The Big Picture - We Almost Missed These 10 Movies. Should You?

Episode Date: September 22, 2025

On today’s show, Sean and Amanda talk through 10 movies that have come out over the past few months that they haven’t covered on the show yet. But before diving into the slate, they react to the death of Hollywood icon Robert Redford (1:46), discuss the first trailer for ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ (4:23), and hypothesize why recent history suggests that September is a box office dumpster fire (17:50). Then, they rattle through a handful of different recent releases and share their thoughts on ‘Him,’ ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,’ ‘The Long Walk,’ and more (28:10). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Producer: Jack Sanders This episode is sponsored by State Farm®️. A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is presented by State Farm. Life's full of decisions, big and small, and sometimes you make movie ones you can really stand behind. For example, I was wise enough to stick around through the mid credits during Ryan Coogler's sinners. And unlike my co-host, Amanda, I got to see a very special sequence with the great buddy guy, among other things. State Farm gets it. Making confident choices can make all the difference. That's why with the State Farm Personal Price Plan, you can choose the right amount of coverage to help create an affordable price for you. to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the personal

price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer, availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. I'm Sean Fennessey. I'm Amanda Dobbins. And this is the big picture of conference. conversation show about a lot of movies. So we went on a little bit of a break in August, Amanda. And a bunch of movies came out. They did not stop releasing movies just because we took a break.

How do you feel about that? It's their right. It is their right. And it's our right to catch up with those films on today's episode. As best we can. As best we can. There have been a lot of movies released that we haven't dug into. So we'll do kind of a speed round.

I wanted to do roulette. I wanted to like fire a roulette wheel. You want to bring more props into the... Yeah, I do. Or more more great. graphics work for Jack to build out for us, but I didn't do that. Before we talk about this cavalcade of films in the last two months for the show, we do have some news.

One, we recorded three episodes in one day last week, last Monday. And then, of course, on Tuesday, some absolutely terrible news happened. A screen icon, Robert Redford passed away, 89 years old in his sleep. And we didn't get a chance to talk about him at all in the last six days. So now is our chance to make some brief remarks. I will say we will do something much bigger for him. I think in November it looks like. We'll probably do a Hall of Fame.

We'll go back into the lab and rewatch everything. And November is for scheduling reasons for a special treat. So everybody, calm your... We will have a special guest to join us. Also on the rewatchables this month, or I should say next month, Bill Simmons is doing all Robert Redford movies. Are you allowed to say that? He did. He did announce that already.

So I am not breaking any news here. Only to the listeners of this show. But Redford, I mean, what can you say? I mean, on screen, off screen, one of the most important American filmmakers and film stars in history. Truly. You know, between the body of work, you know, there he is. And I will just say, I guess I am jumping just to how hot he was. But, you know, when everyone was posting all the three days of the Condor Picoat stuff, which is very important,

not enough respect given to all the president's men gold chain. I'm just going to put that out there. But, you know, his run in the 70s, his work as a director, and then Sundance, which has been, you know, whatever you want to say about it now, and you and I have said plenty, an incredible force in terms of American cinema for the last 30, 40 years. The single biggest incubator of American independent filmmaking, period. So just, you know, he did it and had it all. Yeah.

And just an astonishing career. I think there'll be a lot to talk about when we go deep into his work. A very talented actor who was not often celebrated as a talented actor because he was such a strong star and screen presence. But had really interesting taste. They had lots of different kinds of movies almost entirely made adult films. And I don't mean porn. I mean films for adults. and his beauty and and charisma sometimes overwhelmed.

I think some of his other contributions. He's, of course, been very celebrated as a director as well. He directed many movies. He won a Best Director Academy Award. It's a, it's a monumental career. And we're kind of nearing the end of this generation. I mean, a lot of these people are passing on now who contributed so greatly in the 60s and 70s

and kind of shaped what would become modern Hollywood. So we'll find a way to hopefully pay tribute to him. Yeah. On the other side of the cultural spectrum, there is a new trailer this morning for the film The Mandalorian and Grogu. Now, I asked you to watch this trailer. Before I did, I said, have you seen the show The Mandalorian? And you said what? No.

So you've never seen The Mandalorian. I think that Zach watched maybe a season or some of it. So, you know, I've been in and out. And obviously, you know, Baby Yoda, aka Grogu, was like a thing. So I'm not unfamiliar. I've seen the memes, but, and I have listened to a lot of watch episodes where they talk about the plot, which is a guy who is played by Pedro Pascal when he's not wearing a mask, but primarily just wearing a mask, has got to protect this tiny, cute baby. Yes, so this is going to be... Who will grow up to be Yoda?

It's a different character. He's Grogu. This is Grogu. Okay. How is Grogu related to Yoda? Do we know? Well, I'm glad you asked. I have no idea.

I believe they're just a part of the same species. It's unclear if they're part of the same familial lineage. So that was a little racist for me just then. Well, we should call Henry Lewis Gates. Get him on it, you know, explore the Yoda and Grogu. I apologize to Grogu. This new movie is coming out on Memorial Day of 2026. Great.

I'm going to try to not be here for that. So one way or another. If we go to Cannes, we won't be here when it comes out. And we'll see if that actually happens. But, you know, this is a, I'll start with this. You didn't ask for my reaction. I will. I will ask for it.

Just wait. You got to share your relationship to the Mandalorian. It's very funny that this movie has come out at a time when Disney is under fire, because of the Jimmy Kimmel News. We don't need to unpack the Jimmy Kimmel News. There are a lot of other places to go to for it, but nothing could seem more like a, please ignore the noise over here than here is our new Star Wars trailer.

And I'm not saying that this wasn't planned three months ago because it probably was, but it... And also, here's what we value money? Yes. Yeah. And I've watched The Mandalorian. I really enjoyed the first season, the last couple seasons. The general Star Wars TV project has really lost me in the last few

years. It will probably come as no surprise for people to hear that. Hear me talk about all of the TV shows that Disney's been making for adults. And I thought this looked like an episode of the show. And if you like the show, that's great. But this movie is directed by John Fabro, who is actually a real filmmaker. He makes a lot of films in the IP franchise space, but he's done some really interesting stuff, even in the franchise space, when he works on like the Lion King and the

jungle book and those movies actually look quite good. This just looked like another episode of the show that he directs. And so is that a value proposition for people who want to go out to the movies? I'm not entirely sure. I will watch it because I'm a moron and I feel I have to watch all of these films, despite what Tracy Letts said on the physical media episode. I'm an hour in 20 minutes in Okay You've only got six more hours to go I know

Maybe maybe longer You know I love all of you All four of you I love even you Though I don't show up very often And so for a while in there It's like it's nice to

You know it's nice to be with people I love Talking about something that they love I do have that ability within me And also like kind of sociologically interesting Right A Mount Rushmore-sized butt is coming And, well, I, I mean, that's true. The Statue of Liberty of Butts.

So once we, well, that just makes me think of some other things. Once, once we get to the part of the episode where you are going title by title and label by label. The best part? Well, it just, obviously you're all insane. And, but to me, it was more of the small moments of insanity that are going to stay with me of, you know, Tracy, pulling out something, you're just being like, uh-huh. Yes. And then you're just like, this is the hottest Sam Elliott has ever looked in a movie that no one's ever heard of that we own in like four different formats. And I was like, okay, so these are

diseased people who I love. I would like to strongly encourage you to see the film Lifeguard. I think you would enjoy it. Sure. I would be happy to. Except I, you know, is it the right format? It's Blu-ray, yeah. Okay, I have one of those. Um, you know, you and Tracy also have like a very like beautiful almost like Star Wars like you know like you like Obi-Wan Luke relationship that's like very beautiful he is truly the master Jedi and also like I'm I love you both and I hope your kids get to go to college um because the numbers are pretty insane and I listen I guess it's good to have passions I don't think that you should be ever allowed to make fun of me again for any of the shit that I'm interested

in because it's just different shit. But you're always just like, ooh, teacups, you know? But like, so what? A lot of art and, you know, craft went into making a teacups. So if I care about that, you care about plastic. Everyone listening to the movie podcast agrees with you. You should definitely spend $800 on teacups. But it wasn't about movies. It was not, it was. It was about celebrating what's on the plastic. Discovery. It was about the fetidization of steel folks and slip covers. All part and parcel. Well, sure.

So, you know, I appreciate art and visual achievement in all its forms, whether it's a film or a teacup. So there. I won't make fun of you for teacups. Okay. I don't believe you. Do you want to hear what I think about the mandibur? I do want to hear what you think about this movie. So, well, I just watched the trailer.

And my take is, you know, this comes for all kid actors, but I will say at Grogu is getting less cute as he ages. Wow. And so that's a real problem. Sheesh. You know? He's just not as cute as he was. But, and listen. Have they aged him up in your mind?

Yeah. And he's losing. And listen, it's a pot and kettle situation because I am also losing volume in my face. You know, it comes for all of us. And I don't think he should. But it's just, yeah, it's getting narrower and it's not as cute. The thing is, you know, Yoda is, I think, centuries old. Right.

And he's getting cute. with age. Like, I think in their species. I guess so. So he's in the middle. Because like Yoda in the prequels, when he's a little bit more, he's got a little bit more like pizzazz to him.

You know, he's flipping around and swinging a lightsaber. He's not as, he's not as appealing as he is in the originals. Maybe this is like the adolescence of Grogu. And it's awkward time for everyone. I feel like it's like three days later. I'm just looking at the composition of the face over time. Wow.

You know? Yeah. Because what else am I looking at? What are those like big? machines on stilts called? Adats. Yeah, like, okay, that's, that looks like a cool video game. Hope you guys have fun playing that. I don't care. I'm glad you brought that up.

I'm looking at Grogu. I'm glad you brought that up because the adats are like pretty legendary. I think we first saw them in Hoth, in Empire Strikes Back. Those droids, those giant droid tanks were

handcrafted and there was like, you know, made by humans. And in this trailer, they're CGI. And there's just more CGI in Star Wars than they're used to be, and there's clearly going to be a lot in this movie. And Star Wars is kind of, is arguably the most relevant movie to the development of visual technology in film in the last 50 years. And Lucas going back into the original movies and adding stuff. I see that discussion on the physical media episode and all the CGI stuff. You thought that was valuable. Yeah. Yeah. But that had nothing to,

and I guess the fact that it's not available is both, you know, the filmmakers intent and also why we need, you know, notes and group projects. A lot of listeners reached out about that, actually. And they're like, this is available. This is available. You just have to buy it. But what you're buying is not an officially released version of the movie. It's like, you know, bootleg copies that are being sold on like sloppy seconds.com or whatever. So that doesn't have the reference or the transfer that you. Correct. Some people say it's just as good. But I don't know. I haven't seen those. I'm trying to support the industry. You know,

I'm not trying to bootleg. But some people have a different philosophy about that. They think you should torrent movies and share bootlegs. I did think that the suggestion that you guys donate everything to the public library once you've replaced things was a good one. I have a huge crate full of doubles that I would be. Chris should get some of them, but I would love to just give them to people who want them. Maybe at our next live show, I'll give away.

I have a ton of criterion doubles at this point that I need to give away. How are you going to get them to New York? You're going to have a little suitcase like Tracy? I'd rather not do that since I will be traveling with my family. I'll figure something out Mandelorraine and Grogo so will you see it you'll see it for work Yeah would you ever in a million years see it

If you did not have this job No okay Respectfully Interesting I'm quite curious about how this movie plays Because Star Wars has not been at the movies It'll be seven years at this point When the movie comes out

Because the last guy walker I like the last guy wager looked nice She did She did Happy to see her Yeah sure I mean we don't know what she does Does she have any dialogue

in that sequence? No, she and Rogu just have a wordless exchange. Right. And he force pulls like a mug toward him, the ashtray. What is that? It looked like maybe a snack. A snack, I see. Okay.

How do you feel with the force? I mean, I don't think about it a lot, honestly. Would you put in the time to learn how to harness it if someone came to you and said, hey, Amanda, the force is real and I know how to do it and I'll teach you. But it's going to require one year of study. But isn't it like You have to be called Not everyone has the force

You've been tapped on the shoulder But You have the midi-chlorians needed So but it's I mean it's genetic It's like handed down Okay I mean well so you know that's dicey But it is also religious

Oh Yeah I don't do that It's spiritual I think you know that I'm not really Interested in engaging in my spiritual life But like at the same time That's so funny the way you frame that too It makes it sound like the life does exist somewhere.

Yeah, no, it's like, it's like, I probably do have the force. And in some ways, like, I'm just using it every day in my own way. You probably do have the force. That's what this looks like. Yeah, absolutely. But no, I'm not, I'm not going to go to school. Can we get like the Force Ghost Halo around Amanda this morning? Just can you go in the post on that, Jack?

The Ryan Johnson one. Yeah. I mean, Mark Hamel was such a pill. Like, I'm not putting up with that shit, you know? Damn. When he was training, right? Yeah. Like, eh, no thanks.

Well, I mean, he was a part of a broken revolution, you know? He had a spirit crushed. I mean, I understand all of that. But, like, is that how I want to spend my time? I'll tell you what, the last set out reminds me of another movie that's coming out very soon. Yeah, I know. But then we can talk about different ways that everyone, you know, expresses themselves and commits to the next generation, okay? That's, um, that hadn't occurred to me, that's really funny.

But as soon as I was talking about them. So one last thing, I did, this did occur to me while brought. I was brushing my teeth this morning because my life is so sad. I had watched this trailer and then I went to go brush my teeth and I started thinking about The Last Jedi and what it did to the fandom of these movies and TV shows, right? And it like, it broke them. The idea of rejecting some of the dogma of Lucas's Star Wars world in that film cleaved the fandom into two people who like The Last Jedi and people who do not. Oh, right. Yeah.

You know, and people who rejected Johnson's ideas of what the movie could be, became like a subjective war about taste and what these movies and TV shows should do. And this movie feels like the final step in the retreat, right? The retreat to serving the fans, for fans, whoever the fans are. I'm a fan, and I like The Last Jedi, but some don't. And it just feels... The fans they can make money off of. But it feels smaller. It does feel like it's speaking to us, like, you know, we've been talking about the Marvel stuff

and how the franchises are getting smaller across all movies, and everybody's looking for something new to kind of break through. And this is like, I know this show's been around for five years, you know? this isn't new. There's almost nothing in the trailer that we see that is like, oh, I've never seen that before. You know, I guess we see a hut fighting, you know, like Jabba the Hut. Oh, yeah.

Yes, yeah, yeah, I did see that. But even still, it's like, we've seen huts before. You know, it's a lot of stuff that we're like, yeah, I know that. Babu Frick, do you see him in there getting in the mix? Wasn't that Babu Frick? Oh, from the Force Awakens? Yeah. Yeah.

No, no. Was he in the Force Awakens? Or I don't remember, but he was small. Jack, when does Bobu Frick show up? Come on. You're the Star Wars X person. Literally zero clue. Okay.

Anyway, he was small... Maybe it was Last Skywalker because I thought Babu Frick was funny and what was otherwise like a ridiculous movie. I believe you're right. I think it's the last Skywalker. But I could not remember his name.

Okay. I guess that's one of the biggest movies of 2026? I guess so. I'll see it. Maybe I'll love it. I mean, I really do hope to be in France. Will it follow us to France

is the real concern? Well, that is in play, right? It could premiere. I can. I hope that, I mean, Tieri, come on. Have a little self-respect. I mean, Indiana Jones on the Dial of Destiny did. I know Tierra does not have that much self-respect.

There's got to be a big noisy Hollywood movie that opens the festival, right? Yeah. It's probably the best candidate. Okay. We shall see. Okay, let's just quickly talk about the box office because we haven't been talking about this for a while. The last kind of mega sensation of the box office was weapons, which we hit on last week on the show. And September is usually a pretty rough time.

September is kind of the new February. and the only thing that really works are horror movies and so like in recent years the two It films were released in September Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice last year was the big hit this year we've had The Conjuring Last Rites

which has been a real sensation it's made already $150 million in three weeks which is pretty crazy and then after that it's been a little rocky so a couple of new films we'll talk about here on the episode we'll talk about him we'll talk about the long walk we'll talk about downtown Abbey

we'll talk about a big bold beautiful journey those have all come out in the last two weeks the biggest movie in the country for the last two weeks has been Demon Slayer Infinity Castle Now you haven't seen it No And neither of I Okay

Not a huge anime head Nor am I we're too old It's very much a Gen Z And a young millennial phenomenon The generational divide Of we're just like well Culturally Yeah

Yeah I think I am just a little daunted by What I understand to be Everything that comes before this installment Of the Demon Slayer story that I'm like, I'm not sure if I'll understand this at all. And so I don't even know how valuable it would be for us to talk about it. However, what's undeniable is how much it is connecting with like a hyper niche, like a power niche.

Right. And the audience is just showing up for this movie. This movie is made $100 million. It's the first animated movie in 2025 to make $100 million. First of all, that's an insane statistic. Animated movies are among the most reliable, you know, movie types that we have out there. They have been. I think the highest grossing since then.

prior to this, rather, was Dogman, which came out in January. It made like 96 million. Which I learned my son has seen twice. He's seen Dogman twice. He has seen Dogman twice. That was his plain film of choice. Oh, very cool. I had no idea what was happening. I was in charge of the other baby. I was in charge of the baby. It's pretty gentle.

Yeah. Anyway, you know, obviously movies like Elio just completely bombed. And so Demon Slayer is kind of blotting everything out. Now this is like a kind of a very soft weekend. In general, a lot of stuff underperform that will

get into shortly but is there any part of you okay let me ask you this it's a good way to think about it it's pretty reasonable to expect that knocks will get into anime it it is like a real draw for young kids and it's not i mean there's it's it's it's not like video games like there's nothing insidious about anime it's just a certain type of storytelling um and it's very movie and television focused and you know i know that the the midnight boys are probably going to talk about this movie pretty soon, but I don't know when you and I would ever talk about Demon Slayer, like in depth the way we would, one battle after another. If he's into it, like, will you encourage it? Will he be baffled? Will you try to keep it away from it?

Friends. I mean, it's usually peers, right? It's like one friend likes it, and then another friend is like, did you see that? I guess so. It still feels like we're a little far away from that. He hasn't come home yet and been like, oh, I need to watch X, Y, Z. And he Even at soccer practice today, this week, there were some Paw Patrol stickers. And Knox came over and was like, I have Paw Patrol. And I was like, well, that's a very special soccer only thing. I don't know where else we would find that, you know, because I'm not going down that road. Yeah, we have managed to avoid that one entirely.

I will say something that has been happening that is related to this. And this was not even true when we recorded our episode about it. But K-pop Demon Hunters is such a phenomenon at school. and the shift from three years old to four years old for my daughter means that the girls, all of her friends sing the songs together at school and talk about the movie and then my daughter comes home and she says

can we put on the music I want to dance, I want to fight you saw some fighting this weekend some battling and it's like the first time that I've really seen the socialization impact of pop culture from her, you know she saw the movie a couple times liked it, didn't talk to me about it after that.

And then when the crew is hanging out and talking about it, and this is very much in the same vein, right? The music is also a huge part of that, right? And that the music is good and can exist and dependently of the movie and then can

also be a thing that they can glum on to so that they, like, if they don't understand, like, the demon hunting mythology, or if they aren't attracted to that, they at least can sing golden 45 times. That's what it is. Yeah. That's exactly what it is.

And that is true of a lot of kids' entertainments, right, that are based on songs or have songs throughout, and that's how they, like, get committed on. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. That's sort of why I ask, I think, because I'm going through it in my home. And I like K-Kop Demon Hunter, so it's not a problem. Those songs are great.

Yeah, yeah. But there will be something a year from now that is less good. And then you're like, okay, how do we navigate this phenomenon that everyone loves? And we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, I suppose. Yeah, yeah. It seems right now, like Batman and Lake.

are the two likeliest. For you? Yeah. I mean, Batman and Legos both rock. We tried the Batman Lego movie, but he was too little

and he was scared. Yeah, yeah. But do you have any Batman Legos at your house? No Legos yet because Zai is just menace and so it's like a choking hazard issue. I mean,

we could do it, but we got a lot of magnetiles. I got it. Yeah, brainstorming on gifts. The other thing I wanted to know we've been seeing this a little bit over the last couple years

is in the top 10 there are two movies that were released several decades ago. Yeah. A Toy Story, which was re-released two weeks ago. Yeah. And Howell's Moving Castle, which was also released two weeks ago. Studio Ghibli's been doing a re-release of all their films throughout the summer. And Toy Story is 30 years old, which is quite terrifying to learn that it's 30 years old. Yeah.

I'm getting old. I hosted another of these. I hosted a Q&A after a 25th anniversary screening of Bring It On last night. Tell us about it. Well, I just bring it on as 25, which is like really alarming, especially when I realized I was in high school when this movie came out. So that's just, that's tough. It was very fun.

I got to meet Kirsten Nunst, who was absolutely lovely. I got to meet Gabrielle Union. She was absolutely lovely. Lindsay Sloan, Jesse Bradford. But, yeah, no, we're real old, like really old. It's funny that this stuff is being trotted out as simul nostalgia and introduction for kids. So little kids can watch this stuff for the first time. I'm on the big screen, which I love, but for adults, it's like comfort food for them, too.

You know, to go see Howells Moving Castle with your kid. Right. It's a lot of fun. It's very nice, yeah. One more thing. I did do that this weekend, but it was for singing in the rain at the Academy Museum. Yeah, I heard. That's great.

Yeah, it was great. It was very charming. I had quite a movie weekend. I did. And Knox really liked to do it. Knox sat through the whole thing. Excellent. And he led clapping after every song.

Was it in the big room or the small room? It was downstairs, the 10-man theater. Okay. The green seats. The green seats. As they're known in our house. And it was great. It was a mix of, I think Knox was probably the youngest person there,

but there were other young kids, and then there were people of all ages. And that movie's really good. I don't know if you've heard. I'll check it out. Yeah. One other new release thing to get into before we start talking about films that are actually on the world,

it was announced last week that on October 3rd, AMC theaters will be releasing something called Taylor Swift, colon, the official release party of a showgirl, which is, What is that? So it is an event loosely related to cinema and very related to her new album

The Life of a Showgirl I see Which comes out then I believe that day What's the idea behind that album? It's about the life of a showgirl Is it a concept album? Don't know yet

I worry that it is Is it about the Pamela Anderson film That came out last year? I mean in some ways that would be better The more that she moves towards, like, fiction, you know, she's not writing from life. She's writing from her imagination, and it's sort of, like, creative writing workshop. That's tough for me. Okay.

Personally, I just, like, I don't care for it. But, you know, she's, this could be about ERA's tour. It could be about Travis. It could be about, you know, I don't know what. Travis, who? Yeah. Have you heard of it? Who you're referring to.

He won a game last night, I heard. Well, I would say Patrick Mahomes won again In the Chiefs defense Mahomes, I'm just striking the haters down I feel he still got it He made three throws in the second half That were out of this world It was really nice to be not prepping

And watching a movie for like 10 minutes And watching football yesterday That felt great Boy, anything else? Are we gonna see this or are you gonna go? We're gonna be in the way I don't know, it's just It doesn't sound like a movie

It doesn't. Like the Air Restore I wouldn't say I was happy to see it But I was like, this is a movie event, right? They have made a concert film, which is something that we both like and have done well. This feels like a 70-minute, like, stunt to get people on theaters. They're playing the song. There's a music video. There's like behind-the-scenes footage.

I don't really care either. I must say, 824 must be fucking pissed because this is the weekend of the smashing machine. And they had that weekend all to themselves. And now here comes Taylor Swift. And this will almost certainly be the number one movie of the weekend. I don't know. Maybe can you see it and like level set it for it? me at some point? Well, I don't know whether I'm going to be able to get tickets. And I think

it's a pretty limited event for that weekend. Do you want to skip to cancel our live show? Yeah, I will no longer be there. I will be down the street at the AMC. Or I guess like across the park. I don't know what's going on on the Upper East Side. I'm excited to find out. You know, if I could go on Friday, I guess, maybe. I have dinner plans, but. Okay. I'm not invited to dinner. No, actually. But you could come another, we could do dinner another night. Thanks for the advice. Did we miss anything else of note? I'm sure, but, you know.

Do you think we should turn this into a 24-hour live stream where we just look at social media and see what we've missed in recent days? That would go really well. Okay. I'm stalling a bit because I don't even know how to dig in all these movies. Yeah. There's been a ton of stuff that's come out recently. And we've seen a lot of them.

I've more or less organized this in reverse chronology. where we start at the most recent movies that have come out and go backwards from there. How do you feel about that? I feel good. I've seen most of the first ones, and at some point it drops off because I was away. You've seen a couple that I haven't seen, too. Oh, okay. Let's start with him.

Okay. Because him is the highest grossing new movie of the weekend. Right. This is the new film from Monkey Paw Productions, which is Jordan Peel's company. There were a lot of produced by Jordan Peel notes on the marketing and posters around which I think confused some people and made them think maybe this was a Jordan Peel movie. It is not. It's directed by Justin Tipping. It's written by Skip, Bronchi, Zach Akers, and tipping. And it stars Marlon Wands, Tyreek Wethers, who we just saw. And I know what you did last summer, the reboot of that franchise, Julia Fox and Tim Heideker.

This is not what I was expecting. What were you expecting? I think I was expecting something along the lines of any given Sunday. Oliver Stone's look at professional football. non-NFL sanctioned, but a kind of ensemble drama slash hyper-kinetic action movie set in the world of sports. And I knew that this had a huge horror element. We saw the trailer for this movie at CinemaCon.

And I remember we were talking with Craig Horleback and we were like, it's kind of never really been like a sports horror movie before or at least not one set in the world of football. It makes a lot of sense. Football is one of the most beloved and known things in our culture. And coming from Jordan Peel's company, a lot of this makes a lot of sense. The movie heading into the weekend was tracking really well,

and then all of a sudden it dived pretty dramatically in part because it's gotten very bad reviews. So I thought this was going to be a big story of epic scope in which a lot of football was played. Right. Well, another key word there is story, which you thought there was going to be a story. There's not a lot of story.

I mean, there's some story, but it is pretty bare bones. Yeah, and it's an idea. It's a great idea. It's a great idea. And it also, it is, it wants to be, or I shouldn't say want to, wants to. It is a movie about, you know, how football, the football industry preys upon or uses up, you know, young black men in particular. I guess it's a little bit about black masculinity. It knows it's all of its ideas. But then that's just like, that's it. It's like, so again, this is what it's about. And we're going to say that to you pretty literally. Well, there's like one more aspect of it, but it's connected to what you just described, which is I think like the religion of football, right?

And the way that people turn themselves over to these godlike powers and who is really in charge of the institutions and then who do they use inside of those institutions? How do they pray upon those people? And so in this case, the movie is about a young star quarterback coming out of college who is about to be drafted and could be the next great QB. And the team he becomes closely aligned with is known as the Saviors, hint-hint.

And in an effort to train ahead of the launch of the new season, he goes to the home of a retiring quarterback for the franchise, maybe retiring quarterback, who is an icon to this franchise beloved. And Tyrick Withers is the Young Prospect. Marlon Wands plays this iconic figure. And it's sort of like... like a silence of the lamb style horror character study

between these two guys and the things that they go through and it's sort of a mystery but it's not scary and then there's no real revelation at the other side of it I will say the movie is extremely stylish and beautiful

but it does effectively feel like a 90-minute commercial where you can watch a commercial and be like damn cinematography, the vision the way that this is executed commercials can be beautiful but they're often

kind of hollow and this movie looked beautiful to me but I thought the story was very hollow and I thought despite some kind of interesting performances from the two leads it was like really unsuccessful and kind of enervating like the whole time I was sort of like when is the story going to start? Yes exactly. Because it's like

it's just a movie about training because there's no football played. And then it's and also the only other aspect of the story is like is he going to be the goat but they keep saying will he be the goat like it's like, can he, like, be elected president or something?

Like, it's like a literal, you know, title or job. It's like it's MVP. Yes. And I'm like, well, I'm glad you guys like podcasts so much, but that's not really how it works. And you sound stupid when you keep saying it. I thought Julia Fox was very funny. She was the only person I thought who was really, like,

on the wavelength of the camp sense of humor in the movie. Yeah. And I don't know if that feels like a function of directing. Like, the performers are not really at fault if the movie has, completely uneven tone and the tone is just really there's times where it is like a brutally violent psychological horror film and then there are other times where it's like borderline like slapstick yeah and i found it a little bit tough to understand what they were actually going for ultimately yeah i mean i was just i was missing a plot you know yeah and i agree with you that it

looked, you know, good and distinctive. And it's like, I understand what they wanted to convey to us, but I didn't, I was bored. Honestly, I was just bored because there was no, you know, first act, second, second, third act. It just wasn't moving anywhere. Yeah. The movie that actually made me think about, which it, on the surface, made that seem like it has a lot in common with, but I think actually has a lot in common with his infinity

pool. I don't know if you ever saw that, the Alexander Scars Guard Me, a Goth movie, the brand, and Cronenberg directed. Oh, no, yeah. Scar's Guard is like on a vacation and he meets this, with his girlfriend, he meets this couple,

and they kind of draw him into their world. And it's about seclusion and cult-like fascination. And it's very gory and phantasmagoric. And there's, you know, an orgy sequence in this movie.

There's an orgy sequence in that movie. But, like, the Kronenberg movie has a million things on its mind, is really immersive and interesting. You have no idea where it's going. And this movie is just kind of like dead end after death.

end and it was a bummer it's parceled out day by day with like you know title cards that tell you what's going to happen and it was really weird and they don't really but they don't lead anywhere and they're not really insightful about the plotting of the story so yeah this is this is a pretty big disappointing miss you know you mentioned that you really like tyreek withers when we were doing i know what you did last summer and he definitely he has screen presence i thought he was good and memorable you know i thought that that that movie like this sort of did a disservice to its cast can't use their terms yeah um it's it's not his fault marlin wands is 53 i know so well that would be old for a qb now he looks great he looks great

and he's in great shape and i guess you could buy it but i have been living with marlin wands in my life for a really long time but are you supposed to there are a lot of like like occult bargain with the devil like you know there's a little substance going to on in here so aren't you supposed to believe that like I mean he's like literally getting blood transfusions so I don't know people people can do weird shit now but we're not meant to believe in the chronology of the story that he's been playing for 32 years I well just how long he would be playing that's fine but like in this NFL if he's 45 you know how old's Tom Brady and he just quit I think he retired at 45 okay so you know I'm I'm not trying to age shame Marlon Wayans

he looks, sounds better than I ever will and is more successful. That wasn't the biggest logic problem in the movie for me. I guess I'm like, I saw Marlon Wayans in a movie in like 1991. Yeah. You know, so it's just a little, just a head scratcher for me. Was him a more or less of a fiasco than a big, bold, beautiful journey? This is a great question. Maybe less.

but that's possibly just because of expectations. See, that's, okay, so I'm glad you said it up that way. And I would say him at least achieves something visually. We're like, huh. Where. It had a certain kind of style that maybe we don't see it the movies. I enjoyed the one moment in him, by the way, when the head shot comes in and they flipped to X-ray.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, there were a couple of choices like that that were cool. A Big Bull Beautiful Journey is kind of a heartbreaking movie. I love Coganada's first film Columbus. Incredible. One of my favorite movies of the last 20 years. I talked about it. The year that it came out, it was in my top five.

I had him on the show for After Yang. It's a really gifted filmmaker. This movie is just dead on arrival. And I feel terrible to say that, but like, People have pointed something out interesting about it. It's a real what happened here. It really is. Top to bottom.

Yes. It is like a dead pigeon. Like it's a movie that does not, it never takes off. And it stars Margo Robbie. This is her first feature film since Barbie. Colin Farrell, who has been having a great few years. And then even in the supporting cast, Kevin Klein, Phoebe Waller Bridge. It's not written by Koganada and it is not edited by Kogonata.

Okay. Something for us to cite. If you liked after Yang or Columbus, it has some of this like the kind of presentational style, the framing, the way that he sets up a shot. But everything else feels different. And

the story, it's a movie about two people who essentially get set up on a blind date at a wedding. And they also, through a rental car service, take them, it takes them on a journey through moments in their past so that they can reflect on who they are, who they were, the things that they

did, and whether or not they can should be together and it reminded me a little bit of like really kind of treakly 90s movies

like what dreams may come you know where you're like in a sort of magical realist world and it's a very

sincere sentimental exploration of feeling but without any like sense of humor or grounding that really clicks

and then the worst thing I think you'll agree with me is like these two people who are individually great, have no chemistry. No. And I was thinking a lot about the Margot Robbie character is just a manic pixie dream girl nightmare.

And so, and it does have that construction of who is this whimsical woman dressed like Blake lively Fremend's with us leading this man through some sort of, you know, adventure where he can access his emotions and then and then maybe find love. Really, really bad stuff. I have a friend who read the original script and said that the script was also originally really good and very different. So your point about how it was not written by Koganada, there's maybe a mismatching here and the interpretation that's, you know, I texted him and I was like, okay, but what was good in it? Like, I really honestly can't find anything. maybe besides Colin Farrell doing How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Yeah, well I didn't I kind of enjoyed that part For three minutes I was like oh okay so it's you know There's a high school musical set piece Yeah In the center of the movie That is very charming

Yeah And maybe the movie should have just been a musical entirely That might have actually been more successful But I don't know Some of this is my own hang up Because like I took this movie in the movie auction in my movie fantasy league that I'm in I have this movie

it's probably the only movie I picked in that league that is like just straight up not going to do anything and I think maybe just my appreciation for the two previous Koganada movies

had be hyped up about it, you know? I mean the writing was on the wall as this you know this was Colin Farrell Margo Robbie and Koganada before we knew anything about it besides what was on paper it was anticipated

and then the fall festival lineup came on one by one, and there was just absolutely nothing. It gets this release date. I think it was originally supposed to be, was it Mother's Day? I think it was Mother's Day. And then they bumped it. And I was like, they bumped it into this September wasteland. Right.

And I was like, that's not good. But I think when they bumped it. We had hoped it was like, a awards contender. Right, because we thought that it was because it was after a film festival, so we thought maybe it would debut and then coast right into that. So not even be a TIF is. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

that the suspicions were correct. Yeah. Really tough stuff. It's wild. By the way, I didn't think the visual style worked either. I think it was trying to do a kind of elevated, imagined production design, like children's book production design. For sure. And at times it worked and at other times I was like, why are we in a Burger King right now?

Yeah. Like what is even the thinking here of this product placement that is meant to be whimsical, but it's just so tacky? Really, really depressing. A series of like really bad choices over and over again. And this is tough because him and a Big Bull Beautiful Journey are literally what I'm asking for. Right. Original. Young filmmakers, relatively inexperienced, have only made a couple of movies, original stories, stars, ascendant stars, using genre as a springboard to draw audiences in, horror and romance in this case.

I guess rom-com to some extent, mostly romance. Yeah. and a film for young male audiences and a film for young female audiences and this was an open weekend where they could do something and Demon Slayer in its second weekend just obliterated these movies

because nobody wants this specific thing now both of these movies got very bad reviews very bad reviews and bad cinema scores like no one is happy yes so I don't want to confuse or conflate sometimes you try things and they don't work and then the studios put them

on the same day. You know, it's the, it's this movie version of taking, you know, Friday news dump. Yeah, it's a September dump. Exactly. So it feels really bad in this moment because all the things we want didn't pin out. But they are packaged together for that reason. They are. And the thing is when you and I growls about this or people who just love movies and want quality original storytelling, grouse about it, this is what executives are afraid of. You know, him is probably like a $30 million movie and it'll probably make its money back and be fine. but a Big Bowl of Beautiful Journey, this is a big expensive movie with movie stars and it's going to lose a lot of money. It made $4 million this weekend. I mean, it's going to lose a ton of money.

And Sony is already having a terrible year. So this is why people are afraid to take risks is because if you make a Big Bowl of Beautiful Journey and you fail, you're going to get fired and the studio is going to make three more Spider-Man spin-offs because they report to their shareholders. So anyway, that context I think is useful, even though I would have loved to have loved this movie.

And ironically, the next movie that we will talk about is the third installment in a movie series, which is spun off from a TV series, which is the exact thing that we say we don't want and are sick of. Yeah. And it's one of the most delightful movies of the year. I mean, as you said to me when we walked out from our fan screening, the Wednesday night, we sat next to people who talked loudly at the TV as if they were at the screen as if they were at home watching TV. And that's okay. Because, you know, at some point when you're like, they shouldn't make one of these every year and release them, It's like, that is called television, you know?

That's true. And I would watch it happily. We are, of course, talking about Downabby, the grand finale, which I hope is not the grand finale. Me too. You know, let's keep going. What a winner. It's 1930. We have 10 years before the war, you know?

Like, there's plenty more that we can get to. We could do Lady Mary for the next 50 years. Come on. I guess so. Though at some point she like, she does have to sell Downabby, you know? That's fine. That's right. But then that actually kind of is the end.

But then you just change the title to after Downton Abbey. I guess so. But then you wanted to. London in the mid-century. I'm almost caught up on Gilded Age. Hello, Tracy Letts. How are you? And I'm having the time of my life.

And that is, of course, like Julian Fellows' is like next big post-Downabby project. But that's set in like the 1910s, right? No, I think it's like the late 1800s. But it is notably not filmed at an existing great manner in the UK. It is filmed on sound stages and then uses, you know, respectfully, some of the worst CGI I have ever seen in my entire life. Cool. It's New York, though, right?

Yeah, but it's like, you know, it looks super, super fake because they're imagining a New York of 100 years ago. And then, I don't know, like, no spoilers, but I just watched there was a crash recently that, like, was insulting, you know? Like, I pay for my HBO Max. Like, come on. Just how bad it looks. Yeah, like, you guys actually can do a little better.

Okay. But so you, this is all to say that, like, Julian Fellows needs the location for to, like, and I'm loving Gilded Age. And, like, I hope it runs forever. But I do think that you need an actual place. And so if they had to sell down Abbey, that would be tough. Well, it's interesting that you say that, because that is obviously a huge part of the tension of this story. Because this movie takes place, as you said, in 1930. And the crawlies are, they have to downsize.

You know, we're entering a new era of England and the manor era is ending and the family has to look at their finances and what they can and can't afford, just running the abbey, just upkeeping it is tremendously expensive. Plus, you know, you've got Lord Crawley is passing the sort of family heritage and ownership down to Lady Mary. Is he Lord Crawley or Lord Grantham? Lord Grantham, excuse me. Yeah. Why don't I keep saying Crawley? Well, their family name is Crawley. Got it.

Lord Grantham, you're right. He is Lord Grantham. Yeah. Thank you for correcting me. And the tension, literally in the movie is that they tore a flat, which would be easily the nicest apartment you and I have ever lived in. Totally. And he is just baffled and miserable at the idea of living in this flat.

Lord Grantham gets his what is a weekend, which is like what is a flat. And he's like, what if I want to go upstairs, you know, to take a bath? And they're like there is no upstairs. But yeah, they sell their London home, right? Right. Which is what all the quote-unquote great families were doing at that time. But they so they can keep the estate. Right.

But if you don't got the estate. Yeah, obviously it should be the other way around. They should be selling the Abbey so that they can keep the London home. That's what you would do. Well, yeah. Yeah. Because we know what happens to all of these giant manners in the 20th century. They all become decrepit and have to be sold off and become like museum pieces.

That is true. and it's the second World War that, you know, brings it on and only really... Only they could see the rise of fascism in 1930s. Well, they also open them to... There's an option where they, like, become museums. Yeah, sure.

And that still happens where, like, people live in little small wings and then, you know, like the National Trust and all that stuff. What does that mean for Lord Grantham's bottom dollar, though? You know, have you considered that? Well, you, like, pay entrance and people go, and then there's, like, a gift shop. Okay.

And so, you know, that could be funny. Very cool. Lady Mary as, like, the docent of the something. I don't really know. Keep making them. This movie, the other thing this movie does. Okay. Matthew Good was not available for movie two.

Mm-hmm. And so he just wasn't in it, and they were, quote, unquote, like, having marital problems. Yes. And apparently... Matthew Good's character is married to Michelle Dockery's character, Lady Mary. Yes, Henry, and he likes racing cars as, you know, sure. So I guess he was not available for movie three. He was too busy doing Department Q or whatever is going on.

Good show. I still haven't seen it. It'll be next to my list. I really liked it. Gilded Age is more important to me personally. You know me. I never say good show. I thought it was very good.

Okay. That's great. So, although I think Chris and Andy spoiled it for me. Whatever. Anyway, so Matthew Good, cut out. Lady Mary is getting a divorce. And this is bringing on a lot of social tension, which is also a major plot line in episode in season three of the gun.

old at age just to let you know, things have not gotten better, at least for the Brits. Well, that is 50 years in the past, but sure. Well, but for Downton Abbey, things have not gotten better. But it's, but it's really also like Americans, it's okay, but the Brits, you know, are slow and proper. Yeah. Anyway, so Lady Mary is getting a divorce and instead has to, like, possibly get frisky with some, some people who, who come to, to visit. Alessandro Navola. Yeah. Who plays a, a companion of Paul, Giamati's brother character of Elizabeth McGovern, and he is in financial straits at the height of the, no, I guess right at the end of the Depression, essentially, 1930 would be right when

the Depression is ending. Right. And he has been financially rescued by the Navola character. Right. And he whisks his way into this London lifestyle. Right. And the Navoli character also has a horse running at Ascot. Yes.

And this, again, it's a major CGI Ascot. It is. the problem. You need the real house. Well, you do. I do. Yes, I have standards. Okay. But Lady Mary is going to be downsizing soon. This is like your version. This is your version of the AT-Ass or CGI instead of real. No, no, no, no. We want the real house. Okay. I stand with you. Okay. Like let's, that's, location matters. It didn't take away from my utter enjoyment of this movie. Yeah, same. But I'm just, I'm, this is for, you know, the next grand finale. Yes. If you like these movies, like, if you liked the show.

All three movies are great. Yeah. If you don't care about the show, there's no reason to watch the movies. Right. I would say that my rankings of the movies are number two is the best. Then this one. Two, three one. Yeah.

Yeah, two, three one. I'm with you, 100%. Three was great. I feel like it's doing fine. The first movie made well over $100 million. Like, it was a hit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This movie is doing less well.

Second movie, though, was pandemic. It was. Watch it on Peacack with my mom. And that was one of them. You didn't see it with me? No, I didn't. Oh, okay. I saw it in theaters and I had a grand old time.

No, I watched it at home with my mother, and it was awesome. Okay. Let me tell you about the long walk. Oh, I was on leave. That's why. That makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How could you and I not see it together?

And then I was with my mom and we put Knox to bed, and we were just like, it's down to every time. Two is great. Two is incredible. And again, they go to the real house in the south of France. And it is also real estate focus. You're pointing at me very aggressively. Well, you did two hours about physical media. Let me do five minutes about how we need to use real.

If you want to do a whole downtown. Houses. You can do it. No, just real houses, real places. Best movie Houses is a great idea for an episode. So just think on that. I know you're going to say Father of the Bride and da-da-da. I have done, I did do that list on an episode of the rewatchables.

That's right. Yeah. On the Nancy Myers episode? No, it was actually on the War of the Roses episode, which by the way, we did not see the roses. Sorry. Yeah. I saw a lot of posters for it in France.

They were really excited about it in France. However, I was not. The rare case where I am a hypocrite in that I don't want movies to go to VOD three weeks after release ever. I want them to stay in theaters as long as possible. This was the one time where I was like, please, I would like to see the roses because I was out of town when the movie was released. Anyhow, Olivia Coleman is on Goodhang last week. Please enjoy. She's great.

You're not missing a whole lot. Okay. You saw the roses? I did. You didn't love it. It's fine. Okay. This episode is supported by FX's The Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawke.

Allow us to introduce you to Lee Raybon, a quirky journal. slash rare bookstore owner slash unofficial truth seeker who is always on the tail of his latest conspiracy. This time his most recent expose puts him head to head with a powerful family that rules Tulsa, meaning only one thing. He must be on to something big.

FX is the lowdown premiere September 23rd on FX. Stream on Hulu. Let me tell you about the long walk quickly because I've had a lot of people asking me if I saw this. I was texting with a couple of friends over the weekend about this movie too. So this is the latest Stephen King adaptation. It is directed by Francis

Lawrence. The screenplay is by J.T. Mulner, who is the man who wrote and directed Strange Darling from last year. This is kind of an interesting movie in the Stephen King history because it is arguably the first novel he ever wrote. And he wrote it in the 60s when he was a freshman at the... Where did he go to the University of Maine? He did. So he went to the University of Maine. He started writing novels and he was in college. His first big hit novel was Carrie in 1974. And this book, The Long Walk, sat on the shelf basically for 10 years. And he got it published in 79 under his Richard Bachman

alias, which is an alias that he has. A lot of writers have aliases. They publish other novels under. He's published many books under Bachman. I've never read the Long Walk, even though I've read a lot of those 70s King books.

For whatever reason, this one always got past me. It's kind of shocking that it hasn't been adapted until now. But the premise is very simple. It is essentially Shirley Jackson, the lottery mixed with a marathon.

Oh, okay. So it's about teens, one from each state, come together once a year to engage in this kind of high stakes contest where they walk for as long as they possibly can while keeping their pace above three miles per hour

until there's one person left standing. And that one person left standing is the winner and wins a great prize, unspecified amount of money. Okay. This is clearly run by like a state organization,

the military, essentially. There's a major played by Mark Hamill, who is essentially in charge of this whole thing, and he is in a truck riding with the walkers throughout the entirety of this film. Really good premise. Francis Lawrence, who has made a number of Hunger Games films. I was going to say, a familiar premise for Francis Lawrence.

Yes. Red Sparrow, Constantine, made some interesting. thing movies. It's definitely like a high-toned genre of violence filmmaker. Stars Cooper Hoffman and David Johnson. Cooper Hoffman is the lead.

He's like our entry character, our portal character. And he's a young guy who is bound and determined to win this contest, but he doesn't reveal why until very late in the film. David Johnson, who people may have seen in Alien Romulus or industry, is wonderful in the first two seasons of industry.

He plays another guy McVries who befriends Cooper Hoffman's character early on in the film. And the whole film is just these guys walking and talking. And also terrible things happening to them. If they fall below three miles per hour, they get three warnings until they are shot dead. Some people get violently ill along the walk.

Some people lose their mind and become suicidal on the walk. You got to remember, they're walking hundreds of miles, so they have to piss and defecate. and like all of this comes into play. It's a very gnarly movie in that respect. That's kind of showing you everything. And I was like more or less into it. You can see it's a very hard movie to make

because it is essentially like the camera is where the truck is that Mark Hamill is standing on. And the actors are just into camera walking through the entirety of their production. I read that they shot it in, what is the word I'm looking for? from start to finish essentially in the script. In sequence.

Thank you. So they shot it in sequence. And Hoffman and Johnson are amazing in this movie. The script is okay. There's like some character stuff that is a little bit like clabber overwritten

but their performances are great. Johnson is not American and he's affecting a very interesting southern accent. And Cooper Hoffman is like, I watched the movie and I was like, just put these guys in movies

for the next 40 years. That would be amazing to let them star in movies. I thought the ending of this movie was terrible. And I'm loath to spoil it for people who haven't seen it yet, but I thought it kind of like rejected

a lot of what was exciting about the premise. The movie is like so many movies right now, kind of like a late capitalism metaphor for how money and institutions make everyone crazy and that's how they control people. Yeah. You know, it's very much like a post-apocalyptic landscape, but maybe set in the 1970s somehow,

but they're non-specific about everything. It's all just very much about these guys Some of the actors are good Some of them are not so good But it was diverting And then at the end I was mad Okay And that's my takeaway from it

I wish it was better And if this was a podcast About the long walk I'd go frame by frame through it But it just felt like a major rejection I mean in a In a movie like that You have to stick the landing

Or else everything else is kind of invalidated It was just dead silent in my movie At the end Like huh And so that was the opposite of what I think the intention was, so kind of spoiled the experience for me. But Hoffman and Johnson, wonderful.

Lawrence, solid filmmaker. The single biggest movie that was released while we were out is freaky or Friday. Yes. So, I saw it in a movie theater alone, like a normal man at 4 o'clock on a Thursday. I saw

it in a movie theater alone at 11.50 on a Tuesday, and a bachelette party came in. No kidding. Yeah. In the morning? And then some of them left halfway through. It was very confusing. Also, maybe it was a birthday.

I don't know. They were dressed up. Someone was wearing something that looked like a veil. I see. Good luck to everyone. This is the sequel to Freaky Friday, which is itself a remake of the original film Freaky Friday. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, all returning. Rosal and Chow.

And Julia Butter, Sophia Hammonds, and Manny Jacinto have joined the gang. Yeah. So two decades after an identity crisis, Anna's blended family faces new challenges Anna is Lindsay Lohan. Tess and Anna discover their past may be repeating with the next generation. That's the plot of this movie. Which thing? I had a nice time. I mean, this, again, I could have watched this at home.

You know, it didn't. It looked. I appreciated that they filmed on location in Los Angeles. Speaking of location, including, you know, like at the Lines. at, you know, various L.A. landmarks, but it has a glossy Disney movie quality that would have been fine. It was originally slated for Disney Plus? Was that the idea? Or was it always a theatrical film? I thought it was maybe a Disney Plus film that they converted. That they converted. But, you know, it has at least looks-wise that feel. But, you know, I root for Lindsay Lohan, always and forever.

Yes. The Queen of Long Island. I thought she was very funny. And I liked that Mani Jacinto got to do dirty dancing and Mani Jacinto is British? Don't know. Let's Google that right now. Mani Jacinto. As far as I know he is not British? Filipino Canadian.

Okay. Let's click through. That's true. But did he possibly grow up somewhere, you know, because it's like where you go to school. This is an interesting phenomenon. He was raised in Richmond, British Columbia. Okay, that is not British.

Okay. Yeah. They don't have English accents in British Columbia. I... This is interesting because when British people are cast as Americans or Australians cast as Americans, we say, oh, yeah, sure, makes sense. Right. Normal.

Sometimes it sounds a little bit funny, but we're always willing to go with the flow. When I was watching this... Yes. All I could think when he was on screen is, is many Jacinto British? Right. And I don't know what is and is not a good British accent. So that was your entire experience? I don't know. I echo your feelings about Lindsay Lohan.

You know, we're like the same age. I grew up 10 minutes from her. I have always wanted success for her. She obviously is like incredibly talented and then spent 10 years in the wilderness. People legit worried about her. In this movie, I was like, oh, it's like nothing happened. She's like exactly the same on screen. Her performance style, her sense of humor, like how she can kind of hold a movie together. Yeah. It's weird. It's weird that like she just came back and everything's fine. It's great. It's great. I'm happy for her. Yeah, and this is a fun movie. This is a movie that when I was watching it,

I was like, I wish my daughter was six years older because this would be such a fun thing to take her to. This is exactly the kind of thing I know she's going to love. Just knowing her sense of humor, she's going to be all into this. It felt weird to be a 40-year-old man sitting in a movie theater alone watching this. I'm happy for Julia Butters. Yeah.

She's making a career. So I've learned that Sophia Hammonds, who plays Lily, yes. Manny Jacinto's British daughter, is also American. That's weird. So, and early life, again, this is Wikipedia. So Hammond's was born in South Pasadena, California, and moved to Boulder, Colorado at the age of six. Okay, they don't have British accents there.

So they were not schooled in a place where there are British accents. To the best of mine, research on Wikipedia. Because the movie, you know, hinges on this tension between this British family that has left their home country and then has become a blended family with Lindsay Lohan's family and her daughter, played by Julia Butters. Right. And it's sort of this idea of like, I don't want to be. here and I miss my mom. But like it could have been New York and that would have had absolutely

no material plot difference. Or you could have cast British actors. And there are a lot of them in LA. It's not like they had to fly them in. But you know, I thought Mani Jacinto and Sophia Hammonds were both like very good. They were good. I don't know why this, I tripped on this. It's just because I'm like, I know Mani Jacinto from the good place. That's not what he sounds like.

But so then, here's another thing. Spoiler alert. This is a dumb thing. I'm not complaining about this. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. Some of the characters switch bodies. Yeah, they do. A number of them, which is revealed in the trailer. So at some point you have Jamie Lee Curtis trying to do like the fake British accent as the teenager, which so like maybe they did it just for that comedy.

They give her a lot of comedy when she is examining what her face looks like now. Let me ask you a question. Where are you out on Jamie Lee Curtis in 2025? So like, oh, you know, I did see the L. McKay trailer. before this screening. What do you think of that? And I, well, I'm nervous, John, I'll tell you. I'm nervous.

I am as well. And what I think about Jamie Lee Curtis is that this might wind up being my favorite performance of the three Jamie Lee Curtis performances that I took in in 2025. Including the last show girl you're saying. No, that was 2024.

I'm talking about the bear. Oh, the bear, of course. Well, that's TV. Freaky or friend. Well, you know, but it's been integral to her reinvention. So, you know, she plays a mom with a lot going on, the next generation. And you know what else she plays. What?

Podcaster. Oh, that's right. That was funny. You know, life comes for us all. Yeah. Yeah, she's just, she's very present these days. Very noisy. She's won an Academy Award.

I listened to her entire episode of WTF, Wild Ride. Yeah. Wild ride. I mean, wildlife. She's a lot of person. Yeah. Just a tremendous amount of person. I could feel Mark Maron being overwhelmed by being in the room with her for 90 minutes. Anyway, I've always liked her. In my youth, she's one of the hottest people I'd ever

seen. Freakier Friday, I recommend it. I do too. It was fun. Yeah. Okay, Splitsville. Yes. Now, I'm of two minds about this movie. Okay. So it's written and directed by Michael Angelo, Covino, and Kyle Marvin. They were on this show some years ago for their film, climb, which was about two buddies who were into cycling, who it's sort of a existential drama,

sort of a comedy, slapstick, but with a lot of heart and depth, this movie very much in the same vein, right? Very much an exploration of failed masculinity, but also like a funny movie about guys who trick hot women into being with them. Yeah. In this case, they have leveled up to cast Dakota Johnson and Adrian Arona, who are speaking of hot women like, in a very rare air. They are. And these guys, who seem like lovely guys, and very funny and talented,

probably not bagging these two ladies. And that is kind of part of the joke of the movie, but not explicitly. But it is, but like it isn't. But we can come back to that if you want. The movie, one of the things that I liked about this, that I liked about this movie, which I enjoyed is like,

you are asking like, what is going on here a lot and not in the hymn sense of like what like what is the story and like when is this going to be over because I'm I'm bored but everything you are involved enough in the characters to be like okay but like why are you making these choices which is you know the point this is it's not a romantic comedy but it is sort of a it's sort of it it is riffing on the genre, for sure. I think it's an exploration of long-term relationships and why they do or don't work.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like, couple friends, where we have couple friends. You know, we have a lot of couple friends and, like, the weird energy of couple friends, you know, especially in this case, like, when people are, like, in love with their other friend's spouse and all the awkwardness that comes with that,

right, right, right. There's a lot of stuff in the movie that feels very, like, raw and natural. Yes. And that's, like, amounts to the filmmaking, right? Like, these guys are really good filmmakers and they make this feel like a very, tactile world, like a realistic setting for a very silly movie.

Exactly. And so then when either the characters or the situation gets like the heat gets turned on, which it does, and I say this to the film's credit that I thought it was over like five different times because you're like, okay, so now we've concluded this social experiment. And they're like, no, no, no, we have more. And you're both like, wait, like what? But also I would like to know what happens? Yeah, yeah.

So the fact that it is Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona in this lens itself to, like, it is another thing of like, okay, but you guys are like really hot. So what are we doing here? It's almost distracting. Yeah. And it's distracting on purpose. Like they know what they're doing. Yeah. Right?

It is, to me, it is, I'm sure that they have talked about this. I haven't, I didn't talk to the guys for this movie because we were on vacation. but Bob and Carol and Ted Nalus. Yeah. That movie. You know, Robert Culp and Ellie Gould are like handsome enough guys, but they're not Natalie Wood and Diane Cannon. Right. You know, and you're like, even watching that movie, you're like, wow, these are some really beautiful women with these guys who are like, you know, they're good looking guys.

But this is a little distracting, but the same thing that movie is about obviously like couple swapping and attraction amongst friends and the complexity of social norms and relationships, all the same stuff. This movie is even sillier than that one and probably has like a little bit less. to say socioculturally, but it's really fun and it's good. And it has also, like, the little observations and the, like, the one-liners and, like, the settings that they put, you know, the various experiments are all, like, very funny, well-observed, you know, there's, like, a very good Airbnb plotline at one point. You know, it's kind of like, oh, things that you recognize. and are not, like, you know, splitting the atom, but are well done.

Yeah. And funny. Another very funny, we were talking private schools and public schools offline. There's a whole private school thing here that is very real, you know, very recognizable. I recommend this movie. It's on VOD tomorrow. Okay. So people can watch it if it didn't come to their city when it came out because it got, you know, only semi-wide release.

But recommended. Yeah. Okay, Megadoc. Yeah. Now, we talked about Megadoc a little bit when you got. back when you were still in Venice, actually, on our festival episode. This is the new documentary from

Mike Figgis that is all about the making of Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopoulos. Which was released almost one year ago. Like, I think probably to the weekend. Yeah. I might have been November. No, no, it wasn't because it was before

Cy was born and Sy's almost one. That was my last podcast. It was September. It was post-fall festivals because it premiered a can. yeah um and maybe not accidental we were mixed down on megalopolis as much as we wanted to love that movie yeah we were we were befuddled i have yet to return to it i have since acquired a blue ray copy oh from australia courtesy of our friend alex ross perry okay who was in australia and got me one which is a very kind act that is very nice um so the the coppola shelf

is complete except for the film jack i don't own jack okay what's holding you back no blue ray oh okay i own all the other films on blue ray oh and so it's like a, do you think that there will be a Blu-ray of Jack released? I mean, there's not a good reason to release it on Blu-ray. It's not a film anybody really likes. Okay. But I'd like to own it just for my shelf. Anyhow, Megalopolis, I'd like to return to it.

Yeah. It's the movie that knowing myself, I'll find a million excuses for it the second time I watch it. Oh, actually this, oh, actually that. Because that is something I like to do. And I think Megadoc is an incredible companion piece. And, you know, Francis Ford Copeland. invites Mike Figgis to make this documentary, which is, you know, just an incredible act of hubris, but also a gift to filmmaking history, I guess.

Yeah, it's it's hubris and humility, right? It's like they're really in collision with each other because he's risking a lot, not just financially, but personally by showing himself, you know, at 80 years old, making this huge project and his, he's very confident in his vision. and Figgis has a lot of access and is there for a lot of the conflicts and frankly just a lot of you watch all of these people

and primarily among them Francis Ford Coppola trying to figure out what this movie is and how they want to make it and what it's supposed to look like and how is he going to communicate what's been in his head for 40 or 50 years

to everyone on set and then to everyone like in the world who's going to see the film And I felt better about my struggle to understand it watching this. And it almost, I think if I watched Megalopoulos now, having seen Megadoc, I would at least understand and know what to look for a bit more. And so in some ways it is a great guide and is, you know, a stroke of genius by Coppola

to have this made and made with a real filmmaker so that, you know, maybe it can help some people like on the journey to. to understand what the hell's going on? It's as raw a making of as you will ever see, in part because it consistently shows not just conflict, but failure. Yeah. And there are two things that I think really recommend the movie for me personally. One is this kind of crisis over the production design and visual effects,

which you just never seen a movie like this. And this is something like Coppola's vision was so bold and specific, but unachievable, which is, of course, like a signature of his entire career. He's always reaching for something that we have not yet developed. And so he's always trying to put things in his movies in physical production that can't be accomplished. And we watch a production designer,

a very accomplished production designer, leave this project. Quit, get fired, whatever. It's unclear. But because she's just like, this is not how we do this. I don't feel comfortable pursuing it in this way. She wanted a deeper reliance on visual effects.

Coppola did not. He wanted things in camera. And that stuff is fascinating, at least for me personally. And then the second thing is, Shailabuff, very controversial person, person who's been at the center

of a lot of scandal in the last five or ten years. Which he acknowledges at length in the film. Very much. Clearly someone who's got a lot of problems and is trying to work through them

wildly gifted actor. Yeah. Wildly gifted. And even in Megalopoulos, he's kind of all over the place at times, but he's just got a lightning bolt inside of him. You see him on set challenging Coppola over and over and over again.

And on the one hand, he's so goddamn annoying. Yeah. And he's pissing Francis Ford Coppola off so much. And you can't always always figure out even specifically what it is that Shia wants. However, because Coppola doesn't really have his arms around this movie, it's like Shia has located a vulnerability and is, like, attacking it.

And he seems like a rude dick, and you're like, this guy's 80 years old and is a genius, and he made The Godfather. But also, you're like, yeah, this, something is... Points are being made. Yes, exactly, exactly. And, again, something you just never, ever seen movies like this. And, you know, and it does have just like all like this stray moments of serendipity, like that that you catch in a documentary with this level of access. And as you pointed out, that because Figgis is such an experienced filmmaker, he puts himself into the documentary at some point, which is usually like, you know, red alert disaster sign.

But in this way, he is adding like his own perspective on the ground. I mean, he's basically, he's doing journalism. Totally. And it's like Dear Diary Journalism, where he's turning the camera on himself and saying like, okay, here's where I'm at. I'm trying to figure out where to go from here in the movie, which is actually quite interesting. But you get like some amazing Dustin Hoffman moments. You get, you know, bits like Natalie Emanuel, didn't want to be filmed eating, which I get it,

of having now done a taste test on camera, but also then that's like the only thing. She's like otherwise absent from the doc. And, you know, I didn't think her performance worked in Megaloplas. And I was like, oh, you know, you can see this all coming together in real time. So I loved this movie. I think anyone who has listened this far into this episode of the show will love Megadoc. I totally agree. There's one other thing that is very cool about it, which you might have mentioned when you were in Venice,

was showing the previous iterations of this film that Coppola was trying to mount. Yeah. Another version of the movie where Ryan Goss, was portraying the shyly above character, which would have been so fascinating and so different. And there were a series of it. There's a James Franco version, right? Like, what were the other versions?

I think Virginia Madsen is in it. Virginia, yeah, yeah. And she was in, was she in the Natalie Immanuel role? No, she was in the Aubrey Plaza role. Yes. Yeah. What are, Aubrey Plaza is also just, it's an Aubrey Plaza experience in this documentary.

She's very fun and funny. Yeah. Those are kind of better than. The Gosling stuff is awesome. Awesome. That would have been really, really cool to see him plugged into that movie, especially at that time of his career. It's kind of like, when is that, like, half Nelson murder by numbers?

I think so. I think it's like early 2000s. Yeah, yeah. And that time, he was such a live wire as an actor. Yeah. Anyway, I totally agree with you. If you love movies and you're interested in behind the scenes movies, this is as cool as they get. Thursday Murder Club.

I haven't seen this movie. Yes, I have seen it. I've also read every installment of the series on which it is based. I'm reading the new Richard Osmond, Thurface. Thursday Murder Club book right now. I think it's probably... I would have watched this if I knew this was such a thing for you. So Richard Osmond is a UK, I mean, like actor, TV personality writer,

and he started writing these books probably like five or six years ago. And they are typically, you know, like you would call them cozy mysteries. And it is about a group of retirees at a retirement home in the UK who, become friends because they like solving initially cold cases and then murders. Okay. And if that sounds, you know, ridiculous and it kind of is, but he writes,

he's a great writer, he's very funny. If you are like an anglophile, if you've seen every episode of Downton Abbey and also read murder mysteries, there is something very, you know, cozy, comforting, but also, like, amusing about them. I think he writes, he just, like, writes about old people, like, really, like, lovingly. And, like, the, you know, like, there's, like, there's life to live after 70 or even 80. And it's, so, I, the books are, are very well done. I recommend them, if that's your bag.

The movie stars Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Emory, aka Una Alkenberry from the Bridget Jones movies. Oh. And, you know, and then just a murderer's row of supporting cast. I was disappointed. Damn. I mean, here's the thing. Directed by Chris Columbus.

Directed by Chris Columbus. There were two things here, which is, it just becomes more, because it's a movie, it becomes more of a, like, solving a mystery as opposed to, you know, about these four people. And so you lose, like, a lot of the buddy, the chemistry and, like, and the charm, essentially, even though all of those. people are charming. I would argue that Pierce Brosnan is miscast as a like former like minor strike like, you know, union leader. A little too dashing. But, but that's okay. I've just learned he's 72 though. So he is age appropriate. Yeah, everyone's age appropriate. Helen Mirren is playing Elizabeth who's like the ex-M-I-5 or MI6 spy who saws things. But I don't know. The other thing and not to, you know, not to harp on my location point, but they're all very nice apartments at the

retirement home. I will say that this series, like, is maybe, like, overpromising on what awaits all of us at retirement homes, because it seems like life's really great. But it's all sets. And, you know, like, I expect a little, like, broad church or, you know, like, you got to be on location. Like, I'm, if I'm signing up for this British thing, you got to be in the countryside a little, you got to go places. And it's very on set. So that was the other part that was disappointing to me. Yeah, I guess we should say this is on Netflix, right? So maybe that's why. Yeah. I'm sorry for you. I had no idea you were such a big fan of this series. Yeah, they send me the galleys every year. Thank you, Christina. No, I've, I love them. I carried this, like, I carried this to Europe so that I could read it, like the gallery. Prep for the movie. No, just because I wanted to read the book. Okay, great. I like these books a lot. Okay, I'll never watch this.

Next up for me is the new Ian McEwan novel. I heard that he wrote a good book for the first time in 25 years. Was Atonement his last good book? I don't remember when Saturday and all of those came out, but yeah, it's been 20 years. Okay. Shots fired at Ian McHughan in hour two of the big picture. Apparently it's good again, so I'm ready, you know? When are you joining Duolipa's book pod?

Whenever she will have me. Happy 30th birthday, Duolipa, you look great. I would love to have one of your Pilates reformers. She's not listening to this podcast. Do you remember one time when Duolipa re-blogged something? It was like some Spotify podcast thing. And so it was like her podcast and our podcast were on the same page. And so we were on Duolipa's Instagram.

Yes. I can't name one Duolipa song. Sure, you can. She should be an Oscar winner for Dance the Night Away. Dea Lipa should have an Oscar. Okay. Did she write that? With Mark Ronson, of course.

She has she have a writing credit? I think so. Okay. I'm not questioning her. You don't need to say it like that, okay? I'm just asking. She's got a book club. She just sold out Madison Square Garden for Four Nights.

She has a Pilates sponsorship, where you can have a reformer at home. I just want to share this with you. Yeah. Duolipa is not going to fuck you. So you can just tone it down. She's doing great. She doesn't need you defending her and me. She's really beautiful.

Yeah. You know? She's beautiful, of course. Of course. And she should have an Oscar, and why were we talking about her? Because she has a book club. Oh, yeah. She has, you know what I'm saying.

Her whole podcast is a book club. Yeah, but she reads far more challenging books than I do. And they always sound really depressing. And apparently, like, her book events are great. But like I said, I'm reading cozy mysteries. Okay. And Ian McEwen novels. Are you aware of the plot of the film Eden?

No. I think I was at one point, but then I forgot. Okay. I know it's Ron Howard's film. This is a Ron Howard's film. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. It was an independent production that did not have a studio. And it was ultimately distributed by Vertical.

Okay. Which is not really the news you want to hear. Yeah. When you have a Ron Howard movie starring Sidney, Ana da Armis, Jude Law, and Vanessa Kirby. This movie is based on a true story about a, bunch of disillusioned Europeans who go to a remote island in the Galapagos and try to restart society.

I think in part because they see the advent of fascism in the late 1920s, essentially. And it becomes kind of... Oh, it's like a period piece. A period piece. It's like a Lord of the Fly style movie about these people from disparate worlds, like a baroness and a dock, like a crackpot doctor and two settlers. intellectual settlers, and it is the weirdest movie I've seen in the longest time. It's not a bad movie.

Weird good or weird bad or just like, I don't know what to do with this? It's more or less negligible. Okay. It's a fascinating little dot on the roadmap of the careers of the stars of this movie. Okay. For Jude Law, you'd be like, yeah, sure, Jude Law, late career, Jude Law, doing a movie with Ron Howard, period piece. Totally makes sense on paper.

Onida Armist and Sidney Sweeney in this movie, neither of whom are bad, per se, Anadarm is very campy, very over the top of the movie, but super entertaining. And Sidney, who's, like, kind of dressed down, not at all, like, the babe of the movie. She's very much, she's Daniel Brule's wife. And she gives birth in this, like, very dramatic birth scene where she's fighting off wild dogs.

I'm not kidding. There's like a weird... Are the dogs real or CGI? I don't remember. I think CGI. Yeah. Because she's, like, beating them off with a broom handle. It's an epidemic.

It is. Anyway, I kind of don't know what to say I'm not mad that I watched it Okay Happy ending? Certainly not It is Lord of the Flies after all It's just it's a what's it

It's a how did this happen It's a you know this is like a $60 million movie movie It's a Hollywood movie It's kind of what we were talking about earlier With a Big Bold Beautiful Journey I'm like these are some super famous people The filmmaking is fine You know

It's definitely a different stripe of tone for Ron Howard? I was just Googling the Apollo 13 re-release. I missed it. You did. I thought about this.

God damn it. Yeah. You thought you were supporting Bring It On. Yeah. Bring it on and singing in the rain. You went to two rep screenings

in one weekend. Bring it on singing in the rain and Apollo 13 three like formative movies for Amanda's you know, film experience.

Absolutely. So I love you, Apollo 13. Still not a rewatchable's. Ron Howard, let's do the last 10 years. Okay. In the Heart of the Sea,

2015. Yeah. Not great. Is that what inspired, though? The sea is dope. No, that was a different film, I think, called the Black Sea. Okay. Well, it was two.

It was two. There were two trailers, but I don't think in the heart of the sea. The sea is dope. Let's do it right now. Is it the first return or the Grandin search results so plummeted? Yeah, yeah, it is. Okay, let's see. Black Sea, you're right.

The Black Sea, yeah. And then in the heart of the sea. Oh, yeah, I was right. There you go. We were both right. Wow, this sweater that's in this post is really good. What's what sweater? It's like a fisherman, like a Donovan.

Oh, yeah, sure. We're referring to Chris Ryan's legendary 10-year-old blog post on Granlin.com. Oh, shit. We missed the 10th anniversary of it. Of the Sea is Dope. Yeah, October 21st, 2014. I didn't miss it. The Sea is dope cult met in my basement.

In the Heart of the Sea, Inferno, the third film in the Robert Langdon trilogy. Yeah, I don't think I ever saw that one. I read the book, though, I think. Solo, a Star Wars story? I love an airport novel. Okay. Hillbilly Ellogy. Yeah.

Watch that on Election Day. Yeah. Joe Biden won that day. 13 lives. Pretty good. Yeah, I never saw it. Pretty good. Eden.

That's what I was just referring to. He's also been directing documentaries, right? So he, like, he directed that Jim Henson documentary. That was pretty good. I enjoyed that. He was on the show for that, actually. I like Ron Howard. This is a weird thing.

He did great on the studio. Wonderful. Very funny on studio. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Speaking of later stage, what's-its, you didn't see Honey Don't, right? I didn't. Man.

Okay. Well, I don't, I, that man could go in any directions. This is the new film directed by Ethan Cohen, written by Cohen and his wife, Tricia Cook. Their second film after Driveaway Dolls a couple of years ago, which is the movie that you crashed my Valentine's Day day with my wife to see. This film also stars Margaret Quali as well as Aubrey. Plaza, Chris Evans, and Charlie Day. It's about a private investigator named Honey, who is exploring, like, this scandal around

a church and its very vivacious pastor, played by Chris Evans. Yeah, it was a no. I need Joel and Ethan to just get back together. Yeah, I mean, I agree. I just need them to get back together. You could tell from the trailer, I didn't mind what that other one. What was it? Driveway Dollars.

It's okay. It's okay, but one is enough, you know? And do you see the trailer for this one? No, I know. You're just like, you know, you know, it's like, okay. Like, that's... I think it's great for Tricia Cook. She's exploring, you know, queer stories.

These movies are very much about strong, smart women who are in charge and really love sex. You know, on paper, absolutely. Yeah. The movie just... Script is not good. Tone doesn't work. Performances are weird. It's not...

It's such a drag. This movie also got dumped. Um... You know, they're doing the Cohn brothers right now on blank check. I've been listening. Yeah. You know, it's been a great season so far. Cone brothers, as you know, huge deal for me personally.

I, they got to make at least one more movie together. And there's a rumor that they were making a horror movie together next year. I don't know if that rumor's true. Okay. I hope it's true. But, uh... I don't have any say in the matter, but I support you. No more, honey, I agree with this.

No more, honey you don't. Okay. I'm just going to go right to Predators. This will be the last movie we talk about. I saw this movie at Sundance. I think people. should check it out. It just opened in theaters. It's a documentary. Okay, so it has nothing to do with the Predator franchise. It has nothing to do with the Predator franchise. It is a very serious

probing, upsetting documentary about the show to Catch a Predator, what that show was in our society, how it existed. Did you ever watch To Catch a Predator? I don't know if I ever sat down on like a Friday night, which is when it was on, right? That's when all those news magazine shows. Yeah. I think so. No, I was on, I was on TJF on the other channel but, you know, it looms large in the cultural consciousness. It ran for a long time, well past our adolescence. It was a show where it was sort of like a

it was candid camera for capturing child predators. That was really what the show did. It was trying to, it set up sting operations and lured people who were trying to seduce underage kids. And there was like a sick glee that I think the audience got out of watching these really disturbed people

get ensnared by the host of show and the producers of the show and the law enforcement that worked in tandem with them. And then kind of the aftermath, the documentary is like very much sociological exploration of what it meant that we put the show on in our society. We celebrated it the way that we did, why it went away in the way that it did, what role the host and the producers played in it, and then the personal ramifications of the people in the stories.

Particularly interesting in the documentary is the young actors who portrayed underage kids who were part of the setups and like why they were cast and what they were. their roles were. Anyway, this is a very unusual but very cool exploration of something that is like very upsetting in our culture, but really, really, really well done. And I hope finds a big audience. David Osset is the director. And it's a good doc.

Okay. So this right now is the demarcation point. Yeah. So we have, we're, we're, it's September 22nd. Mm-hmm. On Wednesday We're doing one more 25 or 25 episode

That's right It's a really, really good one Yes, and it's well-timed It's perfectly timed And then Friday, technically Thursday night Is one battle after another That's right And then we have two

Three straight months Of more or less good movies On the show being covered Yeah Not everything is great No But it's a lot of good stuff and I'm relieved.

Yes. It was fun going through like 45 weird movies. It's great to pod with you. Yeah. But this felt like the end of a certain stage of the year. It's PTA season. It had already started, but now it really starts. And everyone's going to get to see it this week.

And I did get a ticket. Oh, good. For Wednesday. Yeah, for Wednesday. Our friend Corey came through for me. Oh, incredible. Thank you. I think our seats suck.

You probably have better seats than we do. Um, I'm quite excited. Okay. Fantastic. And, and I think I have child care. So. Amazing. I can't wait to see it again.

I know. I'm also seeing it again on Friday. Oh, at the vista. Yeah, at the vista. That's fun. So, yeah, it's PTA season. We'll get there very soon in just a couple of days. Thanks to Jack Sanders for his work on this episode.

Thank you. Jack, everything good. How the Mets doing? Really good. Guys, what's going on? I don't want to talk about it. Okay. I'll talk about it. It's really.

It's a fucking disaster. I mean, that's a fucking embarrassing. Okay. I'm not kidding. Okay. I mean, I know. I'm not kidding. Oh my God.

Okay. It is not okay. It's not acceptable. It's not good. So they just fell apart? Yeah. And they're not going to make the playoffs. At the moment, they're not in the playoffs.

There are six games left to play on the road. Three games against the Cubs, three games against the Marlins. What has to happen? I expect nothing less than one in five in those six games. Okay. So, like, but what happened? They've been one of the five worst teams in baseball since June 13th. They've been horrible.

They started the season, 21 games over 500. And we were like, wow, I guess everything that happened last year were carrying it over. And they've been a disaster since then. But what happened? Tell me. The pitching is just a disaster. They've had a tremendous number of injuries to the pitching and also the strategy heading into the season around the pitching was very bad. And it's the rare case.

And I say this with hopefully some sense of self-awareness where most fans were like, is this really what they're doing? This can't be right going into the season. Like, this can't be how we're going to try to make it through the year. And we were told, no, no, no, we got a plan. This is a good plan.

And every fan who was concerned about this particular issue was right. And it's hard to watch that because baseball's so long. The season's so long. It is. Yeah. So to just be sitting inside a failure for three months just sucks. Yeah, that's the most miserable part is until late June. They were like the best team in

baseball. They had the best record in baseball. They were playing amazing baseball. And for it to just, they've just slowly bled out for three months and that is, it's been very painful. Okay. Is there any scenario in which they do still get a wild card spot? There is a scenario. It's definitely in play. It's pretty much a coin flip

right now. Them and the Reds are tied. The Reds own the tiebreaker. There's six games left for both teams. The Mets need to win one more game than the Reds over these next six games. That is the situation. Okay. So are you guys still going to be checking obsessively? I've already been called for an emergency Mets corner on the Zach Lowe show.

Okay. And he said we should drink on the show. Okay. So that's where Zach's head is at. Great. All right. Well, that's a healthy place to be. And he's only just returned to rooting for this team in the last 12 months.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where was he before? He took like 10 years old, 20 years off in the team. Okay, for his health. Yeah. But now he's got his daughter. He's got a young daughter and she's all into the Mets. Yeah.

And he's got her watching this. They met Mr. Met. Yeah. That would be exciting. Yeah. I think she's having a great time. But she is experiencing at a young age, this thing that I have been living with my entire life.

It's not right. It's not right. It's not okay. Okay. I did watch the Phillies Mets series, so. Yeah, I can't get too upset about that because it's like we kicked our us in the playoffs last year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

We kind of owned them this year until that last series. That wasn't good. But, like, the Phillies are good. I don't, I got no beef with the Phillies, honestly. It's the Mets organizationally are fucked up. And it was supposed to not be this way because of the new ownership. It was supposed to be different. And it's not.

This is embarrassing. Okay. And I'm not going to let it stand. I don't do this on Zach's show because that's his show. This is my show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is fucking bullshit. All right.

What's happening with the team? There needs to be some sort of apology to the fandom. It's fucking disastrous. Okay. Okay. I got it out. There needs to be an apology. There does.

What form would that take that would satisfy you? Come to my home, Steve Cohen, and David Stearns. Okay. Who constructed this monstrosity. who ruined my summer and say, I'd like to begin by saying I'm sorry. And then after that,

it'll be dealer's choice. Whatever they can do to make it right, fine. Rebuild the team in the offseason. Offer me lovely snacks. This is honestly like a great social media bit for the Mets. If like they just get like a really big, you know, one of the publishers clearinghouse checks

instead of that, it just says like I'm sorry and they just show up at raised people's houses just like that. It's just some free programming for you guys in the off season. again, I never do this. This is bullshit. Yeah.

You know how I want one of those I'm mad signs? You know, a newspaper with I'm mad. But you can put it in the fucking paper that I'm mad. No, yeah, you are mad. Okay. That's fine. Listen, I support you on this. Every time we turn the Mets on, Knox asked where Sean is because one time I told him

that you are at a game. Then maybe we could see him. I mean, look, Knox, he's pure good. Yeah. The Mets are pure evil. Okay. That's just how it goes. That's what it is in 2020.

25. I'm sorry, Jack. Okay. I apologize. Well, thanks for listening to this show, which has been very normal. And we'll see you on Wednesday for another 25 for 25.