Newcomers: Sports, with Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus - Field of Dreams (w/ Paul F. Tompkins)

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

Lauren and Nicole take a trip to the Field of Dreams with very special guest Paul F. Tompkins (Threedom)! Together, the group gets into what hypothetical players they’d like to recruit for their own ghost team, the oddity of hearing voices telling you to build a baseball field, and take a slight detour to discuss a completely different film, The Whale. Follow Paul: Twitter, InstagramGet tickets for the upcoming Newcomers: Sports Fan Choice Finale Livestream with special guests Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel on 9/5 at 4PM PT here!Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5 stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave a review for Nicole and Lauren to read on the pod!Follow the podcast on Letterboxd.Advertise on Newcomers via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a headgum original. I have just created something totally illogical. That's what I like about. If you build it, he will come. If you build it, he will come. If you build it. He will come. If you build what, who will come?

Didn't say. I hate it when that happens. Me too. Who's her in voices? Ray is. I think I know what if you build it, He Will Come means. Why do I not think this is such a good thing? Daddy, there's a man up there on your lawn.

Are you a ghost? What do you think? You look real to me. Jack! Hey! Hi! You couldn't see it. This is really interesting.

You believed in the magic. It happened. Isn't that enough? Annie, it's more than that. I feel it as strongly as I've ever felt anything in my life. There's a reason. Go the distance. Did you hear the voice, too? Did you hear it? Go the distance. Yes.

A grave is dead. He died. his bed. He died in 1972. Are you Moonlight Graham? No one's called me Won't Light Graham in 50 years. Unbelievable. It's more than that. It's perfect. You build a baseball field in the middle of nowhere, and you sit here and you stare at nothing. This field, this game, it's a part of our past, Ray.

It reminds us of all that once was good. Hey, is this heaven? No. It's Iowa. Kevin Costner. Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Leota, Burt Lancaster. Sometimes, when you believe the impossible, the incredible comes true. Field of Dreams

Welcome to Newcomers playing for the home team. It's me, Nicole Beyer. And me, Lauren Lapkiss, and of course we have Coach Anya back with us to watch along from the sidelines. This season, we're covering 10 of the greatest sports movies that we have been told absolutely hit it out of the park. today we'll be talking about our second baseball movie of the season 1989's Field of Dreams which is not streaming free anywhere but you can rent it what peacock if you have peacock if you are one of the paid tell me why I paid I have peacock okay well I'm not happy right now

but that means I can watch it again later for free if you are lucky enough to live near video store like our producer Anya is, you can rent it there. Anya, of course, went back to Vidyitz to grab the 40th anniversary edition for two bucks. Thanks, Vidyis. Oh, that's nice. And we have spoilers. We're going to spoil this. So if you don't want this movie spoiled, you should watch it. And if you do want it spoiled, let's go for a ride. Playing for the visiting team today, please welcome Paula F. Tompkins. Paul of Tompkins is a comedian, actor, and writer that you might know from his work on Bojack Horseman, Mr. Show, or from his many, many podcasts, including Freedom with Yours Truly, and of course his many, many appearances on this

very show. Welcome back, Paul. We're so excited. Hi. I love you ladies. Good to see you again. It's so good to see you to talk about this film because I know you're a baseball head. I am a baseball head. You're wearing a baseball hat. It's true. Philadelphia Flyers? Phillies, but very close. fill off your flyers the hockey team okay okay okay whatever you say fine sure i don't care sure i'll agree with you if that makes you feel good then that's what it is okay um did you play baseball

growing up i played baseball on the um well we played like wiffle ball in the backyard and then i played on my baseball my school's baseball team in eighth grade um i'm proud to say that although i did not get a hit. And I don't remember if I ever even swung at a pitch. But I played right field and I had a perfect fielding record. I caught the one ball that was ever hit to me. Hey, that's pretty good. Golden glove, baby. And you go see the Dodgers all the time. Yes, although you know what? I have not been to a baseball game this year. I was going to say, I noticed that you haven't been recently because you usually post on Instagram when you go. I know. It's just been a busy time. You just don't have time because you're on tour with comedy bang bang.

It's so true. Touring around the world. The world. You're going to be in the UK soon, right? That's very correct. And also with my variety show, Varyatopia. Yes, which is the best show. I love that show.

It's such a fun show. I am like the biggest stand for your show. And I say everybody needs to go see it. You two have both done it. Yes. We had a wonderful time. Everybody loved you. My favorite part was you did stand up about,

I think dead parents and the audience was not on board and I was cackling because I have a dead parent. I have two dead parents. So I was like, this is in my wheelhouse. It's fun to talk about. So funny. Paul, what's your relationship to the movie Field of Dreams? You know, I saw it, I think, when it came out and I think I mostly liked it. The one thing I remembered as sticking out like a sore thumb was the PTA meeting where they're talking about banning books. It just felt really shoved in there. And I, you know, I didn't quite understand it. And watching it again now, I was very surprised at the timing of the movie.

The internal timing of the movie. I didn't remember it as being so kind of jarring how quickly it moves with big, big ideas. Oh, I mean, first two, second. we're getting if you build it, he will come. I'm like, yeah, that's the one thing I knew about this movie and I thought it was going to be about 30 to 40 minutes in. So fast, yeah. Here we go. He's hearing it within the first minute. I'm like, what? Okay. And as I was watching it, I was, I was kind of remembering, oh, this was adapted from a book, right? Because it had that feel of they, they want to get everything from the book that people loved in there, but the structure of it just

was very strange to me. But at the same time, there's a, there's a really, I, you know, I don't want to skip to the end so much of summation of the movie. There's a good story in here, but the structure of it is just so weird.

But there's, there's, the elements of it are really fun and interesting and emotional, but the way that it just kind of huge things get accepted. it so quickly it's wild it's wild i actually felt that it for sure feels like a book but i thought it feels like a play i was like i tried to google if it was a play and then if you type in field of dreams play it's like the play ball the field of dreams it's like you can't and then i was like field of dreams theater i couldn't find anything that said it was a play but it did feel like a play to me yeah i could see with them these guys you know like the sort of like immediate magical

realism of it and like falling into that world I had no idea this movie was like that. I just was like, what is going on? I was so blown away. I want to get into all of it in deep detail, but first I want to do the shot clock where each of us take 10 seconds on the clock to summarize the film.

So Anya's going to count us down on her phone, and then we're each going to take 10 seconds. So who wants to go first? I'll go first. Oh, okay. Oh, no. No, no. It's your show.

Paul. It's you. We want Paul to go first. Paul, I want you to go first. All right. Okay, here we go. Ten seconds coming up. Go.

The guy with daddy issues, hears voices. He wrecks his farm to build a baseball field. He has to chase a bunch of people down because the voice tells him to it. It all works out great. Yeah. It all works how great. Okay. Nicole.

Okay. Go. Okay. Instead of going to therapy about his dead dad, he brings a bunch of dead ghosts back, builds a field in his cornfield and almost loses his farm. But his wife's like, I believe in you. Then he plays ball with his daddy. Oh.

I liked the ending. Okay. All right. And you are good. A guy lives at a farm, but he's not a farmer. He makes a baseball field and all the ghosts come to play their game. And the little girl gets pushed off of bleachers and nobody cares. Everything's fine.

He plays with his dad. The little girl fell off the bleachers. She fell so hard and her lips were blue. I know. I was like. Her lips were blue. I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And then they, then a hot dog comes out of her throat.

Listen, we have to take a break or no, we have to take a time out. And we'll be back with another inning of field of dreams after a word from our sponsor. Everyone say, ready, break. Ready break. So we're back. The Field of Dreams was released May 5th, 1989. It was written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson based on the book Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella.

So he named his character after himself. Unless is W.P. A man? I don't want to assume. It is. Yes. Okay. Thank you. So let's jump in and anybody want to say anything they want. Anybody can say anything they want anytime you want.

Okay. Anytime. Wow. This is an equal. opportunity interruption podcast. Thank you for the freedom. Yeah. So Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, who is a handsome young man. You know, I haven't, I don't feel I've seen enough of him at this age. He's hot. Though I will say he, this is so 90s. I mean, he's guess he's 89, but this is so like he is that. He and his wife, Annie, played by Amy Madigan and their daughter, Karen, the wonderful

Gabby Hoffman, who I'm such a fan of, live on a corn farm in a small town in Iowa, troubled by his broken relationship with his late father, John, a devoted baseball fan, Ray fears growing old without ever having done anything to achieve his dreams. One evening while walking through his cornfield, he hears a mysterious voice whispering, if you build it, he will come. He sees a vision of a baseball diamond in the cornfield and shoeless Joe Jackson, a real player for the Chicago White Sox who died in 1951, played by Ray Leota. Believing in him, and he lets him plow part of their corn crop to build a baseball field, even though their farm is struggling financially. Yeah. This premise, wild. This child named Karen threw me for a loop. I know, but there have to be young Karen's at a certain point. I guess so, but I was like, we're really going to call this child Karen. Karen is a woman's name. But yeah, I loved the opening sequence where he's narrating over. It actually made me feel really good inside. It was kind of like Wonder Years-esque, like home videos mixed with found footage. And then they kind of pieced together some of Kevin Costner's real.

pictures, I think, which is, I always think is, you know, that was done well on this one. Sometimes that can be really weird. It looked really real and good. And it was just very nostalgic feeling. And when, and the, the season that they're in, in the countryside, it feels so like comforting to me. Did you feel of that? Yeah.

I felt comforted. So, okay, overall, I don't know if I like this movie, but I also didn't dislike it. Yeah. It was, so his wife, Annie, nice lady. but wow devoted to this man she's a little kooky though yes he goes I want to decimate some of our

field where we make money and we're not really making money can I do that and she's like yeah I love you of course yeah go do it she takes so little convincing he basically says it twice and on the second time she's like all right like he says

he says I heard a voice that told me to do this she's like I don't know about that and then he goes I think I really got do it she's like if you got to do it go ahead but it was like he's like do you hear that voice and she's like nope and then he's like okay you must have heard that one she's like nope time for dinner I'm like if you hear if you're yelling to me from a cornfield and you hear someone talking to you I'm scared I think there's someone in there I mean I'm there's gonna be a lot of feelings also if you build it he it starts with if you build it he will come yes that was like so um so

it's it immediately means baseball field to you like it was like kind of like a lot of leaps were happening. A lot of leaps. But I was on board and I was enjoying the story. So I will say, you know, some people get a little upset when we don't like things. I just have to say there are times be like things. Yeah. People get upset when you don't like me.

Look, people get upset when you don't like movies that they don't like. But it's everyone's prerogative to not like a movie. And if you have a personal relationship with a movie, you have to understand that, especially if you're coming to a movie way, if somebody's coming to a movie way after you have seen it, they're entitled to look at it with the fresh eyes of modern times and say movies, this is a very old-fashioned kind of movie making that doesn't hold up anymore, you know,

for somebody who's just seeing it for the first time. Movies are not in and of themselves hermetically sealed and good for all time just because they were good once. There's a lot of shit that doesn't hold up and everybody has a movie that is regarded as a classic that they see, you know,

when they're an adult and it's not good to them. That's just the way that it is. It's art. That's the way it is. Thank you so much. And that's just play at the top of every episode. But that being said,

I was enjoying this. I was like, it's a little like slow but in a sleepy way it honestly felt kind of like a mild sedative this movie kind of like i'm a little bit yeah like i'm a little like stoned feeling and like it's sleepy it's magical it's weird it's time travel i think that this movie really portrayed very well and made you feel summer in the midwest yes in a way that something i've never experienced like i didn't grow up there but you really you really felt the summertime of it

when you saw the especially like the field at dusk at night like you really it made me feel like how I felt when I was a kid playing games at night with my cousins you know in the summertime yeah it did such a great job of evoking that vibe

and I think that goes a long way it's really it is much more of a vibe movie than it is a storytelling movie yes I agree with you story is wild, truly wild. And it's funny that his wife is never like, do you want to see a doctor? No. She's so on board. Do you need something? But then she starts seeing things and hearing things and she's not freaking out. Yeah. I would be freaking out if my, because it's her brother, right, who comes to the farm and is like, what are you guys talking about? What baseball men? And they're like,

you can't see it? That's crazy. I know. It's so fine to everyone that like, like, I can see a bunch of people behind you that you can't see. No one cares. Okay. It's so wild. So, okay, Ray builds the field. He tells his daughter, Karen, about the 1919 black socks scandal where eight members of the white socks were accused of throwing the World Series game for a mob payout, which is really

badass. I know. It's crazy. I think that's so funny to be like, all right, let's take the money and not win. He tells her that many people think shoeless Joe is innocent and that he was. he had always played to win. Several months passed until just as Ray is beginning to doubt himself, shoeless Joe

reappears on the diamond and returns he also goes, can I come back tomorrow? It was just really funny. He felt like a little kid who was like, I really want to play again. I really like this thing that we did. Can I bring my friends? And Ray Leota is so moving.

I love him so much. He says so little. He moves me. Yes. Yes. He's so, I love. I love. love Ray Leota. He's so, he just really brings a weight to everything he does. And it's so, like, his eyes tell us such a story. And he's so, like, he obviously so handsome, but it's like he, he, he just carries, like, so much with him. I just feel like, he, that could be so stupid seeming. And it didn't feel stupid. It felt like really, like, magical and cool and, like, interesting. Ray Leota in this is like the definition of magnetism. Like, you can't, you can't not look at

him and you can't you can't not feel his presence every time he's on screen yeah yep and i feel like i really miss the ray leota train because i've only seen him in this and good fellas i know and i'm like oh no he's so good i should have enjoyed him more wasn't he in um korena korena yes he was oh my god i love that's with wubby goldberg you have to see that oh i should watch it do they it was one of my favorite movies growing up but i haven't watched in I was a kid, so we can listen to Paul's point that maybe it's terrible, but I did love it I have not seen Carina

Carina. I just remember it from stocking the shelves at Tower Video. Wow. Oh, you worked at Tower Video? I did indeed. I love the one that was in Times Square. Of course. That one was great. Is there anything more exciting than going to a video store in Times Square, New York?

Renting a movie. In Times Square? With all the lights? The lights. okay so shoeless joe reappears on the diamond and returns with seven other black socks players ray annie and karen sit and watch the players practice on the diamond when annie's brother mark timothy bus field arrives he cannot see the players and think and thinks ray's crazy knowing the farm is struggling financially he offers to buy the land ray meanwhile hears the voice again and this this blew me away because the voice goes ease his pain. And I was like, so is he going to kill somebody? Is this voice telling him to murder?

That would have been an interesting twist. Side note, Timothy Busfield plays the brother. He's great. Do you think when he did interviews at the time they made the headline Bus Field of Dreams? Lauren, I'm going to say no. I'm going to also say, I don't think so. I think I would. But I wish they did.

If I wrote a news, if I wrote a magazine article, about him. I would call it busfield of dreams. And then, yeah, that's what I would do. Okay. I like that plan. I wish that you were. I'm not going to talk you out of it. Yeah. That's what I would do. That's what you all do. Hey, you do you do you. Okay. Um, so ease the pain. Yeah. And then he starts drawing it on stuff. And he's kind of like, he's getting, he's getting a little like, you know, crazy with it now. It's getting like it's when he was just writing it over and over again. in different size fonts? Yes. It was kind of, I was like, oh, no, this is, he's going to kill somebody.

I thought, yeah, or he's having like, he's having a mental break and I was getting worried about the character. I was starting to find him less appealing overall. I was like something's really wrong here. And also, yeah, the mom kind of like offhandedly throws out that they're trying to ban books at the school. So now we're at this piece. TTA meeting where Annie argues with the other parents who are trying to ban the books by Terrence Mann. So I guess we're just trying to introduce Terrence Mann

as a character. James Earl Jones plays him. I googled this plot a little bit and saw that originally it was supposed to be J.D. Salinger was the character and he threatened to sue them and if they use his name.

And so they changed it. But that's interesting. So they really just shoehorn that in there just to get the point across that we need to get to this author and that the author is controversial. But you know what?

And here's the thing. And this is, I'm sure this is going to bother people who love this movie. You would make so much more room for pacing the story if you got rid of that character entirely. He did not need to be in there.

It does feel random. It wasn't connected to baseball. He just liked baseball? he didn't need to be in there at all and obviously it was the the authors um if this character's in the book it was obviously the author's acts to grind like if that was happening as it periodically does happen in our stupid culture where people are trying to get books banned that this was a time when they were trying to do that and he had something to say about it and if you leave if you remove the james rle jones character unfortunately you lose your only character

character of color, which is too bad. But you also could have had, if you remove him, you could have had maybe some players from the Negro leagues come to the cornfield and play ball. Because isn't that an interesting story as well? In addition to the Chicago Black Sox? Like, you know, that would have been. And then now these players are playing with players

of a different color for the first time ever. You know, because these were players that didn't get to play in the integrated MLB you know so that there was maybe if you want to have a commentary that's maybe more of an interesting commentary especially given the story of baseball

which is what this movie is all about but if you did that Paul you couldn't have your magical Negro who then goes into the cornfield who doesn't really exist in real life and you're not celebrating a real person you just made somebody up yeah exactly and that's more fun

And you know what, as far as magical Negroes go, he didn't have a whole lot of magic in it. He really did it. He just disappeared into the cornfield. It was like, are you trying to kidnap me? That's what bothered me. It's like Kevin Costner is his magical Negro, really. He kind of was almost just like a therapist. Like he kind of was like a mirror to Ray to be like, why are you doing this or something?

Just kind of asking, maybe an exposition train. Like he kind of just like asked questions that got him to explain. certain feelings that he was having. Yeah. But yeah, I agree that it wasn't really the best use of even James Earl Jones, who was fantastic and does, and of course, he makes it feel important. Yes. He also does a fun thing.

Like Ray Leota in a different way, grounds things. And it's just like his face and his voice and his body. Like he is just, he commands on the screen, which is, what an insane thing to have to be able to, like, on screen not do very much, but be very, very, very. very important. That's like, oh, God, what is her name from Killers of the Flower Moon? Lily Gladstone.

She is, she, yes. Lily Gladstone is like a modern day version of that where she doesn't have to do very much and I'm just, I'm here for it. I need to see what's going to happen. And he sold, he sold so many lines and ideas that would be very hard to sell by a lesser actor. Yes.

He really, he committed to that shit. and he said it, and you're like, all right, I'll buy it from you. Yeah, I agree. So they're trying to ban the books that he wrote, his character's Terrence Mann. He was a controversial author and activist from the 1960s. And Ray is scribbling in a notebook during the meeting, and he realizes the voice must have been referring to man, who had named one of his characters John Kinsella, which is his last name, and had once professed a childhood dream of playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ray tries to convince Annie that he needs to drive to Boston to find. man, even though they are incredibly broke by this point. Like, this is where it's so funny to me. I love it. He's like, I got it. And she's like, why? And he's like, I got a. And then she's like, wait a minute. Fenway? Is Fenway the baseball field that's like this? And he's

like, yeah, what made you think of that? She's like, I did dream. Was that on same base? Yeah, you were. And I was like, what? Was this a hot dog thing or something? She was like, and you had a hot dog or something. Yeah. Yeah. They were, they were sick. That's the thing is that they're, they're treating these miraculous events very casually, like the fact that

they both had that same dream, I feel like, look, on the one hand, there's something that's kind of fun about them treating these things like, oh yeah, I have the same dream. Okay, go ahead. I don't know. But it's like in a more overt comedy, maybe, I would have been able to more gloss over that. but in a sort of feel good like capital h Hollywood sports movie emotional movie it just felt like that's that's it that's all you're going to say is like oh yeah i have that same dream you should go well totally because it's like if you saw her really react oh my god like when she sees the players

like oh my god it's real like you're not crazy wow and like i almost got i get myself chills just acting that out well Lauren it was very good it was so good but I also is like whoa she's seeing something like if she was really like like she's if she was like you're crazy and then she went like I see it too and then it's like we all are like in and then the brother doesn't see it and then he does see it because even when the brother sees it eventually he's sort of like yeah who are these baseball guys yeah and it's like what sir we need a bigger response yeah yeah I think it would have been better, I think, if he said I have to go find, you know, Terrence Mann. She goes, okay, I had a dream last night that you were with him at a baseball game, you know, whatever.

You know what I mean? Not for her to say, why do you have to go there? And then he goes, well, I had this dream. She goes, oh, I had the same dream. That's true. That is like kind of just weird writing. Oh, I forgot about it. You reminded me of this insane dream that I had.

Yeah, I agree. I feel like there needed to be more stakes. Like, the stakes are very high. We're hearing things. We're letting our farm go under. And we're just like, whatever. Like, even when he calls and she's like, yeah, the bank took the farm. He's like, oh, okay, well, I'm not coming home because I got to go do something.

James Earl Jones is like, no, we're going home. He's like, oh, just kidding. I am coming home. I'm like, everything is so lackadaisical. but the stakes are so high. Yes. Yeah. Yes.

And that's why I love movies of like the 90s because it's high stakes and everybody cares. Kind of like, so I just saw a clue for the first time. The stakes are high. There's been a murder. We all need to figure it out and we all care about it. This is like the stakes are high, ghosts are talking and maybe we'll figure it out. Yeah. I feel like that's why it's sort of, it felt like a play like that you would see.

and it's like it's a very dark place where like just a spotlight comes up on a baseball play every once in a while and like there's kind of a lot of narration. It's like it's just like a slow, sleepy. It's just very, it's not urgent. Like he has the feeling that it needs to happen, but he doesn't even present urgency really. It's sort of like he's kind of just like, I got to do it. I got to do it. I feel I feel like it's more like a book because a book you assign your own urgency to things. It's your imagination. Yeah. So it feels like this book, just like a real flat line of like, I care about this. Because in a play, I feel like, have you seen the whale? The whale was a play adapted. No. You got to see the whale. I've been wondering if I have to see that. Listen, there's a part at the end where his fat little feet jump off into the sand.

And I laughed for a full day about it. Paul, have you seen it? Oh, yeah, I have seen it. They're cool. Them fat little feet? Was he masturbate in that movie? Sure he does. Oh, yeah.

And then he eats so much that he throws up at one point. And I was like, have they talked to a fat? Yeah. But anyway. The whale is really like, what if fat people had feelings? Yeah. And they had the most feelings. Yeah, exactly.

Like that to me is like, that is a play where it's like, oh my God, everything is like so in your face and it could have been dialed back a little bit. Can you imagine seeing that live? a play? Sure could it. Sure couldn't. I'd be so mad about it. Oh my God. Okay. Now, I guess I do have to watch that. Lauren, you have to see it. His daughter in it is so mean to him in a way where you're like, well, nobody would accept this from a child. I would let her go at that point. Yeah. I'd be like, you gotta get out of here. Message received. Okay, so Annie and Ray have their identical dreams and she tells him to go to Boston to find, to find the author. So, man who has become a disenchanted recluse, agrees to attend one game. There, Ray hears the voice urging him to go the distance, seeing statistics on the scoreboard for Archie Moonlight Graham, played by Bert Lancaster, who played in one game for the New York Giants in 1922, but never got to bat. Though man initially wants nothing to do with Ray's crazy schemes, he ends up admitting to hearing the voice and seeing the scoreboard, too.

but see what's interesting there is that he's not really there he's not real at the end the author because he goes into the cornfield he was real no he was real they invited him oh I thought he wasn't real I thought it was like when he goes and gets the doctor the doctor was dead already and then I thought Terrence man was also dead too

because he gets to go in the cornfield I don't think that he was dead because somebody knows where he lives. You know what I like about this? He gets the address. If you're listening to this and you haven't seen this movie, we make no sense. Like, wait, was he dead? No, he wasn't dead. But he did know him, but he was from then.

But he wasn't from then. He was from a different. And then they were. He was from a different. He was from a different. When, you know, he, uh, Shoeless Joe invites him to the coroner. Field and Ray's like, why can't I go? And he goes, you weren't invited, that it's like, I took it to mean, is he dying now?

Dying. Oh. But then he says, like, I'm going to write about this. Yeah, well, no one's going to see that. I got a scoop on what happens in the cornfield heaven. In cornfield heaven? And when the baseball players would ask, like, is this heaven? That made me feel really sad.

Thoughts? Yeah. Well, because they love baseball so much. They love it so much, but I'm like, what liminal space were you in before this? Oh, they were in purgatory. Oh, my God. Do you think our heaven's going to be improv? No, it's going to be baseball.

I'm going to be so pissed. I actually was wondering that. It's safe for everyone goes to baseball heaven. I was going to ask you guys. Whether you like it or not, you end up in baseball heaven. I got to go to baseball heaven? Oh, man. I was going to ask you about this because, so throughout the movie, so we know that Ray is obsessed with baseball and he's, he ends up picking up these, you know, he, he,

a cruise different baseball players and stuff. And he's, like, very excited every time he gets a new one. And then I was thinking, what would that be for you guys? Like, Paul, would it be baseball or would it be, like, would it be improvisers? Wow. That is a, that's hell, Lauren. That's actually hell. Like, imagine curating a bunch of like, what's like John Belushi.

And like, you're like, oh, John Candy's hitchhiking over here. And like, you pick up all these comedians. Like, I don't know. I don't think there's enough dead ones that I would want to be there. Yeah, I think it would truly be hell on Earth. I can think of plenty of dead ones I would not want to be there,

that it would be a drag. But you know what would be fun? You know what would be fun? If you built like a Broadway theater in a cornfield and then you would get like these legendary stage actors coming back would be, that would be incredible. That would be so cool.

That would be fun. Yeah. Or like a movie theater and like all the stars from like the Golden Age come out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I want to meet Tallulah bankhead. She used to answer her door naked.

Yeah. And that's funny to me. Okay, I like it. That would be fun. That would be fun. So Ray and Mann drive to Chisholm, Minnesota, and they learned that Graham who became a physician, a physician, oh, my God, a physician? Wait, someone say that word. Physician.

Physician. Doctor. Oh, that's tough for me. A doctor had died here. nine years earlier. Ray researches Graham, whose obituary said that he was a beloved and charitable doctor, but makes no mention of his baseball career.

Ray suddenly finds himself in 1972 and meets an elderly Graham. That part confused me. I was like, wait, he time traveled? I rewounded to see what was going on, yeah. Yeah, it was confusing. Who feels his true purpose in life is medicine, not sports, and declines to visit Ray's baseball field. But coincidentally, on the drive back to Iowa,

Ray and Mann pick up a young hitchhiker named Archie Graham who is looking for a baseball team to join. That this whole part confused me. And I didn't realize he was the doctor until he stepped off the diamond and was the doctor again. And I was like, oh. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. I got confused. I had read a bit of it at this point. Looks like I was Googling to find out about the author. And so I had a clue that that was going to be the doctor. So I don't know if I would have gotten it without that. But I loved that part. When the when the hitchhiker gets. in and then you realize that it's him, it's so sweet thinking that that man was that person. Like that made me feel like, oh, that was so, that's so cute and cool to be able to see what he was like when he was young and he was just like full of hope and dreams. And I just liked that. When I realized it, Lauren, I had the opposite thing. I was like, that's scary. We're young and full of dreams. And then you get old. And then the dreams that you thought were important are no longer important to you and you pick a profession where you make money to support your family

and then you die. But he talked about it like he was really happy that he was a doctor for his whole life. He was like that wasn't the thing that would have made me happy. I was happy. Gaslighting yourself is a thing. You gaslight yourself into giving up your dreams and that this is the best thing for you. No, I'm glad I got fired. My thing was why didn't he come through the cornfield? right but you know what no but no it makes you think that they're all coming from really different places and it just so happens that he was going to hitchhike his way to get to iowa but everybody else came through the cornfield but they got to the cornfield but who knows where they came from on the other side of the cornfield oh yeah maybe they hitchhiked their way to the other side of the cornfield

but i don't know maybe disappear in right right at the beginning of the cornfield yeah yeah you do wonder where they go i do i do have a problem i will admit i do have a problem when a sort of fantastical universe, you're not given the rules, right? Yeah. Because I feel like it makes it harder to follow along, and it makes it, it stops me. It takes me out of it to wonder like,

oh, then what are the rules? I agree. Where did he come from? If we know this man lived to be an old man, how is he coming as a young man on the side of this road miles and miles away from the magical cornfield. You know what I mean? And it's like,

does this change his fate? If he witnesses this experience, that girl falling from the thing, does that change? Because it implies that he was, he had the urge to be a doctor right then. Because he runs toward her like he's going to save her. Then he becomes his current doctor self.

But it's like, so did they change the past by, like, it folds in on itself very quickly. if you don't explain that. So he crosses over the line and he becomes the old doctor again. Who is dead? Right. That's been established.

Obituary and everything. He's able to pat this girl on the back very hard to get the hot dog out. And then he goes back and he's still old and he has to go in the cornfield. So it's like, what are the, yeah. And I think the thing, it's also confusing

that Ray suddenly is in 1972 with like no, rhyme or reason and so I'm like so he can time travel because like I can get behind the baseball field bringing everyone to it they are coming to this yes now suddenly you're in the past you're doing this that another it's just it is a little now you're driving across picking up a ghost it there are just like a lot of confusing you know I feel like what they were trying to do was like he goes I don't want to come to your baseball diamond because I'm a doctor that's me and then like the universe was like no no no uh when you were young you really wanted to play baseball so

then he's young but then eventually i guess you're supposed to be like baseball isn't for him and that's why he chooses to be like his road chosen was the correct one but i'm not sure i don't know why we needed that well because i kind of felt the same thing happened to him again it's like he only played half a game in this in this dream world because he was so distracted by helping people um yeah But imagine being Karen, a child who swallows a dog, a bunless dog, and a ghost dislodges it. Like, how do you ever tell another soul about that? Your uncle is like, shut up, Karen, shut up. And then he like, basically knocks her off the bench.

I was like, you, that was crazy. Nobody's like yelling at the brother. I was like, no one goes like, what the fuck, man? Yeah, like, why did you knock a child down? Yeah. You caused my daughter to swallow a dog. And to fall down, like, 10. feet or more.

Yeah. And then it's like, go have a cold drink. I know this is overwhelming for you. But it's also like, you shook my child. Yeah. I got problems with you, buddy. Yeah. Yeah.

Again, nobody's reacting to things the way they should be. They don't react. There's a lot of not reacting. It's all such shorthand. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Kevin Costner at one, at one point, he goes, wow, this is so interesting.

And I was like, the line read on that is, funny. What was he talking about? I can't remember, but he was like, oh, this is so interesting. Let's say he had not yet come into his own as an actor, and he was definitely not, you know, a big Kevin Costner acting style is no acting above the nose. He will give you mouth only, and you get smile or you get frown. I can see that. Yeah. But I can also see, he's so careful. I think he's charismatic. He is charismatic. I understand why he's had an illustrious career. I know, and I liked his outfits in this.

Oh, me too. In his hair? In the Midwest. Oh, boy. Yeah, really good. He's doing it for me. It worked. Ray later tells Man that his father dreamed of being a baseball player and tried to make Ray pick up the sport instead.

At 14, after reading one of Mann's books, Ray stopped playing catch with his father, and they became estranged after he mocked him, saying he could never respect a man whose hero, meaning shoeless Joe, was a criminal. Ray says, it's like people who's parents like Trump and they don't like that, you know? So just to catch up. It's just like that. It's just like that.

So Ray says that his greatest regret is that his father died before they could reconcile. As they continue to drive, man and Ray acknowledged that the building of the field and bringing Joe back is Ray's penance for the estrangement with his father. Arriving at the farm, they see various all-star players

of the 1920s have arrived, fielding a second team. They play a game and Graham finally gets his turn at bat. Was this the point where James Earl Jones is like They will come Don't worry They will come

The gravitas of that moment And I was like truly a different actor It would have been hokey Like just They will come It was This movie No he's so good

Yeah He can say anything I feel like Also Ray is always introducing himself As Ray Kinsella Like his full name Throughout the movie So that ending

I just thought That ending point makes it a very clear connection when he says his name is whatever Concella. They didn't want you to have any questions about that. That's my dad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really did, though, like how everything was like it's sort of origami of like time folding and time travel.

And I thought it was really cool. It was not at all what I expected this to be like. I thought it was going to be really boring. And I don't think, I wouldn't describe it as boring. It's like a unique movie. It's fun. It's fantastical. I, for whatever reason, thought dead kids were involved. That's not it. That makes sense. Yeah. Thank you. For whatever reason, I was like, the sand lot, but dead. And that's not the dead lot. So the next morning, Annie's brother, Mark returns demanding that Ray sell the farm or the bank will foreclose on him. I don't understand that logic. So like, it's either sell to him or the bank. Like, why is it either or?

I didn't really get that either because I was like, he was saying you're going to get foreclosed on. Yeah, explain how this works, Paul. Yeah, he's got enough money to buy it before the bank does. They don't have money. This is his sister. He says, I'm just looking out for my sister. So that's why I'm willing to buy this.

Since you guys can't, you can't pay the bank off. And I'd rather that it stay in the family with me than the bank get it. Yeah. also it it was made to feel like he was the villain of this but you explaining that means that he's just being really nice yeah oh yeah because at one point he's like you can just live in the house for free right yes yeah so why didn't they just let him have it oh I guess because he would get rid of the field he would get rid of the field and put corn back in there would be also he did seem to have still a bunch of corn he had a ton of corn there was so much corn there was so much corn there was so much corn knowledge that there's still some corn. There's definitely still enough corn. But also I think if I lived in the house and my brother covered up the field, I would be really

sad all the time. And also probably those voices would never stop. They'd be like, you got to get the field back. Kill him. Reclaim your land. Make him have pain. So Karen

pipes up saying they won't need to sell the farm because people will come. Oh, yeah, come and watch the baseball. the ball games man agrees and says people will come from all over to relive their childhood innocence mark and ray scuffle accidentally knocking karen off the bleachers and she falls to the ground unconscious this is nuts she's blue i couldn't believe how quickly this child was blue the fall also that was um just i have judgment over how that was portrayed i it was very weird yes it was It was sort of like she fell and then she's on the ground.

Like it was like they didn't show it happening and your brain kind of goes, what? But then I go, well, everything's fake. So I guess it's fine. As everyone looks around for a doctor, Graham walks over to the family. I really liked this part. So the young baseball player sees this happening and is compelled to walk towards the situation. And then he hesitates before he steps off the diamond. There's like a border on it.

And he's like, should I? And then when he does, he transforms into the older doc gram and revives Karen who had choked on a hot dog. He reassures Ray that he has no regrets. Wait, Lauren, did you see the hot dog in her hand? I didn't see it. Me either. And I was like, wait a minute. What?

I didn't see it. I did not see it. I thought she, I'm sure she had it. I didn't see it though. And I didn't understand. It looked like when she fell. She was never eating it up there. No.

And where was it? the bun. This is why I'm like, I can't suspend my disbelief. While she fell, somehow that dog slid out of that bun with no condiments. You believe every other thing that happened in this movie.

Except that. I'm going to go rewatch that part because I actually don't. I also am going to go rewatch that part. But yes, okay, Lauren, ghosts, voices, fantastical. I'm on board, but a condomless dog sliding off a bun while she falls in condom, condiment, condimentless, sorry.

Condo, how do you eat your dogs? You don't protect your hot dogs? But also, but now, Nicole, are you saying that the piece that flies out of her mouth should have some bun around it? Yes, because how did it slide out of the bun down her throat? The perfect ending. Here's the thing. I think before she should have been shown holding the dog,

with condiments on because then I would believe it slid out of the bun but just a dry dog sticks to the bun and then it has that sliding as she falls we're gonna have to revisit the tape

for sure we're gonna have to we do need to revisit you know you need instant replay instant replay we do need that just on the hot dog part so he tells Ray he has no regrets about being a doctor and he walks back into the cornfield as the other players commend

what he did, and Shulis Joe yells after him, you were good. Doc Graham smiles, his eyes filled with tears, and he disappears into the cornfield. And suddenly, Mark can also see the baseball players and urges Ray to keep the farm after all. Mark, needed more from you in terms of shock and all. Just a little bit more.

All these people just appeared and you're like, where'd all these people come from? And it also means your sister's not crazy. Yes. Yeah, yeah. No apology, nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Nothing. Nothing from Mark. So Joe invites man to enter the corn asking him to write about what he sees and man agrees. Ray's angry at not being invited, but man tells him he is a family to take care of. So I guess he's dying. I thought Ray was immature

at that moment. I'm like very immature. He's like, what do I get out of it? Yeah. It can't be that great if they don't want to stay there. There's no food or bathroom. Yeah, also they're ghosts. So why? I mean, I don't know. There's no food or bathroom.

Who's he going? Two main things you need. So the idea that man is going to write about this, what he sees there, is like, for whom? Where does that go? Yeah. Aren't you banned? Is he going to come back and say, here's proof of the afterlife. Can everybody read it?

Or do you have to have a special spirit? Maybe he would. Frame of mind and able to be to be able to read it. In the moment. He would talk to. Ray, like, through the ghosting, you'd be like, here's what I see, Ray, you write it down. Okay. When, when Ray goes and meets the author in his apartment, doesn't he, doesn't man say to him, are you from the 60s?

Yeah. Yes. And what does that mean? I think it means he's been visited by other people. Okay. Oh. What's your theory? I'm just wondering when in the timeline this has happened.

What does he mean, are you from the 60s? Does he mean, are you time traveling? Or does he mean, were you born in the 60s? I think he meant, are you one of these peace and love people from, you know, you're still holding on to this bullshit that I've renounced. Well, that's confusing because then he time travels. So I thought he was asking, are you a time traveler? I've been visited by other people who want me to do things and I'm not doing it.

Right. I thought it was, oh, were you? you a young person in the 60s. That makes more sense. Yes. Okay, that does make more sense. Thank you. Thank you. So Joe glances towards the catcher at home plate saying, if you build it,

he will come. When the catcher removes his mask, Ray recognizes that it's his daddy, John. Played by Dwyer Brown as a young man. Ray introduces John to his wife and daughter without acknowledging who he is. Later, as evening falls, John says, good night to Ray, and they shake hands.

As John is walking solemnly towards the cornfield, Ray calls out, Hey, Dad, you want to have a catch? And they throw the ball. What? That broke me. I mean, I didn't cry, but I thought, wow. I mean, it is sweet. And they throw the ball back and forth as the camera pulls away,

and we see hundreds of cars are approaching from all directions towards the baseball field. Which is also wild. Like, imagine being like, I have to go to a baseball field in the middle of a cornfield. And I also love, in the dead of night. In the dead of night. And then nobody's there. Yeah, it's just going to be this guy and his dad having a catch. His dad is younger than him.

Yeah, which is so wild. But when James Earl Jones is like, people will pay $20. I was. $20. That's a lot of money back in the day. It's such a specific amount. It was more than a baseball game cost for sure. But I mean, you're seeing legendary dead.

players. So I guess 20 bucks is pretty reasonable. And do you think they'll sell corn there? Because that would be smart. Yes, ears of just ears of corn, not cooked corn. Here's an ear of corn. Not popcorn. No. Well, yeah, and I thought that was a very

sweet ending with the dad. I thought, I just thought that was touching and kind of gives him a nice little button on his little daddy issue problems. Yeah. It was nice. And I and the dad knows it's him in that moment. And that That was meaningful too.

Honestly, the cars driving in, the headlights, that takes away from that moment. I feel like this movie has to end with, hey, dad, you want to have a catch. They start throwing the ball. I agree. She turns the lights on. Fade out. You know what I mean? That's it.

You don't even be like, oh, they did come. Like, okay, I took that for granted. You know what I mean? Everything else came true. So I didn't need confirmation of that. Exactly. You could really assume it's going to. going to go well from there. He's not going to be put into a loony bin. Yeah. It's all good.

Yeah. This is like the rat and departed. A lot of people said you don't need it. Yeah. Look at me remembering movies. Oh, gosh. Nicole, I made a reference to the Robert Pattinson Batman film during the live comedy bang bang that not a single person in the room understood. Really? Not a single audience number. Nobody knew what I was talking about. And by the way, I looked it up and I was it was real I someone said someone said something about drops and I was like are you a drop head or something and I was referencing the drug is so funny that is so funny got it I'm like I'm in a room full of people who should someone should get this yeah there was somebody in the audience that confirmed it okay great yeah oh I saw Martin Sheen on uh at the delta lounge we

I was in the elevator with him wow and that's he was very funny he goes do you know what we're going and I was like up because that's the only way you can go to go to the lounge but I really wanted to be like I loved you in The Departed but then I was like I don't why he's done more things and I simply don't know right

that's the thing but that's still nice yeah he wouldn't have minded that yeah and then he was the bell of the ball on the plane everyone was whispering about Martin Sheen he looked so good he was wearing little black new balances he had a cute little wife and then I found out later he was going to D.C. to meet Biden

and Biden saluted him and I was like did you think you were an extra on the West Wing? Why are you saluting Martin Sheen? What if Biden was like I loved you in the departed? You were great. And then Martin Sheen's like

Nicole Byer had the same thought. Also Will I Am was on that same flight. It was a fun flight. That's a crazy way. Wait, who else was there? Will I am from the black eyed peas? Will.I.com. Yeah. Yeah. Can you do your Biden one more time saying that departed?

Listen, simple. Departed. It's a good movie. Right at the end. You need it. This America. You need to see the rat. You need to see the rat. You need to see the rat. It's true. God, that's funny. Ultimately, the rat has a place in our hearts. And it does. I like that rat. I like that rat. One of the great movie rats up there with Ratatooie, Ben. Ania's not sure if the rat has passed. She seems incredulous. I think he's still with us. The rat's still alive.

Yeah. He's with bubbles. The old, the old. Did bubbles pass? No, Bubbles is still alive. Oh, that's what I mean. Wait, Bubbles is still alive. Bubbles is still alive.

Because Bubbles recently said that something about, what did he say? Bubbles didn't say anything. Bubbles is a monkey, right? Bubbles is a monkey? Someone positive. that Michael Jackson would be proud of Bubbles for still being alive. That's why I need you everywhere because you're helping me stay on track. What did Bubbles the Chimp say again?

I thought he said MJ would be proud of him. Bubbles lives in Florida. Bubbles does not talk. How old is Bubbles? Bubbles is in his 40s, I think. That's too old. Oh, wow. I'm concerned.

He lives in the Center for Great Apes in Wachula, Florida. Oh, I'm happy he has such a nice life. Okay, let's talk about the reception of Field of Dreams. Field of Dreams opened two positive critical reviews. Roger Ebert gave it four stars at the time that checks out. It currently holds an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score. Wow.

See, I get Best Picture. I don't know if I get Best Screenplay and I get Best Score. I get Best Score. The music did take me there over and over again. Best Screenplay. is, that's absurd. If you build it, he will come is listed as number 39 on the American Film Institute's top 100 quotations in American cinema.

And I've known that one forever. I just didn't know what it was about. And I didn't know that they would say it every eight seconds. Time for trivia. In the book, the writer Ray seeks out is the real-life recluse author J.D. Salinger, who wrote Catcher in the Rye. When Salager threatened the production with a lawsuit, if his name is used, Robinson decided to rewrite the character as recluse, Terence man.

He wrote it with James Earl Jones in mind because he thought it would be fun to see Ray trying to kidnap such a big man. That's funny because Ray doesn't actually try to kidnap him. There's no physicality. He just puts a finger in his coat and then James Earl Jones goes, are you trying to kidnap me? And I was like, then try it, try to drag that man out of his house. Yeah. I loved Salinger in high school along with probably many, many people.

I read everything I could about him, including the memoir that his daughter. wrote about him which was not forgiving and um he at the time because i was like 17 and i loved his books i was like in love with him like i thought like the character and catcher in the i was like this is like the best person that ever lived like i just was like i love everything about it it was like a depressed teen and i was like i get it and i and i read books about jd salinger where i learned that he dated 17 year olds and i was like so i have a chance no and yeah and he and then it i I later, I think there was a book written by one of his exes where he basically like, you know, completely groomed her and then kept her in his home and she couldn't do what.

Oh, no. Yeah, I mean, it was like, it's obviously a fucked up relationship when the age disparity is such that one person is a minor. Yeah, it was really crazy. But I, and I actually started to reread Catcher in the Rise as an adult and I was like, what? Like, it's truly, you have to read it when you're 14. Like it's just... 100%.

Yeah. I don't even remember what it's about. It's about Holden who's like calling people losers or something. Yeah, he just like thinks everyone's a phony. Phones. He's obsessed with phonies. He is like, thinks the world is like super depressing and it is. And then I don't remember what happens.

It really does... He's always worried about his sister. It captures that sort of bleak side of adolescence very well. Mm-hmm. When you're like your body is fucking sabotaging you and you're just so, You get so mad or you get so sad out of nowhere. It captures that very well. But it's not for grownups to read.

No, no. I really spoke to me as a teenager and I was like, wow, I can't believe I get to read this. And then, yeah, now I feel, I guess I've lost track of what that felt like. There was an actual Archibald Moonlight Graham. The stories the men shared were actual stories about Doc Graham. Oh. That's nice. That's cool.

I didn't know that. This is fun trivia. Then Unknown. Ben Affleck, who is getting divorced, and Matt Damon are among the thousands of uncredited extras in the Fenway Park scene over a decade later when director Phil Alden Robinson welcome Affleck on the set of some of all fears. Affleck said, nice to work with you again and had to explain to him that they had worked together before. I wouldn't call it working together, but I do think that's funny. That is funny to say. That's very funny.

And how cool and how crazy is all of the drama. I have to watch that documentary that Jalo made. Isn't it wild that she released a documentary about the greatest love, fully realized or whatever, and then is divorcing the man that it's about? You need to wait on that documentary for at least a few years of marriage, I would say. I do think their story,

I was really on board for how many years passed between the engagements, and I thought that was fascinating. But he never looked happy with her. I want Ben to be happy. He needs a Boston-Laylorated. who's going to get him Dunkin' Donuts every single day. He really doesn't look happy often, and I do feel concerned for him.

I do feel like he's often looking very, very mad. I think I can make him happy. Okay, so that's the twist here. Imagine Ben Affleck hears this, and he's like, huh, that lady does sound jolly, and maybe she will go get me Dunkin' Donuts every day. And then we, like, get married. Wouldn't that be incredible? Yeah.

That would be wild. I would love that. I would love it. Absolutely. Okay, although Shulis Joe Jackson was a left-handed hitter, producers decided to let Ray Leota bat from his natural right-handed side. I'm glad. Leota often had people point out the inaccuracy to him,

to which he would respond. None of the players ever came back to life either. Ray Leota's my dude. That's right. That's my dude. I love him. Can you imagine Ray Leota saying that to you? You'd be a shame for the rest of your life.

Yeah. I would go, wow. He was actually left-hand. Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up. You think I don't know that? Ray Leota. Oh, boy, oh boy.

Okay, we have to take another time out. We'll be back with more Field of Dreams after this. Ready break. Ready break. And we're back. It's time for the newcomers draft. So if we were going to recast this movie with present-day actors, who would we all pick? Ooh, that little man who's dating Zendaya.

I think he could be Kevin Costner. Yes. Yeah. No, he looks too old-fashioned to me. I would cast him as shoeless Joe before I'd cast him. You would definitely play on the team. That's good. I feel like I need someone a little more rugged in the Kevin Costner role.

Okay. Who would I put? Who is that today? I know. Yeah, who's rugged today. It's all twinks now. It is. I've got it.

It's Glenn Powell. You're right. That's honestly, that's who it would be. It would be Glenn Powell. But he's a big twink. You know, you know, to say about him though he he um he changes he has a he's a he's a bit of a chameleon in his roles i would say i feel like he's not i would expect him to be a certain way and he's not and i like he's got some range

yeah yeah i think i've only seen him in that rom-com yeah that's what i had seen too and then i was watching that other one where he is um like a hitman sort of thing yeah he's called a hitman hitman yeah on netflix it's it's good he's fun and he's he's he's he's different characters it's good yeah oh so he's an actor i think he's really an actor yeah we have to give him but i get what you mean sometimes you watch people in multiple things you're like you're like you're just playing you yeah yeah yeah and sometimes that's fine like yeah yeah yeah but sometimes it's not um who would we put for his wife i throw emma stone in everything i might put a kate macucci in there and give it a little

Quirk. Give it some quirk. That's fun. Because the character is quirky and like, kind of like. That's a good point. Yeah. Wait, let's put you in there, Lauren. Okay, fine. Lauren, let's put you in there. Kate, you're being recast. I did leave you guys there. I'm going to put you in there. And I will be Karen. Perfect. And we'll make you shrunk to like little kid size. Yeah. Shrink me up and I'll choke on that dog. We'll do forced perspective. Yeah, the rooms are all built really weird. So you're like, you look tiny. Like Lord of the Rings, your favorite. We love that.

Mike quizzed me yesterday on characters of Lord of the Rings, trying to get me to name four. I was able to name three. Sarkar. Is that one? Sarkar. Gollum. Yeah, Ghalm.

Absolutely Gondoff. Absolutely Gandalf. Sam? Yeah, Samwise, Gamji. So I got four. You did good. Is Sarkar? Isn't that the, the dragon?

Sarko? No, smog. No, but Sauron is who I think you're thinking of. No, I was thinking of the dragon. Smog. Smog. Oh, Smog. Who I think I was calling Snooky when we were recapping.

Any, anyway. Kiss Cam, name the best smooch of the movie, or if you wish you saw a smooch on the big screen, I wish all those dead baseball players smooched. Me too, in a big pile. Yeah, just, mm-hmm. In a big pile. It would have been nice to see a couple of them out there like,

oh yeah, we don't have to hide anymore. Yeah, we were always together. We're in baseball heaven. Hooray. Yeah. But also, I would have liked to see Ray and Annie. Yeah, did they kiss at all? No, they didn't really kiss, I don't think.

Yeah, Ray and Annie should have kissed. I think every time he was like leaving the house to like go do something. To be like, I got to go solve my dream and fix the voices. And she's like, I hope you come back. Yeah, maybe this is the last time we'll ever see each other. No, they did. kiss. Oh, they did kiss in bed. They,

but that wasn't sexy enough for me. There was implied sex. I felt that they were, I felt it was like a, I thought it was marriage sex where it was going to lead to something. I thought it was emotional intimacy. It was marriage sex. Which is, I guess, different sex. One day, maybe I'll experience it.

But it's also the sex of people who are hearing voices and seeing ghosts. They're nuts. Yeah. Well, then it should be great. I think it should be better look in sex. It shouldn't just be like rolling over. She'd be like, oh my God, build it. He will come.

I'm building that dick for you. Yeah. That's where we. I can't believe it took us so long to get there, honestly. Okay. Time for the scoreboard. Time for reviews. So once again this season, we are reading reviews from letterboxed.

We are going to give the film a one sentence review ourselves and a star rating. And if you don't know by next, Now, Letterbox is a social platform where people can write reviews of films and you can follow the show on Letterbox at Newcomers. Remember when I discovered that we were posting our reviews on, I know it, I'm astounded by how dumb I am. Paul, I didn't realize that the reviews we were giving were going on Letterbox. You know what, though?

I didn't think about it at all. I think it was more just, I don't think we're dumb. I think we just kind of like go with each moment and we're just, we're moving on. It's like, we're not sitting here analyzing what we're doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, you are not the ones that are typing it out on letterbox, so why would you even think about it? Thank you. Oh, God, thank you.

So we have our amazing producers. You don't have the muscle memory. We don't need to have it. We have Anya. No muscle over here. This letterbox review is a two and a half star review from Christian Torres, and they say adorable and stupid. I think a dog wrote the script. Well, excuse you.

Christian. Oh, my God. Whoa. Oh, my. Oh my God. Wild. Absolutely outrageous. Absolutely crazy.

Couldn't believe. Okay. So what's a one sentence review you would give the film? Paul, Nicole, you want to go first? And you also have to give it stars. Nicole, please. Okay. I think I'm going to give it three and a half stars.

I liked it, but I didn't like it, which was very confusing for me. It felt like a warm hug on a summer day. And I need to see a dog replay because that girl choked on that dog in the wildest way possible. why were her lips blue. Thank you. Who's next? I'll go.

I would give this movie, I'm going to give this movie four stars. This movie made me nostalgic for things I've never experienced and don't want to experience. Yes. I really enjoyed how it felt. I could totally put this movie on if I want to be transported to a Midwest summer, which I do love. So there we go.

There we go. There we go. I'm going to say three stars, and I'm going to say not to be watched from a storytelling perspective, positive vibes only. Shut that brain off and enjoy the feelings. Yes. Yeah. Tanya.

I mean, I have to say that all of your reviews are swaying my review that I already decided on earlier because I kind of, I didn't do that. My review was going to be two and a half stars. I don't buy it. Oh. But what you're saying is that I need to shut. my brain off and then I need to try again. I like when people have different answers.

Yeah, I like it too. You guys are right. That could be like, I think I was trying too hard to make it all make sense. Yeah. And you have to let go. Yeah. Yeah, you got to let go. I did, like within, within two minutes I googled, is Field of Dreams magical realism?

And then it was like, yes. And I was like, then I'm, I'm out. I'm out. We're just having fun. Yeah. Okay. Paul. Can I recommend, oh, sorry.

I want to recommend two baseball movies. movies that I love way more than this movie, Eight Men Out, which is about the Chicago Black Sox and that scandal. Oh, okay. Oh. And the natural. The natural is almost magical realism, but not really. It is just a, it's an old-fashioned movie.

Like you feel like it was made in the, in the 30s or something. Robert Redford plays a baseball player. Is he young? Brimley is the coach. He's not young. young he is like this movie was made in the in the late 80s maybe is what was it the the same time as indecent proposal it was before indecent proposal okay I'm in yeah he looks he he's super hot in it he looks like a baseball player it's fucking great and eight men out it's like a great drama um about

this particular scandal that happened to baseball but they're both really good as stories and also baseball vibes. Like, do you get a lot of, I love this game, this game is important. It's like the romance of baseball is present in both of those movies. I highly recommend them both. I think they work as movies apart from just being baseball movies. Thank you. You're welcome.

Okay. Do you have anything you would like to plug? I do. If you're in the UK and Ireland and Scotland, come see us on the Comedy Bang Bang Tour. We're going to be in Glasgow, then London, then Bristol, then Dublin, then Manchester. And then my final Varietopia on the road of the year will be Saturday, November 23rd, and Charleston, South Carolina. So please do come see that. Please go see those shows.

That's going to be fun. It'll be so fun. Thank you. Thank you so much, Paul. It was so fun having you here. It was a job to be with you again. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

So please, everyone, go write a review for newcomers on Apple Podcasts and rate the podcast on Spotify. And I have a big announcement. We are going to be back on September 5th at 4 o'clock Pacific Time for our very exciting live stream finale. Paul Shear and Rob Heuble are joining us to watch and recap the movie of your choice. And then we're going to improvise a sequel to the movie. It's going to be very, very fun.

So what movie do you want us to watch? You can head to our Instagram to vote. and then make sure you go to moment.c.co slash newcomers to buy tickets. And we'll also have the video on demand up to 10 days afterwards if you can't catch us live. So we will see you then. Let's all stay newcomers on three. One, two, three. Newcomers!

Newcomers is a headgummer original hosted by us, Nicole Beyer and Lauren Lackus. Our executive producer is Anya Kanavskaya. Our producer is Ali Khan. Our theme music, editing, sound mixing, and mastering is done by Ferris Monchi. Listen to new episodes wherever you get your podcasts every Tuesday. That was a Hidgum original.