Sardonicast - Sardonicast #41: Midsommar, Southland Tales

Episode Date: August 26, 2019

Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/sardonicast Website: https://sardonicast.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Sardonicast Twitter: https://twitter.com/sardonicast Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/sardonicast Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sardonicast Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/9vG73zS Ralph's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ralphthe... Alex's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/IHEOfficial Adam's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/YourMovi... Alex's Twitter: https://twitter.com/IHE_OFFICIAL Ralph's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ralphsepe Adam's Twitter: https://twitter.com/2gay2lift Adam's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/YMS Intro music by: https://www.youtube.com/user/anUnkind... Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 1:38 - Cool Cat 5:10 - Cancelled Fox Projects 15:54 - Midsommar (SPOILERS) 40:00 - Southland Tales (SPOILERS) 1:23:15 - Q&A Ralph's Recommendation for Next Episode is Cinema Paradiso (Directors Cut).

Three, two, one. You cheated not only the game, but yourself. You didn't grow. You didn't improve. You took a shortcut and gained nothing. You experienced a hollow victory. Nothing was risked and nothing was gained. It's sad that you don't know the difference.

We're Sardinacast. I'm Adam from here. Did we do the opening last time? Like three of us introduced ourselves? We kind of got distracted. We keep forgetting to do it. You know who was. I'm Dick from Dick the Movie Maker.

What the? Do I have to do a dick one as well? I'm Dick from I Dick everything. I dick everything. Oh, God. Have you ever heard there's a parody song on YouTube called The Fresh Prince of Dick Butt where it's like the, it's the best thing in the world. And it's like the, it's the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme. And this guy doing a really, really funny impression of Will Smith's voice as.

he's singing the song. And he replaces pretty much, I don't know, every fifth word with dicks in your butt. And so he's the fresh prince of dick butt. And you're moving with your auntie and uncle to get dicks in your butt.

So I hail the cab and yelled, yo, dick, in my butt. Like, a couple of guys who were up to no good started putting dicks in my butt. Everybody should look this up. It's really funny. Yeah, it sounds funny. After the podcast.

Yeah. Speaking of podcasts, Jason Johnson, the actor of Coolcat, recently went on a podcast called Super Media Bros. Podcast, and this is his whole two-hour-long

revealing everything about everything that happened between him and Derek. And I started playing it as soon as I woke up, and so I didn't have time to finish it today. I was listening to it, like on a Bluetooth speaker in the shower. I didn't make it through the whole thing

because we had to start recording this, but some notable moments would be supposedly that allegedly Derek wouldn't pay him until he helped wash off the convertible. So like made him wash the car. He made him wash his car.

Yeah, and what's funny is the Cool Cat Convertible was a rental. So he like put all these stickers and shit on like a rental convertible. and then they had to wash it off every day so that they could return it to the car rental place to be a fly on the wall

it would be glorious it's so fascinating I'm just like I would like to listen to us I'm so ecstatic about everything you know so did this interview come out today I think so well it was posted on my subreddit today so who knows it might have been last night but I've been busy right

the supposedly the very uncomfortable cat suit he was in had a mechanism in the right hand where if he squeezed it the mouth would open slightly which is just bonkers to me because really like they didn't show that off in the movie yeah exactly so they would strategically you know do a close-up or whatever whatever cool cat had to open his mouth so that you weren't looking at him just squeezing his hand yeah but that's bonkers to me because like if you look up any video on YouTube of how to make your own fur suit head

or something like that. People just use their jaws. You just have a... It's really simple. You just attach it to your jaw. Why would you use a mechanism in your hand? That doesn't make any sense. And that seems really awkward.

He said it gave him blisters all the time. Apparently, this was the one that I... The last notable moment that I got to right before I had to start setting up this. Derek's main direction was always telling Jason to shake his butt more and he would say, kids keep messaging me and telling me that they want to see Cool Cat shake his butt more. And I heard that and I screamed. Yeah, I'm sure that that really happened. Oh dear. I have no idea,

but anyway. Kids watch Cool Cat even. I know. There are no kids that watch Cool Cat. So it's immediately concerning. Everyone who watches the cruel cat is like in their 20s and watching ironically. Or I hope so anyway. I hope kids aren't watching it. Yeah, if you want to find the podcast, just go to the link in my subreddit. It has 65 views. Yeah, I'll put it in the description too.

I'm putting it in my favorites on my thing. Good. Nice. I'll have to watch that. I made it 35 minutes out of two hours and 15. So those were the main takeaways from that. Yeah, we'll go in more depth like next time. The rest of the stuff that I already knew.

But speaking of disasters, apparently Disney's canceling a bunch of movies because Dark Phoenix bombed so hard. And I mentioned... Well, they're canceling Fox movies. Yeah, yeah. Projects that they're going to make in the future. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, what did Fox even have planned? I thought Dark Phoenix was their last thing. Oh, yeah. I don't know where that X-Man movie stands. Do you know, the New Mutants? Do you know what's going to happen with that? Last I heard it was delayed till either the end of this year or early next year.

But they haven't pulled the plug on that yet? Presumably, they've spent so much on it. They might as well release it at this point. They've literally shot the film. I don't know what else they've got to deal on it, but might as well cut their losses and just shit it out at this point. Yeah, these were just on the slate, though. One of them is a diehard movie called McCoy. Oh, really?

Dodged a bullet there then, Christ. Yeah. And I don't think Bruce Willis would even be up for that now. I think you showed up to, showed up drunk to set on something, like a recent movie. I don't know what. Really?

Yeah. And he got kicked off. I mean, his last film I saw anyway was reprisal. He was a fucking disaster. He just doesn't give a fuck. Yeah, do you think he's deeply unhappy or something? Yeah. I think he's just depressed.

I don't know what's been up. How old is he? I think he's depressed. There's an age you get where you stop giving a shit about everything. Or you don't care what you wear when you leave the house. You don't care how you act. You're going to butt in line. You're going to do whatever the fuck you want because fuck you.

I'm old. I'm going to die soon. You know? There's some actors that aren't going to give a shit anymore. I feel like Schwarzenegger or Stallone, they still care. I'm not saying everybody. He's only 64. Yeah, not everybody.

But like Bruce Wallace is a special case. He does not give a shit. Even in those Expendables movies or movies with his friends, he just shows up for a scene and mumbles. Like he's terrible. I would feel pretty old. I'm 64. I don't know. They were still going to make McLean, though,

even with all that. Yeah. So, like, I opened up a bunch of different articles on this. There's only one that's contradicting this, and it like doesn't have any sources, and I don't know

what the hell is this website. What the hell is this? What? You might want to leave it. You're going to get a virus. Yeah. Yeah. This is just like a... It's literally just The article is just saying, like, yeah, we incorrectly reported that hundreds of Fox projects were canceled by Disney's. This has since been proven false, but it's like, where, we've proven false by what? Maybe Disney is the website.

Okay. Yeah, there's comments underneath saying it's fake news and clickbait. Okay, good. Never mind. I was like, I was concerned. So it is real. Yeah, there's only literally one website. I'm just going to, I'm not even going to say the name of the website.

I'm going to edit out the name of the website. Because I've been on sites like that before. They're just like gossip sites where everything they post is bullshit. And then under it, they have those disclaimers. Satire. This is all actually been proven to be false. It's like the headline is like Megan Fox, impregnated Ryan Gosling or something.

Like something makes no sense. Oh, like tabloids? Like the grocery store. And then you click on it's like, oh, it's all bullshit. Impulse items. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think anyone buys those anymore.

I don't know whoever bought them. What's the point? Hey, when it's all, I don't know. Why did they even sell them here? I can understand why they'd sell them in America. Burn. Ouch. Snap.

Okay. Got him. But why do you think they, uh, can't sort of die hard movie if it was the X-Men movie that flopped? Is it just based on the higher-ups and their decision-making and Disney just looking at them and being like, no, let's restructure this. Do you think it's an excuse? Because they're up their own efforts.

To just get rid of all these things anyway? I think they were just going to get rid of all their shit anyway, because they didn't want it. Like, who wants it? To see another movie on here is a League of Extraordinary Gentleman movie. Oh no. Yeah, who wants to see that? The most of one of those that went well. Chronicle 2.

Damn. Like written by Max Landis. Like, who the fuck? Like, who likes him anymore? Wasn't he accused of sexual assault or something? Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah, this is a recent article, too.

June 18th. June, yeah. Accused by multiple women of sexual abuse. Mm-hmm. So, no one gives a fuck about that. Big, Chronicle movie. Yeah.

It doesn't need to happen either. No screaming for sequel. What were the three big names of Chronicle? It was Dane DeHan, Max Landis, and fucking, who's the director? Josh Trank. Another nightmare of human being. So, who gives up fuck about this movie?

Yeah, there's a big comprehensive post on Reddit, it looks like, of just like all the projects that they scrap. The ones that they're not canceling, Terminator Dark Fate Well, that's done Ad Astra No, yeah, just a bunch of things

that are like ready to release Ford v Ferrari Like why would they cancel them It's like well you already have the movie Obviously the Avatar movies Apparently like Planet and Eaps movies Are still being made Is what I heard on one of them?

More of them I don't know Maybe they're making more Like spin-offs maybe Yeah Not with Caesar but like that's the same It just can't end Nothing can end

Because you need to make money This is an industry they're rebooting the Zorro movies of course oh yeah Bob's Burger movie is still happening it's just like I don't know that half of this is just learning about all these projects in production that are just so ridiculous of just reboot reboot sequel reboot you know and like Disney's rebooting home alone now like okay really it's not like it matters I guess like what's going to happen is everybody's going to complain about it online people are going to be like oh Oh, wow, my childhood. And then they'll release a trailer. And people will be like, you know what? This actually looks pretty good. And the new Kevin will be using Amazon Alexa to like kill the bad guys or whatever.

He'll be like, I'm going to set up traps in my home. And they'll be like, wow, this is so cool and relevant. I'm glad they updated it for our times. Everybody's opinion will shift. As soon as the trailer comes out, they'll be like, oh, you know what? I was hating the idea of this before. But now it looks pretty good. What's going to happen?

Yeah, it'll make lots of money. Yeah, because it's a home alone movie. Yeah. He's going to use Alexa. Even if everyone hated that trailer that hypothetically comes out, it would still make millions of dollars because no one cares. Because they know what home alone is. Aladdin was a laughing stock and it's made over a billion bucks.

Yeah. And so will Sonic. And so will any of these things that we complain about. It'll be really interesting seeing how Disney influences these Fox properties because we've seen it already with Disney properties. like it's already just so obnoxious and annoying like oh my god new aladdin new lion king whatever it'll be really interesting to see what kind of approach that they take with a fox title like they're not gonna after dark phoenix i don't think they're gonna allow much creative control to

those who are making the decisions at fox like they they bought the the company right so theoretically there is still a bunch of people from fox working for those projects i think bob Beiger or whoever at Disney is just going to step in and be like, uh, uh, uh, uh, you're not allowed to have creative freedom here. Remember, dark Phoenix. That's my excuse here. Ha ha.

So, sad day. Sad, sad decade for movies. Yeah. Everything's just so sad. I was actually, my friend, I was visiting from out of town. We had this conversation about like, sequels and remakes. And so I literally.

just went on box office mojo.com and I looked at the top 10 grossing films of every year. And you'd literally have to go to like 99 to see an original movie. Yeah, it's a sad side. It's not just like to get a majority original films in the top 10. Because that was a thing. Right now it's unheard of. Like a majority of the films in the top 10 box office are not a sequel or a remake. Yeah, I would say every film on that list.

like after the year 2000 is an animated movie or a sequel or a reboot or remake or something based on something. The only original movies are animated exactly I believe. Because you can make like a Pixar maybe a kid's movie

and it doesn't have to be like a reboot or remake because they're kids they don't have nostalgia why would you do you know and it's the brand of the company too it's Pixar selling it and it's Disney selling yeah but new Pixar brand of the cell itself whatever it's so easy to market

to children. Just tell them that they need it. If you don't have this doinket, you're a baby. You don't want to be a baby, do you? How long till it runs out, though? That's my question. Surely we're going to be clawing so much of these old properties that people are just going to be like, I don't know what this random thing is you've just ripped up from the 60s?

I don't care about this no more. They're doing it so quickly. They're making so many of these reboots and sequels. What properties are even going to be left in 10, 20 years? Well, they'll just do it again. They'll just reboot all of them again, which is kind of what they're already doing. They remade Halloween 10 years ago.

We're going to be stuck in a time loop of the 70s through 90s because all of our remakes will be remade and there will be no new properties to be remade. So like we won't have to, what are people going to have nostalgia for from this decade? Just reboots and remakes of shit from the 80s. So it's like we'll never progress forward in time. We've cut ourselves off.

We're stuck in a time loop. Guys. Not the nostalgia is a bad thing either. I think celebrate. I mean, one of my favorite movies this year was once upon a time in Hollywood, and that's set in the 60s, and it's about just, like, glamorizing the 60s. But you can still fucking do something new. Jesus Christ.

Anyway. Well, speaking of movies that I was going to say, I don't know, we all saw MidSummer. Say it. Well, I was going to. That's an original movie. Yeah, but it's also pretty inspired. It's pretty inspired. I mean, it is an original movie for sure.

Don't get me wrong. but it's also very, very similar to some other movies. Wicker Man. Yeah, spoiler warning for Midsummer. We're going to spoil midsummer because we've all seen it. Alex, you haven't seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood yet, have you? Is that not out yet? It's still not out here.

That's so funny. Yeah, sorry, everybody. There are some people complaining that we didn't get into. Yeah, so there's nothing I can do in front. We'll revisit it once you've seen it. Just let us know. It's better because it gives us more time than to think about it. Yeah.

Let it sit with us. So it would be a better conversation. Excuse me. Anyway, Ralph Well, we all saw this, though. Why don't you introduce Mid-Summer? Because it's your like, what,

favorite movie of the year? Yeah, favorite movie the year. I loved it. It's one of the best horror movies I've seen in a while. It's directed by Ari Aster who made Hereditary, which was also great.

And it's about, I forgot the girl's name, but it's played by Florence Pug and some guy who was in Transformers 4. I thought it was like Pew. I think it's Pew, right? Yeah, I always always call her Florence Pug.

Okay. All right. I like Florence Pug better. Yeah. But I'll say Pugh. But anyway, her whole family dies. Her bipolar sister kills herself and her parents. That's my favorite part of the movie.

Yeah? Yeah. Yeah, I agree. It was a very fucked up scene. You know me. So to make up for it, her boyfriend takes her to a nice vacation in Sweden, along with his friends who don't want her there. and it's just a bunch of fucked up shit from there. Yeah.

So what do we think of midsomer? It's excellent. It's a thinker as well. Mm-hmm. It hit hard for me because recently I actually had a friend who was like, we lost into a cult effectively. And this was like, wow, this is really deconstructing that thought process that these cults go into to like really dismantle someone's psyche and rebuild them up as part of their cult.

It's frightening. and it is a great subject of horror. That was one of the most fascinating aspects to me. And it was handled very realistically, I think, how people are manipulated. And when you're in such a state of grief and despair, how these people can take you in. And even though they're kind of fucked up, they give you that sense of purpose and family that you needed, almost more so than she had back in America. And that was, it was beautiful and horrific at the same time. and that's how I kind of how I felt about the whole film.

Oh, we're on spoilers, by the way. Yeah, I said spoilers. Yeah, I said spoilers. I said spoilers a while ago. Don't worry, I got you. I got you covered. I knew you'd spoil it anywhere. Yeah, of course, yeah.

But for me, it was so impressive that they managed to take a traditional setting that would not be used in horror, like a sunny, these well-lit areas. Like, horror movies don't do that. They rely on darkness for scares the majority of the time. So I think it was really impressive how that environment was used in a really creative and fresh way to put a spin on, you know, like a horror genre. Like there have been cult movies before, but it's really going against the normal grain of that type of movie. Yeah, I love that about it. Like, there's just this oppressive, like, creepy tone to everything that everything just feels a bit off like in a good way.

And there's loads of little secrets in the background that can, so you can kind of figure out what's happening. happening before it's going to if you know what kind of film it is. Because I, like, didn't watch any trailers for this movie. And I just went in knowing, like, Hereditary was sort of structured this type of way. And I was pleased that it was kind of similar in respects to, like, the visual storytelling where I could kind of figure out where it was going and not in a frustrating way, but in a kind of satisfying way that I feel like, so it. It was similar, but also an improvement from Hereditary.

That's how I felt about it. An improvement? Like the everything? You were saying, yeah, I think in every way, basically. But what you were saying about how it's similar to Wicker Man and inspired by other cult movies, I totally agree with you. But what makes it so unique is the execution of it like Alex was saying. I got some shit on Letterbox for saying this was so original and unique. But it was the presentation of it.

It was the fact that it's not dark at all for most of the film and it's all sunny and everyone's very happy. It's very manipulative. in that way. The music is like a waltz almost. Like it's not scary at all until maybe some like crescendoing violins and creepy stuff at the more disturbing parts. But most of it's pretty normal. I love the designs of the buildings and all that. They looked so odd. But yeah, kind of colorful at the same time and same way with like the drawings. It's all it was all so disconcerning because you got the sense that they're trying to cover up the fact that it's horrific, which makes it even more horrific. Yeah, it eases you in like it eases in the characters

that are joining the cult. Yeah. It starts off all kind of inviting and nice and you're with them. Like, how's this going to go wrong? Because you know, obviously, something's going to go wrong and it's a horror movie, but you're just waiting and you start to see the seeds being planted with like these weird lines of dialogue that clearly imply something else to like the surface level interaction that the characters are hearing, which is quite fun. Yeah. And it never got fucked up to the point of being comical. It was always very grounded. Like there's a scene when two people jump off a cliff.

And like I could picture that being so goofy in a film with like comical sound effects of crunching bones and whatever. But the way it was executed and cut, it was so well done. And the way they just dragged out the silences was very effective. But Adam, I want to hear you about. Yeah. Well, I want to, you were, there. There's plenty about the movie that's comical.

I mean... Oh, yeah. There's plenty that intentionally comical. Okay, you're just saying that specific scene. Yeah, I guess that's specific scene. There's scenes that are trying to be disturbing that could come off as comical. Yeah, like that. The sex scene is very comical.

Like, it would be difficult to imagine that that wasn't supposed to be comical. And I think that some people watch this film thinking that it's not supposed to be, because they're, you know, they came out of hereditary and they're expecting this, like, horror movie and I think a lot of people get to that point and, you know, the audience is laughing and they're like, wow, this is dumb. And they hate it for that. I think, I think a lot of people have that experience because this is a pretty polarizing movie. There are a lot of people that really did not enjoy this movie. Oh, really? I don't think I loved it as much as either of you. I still love a lot about it, though. There's many things to appreciate. The reason probably why the

opening scene is my favorite. Like, I love a good punch to the gut. I love like an emotional impact. I thought that that was like really brutal. I loved it. And after that point, it kind of like, there is a tone shift. Hereditary is a movie that after watching midsummer, I assumed, was like probably an hour shorter. It turns out it was only like 15 minutes shorter. They're very, very differently paced. Hereditary is a very long movie, but it feels very fast pace.

A lot of people say like, what do you, I said that once. People are like, what are you talking about? Hereditary is super slow. Like, it doesn't feel that way to me. me at all. Every single thing about it feels justified. Every single, you know, like, it doesn't stop. It's always progressively moving forward. There's new things to discover, et cetera, et cetera. Whereas midsummer is something that, like, it takes its time. And the majority of what I get out of it is essentially the buildup and the character interactions. So what I love about the

movie is like the dynamic between the main girl and her boyfriend, just how their characters are explored how it feels very honest and real like it's coming from a real place it it doesn't feel fake at all it's it's a really genuine movie in terms of how it writes and presents its characters and i love that so much but at the same time it is also building up in like kind of a horror movie fashion i felt personally underwhelmed by the horror elements of this film outside of the opening scene by the time that it got to the end, because most of the movie is build up. Like, I loved the buildup so much, but by the time

it got to what it was showing, by what it was building up to, I was kind of like, that wasn't, you know, like, I, I, I didn't feel anything new from it. Yeah, it had been something more shocking. It wasn't new. It was just like another, you know, Wicker Man kind of, like, thing. Like, it was well shot. Don't get me wrong. Like, that last

scene was well shot, but it was just like, oh, you're doing, you're doing this thing I've seen before, and it wasn't like, all that scary it wasn't like i didn't find it emotionally impactful however on a second watch i might find it more emotionally impactful now that i've read some interpretations about how it's not really about what it's showing it's more about her breaking off relationships basically each character is like a representation of of some sort of like toxic behavior from a relationship or a loved one and that this is kind of like this metaphorical

idea of learning to break free from that and to try and cut toxic people out of your life. And I really like that interpretation and I'll probably get more out of the movie the next time I see it just based on that alone. But still, there is something I was really, really itching for in terms of like a horror movie experience that I hoped I would get out of it. And it was just, there was mostly buildup to nothing that I found super special or something. scary or gory or wild or crazy. Just the opening scene was awesome for me in that sense. I don't think it's even trying to go for that. I know, right?

I think the horror comes from the these subdued realism of it. Because we've seen like these crazy cults like Jones Town and all these, these things that have happened in real life that are on this same scale. So it's just kind of horrific to see it before our eyes like just unfold with, without really holding back particularly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Crazy cults everywhere. Zach Snyder fan base and we see it everywhere But Ralph, you've seen it twice, haven't you? I've heard the film flows about better. Oh, no, I haven't. I haven't. I've only seen it once. Oh, sorry, I thought you've seen it twice. Yeah, sorry.

I've heard that the film flows better on a repeat viewing because I'm sure. I just kind of know what it's up to you. I'm sure once you know where it's going. Yeah, exactly. I want to talk about the characters a bit more. Oh, were you going to say something, Alex? No, I was just going to mention.

I did find it a bit. long. Yeah. And I was trying to figure out where it was going. And, yeah, you did feel the length. Unlike, I thought there was a better sort of build-up and flow to hereditary. Yeah. Entirely different-based.

Exactly, yeah. Yeah. It's definitely a slow burn, this one. Yeah, exactly. And after that initial jolt, the first 10 minutes, it takes its time. And nothing very insane happens until much later, like midpoint. But the characters, like what you're, were saying, Adam, feel very believable, even though they could easily be, like, stock,

horror, cliche characters. Yeah. It's not just believable, but, like, purposeful. Like, it has, these characters are these way because the director is trying to say something, and I love, I love that. Like, they, it's not just, like, realistic as in, like, oh, I can believe this guy could exist. It's, like, the subtleties in how they interact with each other is, like, kind of, like, emotionally

painful in ways to, to people who have experienced any kind of relationship. like that, it's like sad. And just like these really simple lines of dialogue and interactions and like, I guess even body language or the way that they look at each other is just something that I really appreciate about it. Yeah. I think their motivations made sense for staying there too. For the most part, there's that whole angle of he has to write his college thesis and they're

both competing to do that. It was like all these little character dynamics that were very interesting to watch while this whole fucked up scenario is unfolding in the background. Yeah, because it helps mitigate that thing that so many horror movies fall into, that trap of why the character's sticking around? Why are they here when this is so, like, shocking and absurd? Why are they sticking around? They should be running.

They should be gone. And I did feel that a little bit towards the middle of the movie where I was like, after some of the things they've seen and how weird and off and creepy everything is. I buy a couple of the characters not really having much push. back because they're supposed to be sort of easing into the cult. But especially like the boyfriend to me seem like I would have liked to have seen a bit more pushback from him. Because he just sort of was like, okay, whatever. They should have made him a little more clear, especially toward the end when he takes the sip of the mushroom, like the last sip that he ever takes.

I guess also, he was like the only person I wasn't crazy about his performance. Yeah. Yeah, there was one particular part in the movie, especially. a while since I've seen it now, but I remember it was a line and I was like, I really did not enjoy the delivery of that and I was not convinced. Interesting. Yeah, I thought all the acting was pretty good. No, I think aside from that, the actual character dynamic was very interesting well written, but there was just some performance things that just stood out to me. It's the guy from Transformers 4, so maybe it was the Michael, that was like the Michael Bay

coming out in his performance. One of my favorite bits of performance that stuck out to me was actually from him when he when he's having a bad trip because like at that moment like his body language the way he's like someone will like hold up an object in front of his face and he like looks at in his head like kind of you know cringes backwards i i feel like the performances of these characters under the influence of hallucinogenicics was very very believable i also love that they they put detail into you know showing their pupil being dilated and stuff like that these little details the effects they would do on the tree and the the skies and all that that was really cool the leaves yeah oh yeah the replications also like the visual replications were really cool like like that was very believable there's a lot of cool effects yeah psilocybin yeah there was all kind of subtle things and then yeah really obvious stuff like that yeah the uh the guy the the the the douchey guys the same guys played colin and bandersnatch yeah

He was very good too. I didn't know that was him when I first saw it. Yeah. Very different character. I like that actor. He's a good character actor. Yeah. He was a dick in the movie, but I understood his character, and I found him kind of funny

how he just wanted to have, like, a good trip with the guys. Yeah, I mean, those people exist. It's a character you need, yeah. Florence Pugh is a very believable crier as well. Her cries were very believable and realistic. But that's just what I mean, like all of these things that, could easily be laughable, like fucking people crying at the top of their lungs. It's so bad in most movies, but here they play it, and it's like, holy fuck, this is really

disturbing. And then the comedic stuff feels very intentional. And disturbing also. So you're like nervous laughing at it. So even that shit is disturbing. I remember reading that in both hereditary and midsummer, there were like multiple actors who got, like, PTSD from how intense some of their performances were. Because they're just so emotional. They hold nothing back.

It feels real. And it really helps the more absurd things feel more grounded because of character. Ari Aster certainly knows how to work with his actors. That's for sure. So like even if you don't like midsummer, even if you don't like, you know, hereditary or whatever, it's like it's clear that this guy has some talent. It's clear that he's a director to be looking out for. The only real things you could possibly really criticize. him for his films would be like whether or not you liked what his movies were going for,

right? What their goals were. Yeah. But in terms of execution. The screenplay level. I mean, pretty fantastic. Like, he's great. Even as a writer, he knows how to put his characters through just very challenging,

horrific scenarios so that they become more interesting and fleshed out. Yeah. Which is something, again, most people fucking, there's a character in a house and they're walking around the house. In a horror movie anyway. Like that, the haunting of Sharon Tate movie where like characters are just fucking doing nothing

for an hour. It's terrible. Yeah, one day. Hilary Duff. Yeah, I'm hoping Ariaster kind of experiments a bit more in the future because you could see how this almost formula could get old after.

I'd like a trilogy of these kind of movies because they're all sort of tonally somewhat similar with their like atmosphere in the way they're presented. I'd just like to see, you don't want to the director to just fall into a box and be like,

yeah, we're kind of used to this now. We don't really care anymore. Oh, he makes the fucked up movies. It's like, oh, okay, that gets sold after a while. Yeah, exactly. He said that he's going to try and take a break from horror at some point.

Okay. So. That would be interesting. Yeah. There's an article from Indie Wire. Oh, fuck. I feel like I have to sneeze. I'm so sorry.

This is terrible. Look at the light. My lights aren't even on in my room. I'm just sitting in the dark. What the fuck? I forgot to turn them on and I didn't want to like stop your lights on. We'll stop the podcast right now.

Go turn your lights on. You're in the dark. It's not that dark. There's like light coming from like the windows. It's daytime here. Looking like a hacker on your computer right now. Oh yeah. I got the whole like green text.

I'm hacking them in the mainframe yet. Put a hoodie on. I hacked hard enough that I found this article from IndyWire. I hacked into the article. It says that after midsummer, Ari Aster, I don't know how to pronounce his first name, or his last name even. He wants to make a zonky nightmare comedy. Is what he's saying? He says either that.

Either that or a sickly domestic melodrama. So I don't know what the hell he's going to do, but at least I know it'll be well shot. His like short film? No, I just linked that in the... Did you hear about the Johnstons or something? I haven't seen that yet. I think I have seen it. Yeah?

It could be something like that where it's like a drama or... Oh, okay. It's like a drama or a melodrama, but it's really disturbing, like that film. That film has some really disturbing themes in it. I recommend that one. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I'll definitely check it out.

But even if he just made a horror film again, as long as it's not about cults and, you know, it's just do something a little different. Yeah, I want to see him make something where I don't feel like it's just a reimagining of another movie because don't get me wrong I love how it's presented differently but at the same time

I watch midsummer and all I'm thinking about is what's that movie fuck I just the wicker man I just lost the title and I watch hereditary and I'm like this is great but it's kind of like a worse version of Rosemary's baby and a better version of Don't Look Now

at the same time you know to me anyway yeah I just think I just think about it different. I just see it. I see those influences in it, but I also see it as its own work. And I love that it made something new. Oh, they're totally their own thing. Oh, yeah. I'm not

saying you're like, oh, it's ripping off. That I couldn't even point out what it's inspired from. You know, I want to see, like, you can be inspired by many different movies to make something. But as soon as it's like really obvious just by watching it and not necessarily like an interview, like it's,

you know, there can be like, I guess ideas or themes or like tiny bits of it that you could say could be related to something else and you could see how it's inspired by that but like for both of the feature films he's made it's been like painfully obvious like what he's going for in terms of like I saw a movie and I kind of wanted to do that but I'll do it differently sort of thing you know I want to see something where I don't feel that yeah I get that also the wicker man there's so many movies that are similar to wicker man it's become like a whole genre of films there's like the get out is very similar to wicker man too nothing has been as similar

to Wickerman as this movie in terms of movies that have been inspired by this is the most similar. There's been tons of things inspired by Wicker Man, Roseberry's Baby. It's better than the Wicker Man remake. But nothing so far has been as close to the original as what Ariaster

makes is what I'm saying. I would agree with you, but the thing that makes it that okay to me is the clear, like inspired presentation. It really elevates the material the way it's the uniqueness of what the director is doing just with

how they're using the camera and the music and there's just a lot of like subtlety that especially stands out to me in the current horror landscape where this is not a film full of jump scares and the typical kind of stuff I love the I always think about that scare and hereditary where you just you think you see something in the background and it's like just moves out the frame of it I love that kind of horror and that kind of stuff makes it just stand out a bit more to me than just making these recreations of things you love from when he was a kid or whatever. Have either of you seen Rosemary's Baby, by the way? Yeah, I love Rosemary's Baby. It's amazing. A long time ago. Yeah.

Also, there's different... Yeah, I love that movie. It's so great. We should recommend it one day, maybe. But there's a different intent for this film, too. From what I remember about Wicker Man, I saw it a while ago, who were years, but it wasn't about grief and relationships and like the end of relationships in this way. There's different goals. Yeah, no, too. But on, like, in terms of like, I guess a surface level interpretation, you know, in terms of like, the basic plot is very similar. Not necessarily like the structure or the tone or like the metaphors and what the director is trying to communicate thematically, but like in terms of, you know, the point A to point

B, what the characters go through, you know, find a cult, get burned. I totally get what you're saying. Yeah, yeah. But there's a lot of people. use what you're saying as an excuse to say like, oh, this movie's a totally unoriginal piece of shit. Like something like that.

I know that. We are all saying this film has clear intent and it's so original in its own thing, but it's also inspired by these other films that you should also see because they're great. I wouldn't say it's a piece of shit because of it, for sure. No. I definitely have mixed feelings on Midsummer.

Appreciate a lot about it. I'm hoping to enjoy it more on my second watch, And it is something that, you know, I'm considering for my top of 2019 or whatever, for sure. But definitely wouldn't call it my favorite movie of the year. Well, I love everything about it. I even love the opening mural, the little drawing of like that lays out the whole story. Yeah. I love that.

Yeah, that's nice. The score is fantastic. All the performances are excellent. Really well shot. Yeah, everything we said. Really well shot. Yeah. Five out of five for me.

Seven out of ten for me. Yeah. Closer to an eighth than a six. So far, it's one of the more interesting... Ralph? No, that was me. It was a good guess. So far, it's one of the more interesting films of the year for me.

I'll have to see how it flows on the repeat viewing, otherwise I might have to bump my score down a little bit. Don't think it was quite as tight as hereditary or as frightening, but I think the setting just makes up for that. Yeah, four stars out five from me. Epic. Epic film. All right, well, I'm going to turn on my light.

Hold on. Thank you. You don't look like a gremlin over there. All right, I'm back. Isn't that better? You can see? Yeah, I guess. Not as much eye screen.

When the only light is coming from your computer and you're looking at it. It wasn't like pitch black. It just wasn't. Yeah. But that's what I'm imagining in my head is you in a hacker room. Fuck it on the keyboard. Punched over. Permanent back problems.

Like. All right. Yeah, Mr. Roblo. Speaking of other movies, we watched a movie called Southland Tales. Yes, I'm so hyped for this. I realized, as I was editing the last episode,

that I totally fucking stole your intro for Death Proof because that was your recommendation. And I wound up introducing it. So I'm going to let you introduce. this one. So, spoiler alert, everybody. You're going to let him introduce. Why do you do this to me? Hey, whoa, I'm just trying to be fair. Because I stole your death proof one.

That's bullshit, Alex. I'm with you. I'm sorry. Do you not want to? No, this is fun. This is fun. Okay. Well, spoiler warning for this movie, everybody. I'm so sorry. I was watching the movie. I was like, I cannot wait for Adam to explain the plot this fucking poem, right?

Self and Tales, okay, is Richard Kelly's film after Donny Darko which was a huge hit everyone liked critical success everyone was hyped for the next movie so these actors jumped on board for a story and a really out there story which is kind of what can be best described as Richard Kelly's Star Wars in terms of like world building

and epic scope and like science fiction universe going as far as the film taking place over six acts three of which are in the movie those being four, five, and six, the first three being graphic novels. So the film just kind of starts and it's a bunch of like really out there scenes about scientists discover this new energy force by harnessing the power of ocean currents. But then the trade-off from that energy buildup is like the discovery of some drug that makes people really high. But then depending on what color you have,

said to you. Yeah, but different things. It takes clear inspiration from like Brazil or even Pulp Fiction where you have these converging characters and storylines that all come together at the end. I was going to say Mahal and Drive, inland empire, like all those... Philip K. Dick novels. Like there's there's all sorts of inspiration. It's trying to satirize every element of culture, whether it would be like sexuality, oppressive governments, communism, capitalism literally everything every single theme

ever ever is in the film and it's sort of about the apocalypse I guess World War III and the apocalypse and how these people coming together results in the end of the world and it's a colossal piece of shit I'm afraid I hated this fucking film

I hated this film I couldn't I said I was watching it with someone I was like if I didn't have to finish this for Sardonic I would have turned it off by I just couldn't handle it It feels like it would end at like so many different points And I was watching this with my roommates It could end it at any point

And I felt bad for them because I was the only one that knew it was like two and a half hours long And so like every moment where it's like it seems like it would just like finish up I'm like no I know it's still going but they don't Who compared this under the Silver Lake was it Mark Kermode and apparently a lot of people Apparently not just him I didn't get that comparison at all No I see the similarities in that they're both like a deconstructionist

view of LA which is also like that's why I mentioned like David Lynch movies there's like some Dr. Strange love in there too with like the government angle yeah they're also both like ambitious second features after a first success right so in that sense yeah sure you could draw that parallel

but I think it's like is it because both are hard to follow I mean I wouldn't even call under the Silver Lake card to follow like and I'm no I wouldn't either you could say totally it's very clear what it is. It's like a noirish dark comedy. Yeah.

And like I wouldn't... And this is like, what the fuck? It's like a science fiction... Like, they introduced time travel like halfway through the movie, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, if you read the prequel novels, which I hope you guys did, then you know. I didn't.

Did you? Well, that's a whole. I don't like that. I read the first one this morning in bed. And I was just like, okay. Whatever. They were literally special features on the... the Blu-ray. You could like just chapter select

through these pages. And I got to the first page of the first one. I was like, I'm not fucking doing this. What do you want me to do? I finished the first one. I finished the first one. I gave it a chance. How was it? I mean, it gives you slightly more context, I suppose,

but the whole time was just like, why did the movie not start this way? It's such a more obvious point to introduce us to this ultra-complex world instead of the beginning of the film is such a mess. It's just this huge exposition with this like corny. Yeah, it looks terrible.

The art direction is so bad. Apparently that was added in like, so they premiered this film at Con. Which is so funny. So they, yeah, and they re-edited it. And apparently that beginning segment was a lot of re-edits and exposition dumps because they had to cut stuff out. Literally didn't exist. Yeah, it really shows because it feels very cheap.

It looks bizarre. Yeah, this film does not start strong at all, which is one of the, probably the biggest things about it is at the beginning of it. is that the beginning is fucking terrible. But I want to just say right off the bat, I think I like this movie more than you guys do, slightly, but I still think it's good. Okay.

I do like it more than you. And I want to give it another chance maybe in the future because I think this is the kind of film. They really want you to see it more than once. Because it's hard and it's funny to follow. I don't think the film's like nasty or, you know, it's not hateful or cynical, but it's just a failure.

It's just bloated. It's full of, It's full of so many random concepts and ideas that it's one of those films that to get something out of, you have to read it instead of watch it. Like, you're not even watching the movie at the point where you begin understanding it. Because when you actually do watch the movie, you have these terrible performances with this bizarre dialogue in this terribly, like, constructed sequence of, like, scenes. But when they all come together, it's like, okay, I understand exactly what you're doing here. You're trying to dismantle all of this, like, American post-9-11, like, fear. and everything that goes into that

and like all the the gradual buildup of the internet and all of this like anxiety of America like encapsulated but team America well police is about a deconstruction of America than like Southland Tales is because it's a consistent film throughout it earns its like premise it establishes like a new universe

it shows characters and has jokes that are funny like the humor is just bizarre in Southland Tales Did you find any of it genuinely funny? No. No. No. That's what I mean. There was some minor things I found funny.

Is that like it insists it's a comedy, but if I didn't constantly hear the director insisting it's a comedy, I might not know that it's a comedy. It's just like you can't separate it. It's just, it's bad. It just feels bad. Yeah. And part of that is because of the casting.

Like I know the director did it intentionally to kind of try, to shine a light on who he thought were underrated actors, but... Which is so bizarre! ...the performance here. The Rock, like, with his weird, like, with his weird, like, ticks and stuff, he was so embarrassing to watch. It was, like, a parody of itself. I couldn't believe her.

And we've been ranting on The Rock, and this was even more proof as to why he shouldn't be playing characters like this. I am fascinated by how much The Rock has improved as an actor. For someone who still can't act, I didn't realize... I didn't realize he could be this much worse. but it turns out I think it's the same level of acting he was much much worse

he's just playing like a nervous wreck yeah which is not he's not good at that the actors in the movie didn't even seem like they understood the words they were saying it seemed like it didn't come legitimate legitimately yeah this story like yeah I understand where the story

is going but they've they just have no clue what they're saying they're talking about this like fluid karma in the the neo-Marxist movement and it's like it's all this like just flower language that when you actually deconstruct, it's not complicated. Yeah, it's just

convoluted. It's just like, it's just told in a stupid way. That's really impossible to understand. And like, there was a, I watched all the special features, by the way, and there was literally like a section in this featurette or it's just like a compilation of all the different actors like John Lovitz

just being like, well, you know, I don't understand why my character's in this movie, but I liked it. I don't understand what my goals were. I don't understand. Yeah, like every actor showed up on set with the script and was like, um, I don't really know anything about what my character's about or what the movie is about. Justin Timberlake, he was even interviewed. Yeah.

He admitted in an interview that he had no clue what it was about and that it was like dance or something. He said it was like interpretive dance or something like that. Well, there's a nice musical number in the film. Did you guys enjoy that? It was just Big Lobosky. Yeah, it was just Big Lobosky. It felt so up his own hands. trying to do that I've seen better done in other films.

There was an attempt. It was very ambitious. It reminded me of like one of those bad Andrew Nicol films like in time where it's just like the ambition is high but you don't know what the fuck you're doing and you're just making a really ridiculous story. And what pisses me off the most about this is like there's this idea that is that is really heavily insisted by the director like he's so far up his own ass that. that like, you would just appreciate it if you just watched it a couple times or you would like the movie if you understood it.

But you have to understand that like, just because your story is so convoluted that nobody understands what's happening doesn't mean that you've written a good story. It doesn't mean it's intelligent. I watched the movie and then I immediately watched it with the director's commentary.

I'm sorry, you're still full of shit. You explained everything that's happening in this commentary and it's still bad. It's just like, oh, wow. Now I kind of understand what some of these characters we're trying to do at this moment. You know, I kind of understand this incredibly bizarre and unnecessary sort of like political game conflict that you've written into the film. Like, it's trying to do so many different things at once.

And it doesn't succeed at anything that it's doing. It doesn't give any real focus or attention to any one of these single ideas that he's trying to communicate. He's just throwing in as much shit as possible. thinking like this is how to make a smart movie I'm gonna talk about literally everything at once I'm gonna make this like every single bit of social commentary that is in the film isn't something that you're like oh I was confused that the social commentary was in there because it's also heavy-handed it's also on the nose like the Patriot I know porn you know like I don't like I understand that you're

making commentary on like sexuality and pornography in our culture I still understand what you were trying to say about it. I don't understand what perspective you were offering on that, just that you were insisting that you were talking about it. It doesn't seem purposeful in any way. He's trying to make fun of these things, but it's, he goes too far to a point where there's a line between

funny and just stupid, and he just takes it too far. And there's so many scenes in this movie that are just fucking dumb and obnoxious. Characters, or actors, I should say, are trying way too hard to be funny. And it just comes across really kind of embarrassing and obnoxious. Because half the cast are from SNL, for God's sake. Yeah.

There's a lot of comedy actors in this. Yeah, it's just like, it's like, it's desisting, it's a comedy. It's insisting so hard that it's a comedy, but it's not funny. It's kind of, it's kind of like a, well, it's like a superficial, it's making fun of how superficial Hollywood is and the entertainment industry is,

mainly like television and the news and reality TV. And I think that part of it was somewhat entertaining, at least for me, because that felt accurate to like how LA really is. It captured the vibe of, Los Angeles and how fucking nutball it is kind of well in the tone kind of well you don't live here what do you know about Los Angeles I've been there I hate it I wouldn't want to live there I've been there enough times to know I wouldn't want to live there yeah that's fair because I don't yeah but Southland

Hills is I guess he doesn't want to live here either because it's basically ripping apart every fucking facet of Los Angeles under the Silver Lake did so much better of a job of that Yeah, totally did. Well, it was way, again, it was way more focused and clear what it was going for. I'm all subtle. Yeah, and had a story. It's weird to say that.

It had 25 different characters. Under the Silver Lake, many people could criticize it for not being super subtle. Like, it's not really like something that's incomprehensible even on your first watch. Well, I guess, like, there's many elements to it that you would not pick up for sure, and you'd definitely need to watch it multiple times in order to do that and analyze it. it but in terms of what the movie's going for I found it pretty clear on my first watch yeah and there's enough of a goal there

like he has to find the girl like I know where the story is going there's a narrative hook the film Southland Tales has no narrative hook at all yeah yeah like there's a reason to want to explore under the Silver Lake more but like I don't know precisely I don't know what the hell this movie is offering

in terms of making me want to revisit it like other than the director just insisting I should and reading these three graphic novels like to explain your fucking movie because the plot's so convoluted. I don't like how, like, every, every bit of it just feels so fucking pretentious. How they just keep referencing that Robert Frost poem, like, The Road Not Taken. Like, how many times are you going to do that?

Stop doing it. Just say it once. Like, it's not, it's not subtle in any way. And it's, like, I don't know what you're trying to do. I don't know what you're trying to be. It's like he thinks that by throwing these things in his movie, that he can say he's made a smart movie. It's like he has the recipe, I guess,

but he doesn't know how to cook it. Does that make sense? It wears its inspiration on its sleeve to the point where it barely has its own voice. It's just a cluster fuck of just these random scenes that are like, this part's supposed to be satirizing this. This part is supposed to be dismantling this political concept. But it's like, where's the part like I should care of

about should I be concerned for these characters that the apocalypse is going to happen? Because I don't care. Like if the world's going to end, because I don't give a shit about any of these characters or the story. They're all so silly. Yeah. They're all just there to be like ciphers to make fun of Hollywood anyway. That's what they all work. But it's not

funny. Like it doesn't nail any of it, anything that it's going for. This is the way the world ends. So? Like, what do you mean? There's so many attempts here. He was so preoccupied to capture that That idea that response he got from Donnie Darko

For like, well, we've never seen this before This is so clever But like That film was kind of rained back by producers Because he hadn't been proven yet This seems like a classic case of You know like when George Lucas was Completely handed the reins

And wasn't real back by anyone It's the same thing He was just given free reign And it's just cluster of random themes and ideas That needed an editor Needed someone to be like, okay, a lot of this is really interesting concepts, but we need someone to come in here. We need to take this out. We need to put this in.

We need to develop this character here. We need to have a more coherent plot. We've got to get rid of this fucking graphic novel, stupid video game bullshit that they've been... Video games have been called out for doing the last year where they don't have a story and you have to read shit that's been published outside of the work. That's not okay, I'm afraid. Yeah. This is the Dark Souls of Movies. Yeah, but worst of all, it's just plodding.

and boring to watch. Like, the flow of the movie is excruciating. It's like a snail's pace. I was, there was a point in the movie where I was like, okay, this feels like I'm at the end. And I paused it to look how much time was left and I had half an hour left. And I was just like, this is never going to end, this is it? I'm in hell. This is the way the world ends.

And yet when the film ended, I was like, what? That's the ending? Like, the ending was so unsatisfied. You shake fans and float up in the sky and... Yeah, and, uh, CGI, Blimp Exploding, that looked like total crap. Cars fucking each other. Yeah, that, that's, that was funny. That wasn't even funny to me.

That was like, okay, come on. Like, it was out of nowhere. It didn't make any sense. It's making fun of, like, how, how all these car commercials are just a dick measuring context. Like, oh, look how fucking awesome my car is. It's big, and it's got the big wheels. It's like, think of fun. I get that.

But that's like a YouTube video. Listen, in this movie, when it's like, two and a half hours long, I'm grasping for fucking straws. That part was like at least somewhat amusing. Yeah, like take that out of the movie. How does it really affect anything? No, it doesn't. It's a whole comment.

It's all a bunch of disjointed pieces and none of it's telling a full story. And that's why the pacing is so bad. For anybody who watched that scene and it awoke something in them and that's their new fetish, I apologize for recommending this movie. You're in for a life of hell. This is the way your world ends. Yeah. How do you feel that you've recommended this movie?

Well, I mean, I'm glad I finally watched it. I mean, like, I'm glad that I finally got to it because like it is very polarizing and what's fascinating about this is like it wasn't just the reception around when it was made. Like there's people in my subreddit on Twitch that were commenting at me because I have rated the film already on IMDB and they saw my incredibly low rating for this film and they were like, damn, why'd you hate this so much? It's one of my favorite movies ever. It's my favorite comedy. There's people like that. And I'm like, you know, not trying to invalidate their experience, but I'm trying to understand it. I'm trying to understand the perspective here.

And I was kind of hoping one of you guys would just love it so that I could hear the perspective of somebody. I was hoping for that as well, but I just couldn't. I didn't expect that, though. I get the comedic tone of it. I think it's, I get the tone it's trying to go for. It's just not that funny is the problem. It's not funny at all. I guess that's a matter of taste.

No, well, because again, it has no. It has no point, yeah, obnoxious. Yeah. Very loud. But that's also annoying because people will fight that and say, no, it does have a point. Mm-hmm. But people say it's deep because it's about, it has elements of like real-world controversial issues in it. But there's nothing fleshed out about it.

Like, yeah, there's government surveillance in it. There's a guy with a sniper rifle who works for the US government who shoots a fucking person. Yeah. It's like, okay, what is that, what does that mean? We're not denying that the film is clearly attempting to make commentary on society. Yes. I get that. It's just not doing it well.

Exactly. Yeah, because we love films that deal with all of these types of themes. We already mentioned a bunch already in this discussion. That's not the problem. That's all the movies that's trying to rip off. Yeah. It's just the thing. It's worse than all of them.

It has nothing on Brazil. It has nothing on anything that's taking inspiration from. Even Donnie Darko, which he takes a ton from at the end, is it's not as good as Donnie Darko. There's like the whole fireworks. There's an exploding kind of aircraft. There's a man who falls from the sky. There's a plane that falls from the sky. There's all these very similar visual story things that are going on.

It's just like Donnie Darko. It just doesn't work. It's like what you was saying about Ariaster being, or how he could be a one-trick pony, how directors get trapped in just doing the same thing. That's how I felt with this. It's this guy just doing the same thing. Again, I'm going to make an ambitious avant-garde, like crazy movies.

I feel like they're very different. Because I'm so smart, because I'm such an autore. And it doesn't really congeal come together well in a way that's satisfying for me. I wouldn't say that this film is his attempt to do Donny Darko again. I feel like those are incredibly different movies. But what I will say is that I think this film is the definitive proof that I need to call him a hack. He got fucking lucky. Donnie Darko happened to work out.

Jake Gyllenhaal carried a lot of that movie too, let's be honest. Yeah, they had a good cast. Donnie Darko was very similar in the sense that it used a lot of pre-existing songs for its soundtrack. But in this movie, every single one of them feels so out of place. Every single soundtrack choice. It's like, what are you trying to communicate here? Like you have this song here. It could be any other song because there's nothing that really melds with the tone of the scene that you're communicating.

when they're like walking into that futuristic kind of like silver room and that I don't even remember what song was playing but literally always just thinking all I was thinking is like there's no purpose to this song being the song that's playing here it could be any song for like

pretty much the whole movie it's just it's it's frustrating and nothing really mesh all these great ideas but they they butt each other in the head it doesn't it doesn't mesh that you can't force something like this you can't force Brazil. It has to

naturally happen based on the progression of your career. He's trying to harness this like, okay, I need to break new ground again. But it's like, no, just tell a good story. Show us something we haven't seen before in a way that is actually interesting. He hasn't made a film sense because this was a big failure

in the box. No, he made the box. Oh yeah. That's right. And then after that he never made anything again. He has like two on his IMDB they're listed as in development. I don't know. But yeah, he made the box, which I think I tried watching when I was younger and I just didn't even get through it

So he's a hack Sorry everybody I didn't remember that movie existed until you mentioned it Exactly Did you know that it wasn't even supposed to be Three graphic novels? It was supposed to be six And then that couldn't happen And so he made three instead

Because they didn't have enough money Yeah How about you take that money You were going to spend on a graphic novel And use it to make the movie Yeah Yeah I mean like as soon as Why do that?

Just flesh out a better story in the movie, which is what I'm watching. As soon as you've written something and you've come to the conclusion that you're going to have six graphic novels try to explain the two and a half hour long thing that you've written, you should probably think about rewriting it.

You should probably think about maybe the format that you're telling this story and maybe you could do a miniseries or something. If all of that information that was necessary in that graphic novel, you know, if all of that would make the film so much better and the only reason people don't like it is because they didn't read all the graphic novels. Why don't just make a miniseries? Do something else. I don't know. Go call HBO. See if they want it. A trilogy of movies where you follow each character. One where you follow Dwayne Johnson and then

there's like three kind of plots in this movie. Yeah. Michelle Malimann Scott and then there's like the Paris Hilton kind of played by Sarah Michelle Geller. Yeah, Buffy. And even she was like, I guess she mimicked Paris Hilton. I don't think she did a bad guy. There's nothing. I don't think anyone did like a terrible job. I think Dwayne did a terrible job. Like everyone just seemed confused. Dwayne. I think he was trying.

It was just very confused. And he went along with like the over the top goofy tone of the movie, I thought. I don't know. I'm not saying he was good. I just think he fit. He didn't stand out to me. It's a, it's a very strange day when Sean William Scott is not the worst actor in the movie.

He might be the best one. Yeah. He was better than John Lovett. Yeah. John Lovitch just showed up and then shot two people and fucking left. His character. My jaw was a gape when he was on screen. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

What was he channeling for that performance? Nobody knows what they were doing. The director's the only one that thinks that he understands the story, right? Well, he said he's proud of it. I think he stands by it. He said it's the most proud he's ever been about a film. Well, good for him. I'm happy he likes it.

It hits his movie. It's like I literally watch through your director's commentary, and I still don't think it's a good movie. So I'm sorry. I'll give it another chance, pal. But clearly it speaks to some people. Oh, clearly does. Yeah. The breakdown is nearly exactly even.

The same amount of people give it a 10 and a 1, and then the rest are in the middle. It's crazy. Yeah. It really strikes the response to people. Yeah. Uh-huh. And I think that's a good quality about it. Yeah, that's why I'll never, like, condemn it in the same way I would,

you know, the usual garbage we talk about. Yeah, I think it comes from a good place. It comes from a place of ambition. It's not lazy. I just think it's a failure, like you said. And I appreciate that. I appreciate what he was going for. It just didn't really come together.

Well, it did not. Yeah, I never want to see it again. Yeah. You got it made, I suppose. Yeah. Yeah. It's just like, all right, well, good luck getting something made again. I'm a pimp.

Because this is so... And pimps don't commit suicide. that line. Yeah, what the fuck was that line? It was the end of the movie. It was the last line of the film. Pins don't commit to it. I know.

Like, there's so many ideas that are just, like, thrust in near the end of the movie. Like, it doesn't feel like it has a cohesive journey from one place to another. It almost feels like, like, it's well over halfway into the movie where they start talking about, like, the whole dimensions and, like, you know,

like, oh, if they shake hands, it'll cause the rift. in the fourth dimension. How do I know that? Because I wrote a screenplay and it's prophetic and I'm able to tell the future through my screenplay and I'm just convinced of that.

Everybody just completely unironically agrees with this idea of like, oh yeah, if you send a monkey through, that won't work because the monkey will die. It's not strong enough, but its soul will survive. You need to do it with a human being. You're just making shit up.

How do you, like, what is that based on? What justifies that logic? It pisses me off. They just insist things and expect you to go along with it. Yeah, because it's so out there. Yeah. The whole script being in the movie thing was so stupid and played out. Yeah, the metathing.

It's all adaptation. Yeah, fourth wall break. You were complaining. You talk about that all the time, Alex. Yeah, these fourth wall breaks, how it's so lazy. Yeah. And this film does it a lot. Because when you just say that you're bad and admit to being bad,

then no one can say anything. No one can critique you. So it's like, no, we made it this way on purpose. That's what he keeps saying. No, it's misunderstood because I made it bad on purpose. It's supposed to be like this. You just don't get it, dude. I wrote this with the greatest intentions,

and you're all too dumb to understand it. Get on my level. Drives me nuts, man. Yeah. The budget was almost $18 million, and it made... And it made, like, half a million. Not even.

It made like $375,000. $300. That's it. There's like the gigantic flop. possibly the biggest flop of Dwayne the Rock Johnson's career Probably a bigger flop than Baywatch Yeah if it was released now it might be more

Right I was gonna say well maybe that's why he's so paranoid about the roles he picks now Being portrayed as a good guy Because of films like this Yeah Where he's like the director to do whatever he wants And he's like wow he made me look like a fucking buffoon I'd like embarrass myself for two and a half hours That's probably what he was thinking

Yeah I mean this was like this was in his early days where like he wasn't I mean he's never been in a good movie really but where he wasn't in like massively successful movies every single time he was in like B movies

like Doom movies yeah exactly video game adaptation movies what's that one where that's like the pacifier he's in the tooth fairy like shit like that's yes yes yeah same poster I feel like that movie's been made

there's one with Jackie Chan too oh it's like Kids, he's got to raise kids. Oh. And he's a spy. They were a little dumb on at some point. Yeah. They all had Schwartz and Eggers, all of them.

They all got that kids movie. Yeah. There's just so much that feels like it's forced into the movie and doesn't come organically. Like they literally just like immediately break away from whatever plot they were doing. And he's like, I need to go get some money from the ATM machine. And it's like, why the hell is this? he doing this and then he realized oh it's so that they they can

rip a scene right out of the trailer park boys and steal it with their vehicle with it attached to a chain on the back of it and then that will cause the ice cream truck to crash into it and fall over and it's like that's just literally just set up so that can happen and that's it

it's like nothing feels organic it's also forced that's one of my biggest issues everything feels forced these out there movies that don't follow a typical formula like with the usual acts and a experimental in some way they need to prove themselves they need to prove that the reason that they are breaking the formula is because they have a fresh new take on it they have something new to show us but the film genuinely doesn't feel like like it even had a

clear intent at any point so it's just this like rambling mess that just goes on and on and on and you're just hoping for like some setups and payoffs but it's just all just comes out of nowhere all the exposition is clumsy and not properly explained. Like, you just have no clue what's going on. And when you do figure it out, it's like, okay, well, I guess the commentary is there, but to get to that point, it's such a fucking stretch. Yeah, and you have to read so much into it. It's like, God, this is just, this is exhausting to sit through.

Yeah, you don't enjoy anything. You shouldn't have to read anything to enjoy a film. Exactly, rough. That's exactly what was pissing me off. If it was presented in a creative way. That all comes after. Yeah. If you like the world of the film, you make,

graphic novels and all that shit after. Yeah. But yeah, I was thinking about Eraserhead. And that film is out there and weird and doesn't follow a normal structure. But the presentation and like the tone of it all is so consistent. And it's clearly a cohesive vision that even if you don't like, it's like this is clearly this came from a genuine place that like was thought through. And even if it is confusing, there is something there.

You can tell that this is like a voice. But here this is a voice that's just like shouting nonsense. Yeah, Lynch wasn't trying to make like a groundbreaking masterpiece. He was just making a film. He was just expressing himself, telling a story. He wasn't trying to make graphic novels and build a world that he could make movies. He just wanted to make a movie. Eraserhead.

And it worked. In fact, none of David Lynch's films are nearly as pretentious as this movie. Well, think about the stories he tells. They're all very simple. Eraserhead was fucking 30 pages long script. It's all tone and atmosphere. And this is too much. That's why everything feels so far.

force because it's like when you have 80 characters you got to force them into these scenes in ways to just make no sense because we don't have time to make it make sense like what were you trying to do like write Lord of the Rings like what are you yeah he tried to fill Lord of the Rings in a one movie yeah but also if Lord of the Rings

was like had 20 more layers of like political commentary and wasn't just about like fear of war and you know just basic themes like that with like yeah but being built around characters with a simple man the government's oppressive man the patriot act the police man yeah george dubia

yeah communism boo yeah all these things have been explored before and better yeah much i still give a credit for exploring them and for trying to kind of be edgy and poke fun of the audience in that way it came out this year what was it called it had jake dillon hall in it about the art critics. Oh, Velvet Buzzsaw. Yeah, because Velvet Buzzsaw, yeah, it was similar in the sense that it was like, look, modern arts dumb, right? And it's like, yeah, everyone knows this. Like, it's not like a poignant comment on society. Like, everyone knows this. It's the joke every single person on the planet already makes. It's the same thing here. I think Velvet Buzzsaw was better than this. And I didn't like Velvet Buzzsaw at all. I hate Velvet Buzzsaw. I think I dislike Velvet Buzzsaw more. than this. Really? Yeah. Well, because this is just so fucking crazy

that I kind of was just in awe of it. Towards the end, I'd agree a bit more. At that point, I might as well try and find something to enjoy. And it does get crazier towards the end. But, God, the buildup is so slow and just excruciating to sit through.

Here's a question. What do you think this movie could have done to make it an enjoyable experience? Because I was thinking, like, if I sat through the same convoluted nonsense but it was actually really funny to me then I might not hate it

so much. If it was just actually funny then I'd be like oh this is a joke right and I get that it's insisting its humor but I didn't find any of it funny. Put the plot in the movie number one I think that's the biggest thing I would say pick a plot or pick a theme you forgot of all these different things

yeah have elements of all the themes Richard Kelly a central one that you want to focus on. A central character that we follow for most of it. The plot fell out of his pocket on the way to the set. An interesting character, played by an actor who is actually good as well would help. Yeah, don't do the whole, oh, I'm going to cast against type. Just get a good actor to play the part. You can do that with like a couple of actors maybe, but not every lead.

Why would you do that? He sought out actors that he felt had been pigeonholed and wanted to showcase their, quote, undiscovered talents. So he got fucking Stifler, the Scorpion King, and the, Buffy the vampire Slay Yeah, to showcase their undiscovered talents.

I don't blame any of them for the acting because all of the acting was bad and I blame the director for that. I blame the wrong. I blame the dialogue and the fucking directing because everyone is bad.

Even John Lovitz, who we've seen before on Sarnani cast in happiness. And he was excellent. He's an excellent actor. Here's the thing though. It's like, here he's fucking terrible.

If you're going to that actors have been pigeonholed and you want to showcase their real talents, you would have to have something to justify you feeling that way. You would have to have an idea that the rock could perform an actual character before you just decide, like, you know, I'm a great director. I can write this character that he's never played before and he'll do a great job. Like, you have to have some sort of evidence that that's going to work out. Otherwise, it's possible that he's just a shitty actor. And the reason why he's typecast into playing one character is because he sucks even worse. at every other character. You know? Like, you have to understand that there's actors out there, especially wrestlers turned actors, that are not just these,

you know, masters at their craft and the only reason why you see them play one character is because they're typecast. No, some people are just bad, Richard Kelly. And you're not going to be this Quentin Tarantino's savior

of, like, saving someone's career. You know, you're not going to make a career out of it for somebody by creating this movie. Stephen Sotomberg. Yeah, something like that. Steven Sotomayorne making like non-actors into like a porn star and win actor or something. He's not that good at it.

These are all experienced veteran directors. It's cockiness. That's what it comes across as. Mm-hmm. When he genuinely thought that the rock would be a good choice for an erotic, like, anxiety-filled character, you've just gone wrong already. Just casting against type doesn't just equal good performance. You're right.

Yeah. His nervous tick was very unconventional. convincing the whole thing he did with his hands. It felt like the director just told him to do it. Like, oh, you need a nervous tick, so you're performing more. It came out of no way. It didn't feel like it was coming from it. Yeah, it wasn't established until like halfway through the movie.

Well, because that's when he starts getting nervous. I want to point out, because you mentioned Stephen Soderberg, when he takes non-actors and gets them to act, he's not creating this, like, extremely out there alternate character that they've never played before. When you get actors who are not actors and you get them to play a character, the way to do that is to write the character in a way that you could reasonably see them act out in real life. Right.

I forget who said this, but like... Yeah, yeah, I forget who said this, but there's a quote from some director, I guess I'm paraphrasing, saying that like anyone can act, you just have to give them the right character. And I find that completely true. If you know that someone is naturally a certain way,

then write their character to be that way. Don't get them to do anything that's like outside of what they would normally do outside of their comfort zone Talk in a way that they normally wouldn't talk like that's that's what you did with the rock I'm sorry he's not a good actor He did that with Gina Carrano in a Haywire which is a great Steven Sotomberg movie and she's a wrestler or an MMA girl I don't know what I don't know what sport it's some kind of physical thing point is she's good at fighting and he makes a good performance out of her because she's like a super badass spy She's not playing a neurotic like the rock is in this. You could make this argument with Zoe Bell's character and deathproof. You know, she plays it well, but he wrote her to be her.

He wrote Zoe Bell to play Zoe Bell. I think it's Spielberg who said you find the commonalities in the character and the actor, and you just meld them together, even if it's not everything, you find the few parts that do. And I don't think anything about this character meshed with Dwayne Johnson. Not at all. Except the fact that he was a body. builder one second. It's the same as in the Plinket reviews. Remember, he brings up how Samuel O'Jackson is so miscast as like a wise Jedi character when you see how Tarantino

writes him like totally to that actor's strengths and the difference in the performance is night and day. Yeah, exactly. He's just very passionate and intense, emotional. So you've got to write a passionate and intense character for him. Yeah. Not Mace Windu. And there are actors out there that can do anything. There are actors out there where it's like you could write whatever character you want

they'll fucking do it so not to suggest that you have to do that with everybody exactly. Those are a select few and those people get paid lots of money

like Daniel Day Lewis could probably do it Oh of course The Rock ain't Daniel DeLois Yep Tilda Swinton Walking Phoenix

Tilda Swinn Tons of great actors Basically anyone else Yeah Most people that are not the Rock could play that character better than him.

Yeah. All right. I guess, I don't know if you guys have anything else to say about this movie. I feel like we've talked. No, I don't think so. Explain everything we need to say about it. Very ambitious in the same way that really bad Andrew Nicol film is very ambitious, but that's all you can respect it for.

It doesn't work together. It's a narrative mess. It's a disaster. acting sucks it's not funny all of the all of the metaphors and in commentary that he's making on society is really heavy-handed and two on the nose the constant referencing of all these short stories and poems that he's like oh i was inspired by this just stop fucking talking about it reference it once don't don't say it 30 fucking times anyway this movie made me upset it was just it was just very it was a incredibly frustrating watch way too long way too stupid two out of ten

what about you guys one irritating film irritating unlikable movies trying to sit through up its own bum you you nailed it with air like every single element of the movie not one of it really comes together I can see

I can see how you might be able to pick apart different bits here and then be like yeah this is really working for me I'm like unraveling this mystery or whatever and these books are awesome no not for me I'm afraid I'm never going to see this movie again I cannot stand it

And I know this will piss people off But half star I can't stand I'm awesome Wow Well I don't think you guys get it You neo-Moxus Get out of my face

Get out of my board normies I like this slightly more than you guys It's a unique and ambitious film I'll give it that Certainly unique There were like mild things I found There were some things I found amusing I enjoyed that like Venice Beach was the hub for like a neo-Marxist revolution

some things like that little moments but overall yeah disjointed messy it's trying way too hard to be the best film ever when it should just tell a story well and yeah I didn't really enjoy it I would like to see it again though at some point in my life because maybe if I gave it another chance and read the graphic novels along with it I'd get more out of it but yeah again it's like it's such a

high barrier of entry already. You're just like, go fuck yourself. Do your homework. I'll just go watch another movie that's 90 minutes long. I'll just go watch Brazil. I'll just go watch drive, like anything over this. So yeah, two out of five for me. Nice.

I guess I wanted, one thing I forgot to mention is like, part of what I feel makes this as an unfair comparison to Under the Silver Lake and something that I feel would really help the movie for me in terms of me not saying it's a piece of shit would be a thing. would be if it was just like really well shot or something you know yeah if like the framing in cinematography wasn't just like entry level then I could be like okay there's this guy with talent here and he just he's misdirected but in it just this movie it's just all I can think is like well he's a hack he got lucky once yeah yeah like there's nothing about it has no energy

they were very they were very inconsistent there was no evidence of talent here pretty good There was like some set design stuff that was pretty cool, I thought, and like some long takes. I didn't think any of the set design was very inspired. And watching the special features and hear them gush over how amazing they thought everything was. They had this whole feature at on the set design and I was like, oh my God, it was so unbearable to sit through. Yeah, I thought the sets were okay. I only enjoyed the sets. Oh, I didn't think they were great.

Yeah, you really hate this movie. Hey, that's fun. All right. I enjoyed that part. Question time? Yeah, let's do it. just stop talking about that movie. Right, let's do some questions then.

If you want to leave your own questions for us to answer on this segment on the next episode, head over to the Sardonicast Reddit, where Ralph will leave a thread. You can ask any question you like. Who's going to start us off today? Here's a relevant one from Omajor, who asks, What do you think of the practice of singers slash musicians becoming actors and vice versa? Good old JT. Justin Timberlake in Southlandale.

of course, which is incredible. Usually it's totally dependent on the director when it comes to like a musical performance. Justin Timberlake is amazing in social network. Yeah, exactly. And then he's terrible in time or the film we just saw. Oh, God. Shrek three.

That scene in In Time where he's crying. Oh, that's one of the best things. Oh, it's so funny. It's very fun. There's an attempt there. Not convincing. Yeah. Again, you've got to cast him in the right role.

He fit the role of the guy who invented, Webster very well or Napster whatever the fuck it was. I guess on this subject, Jared Leto had a band before he started doing acting and he decided to do acting to help fund his musical projects. So I mean like Jared Leto has certainly been not great in some movies. Like his interpretation of the Joker, although ambitious, was, did not work very well at all. Equal failure. A lot like Southland Hills. I think Jared Lettow's, a most flat. I think Jared Lettow's much better actor than probably most musicians turned actors.

He just needs a little bit of help. He needs somebody who's able to help guide him into what would be a good idea for him to do, but he's not necessarily so bad that he can only be really great if there's some, like, master director working with him. But he's done some pretty great things, I think he's worked on bad projects and bad directors, and that's kind of what's driving down. Like that whole, yeah, he's a good actor. It's just, you know, suicide squad's a fucking mess

And David Ayers a terrible director So he probably didn't know what he was doing really Yeah He wasn't given that guidance So I understand that Who else? Lady Gaga was pretty good And the born to be a star Whatever the fuck the star is born

She played a musician Right But she was good as a musician Like you shouldn't cast her as Yeah, she was really good A neurotic weightlifter Who lives in Venice Beach But

That's the thing though It depends on what your intentions are, because there are musicians that would like to be actors and they have always thought about it. Like Lady Gaga apparently was like, yeah, I've always wanted to do acting, but I just turned out to do music instead sort of thing. Like there are people that are talented in different fields, but there's a lot of the times where you get someone who becomes really successful in one field and that makes them be really, really cocky. and think they can do anything. So you get like a musician turned... Yop, yop. Beyoncé fucking sucks

as an actor. Lion King, yeah. There's tons of YouTubers that are like, I'm going to make a song now. Where it's like, you were never a musician. You're just using your fame and popularity to make it easier for you so you can get other producers

and like a bunch of auto tune and someone will write it for you. And you know, like it's, you know, there has to be some sort of passion there to begin with if you're going to do something that's meaningful. It can't just be like, I'm famous so I can do whatever I want. What about like David Bowie? He's in a few. He's in a little bit.

Yeah. I don't know. Like, it really depends. I'm trying to think of like the best most legitimate actor that also does music. Chat black. Well, Russell Crow has a band, but he's not a good musician. like he's terrible and lame is I always make fun of him for that

but he's not a good singer Bodies Finn Wolffard does both He's good for like a rock band That's an example Finn Wolfhard has a band It's clearly not just a I'm famous So I can do music now thing

Like he's had a band Yeah a lot of actors have bands Just for fun Like they do it with their friends and clubs I don't think there's anything wrong with that Yeah Drake's gonna be No wait sorry not Drake

Never mind How about well Smith? Drake was in Ice Age 2 Adam He was He's tried it Yeah I got confused with him And Jason Derrillo Who's gonna be in the new Cats movie

And Taylor Swift She's gonna be in the two Yeah Marky Mark in the Funky Bunch So yeah you're right Oh yeah yeah Marky What

No I guess to answer the question I don't think there's any limitation on Just because you're one thing doesn't mean you can't do the other. I just think it has to come from a genuine place. Otherwise, it's just going to seem really fake

and everybody's going to be able to tell. Of course, yeah, yeah. I would say if you're a musician, you have like a good shot of being an actor because it requires some of the same skills, stage presence and like a confidence and, you know, some amount of acting. You're acting when you're singing.

You're conveying your ego. Well, I would disagree with you on that last statement. You're acting when you're singing. I would disagree. with you there depending on what kind of music you're making yeah yeah you're not acting that's a better way of phrasing if it's coming from like an honest place it's not like an emotion is coming out of you yeah you're you're like destroying your ego and letting yourself be judged at your insides without fear of how people are going to judge you and I guess that's a quality that is shared by

talented singers and songwriters and talented actors sometimes I can even find it distracting like he didn't do a bad job at all but like Harry Stiles and Dunkirk was a weird one for me it's just like why I was just like that Chris Nolan he's always got to have a weird casting decision yeah yeah there's clearly people that are just like

trying to get their foot in the door into like another industry and it makes me wonder how like cynical it is if it was sort of like forced in to try and get another demographic because you know I wouldn't be surprised that kind of thing's done all the time yeah all right okay other internet

guy is a fun one. Between Adam and Ralph, who can do a better British accent? Oh, fuck. Adam wins. No, do you want me to give you a sentence? Yes, please. Yeah. Yeah, please do. Let's think.

Also, something really British. I'll just, yeah, say this. Oreos are my favourite biscuit in the biscuit aisle, mate. Orioles are my favorite biscuit in the biscuit aisle, mate. That was more like Australian. Yeah, kind of was. Oreos. all my favorite biscuit in the biscuit aisle.

That was kind of like Michael Cainish. Yeah, that was like Michael Cain. There's different kinds of British accents, right? And so... Yeah, mine's quite a weird one. Yeah. There's... Is there somewhere in Britain where people say M instead of um?

Because I've heard a lot of Europeans say M instead of um. Not like, like as in just literally the word um. it'd be like M like going um yeah I've met a lot of people from Europe they will say M instead of um

I don't know if that's really a British thing very much no I don't think so all right maybe they were just weird give me another sentence um what's like a typical British thing oh here we go

about this uh Brexit makes the UK Okay feel like a rainy day all day. Brexit makes the UK The words that you've chosen in this sentence aren't like so far off of like a

In pronunciation from like a really Okay, how about like let's head down to Cornwall for A typical British summer holiday Let's head down to Cornwall for A typical British summer on the day no I can't

I'm not a good I'm not a good actor at Edinburgh about that one they sat down the cornwall what's this to say the sentence again my brother's from Edinburgh

my brother's from Edinburgh okay that wasn't even not that was just like it's like I had a stroke or something so I don't know if the question called for this or not

but we got to switch this around Alex you got to do your best American accent impression. Ralph say something really American. You've got to give me a sentence. Yeah. And Alex, you got to do that. Like a cowboy. Man, I can't wait to go to the barbecue and eat me some sausages and hamburgers. Say that. That's a very American sense. So I have to say it in like a high pitch thing as well. Yeah, like what were you doing putting on a voice, Ralph? You're already American.

Just say it like you would say it. Well, I talk like a fucking Queens asshole. That's America. I mean, I guess technically. It's like Italian America. Sure. I was just trying to go for like Midwest. I don't know why. Anyway, say the... You want me to say the sentence again? Yeah, say it again.

I want to go down to the barbecue to eat me some sausages and hamburgers. Man, I want to go down... I need like an accent, though, because, like, so many... But that is an accent. What are you talking about? That is an accent. That is an accent. Are you admitting that I'm, like, the default accent?

Yeah. That American... You know, Benedict Cumberbatch, his, like, American accent. It pisses me off so much, because it's like, Where in America are you from, dude? People don't be like that. It's just general America. So you want like a southern accent.

Something like that, yeah. Might be easier for me. So what I was trying to do. Maybe you're better at it, Adam. Barbecue makes me think of like Australia, so then I start trying to like channel Australia. That's very American. Okay, I'll give you one.

Don't. Hey, man, I'm going to go eat a burger at the barbecue. Man. Okay. Okay, here's a southern line for you. When I found out I was gay, I drug myself behind my truck. Well, when I found out I was gay. You're just compensating for the raspyness.

You're compensating for the accent by just adding a raspy voice. From Alabama. I'm American. I'm American. Okay Okay Ralph give us one more line That's the only English you need to know

Um Oh what's the What's the New Zealand one? I gotta I gotta go make me some eggs Egs Gotta make me some eggs Yeah say it like an American

Alex Yeah I gotta go make me some eggs Very good Yeah I'll give you a few pointers here Here's Here's how I would say it if I was like really trying to make a genuine American accent.

Duh, I gotta make me some eggs. I think you, like you're missing a couple of key elements to making a true American accent. Now that was great. Yeah, flawless. I've been to America. I know exactly how they talk. Yeah. Great question.

Let's go back to a movie one. This is one I've wanted to hear from you guys. because Edgar Wright comes up a lot Crow's Hug asks How would you rank the movies From Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy From favorite to least favorite

Ooh interesting I don't know which Out of us Which ones we kind of like Consider the best and whatnot Because it's clear to me But I think they're all great Anyway

You can't order them though You think they're all great But not I think I can I've got an order I think Sean the Dead Might be my favorite one Me too

I think most people say hot and then Hot Fuzz is my least favorite. Oh, really? I still love Hot Fuzz. Oh, Hot Fuzz is your least favorite. I've never heard of it. I think so. Mm-hmm.

It might be because it's so, like, the setting of that film is literally where I live. So it hits home hard, like, the accents and everything. That's just how people sound around here. So all those, like, idiosyncrasies of, like, small town living in England is so perfectly captured in that movie that I think. Yeah. That's why it works extra for me. But my order would be Hot Fuzz as my favorite. Then, Sean, I think.

dead then world's end but i like them all a lot yeah mine would be uh sean of the dead number one hot fuzz number two and then world's end number three i feel like you know there's a lot to appreciate about all of them but the reason why the world's end is my least favorite is because although each of those movies has plenty to like pick up on in terms of like i guess just like the craft and like how things like fit together you know like worlds end they tell the whole story of the movie right at the beginning sort of thing. There's cool, you know, it's all shot really interestingly. It sets out some payoffs are crazy. Everything about that in terms of like a technical appreciation level, you can find in all of them. However, what I'm missing in the world's end is like all of these

films are essentially like parody movies. And I feel like although, although they are parody movies, the elements of the films that they're trying to imitate are actually very successful. in Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Like, even though they're parody films, they're still great zombie movies and action movies. I didn't really feel as though the world's end succeeded as much in terms of being what it was imitating. In fact, I'm not even really sure

I could point out like specific things that it was trying to imitate other than just like general kind of like, what, alien robot? I guess like invasion of the body snatches. Yeah, that kind of thing. I felt like it was a lot less successful at being what it was imitating than those other two films. Like I wasn't scared by anything.

You know, it was just like more of like a comedy movie, like a surface level comedy movie in that sense. But at the same time, I think that that film's kind of underrated. I think the characters are really strong in that movie. It's like a really good emotional gut punch towards the end. It's on all three of the films, but it's really good in that one. It's really like subtle and well done

and really adds to the character development. On a story level, I think World's End might be the best one. And I think on a technical level, too. Like, I really enjoy the fight scenes in that film. Oh, yeah. I really enjoy the camaraderie between the guys when they're just on the pub crawl. I really related to that and enjoyed that element of it. And then the second half, it becomes like a crazy science fiction movie.

And I enjoyed that stuff, too. But it was really the dynamics between the characters. I really got the most out of World's End. And then Sean the Dead is just a great parody. And I think, like, Hot Fuzz is the least, like well put together of the three like in terms of action and uh like setups and payoffs that's just what i think is the weakest one but i love all three there's a really great interview that simon peg gave on uh conan during the premiere of uh world's end where he talks about the 12 stages of drunkenness

and like what that means to perform it and it's it's so great so I would definitely recommend that just definitely check that yeah they're all great and everyone should check them all out yeah Edgar Wright has not made a bad movie no no yeah no I rewatch Baby Driver recently I was like wow this is actually way better than I remember this is oh yeah it's awesome for a good movie yeah I'm excited for anything he makes yeah I love Scott Polgram more than I think all these all this interesting the rest of them it's also like the most American too so I think that makes a difference

I was about to say it's like a it's like a Canada movie at the point it came out there's a lot of American pop culture in it yeah sure yeah like the whole like comic book like video game angle and just the like the North America's and everything America's was just yeah because it was following the

Cornetto trilogy which is so English like to me it was way more you know yeah okay we got an interesting one from Dead Pooh Killer 4 Who Me? What's your favorite voice performance from an animated film not produced by Disney? Ah.

Because Scar was going to be the first stint. Yeah, it's too easy, dude. I heard the S that Adam was going to sound out. Let's stink. I don't know. Anyone in a Lewis? from Wallace and Gromit? Oh, that's a good one.

I love him. I think he's hysterical. I love that voice. Gary Oldman is really good. in the second Kung Fu Panda, underrated. Oh, yeah. I remember. He's actually very good.

A lot of great ones in Rango. Yeah, I realized that recently too. It's not voice acting technically because they recorded the performances and then animated over it. Yeah. But it's great. Everyone.

Johnny Depp in that. Rattlesnake Jake. Mm-hmm. Whoever voiced him. Bill Nye. Bill Nyee, the science guy he? Mm-hmm. Okay.

Any others? Well, I'm trying to think of it. of like some great animated movies. What about Mary and Max? Oh yeah. Philip Seymour Hoffman did a great job in that. That would probably be my legit answer there would be Philip Seamor Hoffman.

Like he's certainly playing a character. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a great actor and it totally shows in his voice performance in that film. So thank you for mentioning that because otherwise I would have given an answer that probably wouldn't be that genuine. Like I like Britney Murphy and Happy Feet

but that's just because I like Britney Murphy. I don't know. just doing her same thing. Can we throw in TV? Should we mention television? There's a lot of famous. Like Tom Kenny, he does SpongeBob.

I think he's one of the most socials. A lot of Simpsons guys, I love. I think the guy plays horror. It's like Ash Ketchum from Pokemon. Yeah. Ash. Not a real answer. Yeah.

Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Let's do another one then. Let's just do another way Malocco pleur underscore S Adam and Alex If you were to run into Derek Savage

In real life What would you say slash do If he recognized you or if he didn't recognize you Question mark What would you do Adam If I saw him before he saw me I would go somewhere else Um

What if it was Say it's this scenario You're walking down the street And you hear him Say your name Yeah So you've got to choose to either turn around and face him or just run. I'd consider running, man.

I would glance and see if he has his sidearm and base my interaction on whether or not he's packing. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's just, if he's willing to be friendly, then I'm, you know, I'll have a nice conversation with him. I'm not like a really confrontational mean person to people. I don't think I am anyway. But realistically speaking, he's not a very mature person. So I think he'd, I don't know if he ever, I think if he saw me and recognized me and knew who I was, he'd probably find a way to leave before I even noticed him.

Yeah, I don't think we'd want to interact with each other. Oh, well. I don't know what would come out of that. Hopefully, never happened. Well, hypothetically, if you did, let's say, like, you got locked in the room that separates North and South Korea together. You're literally trapped in the room. You literally trapped with him.

This is what we do say. What would you talk about? I'd be like, we should probably address the elephant in the room, Derek. And then, yeah, he might get angry or whatever. I don't know. Yeah, there's just no way to know. how he's going to react. Yeah.

That's what's so scary to me. I wouldn't really have much to say to him. I would just listen to him. Adam literally thinks he's going to shoot him. Which is impossible. Honestly, I would have put a pass to start shooting at you guys if he saw you. Jesus. Funny man.

He's a co-eat. Interesting man at the very least. He's a cool cat. He's a character. He's a meme. machine. Do another? Yeah,

let's do one more. Velv the Hammer 23 can end us for today. What do you think is the biggest waste of great work by an artist on a bad movie, for example, John Williams' score for the Star Wars prequels? Hmm. I have a general answer. I think it's all the talented CG artists that are just wasted on these, like, terrible blockbusters. I watched Aladdin the other day, and it was just like,

all the talent, all the rendering that went into this fucking thing. So much stuff could have been there. So my comparison is always, look at the difference between the emoji movie and Spiderverse. The same studio, so presumably it's like a similar, you know, group of people. Like, they're all talented,

but one is a load of shit and one isn't. I feel like oftentimes, like it's not that unheard of for like a composer to create, a really good score for something that just turns out to be kind of shit. So, like, I'm not a big fan of, uh, the fountain. I'm not a big fan of that movie, but the score is great. Oh, Darren Aronovsky's. I'm not a big fan of the village, but the score is great.

So, like, I feel like that happens a decent amount. Yeah. Also, yeah, in Noah, same thing happened. The score was awesome, but the movie was just like, bleh. What a strange film that was. That had a lot of good elements. It was just the story was stupid. It was from the Bible.

But the story was dumb. I liked the visual effects in that movie and the cinematography. Ralph, did you just call the Bible dumb? Yeah. Were rock monsters in the Bible? It's a little unrealistic. They were supposed to be angels, though. It was his revisionist.

It was his revisionist vision of the Bible, even though he's an atheist. So, whatever. He was a great choice. I can't think of it. You guys listed some good ones. Like the score for Oblivion was good, and the movie was okay. Yeah, I'm trying to think of movies where there's, like, one really great performance, but the movie is really shit. Yeah.

I bet we could think of a few if we had time. Yeah. I mean, like, put this one in the back pocket. There's that time where Jared Leto gained, like, 50 pounds for that, I think, Mark David Chapman movie that nobody saw. Oh, yeah. Just turned out to be shit. He became fat for no reason Yeah, that was a big poster

They put him run on the poster Like look, it's fat Jared Letto Go see this fooby Yeah, I don't even know if his performance was that great But that seems like kind of a waste of effort That stuff's crazy to me man These actors killing themselves for a movie Like what Christian Bell does

He's doing permanent damage Yeah Is he? Yeah, because like he went from the machinist Where he looked actually anorexic To I think it was Batman Begins Where he was ripped ripped and then American hustle he was fat

right after Batman yeah say bad for your body man I don't know he's playing Dick Cheney I don't know is that bad for your like it is certainly bad for your body to be either overweight or underweight but is it it's these huge fluctuations

permanent damage yeah I don't know it's not good for your body well there's like people who gain like a ton of weight and then lose it and their body like they still have skin that's kind of folded and whatever because it's from when they were at that larger state. Like your body just adjust to these points. But these guys are like, okay, this year

I'm really skinny and then the next year I'm fat and the next year I'm going to get ripped and then they get ripped for like these superhero movies and they have these ridiculous workout schedules fucking like weeks. They have to work out before you start. If you have like a really good personal trainer, it's not like impossible. But doing it on your own

seems ridiculous. Yeah. Well, maybe yeah. Mm-hmm. All right. Is there one more question? Let's do one more. Fine.

Are we done? Okay. Okay, we can do another one. Cottonide Joe's 79. You guys all play video games, so I'm sure you're aware of remasters of old games happening to bring classics to a new audience,

i. crash bandicoot. Do you think this could happen for CGI movies to stop the movie from being dated, or should we just leave them be? I wouldn't be opposed as long as you can watch both versions. If Disney wants to make Toy Story 1 and the humans don't look terrifying and the dog doesn't look like shit, then have that it.

Why not? Just keep the same audio. You can basically have the exact same movie with improved textures and then just reanimate a couple parts of it. Yeah. Some of the early Pixar stuff I would not mind seeing sort of redone versions of so they're more timeless. Because I think like now animated movies, it will be a long time before they look bad, I reckon. Like some of them are so photorealistic. And like, I mentioned I watched Rango again the other day.

And that film came out quite a long time ago now, but it looks flawless today still. So some films genuinely don't need it. But it's more from that early period, like Toy Story 1, Incredibles 1, anything from around there, whereas an emerging technology, which could be updated now. As long as they don't ruin their art direction, because a lot of video game remasters do that. Yeah. They miss the point of the original art direction, which is a huge issue. Yeah. It would have to be the same people behind it or something.

Yeah. Even CGI shots in movies like Jurassic Park just to slightly improve. The dinosaurs, I don't see anything wrong with that. I would rather have a remastering of Lord of the Rings than a remake. Exactly, yeah. Amazon's making a Lord of the Rings show. Yeah, and they're spending a lot of money. Oh, yeah.

Half a billion dollars from what I heard, which is fucking crazy. That's actually insane. That's like Avengers, the last two of events. Avengers movies. Yeah. They have, yeah, that's literally the budget of both of them. Yeah. And that's one show, one 10 episode fucking sees in television.

Probably 10 episodes. Yeah, it's so weird. Like, has this ever been attempted? Because, like, there's been, like, 3D or, like, 4K re-releases or whatever. Like, there's been improved restorations or, I guess even, like, Apocalypse Now has a new cut coming out. Like, there's definitely been re-releases. in that sense.

They normally just reboot though because they can make more money. Yeah, like I don't know. Is it, is, I think it's a lack of faith in whether or not these projects would be

as successful, right? Because if you're saying, hey, this movie has already existed, then less people will see it, I think is the idea. Yeah. But I think there would be a lot of people that would be interested

in seeing the first toy story movie but improved graphics, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's a huge audience for films way after they come out.

I hate that, So many people act like a movie exists for a weekend, and that's it. And you're never talking about it again. Yeah. They come out on video and have whole new lives. Donnie Darko, we were talking about earlier. No one fucking saw that when it first came out. And then years later, it got re-released, and it was a huge success.

I think that it would be possible depending on how it's marketed. And if Disney was serious about doing something like that, I think they could pull it off. And I think they could get people interested in seeing it, because they know marketing. They for sure know marketing 100%. They could get that to have. happen, but it's just a matter of like, I don't know, you'd think that they'd want to do it just because like, if let's say they marketed the hell out of it and even if the movie wasn't like the most successful box office, whatever of all time, like the amount of money

that it would cost to just remaster something is significantly less than just creating something from scratch. So you'd think that there would be a financial incentive in that sense. Is getting the team back together, I guess, to make sure it's true to its original vision, but that would be the hard part. Directors are busy, writers always busy What, animators, anything? As long as whoever is doing it Doesn't even have to be from the same

Original team, as long as they just don't misinterpret it As long as it's faithful That's always the risk though, I guess And as long as the original is available So we didn't get the THX situation. Yeah, George Lucas situation Yeah, what we're talking about, that's what he did He just did it very poorly.

Yeah. Yeah, he did it too early. Oops. Oh well, there's an almost the rights anymore so it's not like it matters yeah he might own THX actually probably is that if it was under Lucasfilm then no but yeah who the fuck knows all right at this point Disney owns everything soon no uh a THX reboot reboot I think it's time for a Ralph recommends oh yeah so we're gonna go to a foreign land called Italy's nice for a movie called

cinema peridizo oh cinema peridizo yep oh i've always wanted to see that it's a great movie awesome and yeah i saw you guys haven't seen it and i only saw it recently with my brother's recommendation okay cool he saw it in italian class and he's like rap he's a good movie and yeah i think you guys will very much enjoy it cool cool cool it's somehow was not on my watch list even though i've always wanted to see it okay well weird we'll talk about that that in two weeks. Be sure to subscribe. And like follow us on Reddit, all that.

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