for circus camp. That's because it's Jamaica Joe. Okay, so then. That brings me back to my first question early on, which is like, we know it's Florida.

But this movie, I don't think posits it's Florida. I think this movie goes, it's Jamaica or it's an island. It's an island. I think you might be right. It's an island somewhere. I mean, the other crazy thing you have to remember about Jamaica Joe is that he's such a good time that when Lena, who has a fear of the water, according to you, Paul. She does. Well, Mike, I'm right about that, right?

She gets off the boat. She's singing. Yeah. That's true. That's the power of Jamaica Joe. Yes. What's your name of your question? Christina.

And on that, when she's out in the storm hits, like, oh, land is two hours away. I guess I have to go to that island. And then the island becomes a five-minute shuttle every time anyone else wants to go. True. How many boats are coming to fill that circus tent? Because it looked like hundreds of people.

What's she? To see a student show. What's she doing with the dolphins? Oh. Real question. Yeah. What is she doing? She's not.

Other than naming them. She gives them names. I think she's researching them. How? Well, that's where they shut down. How into what effect? They're like, you didn't do much. I mean, I just named them lady.

Yes. That's what I, like, when she got fired, I was like, that's fair. At one point, they go, you haven't met our other sister. She's a dolphin. Yeah. To which point I'm like, oh, that will come in later. No. No.

I mean, wouldn't it have been cool if the dolphin had saved it? That's what I was hoping for. Or killed her. But no. Or killed her. Oh, if the dolphin killed Ashley, fuck, that would have been cool as hell. Yeah, your name and your question.

My name is Susan. I just want to know how long is this camp? How much money are they making at the camp? And how good are they getting within the time frame these circus acts? I don't understand how quickly this is happening. It makes no sense. Well, I will say... While watching...

She says all our bills are paid. How are there? She says all our bills are paid. If you don't mind, what I love about this question is you ask the question about the financials of the camp and someone over here went, yes. Like, my question is being answered. Show me the spreadsheet. Well, listen, I think what they're hoping for is that even if they're not, this could be sort of like a beta test of it all. And I think they're hoping because, you know, Lena has that whole conversation about teach someone, give someone a fish,

feed themselves for a debt to use someone how to fish feed themselves for a lifetime. So I think what they're hoping is this is sustainable but it does seem pretty seasonal as a camp. Well yeah because they said you don't have to go back to your school. It's like, yeah, you do.

Because where are you going to get the influx of children for the camp? Unless they are going to do. Well, I mean, if they really scale it up, they can be getting kids from more than just the Patterson, New Jersey High School. How about that? The Patterson pipeline seems to have to run.

They're going to do circus camp, not fucking Ashley, who's here to do murder. What are we talking about? And by the way, they really could open up and franchise this because it doesn't need to be on an island. By the way, is this? It's worse. An insurance would never let this exist. Do you think that this is the beginning? Is this the beginning of the Ringling Brothers Circus?

This is an origin story of it? In 2005? Well, there was no elephants. They really got rid of that. There were no animals. Yes. Your name and your question. My name is Victoria.

And my question is, why was Carlos so anti-telephone, yet he had, like, high-speed internet? Loved it. Oh, yeah. He didn't have a telephone. Who knows why? And how did the kids... I honestly think something like there were collectors calling him or something.

Someone was coming after him. Why have a telephone? Then someone can call and offer you a job. Our friend from Australia, where are you? Where is our friend? Do you have a question? I want to give you you traveled so far. You don't have to have a question, but I wanted to give you a chance. Okay.

Just to June's point about sailor circus, is it possible that the circus is like a shipwreck? Because they have nets and they have a crow's nest and they have ropes. Maybe this movie's trying to tell us something about the origins of circus. So circus

was started by sailors. Wow. Who crashed on the shore and had to entertain themselves. Boy, are you envisioning a version of this movie that is so much more interesting than the movie? Wow. Itself is interrogating.

Yeah, that would be awesome. That would be awesome. You're right. So many of the elemental circus components can be found on a tall ship. Like it's as if master and commander shipwrecked and they became, if the surprise went down and they were like, I guess we'll tumble.

So much bad tumbling in this movie. So much bad tumbling. So much bad tumbling. So many unsure-footed landings of flips. The problem with the montage, aside from it being the whole movie, yeah, was that when we get to the last one, like, well, even the show, like our team's ready, we did it. We watched all this. We watched some work. We watched some persevere.

Watch some fall, fall, fall. But we never see them excel. We just never see it. never see them, we also never see them get better. We're not charting growth. I just realized something. When she cut the net like that Ashley, wouldn't people have died? I'm so glad you brought this up, Paul. Before? Well, they show that. They show that

but this is another crazy fucking thing about the way Ashley's mind works. Is it seems the Ashley mind virus. It seems that she cut it in a way where she knew when Gabby was going to come up. She knew other people were going to fall, and that the force of them was going to open it a little bit,

a little bit further than the next person. And then she knew when Gabby, big old volleyball playing Gabby, six-footer, that she was going to bust that thing open. Yeah. Right. So she really was duplicitous. Well, I mean, she's a genius.

She's an evil. She is an evil genius. Yeah. I'm just going to read some notes that I made in order. Okay. Ashley is wearing pink pumps at circus camp Ashley is an absolute psycho and I love it I would rather be watching the movie that is about Ashley slowly killing everybody

who won't engage in her drama Ashley is relentless I respect her game she gets caught every single time but still persists in being awful Ashley is unreal she's a fucking boss Ashley is an alpha I wish this was Ashley's movie Holy shit. Ashley's doing straight up sabotage. I guess Ashley is this movie's villain?

Question mark? Now Ashley does have one moment of regret and humanity. Oh my God. She tries. She tries to stop. Every time she's hanging on the pole and being like a loser or whatever. Whatever she's saying, it's so funny. This character is so good.

And I'm only angry. that there's like 40 minutes of the movie she's not present for her. Now obviously we have opinions about this movie that people out there are the different opinion is now time for second opinions. Hi, my name is Harley. This is going to be bad, so sorry.

No, it's going to be great. Here we go. Here's a little song I wrote in the last 30 minutes of the show. No problem. Be happy. It's about an island off the coast of Sarasota, Florida and ghosts.

It's circus. Island. It was over-stimulating to me, but I guess it made some other folks happy. It's second opinions. Yes. Amazing. Amazing.

Just know, everybody who is singing a second opinion song tonight just came up with it right now. All right, so here we go. It's now time for second opinions. All right. Hi, I'm Kevin, and I just want to preface this by saying, that scene before the show where they had a bunch of yellow balloons.

This is what inspired this song. Great. Circuses just need yellow balloons, yellow balloons, yellow balloons. Someone only bought yellow balloons, yellow balloons, yellow balloons. Please don't talk about all the yellow balloons, yellow balloons, yellow balloons. Yellow balloons, yellow balloons. I'll stop singing about the yellow balloons. Yellow balloons, yellow balloons, yellow balloons.

Amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Now, for all of you who have not been in attendance tonight, I said to you, everybody, said, who has a second opinion song? No one had it. So these two people came up and they delivered amazing second opinion songs. But guess what?

We didn't need him because there are no second opinions. Yes. There are no second opinions for the first time ever in 400 episodes. There is not a single review on Amazon. No five-star reviews, no one-star reviews, okay? There are no reviews. So my job. The job here tonight is go home and write some reviews for service.

Lucas Island cannot have this continue. I can't believe that, but 400 episodes. I am surprised there's not more Amazon reviews because I do think this movie... There are none. Right, none. More than zero.

Why are you so mad at us? I just think in 400 episodes, there's been zero. We love you. Here's the thing. I do think that this movie has an opportunity to be a real class. I'm serious. There's things about this movie that are so great.

I can't recommend the movie more highly. I feel the same. It was a joy in every way. It's confusing in the most wonderful ways, but yet it all makes sense. I want these people to never retire. And there are things, there are literally pages and pages of notes because I wrote down at certain points, the boy who just says,

belly flop and jumps in an inch and a half of water. They bring an estranged girl to this island and she's like, give me a minute. And they go, okay, see you later. They immediately leave her just alone in the house. There's no, there's nothing. And that joke about swimming, swinging, which doesn't even seem to make sense, but yet they just commit to it. and yeah, I just love it.

I love this movie. And I'm also like, you know, again, not to repeat myself from earlier in the show, but like the idea that we've never known about this, nor have known about the entire Landers' Sisters Uvra, that it sounds like we have many more movies to cover. Yeah, I do, I think I need to write a movie about the Landers' Sisters. Oh, by the way. I do feel very inspired by them.

I love this. Yeah. It's set in Florida? Absolutely. A movie about the making of Circus Island? Please let me play Ed Marinera. You got it. I've got the gray chest hair.

I'll get the rat tail. Let's get this. Jason Manzukas, as Ed Marinera, as Carlos Carrera in Circus. We will make our Jesus shirt. We'll make a Circus Island crew shirt so you can get the word out. Jason, June, any final thoughts? I mean, fucking hell. This was really, honestly, and I didn't know it was our 400th episode.

And sorry to interrupt you about that. That's okay. But honestly, it feels so right that it was because it feels like we're going to make 400 more. Oh. You know, it just feels like. I agree. It's honestly like a real reset. Cut to.

Show is over announcement. No, I agree. This was exceptional. I was cackling with laughter today watching it. This was an absolute treat in every single way. In a way that I was like, this is why I'm still watching nonsense in the middle of the day, out of my mind, racing here to talk about it. I loved every minute of it.

And here's the thing. This is just one of two exceptional island. base piece of media that I'm consuming. I'd also love to shout out Widows Bay right here. Amazing. Friend of the podcast, Katie Dippled. Incredible show.

Apple TV. Unreal. Another show about a haunted island. Which is better. You tell me. That's right. Widows Bay or Circus Island, are they the same? Oh, God, that's right. And why aren't the Lander Sisters on?

Widows Bay. And they can be. Yes. And that's the Let's get A-Landers on Widows Bay. Thank you for being here tonight with us. I know this is a freewheeling show. You have all been an amazing crowd.

Not all of them. Handful of you. There's a couple of duds. Thank you, everybody. Thank you for coming out. 400 episodes. You have been amazing. Thank you to everybody. Up in our booth. Thank you to Largo. We love being here. We'll let you know what we do.

We do and show, bye-bye. Eat shit, LA. Ah, I hope you all enjoyed that magical voyage to Circus Island. And for those of you going to summer camp there this year, I hope that you are learning so many special skills. Thank you, as always, to our pals at Largo. I'm talking about Flanny, Griffey, and Skills in the booth. And yes, we did make the shirt.

Jesus motorboated me on Circus Island. It is now available at how did this get made. Dot dash.com. That's right. A brand new t-shirt. sticker, iPhone case place to get your merch from the show. I mean, it still is T-Public, but now it's just how did this get made? Dot dashree.com.

You can also just go to HDTGM.com to just have a cleaner path there. I want you to know that the show's not over. No, we give you now a chance to add your thoughts. And you can do that by going to speakpipe.com slash HDTGM. What's great about this is so many people are leaving us more messages because you don't have to call it. You can use your phone or your computer and just record a message. We've been loving these messages. But if you want to stay, you know, back in the old school and just type in your message,

you can always do that on our Discord at Discord.g. And then we will judge a handful of those worthy enough to play on last looks and make you all compete for the best correct. and omission. Let me tell you, next week, you're going to want to be listening to Last Looks because we are sitting down with Abbott Elementary Showrunner, Justin Halpern. He will be talking about his brand new book, but Justin is one of the funniest guys. The creator of shit my dad says, the original Twitter account, he's just simply the best. We had a great time chatting with him. And just so you know, we will be back at Largo on July 31st and August 1st. Jason, June and myself, we will all be there.

Movies will be announced soon. And if you can't wait, then why don't you go see June and I, now I'm only in it for just a couple seconds, in the brand new RuPaul movie, Stop That Train, which is very, very funny. Go check out, support some independent cinema. It's so, so good. And June will be in the Legally Blonde prequel series L on Prime Video, premiering on July 1st. Oh, it's so good. You are going to love it.

Make sure you are following us on our Instagram because we have video clips coming up from this very episode. And in our last looks next week, we will also have a deleted scene that we didn't even play in this episode. How about that? And like I always say to you every week, make sure you are subscribed to our feed and have automatic downloads turned on in the show's settings. It helps us, especially when contract negotiations are coming up. and we also just simply appreciate it a lot. A big shout out to our behind-the-scenes team. I'm talking about our producer, Scott Sani and Molly Reynolds,

our engineer Casey Holford, and our social media manager, Zoe Applebaum. And, of course, our man in the booth with the camera, that's right, I'm talking about Wes, taping that footage for you. We will also forever be thankful to the one and only Averallie. That's all I got, people. I want to know more about these sisters.

so please come correct next week and give me some details. All right, we'll see you next week. Bye for now.