The Big Picture - The 1980s Comedy Movie Draft

Episode Date: September 16, 2022

We are drafting again! And we’re widening the scope this time around. Sean, Amanda, and Chris Ryan pick their faves and foil their pals in a draft of 1980s comedy movies. Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guest: Chris Ryan Producer: Bobby Wagner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, everyone. This is Chris Ryan from The Ringer. As many of you have heard by now, we lost a treasured colleague and friend over the weekend. Jonathan Charks passed away on Saturday. John was 34. He leaves behind a wife and a son, and we are obviously mourning his loss and sending all of our love to his family right now. If you go to theringer.com slash Jonathan Charks, that's J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N-T-J-A-R-K-S. You will find a memorial page for John, which has links to his GoFundMe that benefits his family and the amazing writing

he did throughout his experience. I encourage you to go there. And if you can, please support the Charks family. Briefly, I will just say that John was among the first people that we hired to work for The Ringer. So he was instrumental in defining

the voice and perspective of the site. He has as much to do with what this place is as anyone else. And throughout his experience with Cancer, John communicated eloquently about the challenges he was facing, both through his writing and his podcasting. You could never stop John from talking about his passions. It's one of the things I loved about him. Over the last few months, whenever we would talk, whenever I would reach out to see how he was doing, I would try to keep it very John-focused. And the next thing I knew, we would be talking about James Harden or Better Call Saul. He really loved this stuff. He loved talking about it,

celebrating it, debating it, illuminating it. We're going to keep putting out our pods and writing while we grieve, but we wanted to let folks know that John was in our hearts and that his family was in our thoughts. Thanks for listening. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. I'm Sean Fennessy. I'm Amanda Dobbins. And this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about the comedies of the 1980s. We're drafting again. Chris Ryan is here with us to draft movies again. Chris, how are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me, as always. Thanks for being on this podcast. You know, Chris, recently on the 500th episode of this podcast,

there was a question for you about the acquisition of narcotics. Look, those are really like stimulants on that level are not to be played with. You know, you should make sure you're going to see your doctor and get like a prescription for those before you come and see me outside of a Walmart maybe in Eagle Rock between the hours of 4 p.m. and 6 30 p.m. okay now that we've cleared that off the table Amanda how you doing I'm well uh you ready to draft today I am I'm nervous I told you this already because you think we're gonna go after each other I just also think that these movies are personal in a way this is like on par with a mid-90s draft because if like

94 to 97 is when i mean it's sean chris was like very aware of movies already because he was 85 but you and i like became aware of movies yeah like capital c cinema and also you know movies for grown-ups in the mid-90s yeah but the comedies of the 80s in particular were just kind of in the air and the things I inherited. I own a lot of these movies on VHS. Like, your parents or my parents would let me be around as they were watching them. They informed my sensibilities. They informed a lot of, like, kind of what I thought the world was. And in a lot of ways, like sort of informed my understanding of the 80s because like I was a baby during,

or you know, a small kid during a lot of the 80s. So the 80s in my head culturally are these movies. And so I feel an attachment to them. And if you try to take them from me, I like a child will be really upset. Chris, I feel like in the past when we've talked about this era, we talk about the action films and some of the stuff that you and Bill will talk about a lot

and the rewatchables, the movies that really clicked for you. But I'm kind of curious what your dad's point of view was on the comedies of this era because he was working as a film critic for most of this decade, right? Yeah, I think he thought they were brain-dead trash for the most part. This is going to be the most fascinating draft we've ever had. First of all, you keep toying with greatness. You keep throwing these curveballs. 80s comedies following up upside-down draft.

Upside-down, I think, was a soft miss, but I'm glad we tried it. That's my takeaway. What are you basing that feedback? Did you get feedback? Well, I'd like to congratulate Amanda on her victory. Thank you. And that's not why I'm saying I thought it was a soft miss. I think that we were...

Dom-m mob increasingly online. It's very true. You are influencing your people to abandon their hobbies and join Twitter. You for a long time were like, we don't live online. We live in the garden. We live in the sundress. And now you're like, I'm extremely online. And your group, your cohort is following you into a digital space.

Do you think of me as a sundress person? No, I meant like more like metaphorically. All right. You know? Okay. I mean, I just want a garden hat. Yeah. Some protection's important.

The thing about me winning the upside down draft is it's a little bit of the structure of the draft, I think, favored me because we were examining like the quote unquote institutional taste and not even really instant well I guess a little bit institutional because we were relying on rotten tomatoes which is like a garbage metric but you know it we were questioning what film bros thought and like film bros and like inherited movie culture like thought was cool and not cool here's the thing and yeah, you know, so. Sometimes that could have played in our favor if we had had more comedy,

like bro comedies from that time, but it wasn't even a great year for that sort of thing. Right, but it's like liking Hitch is actually not going against the tide, you know? Isn't it? No, like most people. Who's tide? You're tide. What ocean? See, this is the thing. It's like most people who's tied what you're tied what ocean this is

the thing it's like most people are like oh yeah love hitch that's funny i had a conversation with two of our colleagues on friday that was like oh wow hitch is a great what are their names give them to me immediately jeff and juliet and then we talked about how you don't like things that are funny so i hope that was okay for them you got a great sense of humor you laugh at me all the time hopefully i have somewhat of a sense of humor because we're talking about comedy state the reason we're doing 80s comedies is because confess fletch is out this weekend both in theaters and on vod fletch of course one of the iconic comedies of the 1980s which is based on the series of novels the fletch novels this new Fletch novels. This new film stars Jon Hamm.

It's directed by Greg Mottola, one of our favorite filmmakers. Yeah, Ventureland. We're not going to spend too much time talking about this movie. I think Amanda and I had a chance to see it.

And I went in with low expectations and I thought the film had a very bad trailer. And then I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually a very faithful adaptation

of the Fletch stories and not a bad movie. Pretty good. I laughed a lot. I had no expectations, not even negative expectations. I was just like, sure, whatever. As I mentioned, I had an incident. My head's fine, but I was like, I got to rest. This seems like the right level of movie to be watching. And it was very, it was entertaining. It was entertaining it was also kind of one of the best fits for john ham that i've seen in a while and they got the tone of his comedy right he's not trying too hard like i hadn't thought of him in the chevy chase mold but in this instance it works that's the thing is i am fletch the character is really not chevy chase no he is this more sort of sly kind of under his breath comedian and there's no like outlandish

wigs and lakers jerseys and all the things that chase brought to the character and made for a really great movie from that era i think ham is actually more well suited to the sort of like sardonic i'm better than you and also nothing really matters kind of like light nihilism of the character. Does that seem right? Like a fair description of that character, Chris? Yeah, I mean, it's sort of funny to return Fletch to its literary roots when I don't know if a lot of people are like really clamoring for that, but I can't wait to see it. Yeah, I'll watch it this weekend. I would just like to say, Marsha Gay Harden doing an absolutely absurd, like intentionally fake Italian accent.

I laughed. It was very funny. Every single thing she said, I laughed. Kyle MacLachlan and Roy Wood Jr. are also very, very funny in this movie. It's, it's, it's, it's, I recommend it.

That's what I'll say. How much of the budget do you think they spent on Jon Hamm riding a scooter around Rome for like five minutes at the beginning? And let me just say also, I really appreciated it. I think that movies,

Sean doesn't care when movies go to Europe. That's true. Spend like 30K. What does it cost? Because it was just like a day. When you have like a spiel like this, do you think that the filmmakers

of the world are listening to the pod and they're going to respond to your request? I'm just worried that they're listening to you. You know, and you're just sitting here. Trust me, they're not. Okay. Well, I just, I appreciated that they actually went to Rome and put him on a scooter

as opposed to fucking Red Notice where they spent $200 million and CGI people in front of the Coliseum. That was actually Chris's favorite comedy of 2021, Red Notice. Red Notice was, yeah. Really funny movie, right? I think anything that the Netflix company does when it comes to comedy and action comedy

is really like right into my, right up my alley. Top shelf. Yeah. When you think of the comedies of the 1980s, what do you think of?

So there are movie drafts that we do where I think we try to rewrite history a little bit, you know. There are movie drafts where they're like really an accurate representation

of the best of cinema and the best of our tastes. So I'll tell you a little bit about what I think of when it comes to 1980s comedies. I think a 7 to 10-year-old, Chris, and he was primarily interested in two things. Profanity and the female form. And you know what? Comedy's really delivered they did it's crazy how many comedies from the 1980s were just like here's kelly lebrock what do you want what do you want from us it's true are we have we lost something in our culture by not objectifying the human body

more in our comedies i mean i think so but i think because there's a body more in our comedies? I mean, I think so, but. I think we could, because there's a strong movement in our drama, in Euphoria, in House of the Dragon, to sort of even the playing field, to show more male genitalia in these series, you know, to sort of like say, hey, we've had 30 years of premium cable boobs. Let's just start to show men.

Yeah. But never in a comedy. Right. And frankly. Borat has done some work in that field. Yeah, I mean, that's just start to show men. Yeah. But never in a comedy. Right. And frankly- I guess Borat has done some work in that field. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing is that- It's kind of gross. Honestly, you're going to do-

Well, if you're going to do full frontal not in porn, then it is funny. It should just be in comedy. It's just everything's dangling a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. It's just hard to overstate how much getting laid is the driving story engine of almost every movie that came out in a decade. Did you feel that that was an accurate representation of you from 7 to 10?

Well, no, but that was what I thought life would become. I thought I was on the precipice of an all-out fever dream of sexual delight. So how did it stack up? Then the 90s happened. And they were like, all this stuff is bad for you. Listen to grunge. You got to go into a room

and listen to Soundgarden. That's too bad. We lost something. We lost something. We gained a lot. Everybody's going to wear Doc Martens. Yeah, flannels, overcoats yeah and then you would wear what six to twelve condoms in the 90s right that's right okay uh just even for baseball practice though you know that was your cup yeah

1980s comedies i mean so you like your parents would let you have vhs tapes i don't think i knew that what do you mean my parents would let me have VHS tapes? I feel like you grew up in a home with like a grand piano. I did, actually. Nailed that. And there were shutters on the windows. It's like Rebecca. Shutters on the windows?

Like there are shutters on the windows? I've never been to your childhood home. What's wrong with shutters on the windows? There's something Victorian and grand about the whole thing. I think that we used to make things in this country and you didn't have to just go to the shade store. Like they actually built stuff to put on the windows. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with shutters. I'm just imagining what your youth was like.

So you imagine me like looking at the window through the shutters, like not allowed to play outside. Longingly looking at other children. Okay. Did you just have tinfoil on the windows like Jesse Pinkman? Like what did you have? No, I had like cheap Venetian blinds. I grew up in a real fucking boring ass middle class 80s household, you know? But I think that there was like a sense of, I mean, this is a compliment, like a sense of like taste and artistry.

And a little bit of like distance from having a VHS player in your living room. I mean, well, I don't know. To quote Clueless, like this is America. Like I did have a VHS player in addition to, it's true that I had a, my parents believed in the performing arts as a way to raise a child, which is just, so I got shoved into all of that stuff. And look at you now, a performing artist.

Here I am. which is just so i got shoved into all of that and look at you now a performing artist here i am um but but no we also like had blockbuster like which is how you had to have like a how else could you watch movies yeah we watch a lot of movies and you know my father loves movies and really tried to show me i think comedy is like far too early in my, you know, emotional development. I didn't understand why things were funny, but he was like amused by all of these things. And, you know, I was the only child. So who else was he going to watch the movies with? It's true. I had the same experience. You know, I grew up watching a lot of comedies with my parents and that resonates with me. But so, Chris, that's part of why I asked you, you know, your dad not really responding to

these movies. Did that maybe push you even further in the direction of saying like I gotta latch on to this stuff as like a rejection yeah well I mean when you're that age so obviously I was born in 77 so by the time I was 10 you know you had like these um really major stars like comedy stars and like Eddie Murphy was the primary one for me and that just became like the secret language of me and my friends. Like we would just watch Raw. We would watch Delirious. We'd watch Billy Hill's Cop. Like my friend Andrew learned how to play Axl F on his keyboard.

Like we would just be like obsessed with it. And those movies were pretty durable. Like you could just keep watching them over and over and over again. And the laugh lines just kept hitting hard. And they still hit hard. hard so yeah it was a little bit of like an illicit thing like I don't think my dad was like what you should only watch like Merchant Ivory movies but I think that the comedy was really like the land of the the sort of lost it was like really like you had like these like sort of like lovely like Chariots of Fire type movies happening on like the drama side and then it was like yeah they did also make me watch Chariots of Fire type movies happening on like the drama side and then it was like yeah

they did also make me watch Chariots of Fire I vividly remember being like sat down and being like would you like to experience some art and then it was just like

guys running on a beach for like 30 minutes I'm very excited to share with you both that Chariots of Fire plays a significant part in the film Empire of Light

really? okay so I wish you well on your experience watching that movie which is not a comedy though there are some things that are funny about it to me um what about you Sean what about me I mean were you like were you were you just like I want to be Joel from Risky Business when I grow up um

I think that I got more excited about comedy as a movie watcher in the early 90s about those 90s movies. So I think that Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler and Chris Farley and Mike Myers were more of a light for me at that time. I did watch a lot of these movies on cable a lot. There's a few different prongs and that actually, I think, helps explain how we organize some of this because the 80s is really relevant because it is the absolute high time of the teen comedy, the sort of high school comedy. It is also, I think, really the birthplace of the modern rom-com, like at the tail end of that decade. And it's also, as you said, Chris, this vessel for the superstar comedy movie.

You know, the Eddie Murphys and the Bill Murrays and the Chevy Chases of the world. old and it's also I think where we really got the birth of where comedy movies are now which is to say like action movies and science fiction movies and you know I'll just say the word Ghostbusters is a movie that I think really kind of carves a path yeah for a lot of where movies are going in the 2000s so um I was very into a lot of those movies I was a very big Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy fan myself obviously that's not a very original opinion, but it's hard to see either of those guys in movies and not feel like you were in the presence

of greatness. But I didn't, I honestly caught up on a lot of these movies in the last 20 years. I think even some of the most classic, even some of the John Hughes movies,

like it took me a long time to see Pretty in Pink, for example. I don't even know why that is, but I just, I didn't watch it when it was around and maybe there was some gender essentialism there, but maybe it was just like, that was just

one of the ones I missed. Yeah. I think that going through this decade, it was only in the last like 15 years or 20 years or so that I realized that there was also like the Albert Brooks's of the world who were making like a little bit more of like a refined kind of comedy. And I just thought like everything was real genius, you know, or police academy and stuff. It's funny that you say that too, because that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do 80s comedies is the other thing that is resonant about this time in that genre is that there was still a respectability to 80s comedies insofar as there are a bunch of Oscar nominees from this decade in true comedies. And we see that very rarely now. I mean, I think I rattled off north of 50 nominees total throughout the decade for the

four acting categories in Best Picture that would qualify. Of what you could consider a comedy. Yes. And I don't think you could say the same for any decade after that. So I'm at a little bit of a crossroads where I I can't I think for the most part like there is a there's a really happy medium between like you know really

sex starved profane movies that I watched all the time in the 80s set themselves your crank material yes

and then like what we now recognize as like 80s comedy classics that are sort of canonized right and then there's like kind of like the really happy medium in between so that's sort of canonized right and then there's like

kind of like the really happy medium in between so that's sort of what's your strategy here what are you gonna do i my strategy is really i i don't know so we'll have to see i i i almost hope i do get to go first this time okay but like we'll see do you feel there's a clear number one i think that there are to me some clear number ones. And then there are a few movies that I do think we're all going to fight over. So number ones for us. And so I think I'm trying to figure out how much I need to protect my own interests versus psyching you two out. And really, honestly, how brave you two are.

Interesting. Because I'm sitting right here. You see, I'm feeling pretty brave. are interesting okay i'm sitting right here let's talk very quickly about the categories before we figure out the draft order so slight tweak obviously we're only dealing with comedies here on this episode first category teen comedy this includes anything that is adolescence junior high all the way through high school maybe college but I think that's pretty dubious. I think we're pretty firmly in high school here. College becomes more of a 90s issue anyway. That's very true.

Rom-com is a category. There is a titanic kind of culture-shifting rom-com near the end of this decade, but I was surprised to see there are quite a few in the 80s. So that's a robust category.

Oscar nominee, as I mentioned, we often hit on the Oscars and there are quite a few contenders there action horror sci-fi comedy which I would say has a rich

life in the 1980s as well blockbuster the threshold here is 75 million dollars that created the opportunity for a lot of movies

I think we've got north of 50 movies that cross that threshold so there's a lot to choose from there and then wild card go crazy whatever you really want to pick there okay WAGs 1980s comedies north of 50 movies that cross that threshold. So there's a lot to choose from there. And then Wild Card. Go crazy.

Whatever you really want to pick there. Wags, 1980s comedies. What's your favorite? Is it Police Academy, Citizens on Patrol? I don't know that I really have a favorite. I don't... Have you ever seen a film

from the 1980s? I really like Moonstruck. I'll say Moonstruck. That's good. How about that that's a good one Harry Met Sally is great too okay yeah

both great answers not to be so mainstream but you know you only see a certain amount of movies from a decade where you were not born yet so but I mean I think

that is a nice thing about this draft is that in the 80s as you said the comedies did become mainstream and they were bequeathed to younger generations

I don't know how much you could say about the comedies of the last 10 or even 20 years. All you need to know is that Confess Fletch is going straight to VOD. Outside of Goodfellas, I don't think that my mom was ever more excited to show me a movie than Moonstruck. Yeah. Oh, that's so nice. You know, it's good. It's a good one. What's our draft order, Bob? Got the Top Gun hat here. I want to say, okay, the 500th episode, everybody was so sweet and so nice. To the people who accused me of rigging the draft order, what the hell? I've been so open and transparent about this.

I think it's true. I think you have been rigging it. I have never seen the inside of that hat. Yeah. First draft is Chris Rose. Oh, wow. I'm sure it's not rigged after Chris four minutes ago said, I'd really like to have the first pick.

Lo and behold. Listen, it's only three people. You know, it's a one out of three chance. Okay. For shame. Is it? Picking next is Amanda Dobbins. Okay.

I'm at the turn. Should we have invited more people to this draft? Do you think that there's a huge 80s comedy contingent out there, especially in our working circle? In our professional circle? There's been some calls for Bill. Yeah.

People want Bill on one of these drafts. This would have been the one. This would have been the one. Sean had another good idea. What did I say? It was in the spreadsheet. Do you want me to share it with people or do you want to play it? I honestly don't know what you're referring to.

It was sports drafts. Oh, the sports movie drafts. Yeah, maybe we'll wait for the sports movie draft for BS. I mean, yeah, those would be the two. Who do you want to draft

with, like Billy Bean? Like, who do you want to be joined by? Maybe Daryl Morey? The cast of Police Academy? Okay. Who was your favorite in Police Academy?

Tackleberry. Tackleberry was great. He was great. I liked Winslow, too. The noises were great. Bubba Smith. You have kind of a. He was great. I liked Winslow too. The noises were great. Bubba Smith. You have kind of a Hightower energy.

Do I? Yeah. Have you seen those films? No, I actually haven't. Where are you at on Steve Guttenberg these days? There's like six of them. Seven, I think.

Seven? They went to Moscow once. What is Steve Guttenberg in that I've seen a thousand times? I mean, I know who Steve Guttenberg is, but there's something on the tip of my tongue.

Three Men and a Baby, right? Well, I think it's Three Men and a Baby, but there's something else. I guess I could just Google this. That awesome episode of Party Down. He's in Diner. Well, you know my history with Diner. That it's an autobiographical feature about your life?

No, it's... My dad showed it to me at seven and was like, here you go. And you were like, what's up with the popcorn? And honestly, when I was home recently, he just started acting from like tin men like at 10 o'clock at night and i said to him what is the deal with you and barry levinson and then he just gave a speech about how we wouldn't have the wire without barry levinson because of homicide life on the streets and he's like our most underrated like american director i was like all right okay all right sir anyway I mean that's that's a fair take that's a good take it's a great take from my dad but I was also like calmed down with

the you know I'm I'm seven okay were you thinking of cocoon or short circuit in terms of Steve Gutenberg I guess I was thinking about three men and the baby okay Steve Gutenberg let it be said I don't know if we'll say his name again for the rest of this pod, was a massive comedy star in the 1980s and no one thinks about him anymore. Yeah. We had the party down bump. Yeah, which was fun. Yeah.

But that almost, in a weird way, it almost felt like it was mocking him. You know what I've been thinking about recently? How rich people from the 80s still are. You know what I mean? Like how they just, like if they did TV or if they were in a big movie

and like how just like the residuals, just, they just hit diff back then before Reed and Ted just sucked all that stuff up. When they destroyed the business. And if you were on a sitcom for seven years from 1985 to 1992, you can't even do anything with all the houses you have. I don't know if that's true. You think that there's a lot of destitute sitcom actors? I think that there are a lot of folks

who are like, I'm going to invest in this little company called Apple and they live on an island right now by themselves. But I also think there's a lot of people

who didn't do so well. They didn't, their stuff wasn't together. Also, I don't know, cocaine. That's true. That's a good point.

Stock market crash. That's true. Tough break. Seen the film Wall Street? I have. Not technically a comedy, but for some of us, it's pretty funny. You ready to start? I so rarely get to say this to somebody this name,

so I'm just going to say Bobby, Bobby, Bobby and pick broadcast news and Oscar nomination. Oh, my God. What? That's really good. Yeah. Fuck you. I mean.

Really? Well, I like it exponentially more than almost all the other Oscar nominees. So I wanted to get it. Wow. Yeah. That is fascinating. James L. Brooks, depiction of a news broadcast, a national news broadcast, William Hurt, Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks.

One time rewatchable. Yep. We did this with Chuck Klosterman. Yeah. I'm surprised. Are you surprised anyone with that? I am surprised, but I think it's very smart. It obviously would have been on my list and in that category.

So it was on my list. I like the Oscar. There's some good Oscar nominees. I think I also, as a peace offering, you know, like there's still some there for you. There's the one I think you'll probably take. Right. So we keep it calm

and we move on. I don't have an issue with the pick at all. It's how high I took it. I'm surprised. I would never in a million years have guessed that that would be the first overall pick from you.

It's smart strategically. Okay. He doesn't like it when I play smart strategically. He likes me flying my plane into the side of a mountain. Were you thinking that you were going to get that movie? I'm not sure.

It wasn't number one in any of my categories. So it's not like I've been hit. I think that it's a great number one. It's a wonderful film. I'm really proud of you. Also an autobiography of you, right? You're also Holly Hunter in that film. That's really, really rude.

And she's also from Atlanta, I think. Yeah, in that movie. That's really, really rude. And she's also from Atlanta, I think. Yeah, in that movie, it's really tough. I think that I was on that path, but then... Hurt or Brooks? Who? No, no, no, no.

Oh, who I pick? I was like, we're not going down that road. Yeah, who would you pick? Hurt or Brooks? Hurt, obviously. But, you know, that's tough.

Well, I'm sorry. But, you know, ultimately, I probably wouldn't choose anything. I would pick Albert Brooks, but his know, it's tough. Well, I'm sorry, but you know, ultimately I like probably wouldn't choose anything. I would pick Albert Brooks, but his character from Drive. Okay. Careful. You may turn into him. Okay. Amanda, you have a pick. Yeah. In Black Buster, I will be taking When Harry Met Sally. Interesting. Well, you know, I have my passions. When Harry Met Sally is the most important romantic comedy of the last, Well, you know, I have my passions. Uh, when Harry Met Sally is, uh,

the most important romantic comedy of the last, I don't know, what's 2022 minus 1989, uh, 40 years, 40, 35. Yeah. Okay. 40 years, the modern era. I think it restarts the modern era of the romantic comedy. As Sean said, there are a lot of great romantic comedies from the 80s. But in 1989, in comes Nora Ephron and sets the template for everything that we understand that genre to be. You know, at least post His Girl Friday. And like that whole decade. I'm joking, but it's also true that like just absolutely sex crazed. And then you get to 1989 and it's this sort of much different take on romantic relationships, I think.

Yes. Yeah. And how people talk in movies and how movies look and it establishes so many of the tropes that we repeat in movies and then life imitates art, et cetera. It's, I mean, ultimate rewatchable.

So why in Blockbuster and not rom-com? So I can pick another romantic comedy. Okay, all right. So you can have as many romantic comedies as possible. Yeah, I like romantic comedies. Okay. You're up on the term, brother. I've got two picks here.

Yeah. Did we out-strategize you? No. Did you not expect us to be intentional? My Oscar nominee, my number one Oscar nominee is still there. Are you going to go Revenge of the Nerds 2 right here, or is that something you're going to probably keep in your back pocket? I've not seen that film.

Okay. I don't appreciate the sexual politics of those films. Yeah. That's just not so good. You're more of a Porky's guy. when do you do you recognize the way that i i throw you batting practice like do you know like in your heart of hearts are you like sean is the dave jouse of my life the way he's very softly just puts it right over the middle i let you be pete alonso yeah you throw it 48 miles per hour right where i like them. Where did you like them?

I was very tempted by stuff a little bit higher in the strike zone. No kidding. The high heat. You could distract me with that. It's so funny that ironically you have become a brushback artist the way you attack me. Yeah. Well, I think that you spend most of your time watching the Porky's Blu-ray and you need to be called out for that. It's a culture of accountability that we're building up here.

I have no comment on that. Okay. I think I'm going to go Oscar nominee and I'm going to take the film big. Okay. When you said I'm going to go Oscar nominee and I'm going to take, there was a moment where I was just like. Everyone held their breath. And you kind of, you looked at me just now, but like you weren't making eye contact. And that's okay.

Yeah. You know me very well. Yeah. What did you think I was going to do? Well, let's just leave it alone. Let's leave it on the table. Yeah. But okay.

I'm confused. Good. Okay. All right. Big. Yeah. Great film. You're kind. All right. Big. Yeah. Great film. You're kind of a child at heart.

You know? You're one of the most playful guys I know. Can't take you to a department store without you getting into some kind of hijinks. You know? Big is a wonderful film. Yeah. Directed by Penny Marshall, starring Tom Hanks, about an adolescent boy who visits a machine genie and has his wish granted to become big.

Yeah. And then his life gets thrown into disrepair and then he is statutorily raped by Elizabeth Perkins in a wonderful series of events. Yeah. I think this is one of the best movies ever made. I love this movie. Okay. Have you ever seen Big?

That's nice. What part of Big do you relate to the most as a, you know, a kid? As you might imagine, I was not the most childlike 10-year-old. Sure. So, certainly something

felt resonant about just wanting to get into the big kid world, the big person world. Yeah. And then maybe realizing it's not so fun. And then I'm wanting

to spend time with your friends, which is how I've coerced you both into participating in this sort of thing for our professional careers. I want to let you know that I absolutely killed it on the giant piano. I'll bet you did. At the FAO Schwartz at Lenox Mall in the 90s. All those years of practicing in the Rebecca house on your grand piano paid off.

And I did it. There you go. Have you ever played a giant foot piano? I haven't. But I do. It's funny. Wasn't it funny that in the 80s and then up through Home Alone and whatever, but like one of the hallmark scenes in a movie would be like,

what if this kid got to do anything he wanted? He would just eat Cheez Whiz or whipped cream or like whatever. Like it would just be like, imagine if a kid got to do his he wanted, he would just eat Cheese Whiz. Or whipped cream or whatever. It would just be like, imagine if a kid got to do his own food shopping. Yeah. You don't see that so much anymore. I will say though, every time... That was me not

throwing you a softball. Yeah. Just so you know, this could happen to you. I could leave you hanging. No, I'm just saying, isn't it funny what we thought was funny back then that nobody seems to care about anymore. I still think about it though every time I go to the grocery store. It is like one of the best things about being an adult is you can buy whatever food.

It's true, but then it makes you feel awful. Booze that you want. Yeah. As soon as you're able to have disposable income and the agency to go to a supermarket by yourself, you have to start thinking about maybe it wouldn't be great to have a banana split for dinner. To this day, I'm an absolute menace.

I'm just like, what I need is three boxes of Cheez-Its. Like, when I definitely do not need that. And it's, you know, it's always because of the way that you're raised. I have another pick. Okay. I'm taking Ferris Bueller's Day off in teen comedy. Fuck you. God damn it.

Which is also one of the best movies ever made. God damn it. Also rewatchable. Also I knew it would really stick it to Dobbins over here, who I know has a great fondness for this film. Yeah, this is the one. I did actually own this one on VHS. I'm really mad.

This is not one that got by me as a kid. I certainly saw it at a very young age. Still very funny. Still hilarious. Incredibly charming movie. One of the great lead performances. One of the great performing performances, or supporting performances, I should say, from Alan R obviously matthew broderick stars as ferris

um it's a classic john hughes you're very upset are you a big twist and shout lady you're like yeah it's like her favorite scene in any movie that is still the thing i have been maddest about in all my years listening to the rewatchables sitting at home bill simmons being like that scene's too long i have i've confronted him about it i have confronted you about it as proxies like i think we stood up for it you did are you kidding are you kidding how great that scene is i love that all i want in life for my son all i want is for him is for him to have the confidence to be able to get up in Chicago in this somewhat fantasy sequence performance of Twist and Shout. You want him to do that?

I want him to have the confidence to be able to do it. You know? I don't know. That's all you want? Will you be watching Ferris Bueller with your daughter and be like, never do this? What I will do is I will give her the context of why Sloane is such a deeply underwritten character and how the 80s

were maybe not as kind to our female protagonists as they needed to be that is true I gotta tell you though beautiful I mean love that fringe bag or the fringe coat I guess

and I had a fringe bag that I always thought of Sloane that's how we do it yeah okay I got two I got two classics Amanda you're up

what was your first pick big an oscar nominee and then ferris bueller pissed about ferris bueller that was going to be my next pick but would one of you have taken now that i have when harry met sally would you have been brave enough i wouldn't have taken it until the third round but it would have been your fault that's fucking disrespectful and i actually thought i i guess i should have known better you apologize but you if you had let it go by with like cinema we have we have our own when harry met sally's that we have to take care of but that doesn't matter lord of letterbox over here is like committed to telling us about you know the

importance i literally cited without naming when harry mitsalli at the top of this podcast third round but i don't understand i'm what i'm trying to say is that i would have waited until the third round so as to give you the opportunity to get it but if you had not out of fear of me the word is respect okay all And out of respect for you, I would have given you the chance to take it. And had you gone two picks or three picks without taking it, then I would have taken it. And if you were mad then,

you would have created the incredible opportunity for a funny moment on the podcast, which you now have sort of created but missed out on because you misunderstood what I was saying. Okay. So you got when Harry met Sally. Yeah. And now you're up again. You have another pick. Don't worry about what I'm saying. Okay. So you got When Harry Met Sally. Yeah. And now you're up again.

You have another pick. Don't worry about what I'm doing. Worry about yourself. Worry about your own slate of films in your movie draft. CR, he's over here

taking fucking broadcast news first overall. Broadcast news is a great pick. Why is that weird? This guy's done 300 pods in a fucking 48 hours. And he's taking

broadcast news. And it's still on the board. Yeah. Because I am letting another round go by to give it to you because that's the kind of friend that I am you can't say

that everything is because you've allowed it to happen you're not God on this podcast there is one God and that's Bobby Wagner because he controls

what's said on the show okay you're up I'm fucking pissed about Ferris Bueller's Day Off. That was going to be my next pick. You picked before me. And I would not have taken

When Harry Met Sally in that spot. I know and I thought about it, Sean and I made the wrong call and I'm really angry at myself and also at you. Well.

Because I wanted that. You got to deal with it. You got to deal with it. That was your flaw. No, it was not. It was. Sometimes you got to make a decision and you make to deal with it. That was your flaw. No, it was not. It was. Sometimes you got to make a decision and you make the wrong one. Okay.

That's right. Okay. It's like 900 teen comedies in the 90s. Yeah, but that's my favorite. Okay. Tough. So you picked, you both have Oscar nominees? I do. Yeah. We do. Yeah have Oscar nominees? I do, yeah.

We do, yeah. I'm a little stressed out here. Just like that, your winning streak has ended. Do you think that your victory is weighing on you? Oh, wow. I don't. I think that, like I said, I have a lot of movies that I love. Okay.

And I don't trust you guys to not take them. I mean, the point of this draft was that there's a lot of crossover in our taste. Right. I think one of the reasons why I wanted to do it, because 05, I think, took us away from that, where we're sort of like trying to take films from each other. Okay, it's fine. You know what? And Oscar. Okay.

Sheesh. okay sheesh well i just don't know what you're gonna do in the the categories that are important to me you got your oh no you didn't get your most important category right oh well once again i i feel you made an error here you know what fuck off just i'm sharing my truth it's just that i really want them and i'll be so pissed off okay so it's you have two picks uh-huh okay then i'm all right i'm i'm in romantic comedy i'm taking working girl okay um i started work again after leave uh uh in the past week and uh as i left one day my husband uh just started singing the carly simon song from that's really sweet to me it is it i felt really do you think that's the kind of detail he once shared on this podcast um that he's singing carly simon it's a legitimate point he was i guess he actually didn't sing it he was just like he did like the

movie like the screenplay directions like q i'm definitely going to now play that on my phone next time I play golf with him while he's in his backswing and then I'm gonna be like no I'm sorry I won't do that again and then I'm gonna do it again you know what the thing is is that he would like never know because he's busy listening to Eagles podcast rather than listening to this um this is just one of my favorite movies of all time. You should talk about your attire because I feel like the way you've been dressing since you've returned to work,

I mean, this is a compliment, is very working girl. I mean, I'm not wearing sneakers with the socks and then changing into high heels, let's be clear. No, but- And I'm not wearing the $10,000 ball gown that Melanie Griffith steals from Sigourney Weaver's closet. That is really beautiful.

She doesn't wear that to work. That's not what I mean. No, but she wears it to a work event, which is like a bit. And, you know, it's supposed to represent that Tess is still figuring out like who she's going to be in the new world and how to be like a Sigourney Weaver type person. Okay. You've inspired another question. This is important for all three of us. Do you guys regret not pursuing a career which would have given you the opportunity

to wear a ball gown on a regular basis for a work function? Chris, I'm asking you. I'm good. Yeah, I think I'm okay. No tuxedos? You don't want to go

to a black tie party? It would be cool to go to a black tie party. I've never been to one. Chris, you're invited to Cannes. Come along. Thank you. Chris can be the childcare.

Who's paying for Chris to go to Cannes? Are you paying for him? I think I'll be going for the one ring.net. Yeah. I heard you're really in the Lord of the Rings these days. No, I am just making a point on this podcast. Sometimes it's just we live in too much of a binary, you know, kind of culture where it's like you either fucking love this thing or you're just a super hater.

And I'm like, they do some things well in middle earth that's great podcasting have you partaken in the Lord of the Rings series absolutely not I'm an absolutely no hobbits policy in my life that's how that's the other thing I want for my son twist and shout confidence no hobbits you're gonna it seems like he going to have a great life. Her husband, Zach, owns north of 50 fantasy novels. The idea of there being no hobbits is just an absolute pipe dream. There's not a chance. I've told this story. It was our sixth grade summer reading.

I didn't do it because I don't give a fuck. And then you really pissed me off with Ferris Bueller. And so... Completely off the rails. My parents... Tales of sixth grade reading lists. You know what it is? You know what another thing?

Can I just make an observation? You got to get her into con because she honestly, like, she starts to disassociate every time she talks about it. Like, this happened on the 500th episode.

You guys were having the most beautiful conversation. It was so supportive. And then Khan came up and she was like screaming about Bonvoy points. I saw her like two days later with her son in a park. And I turned and I see her talking. She was like, I am Sapphire status. I will be staying on the Mediterranean.

It is like evolved past bit, past aspiration into this like insane barbarian-esque tale. I'm sorry that I'm trying to help you live your life. Okay. It has nothing to do with me. I invited you to Europe. I'm going to be in England. This is what I don't understand is like, I'm just trying to take the people that I love to Europe. We've got this opportunity. Okay. We could seize it. Let's make it you know put it out in the universe i can't i work for bill he's gonna be like we need to talk about the sixers okay all right well we'll set up a vpn or whatever so you can do that isn't that how the internet works in europe that's true here's the other thing i want to

say to you is that maybe if you remembered the things that I told you, then you would remember The Hobbit story and you would know that was a foundational experience for me because my parents made me read The Hobbit in one day. I know the story. What I'm doing, I'm hosting a podcast. Some people are new to this show. They don't know every single goddamn story

we've told on this show over the years. I've heard about this big picture show. I think I'll check out and see what kind of undiscovered gems they've seen. And then this lady gets on and she's like, as I have told you all many times, when I was in the sixth grade, I was asked to read a book that I did not read. And people

are like, what is wrong with this lady? That's what their takeaway is from this show. Did you pick a movie? This is what happens when you do an hour long podcast before the sorry

I took working girl in romantic comedy sweet okay Sierra you got two picks for my two picks I'm gonna go blockbuster and

you mentioned another Eddie Murphy comedy I love that one I love a lot of Eddie Murphy comedies I'm gonna take Trading Places. That's a good one.

You know, it's set in Philadelphia. So it's a Christmas movie as well. This is my favorite. Wonderful performance from Jamie Lee Curtis, from Don Amici, from Ralph Bellamy,

but really, Ackroyd and Murphy are just fucking amazing in this. And, you know, I just, I still think about Orange Juice features

to this day because of this movie so i'll take that in blockbuster this is that is my favorite eddie murphy movie in uh romantic comedy i'm going to take say anything oh yeah it's a movie very near and dear to my heart was very like huge for me i'm hit right now uh you were also gonna take those were my two next picks oh that's nice and a lot of the stuff that happened

in Say Anything in terms of like the music that they that gets played in the movie and stuff like I was like right on the

precipice of like I think I've used the word precipice twice in this podcast but I was right on the verge of discovering like kind of underground

or cool music and stuff like that so this is a real gateway drug coming at the end so maybe in some ways this is my one Harry Met Sally, but I,

I adore this movie. How large was your boombox? Um, I had, when you think back about like the stereo equipment you had as a child, it's really funny. These giant heavy multi-disc changers. Those were just hilarious.

Yeah. And then dual deck cassettes so that you could make mixtapes and stuff. What a waste of space. Now it's all here on our phone. We're so much happier too. Are you a Spotify premium subscriber? I mean, don't we get the employee thing? Don't reveal state secrets like that.

Do you think that they think we pay for Spotify? I don't know. Let's not break the illusion. They might because you guys are like, how will we ever be allowed to go to Cannes? They think we're just like,'t know. Let's not break the illusion. They might because you guys are like, how will we ever be allowed to go to Cannes? They think we're just like, you know. What do you think the total value of a round trip experience to Cannes is? Cannes in May, right?

It's in May, yeah. Okay. Mid to late May. I'm committed to seeing, I want to see England through this difficult time. Okay. So I want to be there for that country, and I will be there,

and I'll just take a little puddle jumper and see you guys. Yeah, there you go. I think that sounds great. Will the Sixers still be active in the NBA playoffs on May 15th? Isn't that the beginning of the playoffs? Or that would be the second round? I think it's the end of April

is when the playoffs start. Yes. Okay. Your face looks like it really hurts. But if I'm in England and they are, then I'll take it as a sign that I can't be in the country while the playoffs are happening

because it just does, the Sixers do better. Although the last time I was out of the country while the playoffs are happening because it just does the Sixers do better although the last time I was out of the country when the Sixers were in the playoffs they played very poorly the funniest thing ever is when we're all gonna

actually do this and we're gonna go to Cannes you're gonna fly in from England we're gonna set up this whole big family vacation and then you and I are gonna spend 6 to 12 hours a day

watching Romanian abortion dramas and I'm gonna be like this is what Cannes is it's not sitting on the beach and you guys are gonna come out and I'm gonna be so tan, this is what can is. It's not sitting on the beach. And you guys are going to come out and I'm going to be so tan. That's fine. I've been hearing tale

of the way that you cook in the sun on other podcasts. Let me just tell you, it's not the case, my friend. You actually know what you're talking about. Isn't there a difference between the West Coast sun and East Coast sun?

Yes, of course. That's not what I said. What I said is that you do not tan in the way that you imagine that you do. He has a glow. You made it sound like you're George Hamilton. Just because you are afraid of sun. I am afraid of the sun.

Yeah, which in some ways, given your complexion, is a wise approach. Which could generously be described as ghostly. I'll tell you another thing that really pissed me off is that I came back from Maine and I thought my legs looked great. And they were lovely, like a lovely color. And I came in for the first time in 10 years to the office wearing shorts. And you jumped at my ass about it. You were like, I don't dress like

you dress like a child today. And there was nobody here. There's no one here. Yeah. First of all, there are many people here. Second of all, I think I said you look like a 12 year old. Okay. Third of all, I won't even wear shorts to the office in gimlet because i'm afraid the sean will find out thank you yeah um here's the thing your legs were white as snow they weren't tan and i'm in my mind's eye all i could see was you gazing into a mirror admiring your legs like a psychopath

thinking that something had changed when in fact it had not. Will you help me? I like Chris's shorts. You're doing the five inches. Yeah. You know, the more fashion forward men's shorts approach. I thought it was

a nice casual look. I support it. Were you even in the office that day? What are you talking about? No, but she seems to be socially and she's like... I have seen Chris in his life.

Also, sir, I have seen you in shorts. Yeah, all the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time.

All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time.

All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time.

All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time.

All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. All the time. I have seen you in shorts So loud inside of the office Okay Did you make both your picks? I took trading places and say anything Oh yeah

And you said I'm down bad And then you just Disparaged my tan I just You know what I love you so much But I don't know what you're talking about And now I'm gonna start

Rubbing Panama Jack all over my body And I'm probably gonna like Really damage my skin Uh huh Uh huh Because you're giving me a complex I want you to protect your skin That's what I'm trying going to really damage my skin. Uh-huh. Because you're giving me a complex. I want you to protect your skin. That's what I'm trying to tell you, man. Are you wearing SPF every day, Chris?

No. Okay. We got to work on that. Are you, Sean? No, but I'm never in the sun. I know, but they're like the gamma rays or whatever. I don't really know. I guess big skincare got me, but I do wear SPF every day.

Your skin looks great. You tan. Thank you got me, but I do wear SPF every day. Your skin looks great. You tan. Thank you. I do. I do. I try to wear hats or whatever, but you know, my skin likes the sun more than either of your skin, but that's okay. Anyway, I have a pick.

I'm just going to go. This is unprecedented and maybe a little crazy, but looking at my lineup in wildcard, I'm going to take Ghostbusters. Oh my God. What is happening fuck who's your favorite ghostbuster

why in wildcard because I already it doesn't fit so you're going to try and trade ghostbusters for Ferris Bueller straight up

oh okay it's too late whatever I don't care that's what I'm saying I'll trade you right now trade me what

I will trade you ghostbusters for Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's a very interesting proposition. Let's go. I'm thinking about it. Sean's sitting right across from me. Now, in almost any other trade in any other environment, what, like, usually, I mean, one for one is an interesting proposition here.

It's not like you're, like, trading, like, a Hal Hartley movie for Ferris Bueller. Like, this would be a straight up trade. Does my film need to stay in wild card? No. You can move

what are your thoughts on this? There's a lot of fucking bullshit happening right now. So not only is there character category manipulation but now we're trading. Well she

proposed the trade. He was getting mad and I just a one to one. Ferris Bueller I will take it. We've never had a trade. I think you can do trade, but you should have to keep it in wildcard. I agree with keeping it in the category that it was taken at.

Because that's part of its value. That makes it more or less valuable to the person who's taking it on. I see. I decline the trade okay sick i have ghost because here's the thing ferris bueller is widely beloved yeah but i don't think that ghostbusters does for the dob mob what you think it does i don't care it would have helped me more than it would help you but i would rather i have other options in these categories i love ghostbusters. Do you?

Yes, of course. Have you not noticed that she is not focused group driven? Yeah. She sets the agenda for the Dob Mom. Yeah. Not the other way around. That's not true. She's been completely spun out by the Ferris Bueller selection.

She just took Ghostbusters in wild card in the third round. You can try. That's because you left it there for me. Okay. Yeah. You're so down bad right now. I'm a little bit more frustrated by your picks. Yeah.

Because I did strongly have my eye on those. Because you were counting on me being like, you were counting on me taking a lot of crap. No, no. I just, I, I, I mean, I think you betrayed your fans. I think you, Midnight Run and 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop are on the board. Yeah, they still are.

They still are because we're pretending like you deserve to get them and it'll all work out in the end. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. But you are... You're not a good friend. You're a bad draft partner. I know her.

I know what's underneath them. There's venom under them bones. Okay. Honestly, I see through it. You're trying to get her off her square by screaming at her and now you what's underneath them. There's venom under them bones. Honestly, I see through it. You're trying to get her off her square by screaming at her and now you're mad at me. You're having a bad draft and it's okay. I'm doing great.

I got big in Ferris Bueller and I'm about to have Back to the Future. What are you talking about? I'm crushing. Do you really think Back to the Future is a funny movie? Back to the Future is not a comedy? I'm not saying it's not a comedy, but do you think it's like funny? Yes. I really didn't want Back to the Future is not a comedy? I'm not saying it's not a comedy, but do you think it's like funny? Yes. Wow.

I really didn't, I didn't want Back to the Future. I thought that would be a Sean and Chris face-off, but you underselling Back to the Future. I guess you're trying

to say I'm a funny person. I feel so dishonest. I mean, we were on the Back to the Future. We watched those together. There's funny parts. His nostrils are flaring. This is where

we're like reaching Ringo level. That's also now a thing that you do to sort of like indicate to the listener that something has happened. Nothing happened.

Right. I'm about to get back to the future. How could I be mad? You're heated. It's okay. You had the opportunity to get Ghostbusters.

I offered it to you. I feel good about it. Should I do a recap of where we're at right now? Sure. I haven't even made my picks yet. Okay. You go ahead and make your picks.

Well, I'll make my first pick. Okay. And then we'll be halfway. And then we'll be halfway. So I'll take Back to the Future. Okay. And you're going to put that

in Blockbuster? In what category? We're teen. No, I have teen already. I'm going to take it in action, horror, sci-fi, comedy. Okay. Now we're halfway through.

You can recap. Okay. So in teen comedy, Sean has Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Amanda and I have yet to draft. In rom-com, I have Say Anything. Sean hasn't picked that. Amanda has Working Girl.

In Oscar nominee, I have Broadcast News. Sean has Big. Amanda has not picked an Oscar nominee. In action horror sci-fi, Sean is the only one who has picked He Picked Back to the Future. And in blockbuster, I have Trading Places and Amanda has When Harry Met Sally.

And in Wild Card, Amanda has Ghostbusters. Is that the earliest a film has been selected in Wild Card since we've been doing this? No, I feel like Chris has done that before.

I've done that before. I've just been like, I want to take Noah Baumbach's Mr. Wonderful. Is that a movie? What was this one after Kicking and Screaming called? The one with Eric Stoltz.

Mr. Jealousy. Mr. Jealousy. In 100 meters, turn right. Actually, no. Turn left. There's some awesome new breakfast wraps at McDonald's. Really? Yeah.

There's the sausage, bacon, and egg. A crispy seasoned chicken one. Mmm. A spicy end egg. Worth the detour. They sound amazing. Bet they taste amazing too. Wish I had a mouth. Take your

morning into a delicious new direction with McDonald's new breakfast wraps. Add a small premium roast coffee for a dollar plus tax. At participating McDonald's restaurants. Ba da ba ba ba. Alright, I got another pick and I'm taking Beverly Hills Cop and Blockbuster. Okay. Good movie. You look great at me. We could love Eddie Murphy together. I agree. That's what's so great about America. alright I got another pick and I'm taking Beverly Hills Cop and Blockbuster okay good movie

you look great at me we could love Eddie Murphy together I agree and we do that's what's so great about America we also were on

the Beverly Hills Cop rewatchables a lot of rewatchables here yeah should Bill be here well it's too late we'll find out okay

yeah text message incoming um what can you say about Beverly Hills Cop it's very good one of the funniest best movies a movie that I think like what do you think about Beverly Hills Cow it's very good one of the funniest best movies a movie that I think

like what do you think is more responsible for setting the action comedy template this movie or Lethal Weapon I think Lethal Weapon

because I think there's only one Eddie Murphy meaning nothing else could replicate what he did he has found out like he was just like

hearing Jimmy in a way that very few people ever have for like you know the 10 years there that 5 year period yeah okay all right

that's that's my pick so you're up next okay um in action comedy and I think this qualifies okay Princess Bride

sure adventure sword fight yeah I think that works okay um this was one of the ones in the 87 draft

that I was did you get Princess Bride in 87 he did he took it. Great movie. Watched it a thousand times. Quotable, memorable framing device.

Sword fighting. Love it. Yeah. Robin Wright. Yeah. Do you have a longstanding crush on Mandy Patinkin? You seem more of a Carrie Elwes fan. Yeah? You seem more of a Carrie Elwes fan. Yeah, I was more of a Carrie Elwes fan.

I did enjoy the quarantine content that Mandy Patinkin and his wife. What was he making? So one of their children was filming them arguing and like doing kind of like YouTube videos during the pandemic, during lockdown. And it was very charming. I also enjoyed the time that Mandy Patinkin was on a morning show. I want to say like one of the local New York shows.

And then one of the anchors, the anchor's wife went into labor and Mandy Patinkin's reaction to someone else's wife going into labor was commensurate with the experience. I thought you were going to say he delivered the baby. No, no. No, it wasn't on set.

The anchor had to leave and like Mandy Patinkin was like, oh my God! You know, it was like very exciting. I was like in a movie. Anyway. You're a big Patinkin guy. You've seen him sing

on Broadway many times. I was a big Chicago Hope guy. You know? Well, Homeland. Yeah. Early Homeland. You recapped that series vigorously.

For longer than I care to remember. Yeah. Did you want The Princess Bride? It wasn't on my list. I love that movie, but it was, I feel like it wasn't really on my.

What do you think of Rob Reiner? I mean, he made one of my favorite movies if you could bet. Yeah. And When Harry Met Sally. And Misery. And The Princess Bride.

Yeah. And Stand By Me. And North. And this is Spinal Tap. And Spinal Tap, yeah. It was an amazing run until it was not a good run anymore. Yeah, what's he doing these days? Stumping vigorously for the Democratic Party.

That's true, right. He has become more of a resistance guy, right? Than a filmmaker. Yes, yes. He is a American president, too, speaking of you know. Yeah, that movie's okay. Centrist Democratic politics. And other rewatchables. Yeah. Okay, Chris? Oh, is it my turn? Yeah, that movie's okay. Centrist Democratic Politics. And other rewatchables. Yeah. Okay, Chris.

Oh, is it my turn? Yeah, right. I mean, I just selected The Princess Bride. I get two. So let me just say that I'll take Midnight Run in action. And let me tell you why. Okay. I had an amazing experience the last time I was in England.

I was out to lunch with a fellow Ringer podcaster named Ian Wright. So Ian Wright is a legendary English football player. He used to play for Arsenal. He played for the England national team. We were at a steakhouse having lunch. And Ian turned to somebody at the table and said, I'm going to get the steak. You should get those for the lobster.

And I'll have a little surf and turf, which is a line from Midnight Run that I immediately recognized from across the table and we locked eyes and I was like, you're my brother for life. This movie is the language of love for me. Like I think this is like my most referenced movie. It's got some of my favorite like bit small supporting actor performances from Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina, but De Niro and Grodin are titanic in this movie. So I'll take this in action.

Love this movie. A classic. I rewatched it last night. Wonderful movie. So did I take, did I take a say anything in teen or rom? Rom-com, right? You said rom, yeah.

Yeah. So you've got teen open? Yeah. So I'm going to take a movie that was a really big thing for me in the 80s. That was like something that just became like an obsessive artifact in my school. i'm bachelor party and that's heathers god damn it uh wow amanda fucked up this i didn't fuck up i don't have fucking ghostbusters and when harry

met sally and the princess there's really no bad pics in here right god i should have known that you would take heathers but you could have taken the princess bride so you know I could have picked it I didn't want it I had it in the last round

okay well congratulations Sean just an awesome movie yeah just a steam absolutely iconic Winona performance

amazing Christian Slater so much Shannon Doherty yeah just why don't they make movies like this anymore because I don't think

that black comedies really work that's exactly correct and that will be the subject of a future podcast great because people are still

trying and they're very bad at it it is also even in its black comedy form it's a movie about bullying so yeah and

didn't really invent it but it's sort of like the peak cinematic form of it so tough to to make it now just like almost every line from this movie became but everyone gets their just desserts yeah sort of but like do you want to be a heather do you want to be a heather you know yeah yeah all right all right so yeah midnight run and heathers fuck all right fine so you guys both have teen comedies? Yeah, he has Ferris and I have Heathers.

Okay. And you both have Oscar nominees? Yeah. Sean, do you have a romantic comedy? I do not. Okay. What is your other outstanding? Wild Card.

Wild Card. Okay. Because he did not trade for Ghostbusters. Yeah, well, that's your loss. I don't think that you're going to take this, but since you already have a teen comedy,

I'm going to do Moonstruck, an Oscar nominee. I assume that's where you'd go. It's a great pick. As Bobby said, wonderful movie.

I mean, I did take it in the previous draft. I have a lot of 1987 movies on here. Just a completely glorious film, Cher performance, Nicolas Cage performance.

I don't consider this romantic comedy as discussed. I consider it a funny movie that is also romantic. We all got great movies, man. Yeah. I think we're doing great. So it's going in Oscar nominee. You just hate discord. No, it's not that.

I just think that like it's a testament to what a rich pool of movies we're pulling from. I don't think anybody's picked a bad movie yet. I agree. That was sort of part of the premise too. It was like, no one will fuck up. But I was expecting

a little chaos out of you, Chris. I know. Well, when I was looking at the list of 1980s movies and I've mentioned Police Academy a lot, like I've definitely seen

the first three Police Academy movies way more than Broadcast News. I'll just be honest with everybody. Wow. Yeah. Because you think

it's a better film. That's always what governs it. If I've watched your movie more, it means it's better. Okay. I have two picks. My final two picks, yeah? Okay.

Yeah. In rom-com, I'm taking Bull Durham, which is certainly one of the best movies of the 1980s. Fuck that. Now I'm mad.

Yeah. I did it. I thought that's what you were going to do to spite me. I don't even know if you like Bull Durham. I like it. I thought that's what you were going to do to spite me. I don't even know if you like Bull Durham. I like it, but not enough on romantic comedy to steer away from it. Oh, see, if you had had Wild Card open, it could have been a stymieing choice. Because there's not a ton of great rom-coms left. I don't like it enough to take it away from you.

That's the thing is that I really love Ferris Bueller. I mentioned Bull Durham in passing on Talk the Thrones the other day and we almost had to stop down because Mallory just went into a reverie about Kevin Costner ironing in his underwear. I think that is her, I don't know if it's her favorite movie, but it's got to be close. Certainly one of my favorite movies.

This is Ron Shelton's minor league baseball class. I completely whiffed on this. This is clearly my favorite movie of the night. But Moonstruck second? Yeah, sure. Okay, thanks. All right. Yeah, two of my three faves, Amanda.

Moonstruck and When Harry Met Sally. Okay, thank you, Bobby. Don't have Bull Durham for you, unfortunately. Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, all-time classics. A lot of saxophone. Best dialogue ever. A lot of saxophone.

Yeah, I rewatched it recently and there was just a lot of steamy. The saxophone was elemental to the 1980s. I love the saxophone. I didn't mean that in a negative way. It was just a very time capsule moment. Where do you stand on Huey Lewis in the news? I can't separate it from American Psycho.

Yeah. What about you, Chris? I can't separate it from Back to the Future and also from just classic jams that I would sing in the car. Huey Lewis rules. My dad just loved Huey Lewis unironically and so do I.

Yeah. I have no comment other than that. He's essentially, for a couple of minutes there, it's basically like, is this the best rock band on the radio? In America. Were they sophisticated?

Did they write about anything that was truly meaningful beyond let's have a good time and love each other? No. No. Didn't matter. Did they just say this album's called Sports? Yep. I believe they had one called Four. Yeah.

Because I guess someone was swinging a golf club in the studio. Yeah. Just good tunes. Okay. Power of love. Am I right? It's a great song. It's hip to be square.

Yeah. Certainly, I am living that truth. Hey of love. Am I right? It's a great song. It's hip to be square. Yeah. Certainly, I'm living that truth. Hey, can I tell you something? I've noticed that you've really started leaning into this like I'm a weird dork.

Yeah. Like I'm square. You're not. Tell me, what am I? You fucking, you love rap. Yeah.

You know, you love edgy avant-garde cinema. Yeah. Amazing case that you're making here. No, I just think that he's cooler than- You think I've gone too far're making here. No, I just think that he's cooler than... You think I've gone too far into the persona? No, I just think that you're cooler

than you give yourself credit for. It's nice. It's part of a long game. Oh, for your turn? Like when you turn 45? It's like when I joined the NWO, you know, when Hulk Hogan came out in the all black. When I go full heel.

Okay. What's your heel? It's actually so when people... Well, it's not for any reason because i am very very much a dork but it's exciting i think if you ever meet me and i'm not absolutely the least cool person ever like i've set the bar very low you're like talking about yourself i don't know how to talk i'm not the least cool person ever yeah yeah it's not true well i appreciate what you said.

Yeah. Even though I don't fully understand what you mean. That you're cooler than you let on? Oh, that, okay. Yeah. But you don't agree with that? No, I think you are.

But the minute that you're trying to lay claim to any coolness, it's like not cool. That's right. You know? Like all like the quote cool people are like not cool. But Chris dances through the raindrops.

He does. Yeah. He doesn't, like he could legitimately say, I think I'm pretty cool and everybody would be like, absolutely. Chris Roddick,

he is pretty cool. So, you're blessed. Yeah. Do I have another pick? I do. I have a wild card pick. I took Bull Durham.

This is a very weird draft. So just any movie now that's left. So, I had almost said before we did this that I was wondering if we could do

two wallet cards there are too many great movies still on the board do you want to do that well we could just do it in the honorable mentions or whatever

but I thought it was interesting gosh I don't know where to go I mean there's so many movies I love well tell us about one of them

as a pick or in like just like a filibustering way man is in a lot of trouble I don't know where to go. I mean, there's so many movies I love. Well, tell us about one of them. As a pick or in like, just like a filibustering way? Man is in a lot of trouble. I'm fine. Gosh. I'm going to take Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Okay.

Really, really, really left field. Not expecting that at all from you. I was debating not doing it because I didn't want to have two john hughes movies but when i think about the movies that i was watching the most this isn't one like i had to catch up on yeah this was endemic to my experience as a kid this movie was on all the time in my house i really loved it it's a very sensitive movie. It's not, it does have laugh out loud moments, but you know how there were some comedies in the 80s that taught you like the emotional beats of life? Yes. And this is one of those for me. I mean, that's all John Hughes movies. They are, but like Ferris

Bueller is pretty antic. Sure. And The Breakfast Club is about kids that you will be sooner than you are. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is an adult movie. I mean, it's a movie about adults. It's about a lonely person. It's about a guy trying to get back to his family. It's about like being annoyed by people, which is a very human experience and a human condition that is not often rendered on screen in quite this way.

Also, John Candy is like signature figure of the 1980s who has slowly, I think, been forgotten. I think he now has entered a slightly different category than when we were kids when he was a giant. Like he was a huge part

of our childhoods. So I just have a lot of love for this movie. Wasn't this the running joke in the 1987 draft? Yes. Which I think Quentin was like, it sucks or whatever.

But it doesn't. I mean, heentin was like it sucks or whatever. Yeah. But it doesn't. I mean he's wrong about that. Just trying to remember. I think that that either him or Roger cited that it would be

like. Yeah. It didn't get there. It didn't get there. It didn't get there. It didn't get there. It didn't get there. It didn't get there.

But the difference is is that in 1987 those guys were in their 20s right or in their early 20s or late teens and I was a kid and it's all about when you get stuff.

So playing strings and Automobiles I'm up yeah in teen comedy I will take Breakfast Club I figured good

glad that was drafted which is the I think probably like the archetypal John Hughes movie I would say if not my favorite

which was already drafted but this is also a movie I have seen 3,000 times I think we were shown it in high school, which in retrospect, I'd love to, you know. That's weird. I do think it's weird.

In senior year, we were allowed to take more creative English classes. So I think I took like a movies and literature class or something. Not like adaptations, but just, I think movies as literature, which is unusually progressive for my really uptight high school anyway so i think it might have been in that context we also watched the

deer hunter in that class uh anyway an all-timer it's a great movie yeah no quibbles i guess it could have been taken in probably a couple of different categories at this point but i think if you I'm glad someone took it I agree with Chris I didn't even notice I think so so here's the problem

so I just have I have wild card left is this the last pick it's the last pick yeah like there's a ton of movies that I would love to shine some light on

and there's a ton of movies that are personal favorites but we left Fletch on the board yeah so I'll just take Fletch okay because Fletch is fucking incredible.

Super funny. And you have cranked it to Daniel Wheeler Nicholson 25, 35 times? How many times? That's not an appropriate thing to say about one of our great actresses, honestly. You should be ashamed of yourself. I didn't say anything about her.

I'm reflecting on something you did while observing her work. I've never cranked it to Fletch if I needed to come out and make a statement. But still photographs of Dana Wheeler Nicholson? Oh! You can be honest. You're amongst friends. So, I love Fletch, but I feel weird leaving some of the uncovered gems here, I guess.

Okay. I mean, there's a long list of movies that we could go through that we didn't cover. Chris, I can't believe you didn't take Cocktail. Sean, I can't believe you didn't take Fast Times.

Yeah. Yeah. So Fast Times is a big one. You think Cocktail is a comedy? I was kidding. Yeah. I have some regrets about Gremlins. Okay.

I love Gremlins. But you got that in Christmas movies, didn't you? Did I? I did. Yeah, you did in Christmas Okay. I love Gremlins. But you got that in Christmas movies, didn't you? Did I? I did. Yeah, you did in Christmas movies. I did. Thanks for remembering that.

We didn't take 48 hours. No. Spaceballs. Do you think Something Wild is a comedy? I do. I would consider it acceptable in this draft for sure. Splash. Married to the Mob.

Splash, kind of a weird movie. It is weird. You would not sleep with a mermaid? What's your take? Why is it weird? What is it about it? You're breaking me. I feel you.

Tootsie? Anybody think about that? I haven't revisited Tootsie in a while. I haven't either. Me neither. Interesting. Yeah. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a film I like a lot.

I assume you guys don't care for that one. No. We talked about this during, was that the 87 draft? It's 88, I believe, is when it was released. So it is notable, though, because Robert Zemeckis,

the man behind that film, has returned to cinemas and streaming services. I saw that his film was savaged. He released the film Pinocchio, which I want, I'm forcing Amanda to watch. This was one of those like you check the spreadsheet in the morning and at some times between the hours of like 11 p.m and

4 a.m Pinocchio has been added in the tiniest possible font to the spreadsheet and this is how Sean communicates with me by the way about like that so there's not like a thread that I'm not on where you're like no talking about cinema also Bobby I don't know if you think that there's like a side conversation where Sean and I are having like robust, you know, planning about what movies I need to see. It's like, no, Sean just like writes in like seven font in the spreadsheet. Have you seen Pinocchio? I have seen the film Pinocchio. And then I just got to watch Pinocchio.

Yes. I did actually text him to be like, is this a typo? And he's like, no, you have to watch Pinocchio. It's high key weird that they're like, they made this and now Guillermo del Toro is making Pinocchio this is why we have fucking brain worms as a society is because two of our most accomplished filmmakers are like what the world needs now is another fucking Pinocchio movie uh I can't disagree with you there there's just no doubt that Guillermo del Toro's film will be better because dear god what was Robert Temeckis doing with Pinocchio?

Nevertheless, we'll talk about that later. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is great. I have a little bit of a tear in my heart for not taking either of the Albert Brooks movies from this movie. Yeah, I was really surprised you didn't do Lost in America or Modern Love. Yeah, those are two...

Modern Romance. Modern Romance, sorry. Those are like my... Yeah, maybe I should have taken one of those from Wild Card. If you haven't seen either Lost in America or Modern Romance, those are my yeah maybe I should have taken one of those in wild card if you haven't seen either Lost in America or Modern Romance

those are two of the best I'm pretty embarrassed that I didn't take Big Trouble in Little China yeah I've been rewatching that a lot recently like as like a

go to bed movie I'll like throw that on and it's just awesome um the Kurt Russell performance Clue yeah I was surprised

that you love Clue you and Eileen have a big Clue. Too many good movies. Three Amigos? Raising Arizona? You know, I didn't even think of it as,

but you're right, it is a Navy's comedy. It's on your letterbox. Raising Arizona? On my list, my list, yeah. Nine to five? Nine to five. What about the part

in Temple of Doom where Mola Rom reaches in and takes the guy's heart out? That was based on work that you had done at that time, right? As you were colonizing? Is that right?

You know what? You got really mad at me about my Jan 6 jokes I was making about you. Did I? At one of the recent drafts. But I was going back and I listened to something

and, oh, it was on Deacons and you were accusing me of not standing with Tibet. You're always pushing my buttons. That's good stuff. Well, now's your chance to make your public comment on Tibet. Go ahead. What's the deal? What's going on there right now? Oh my God, guys, I'm cutting you both off until we start the eight hour podcast where you're just like- Just my opinion? Just my opinion. Yeah. How are you feeling about just my opinion?

I'm really, really ready. ready. I feel really well read. You know what my big one right now is? The guy from Chechnya who's abandoning Putin. Or he's basically negging Putin. And he's leaving drunken video messages where he's like, Putin doesn't know what's happening on these streets. I was up two nights ago and I was reading about how the Ukraine took a significant piece of the territory that They never thought they could ever take.

And I seriously thought about texting you, but then it was 12, 18 in the morning. What would that text have said? I would have said, did you see this news about Ukraine? So you guys really are just like texting each other? Sometimes. No, we're saving it for the pod. Okay.

Beautiful. I've never been more excited for any project than this one. You know, like we've been doing big picture 500 episodes, starting to lose the edge a little bit. I need a new project to get me pulled back in. It's all elite back out. It's geopolitics, mask mandates, the midterms. Yeah.

It's going to be sick. Yeah. I would sign up for your Chris Ryan's solo midterms podcast. Okay. That would be fun. It's just an RSS feed that he writes down on an envelope and then mails it to you. It doesn't exist anywhere else other than that. Did nobody pick Spinal Tap?

No. No. It was, honestly, if you look at my document, you can see this is Spinal Tap was number one on my wildcard list. And Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was number two. And I took Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. So I blinked. How are you feeling? Fine. I mean, this is Spinales, Trains, and Automobiles. So I blinked. How are you feeling? Fine.

I mean, this is Spinal Tap, obviously, is very important to me. And I love it. Two movies that were important to my father and then thus to me, Christmas Vacation. Yeah. Felt very sad about that one.

But I think I did get it in the Christmas time. You like it over the original Vacation? We just watched it every year. And then I wasn't allowed to see whoever the actress is that comes out of the, speaking of, you know, Chris's sexual awakening. I just remember my Aunt Betty would always, like, put her eyes, she would do, like, visual earmuffs, I guess, like, whenever the nudity scene would come up in Christmas Vacation. Is it the perfume saleswoman?

I think so, yeah. And she's coming, yeah. In Christmas Vacation? Yeah. Is there a nudity scene in Christmas Vacation yeah is there a nudity scene in Christmas Vacation I can't remember there's definitely nudity

in National Lampoon and in European right yeah yeah yeah European is when they go to the it's when they go to Germany

and they're like in the Liederhosen yes okay I don't know why I remember that yeah yeah okay

Beverly D'Angelo also doesn't she yeah yeah okay but also Blues Brothers I should just that was another my dad sat me down

is that 80 is that 1980 I'm just looking at your letterbox right now why are you getting mad at me right now because you made it yes it's 1980

can I shout out a couple of other just like classics from that era that I really enjoyed was One Crazy Summer and Better Off Dead you know

the two Cusack movies from there Savage Steve Holland yeah Savage Steve Holland. Yeah, Savage Steve Holland. Weird Science and Real Genius. Both films about the Academy, really. Stripes?

Yeah, Stripes. Bill Murray. Was Stripes rewatchable? Yeah, it was. We did it. Right? I didn't do it maybe we didn't do it

yeah did Bill do it maybe Bill did it with Koppelman oh yeah maybe um Airplane is Caddyshack

Caddyshack Caddyshack is the oh wow uh you know my second runner up for Oscar nominee was A Fish Called Wanda

which I think is also a great one yeah very underrated now it is um at the time was a big hit and Kevin Kline was a big star, Jamie Lee Curtis, obviously John Cleese and Michael Palin. I don't know.

Why is A Fish Called Wanda not in the culture? I tried re-watching it. Well, not tried, but I re-watched part of it a few weeks ago, and I grew up watching it, and it's very funny to me, but it's slow. The pacing is very different from the kind of... Contempor's like it is antic comedy but in a different way this is mike that's michael palin and john cleese yes and directed by charles crichton the great 1950s and 60s comedy director who made a lot of those alec guinness movies um at ealing studios um okay we did it should i recap yeah aren't we each supposed to recap now aren't those

the rules uh yeah let's do they request yeah how was the feedback on it bobby did you know was that an improvement you know people only want to share negative feedback they don't want to say great job guys thanks for changing the format is your mic stand sponsored by labats's? No. Labatt's Blue? No. It's the name of a company that creates audio equipment. That would be pretty cool if you were sponsored by a Canadian company. It'd be great if it was. Should I cover it up with a sticker? Yeah.

Maybe of your face or something, Chris? What do you think? That would be appropriate. Let's recap. Okay. Chris, why don't you start? In teen comedy, I got Heathers. In rom-com, I got Say Anything.

In Oscar nominee, I got Broadcast News. In action, horror, sci-fi comedy, I got Heathers. In rom-com, I got Say Anything. In Oscar nominee, I got Broadcast News. In action, horror, sci-fi comedy, I got Midnight Run. Blockbuster, I got Trading Places. And in wildcard, I took Fletch. That's a really good list. Thanks. Amanda? In teen comedy, I got The Breakfast Club.

In romantic comedy, I got Working Girl. In action, horror, sci-fi comedy, I took The Princess Bride. In Oscar nominee, I got Moonstruck, Block, sci-fi, comedy, I took The Princess Bride. In Oscar nominee, I got Moonstruck, Blockbuster, When Harry Met Sally, and Wildcard, that's right, Ghostbusters. In teen comedy, I got Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In rom-com, I got Bull Durham. In Oscar nominee, I got Big. In action, horror, sci-fi, comedy, I got Back to the Future. In Blockbuster, I got Beverly Hills Cop. And in Wildcard, I got Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. A lot of jams. A lot of jams.

So we all won. Stone Cold Classics. Yeah. We all won this draft. Yeah. What should we do next for the draft? I don't think I have an idea. It's not scheduled yet?

Did I put an idea in? Here's the problem. I mean, we're coming up on spooky season. Oh, yeah. Oh, that is what we're doing. Oh, we do have a thing. That is what we're doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We have a special guest joining us for a horror movie draft. Not unlike our barbarian conversation. You're going to adjudicate? Sit shotgun? Interrogate?

Sure. I think the parameters of my role have yet to be fully defined. Okay. We'll learn together. Okay. I don't want to spoil the guest.

You have six weeks to just cram all the great... I'll definitely be doing that. You should start with angst. Okay. That's a good place for you. Hey guys, thanks so much. Thanks for having me.

Wags, thanks so much. Thanks for producing this episode of the podcast. Please stay tuned. Of course, I'm happy to be here. Next week, Amanda is solo potting about Pinocchio for two hours. We'll see you then. Thank you.