The Prestige TV Podcast - Should You Watch 'Soul' or 'Wonder Woman 1984' on Christmas Day?

Episode Date: December 23, 2020

Shea Serrano and Mallory Rubin make their respective cases for why you should watch Pixar's 'Soul,' streaming on Disney+, or 'Wonder Woman 1984,' streaming on HBO Max, on Christmas Day. Hosts: Mallory Rubin and Shea Serrano Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This world is not yet ready for all that you will do. Your time will come, Diana. And everything will be different. What would you want to be known for on Earth? You have a short time on this planet. Want to become the person that you were born to be? Don't waste your time on all the junk of life. What am I doing?

Spend your precious hours doing what will bring out the real you. Brilliant, passionate you that's ready to contribute something meaningful and to this world. Welcome to TV concierge on the Ringer podcast Network. I'm Mallory Rubin, and it is my absolute delight. A joy, a privilege, a thrill to be here today with my fellow movie lover. What up? Shea Serrano. Shea.

What's up, man? That was super nice. I feel like it's nice because you know that at some point in this, as with all podcasts that we do, we're going to be arguing against each other about some tiny thing and a thing we both enjoy. It seemed like we could start with civility and kindness. Hopefully come back to that at the end

and just war with each other in between. I actually don't think that's going to happen today. Here's my prediction. We're going to talk about two things we love, and we're going to agree a lot. When I was younger, I took this like a coaching clinic thing because I was coaching youth sports. And they said specifically, there was like a part where they said, hey, listen, you're probably going to yell at the kids at some point when you're coaching them. So here's the tip.

Don't start your practice by yelling at them. Say something nice. Don't end your practice by yelling at them. Say something nice. Because those are the parts of the practice they're usually going to remember. Yell at them in the middle. In the middle is where you can lay into them. Isn't the middle the problem?

part for like orange slices and caprice. I have, I have no idea. I was never that guy. I was never that coach. I'm just going to say nice things the whole time and we're probably going to lose every game. That's fine. That's fine with me.

It's beautiful. I respect the strategy and I respect the joy that you're bringing to this endeavor in addition to your youth coaching. We're here today. Not to talk about movies we have seen, but to talk about two films that were anticipating this holiday season to Christmas Day releases, Pixar Soul, and Wonder Woman 1984, both of which will be available to view from your home. Okay. Soul is going to be on Disney Plus. Wonder Woman will be in theaters where they are open and where COVID protocols allow,

but also streaming on HBO Max. So the people listening to this podcast, The people out there who are looking to either share a film with their family and friends or perhaps escape that family time for a couple hours of individual viewing, lots of choices. So let's just, let's make the case for why you'd want to spend your time with these films. Why don't you start? Why are you excited for Seoul? Can I say first that I have no idea what Soul is about? Okay.

I've refused to read. Have you avoided the trailers? I've avoided the trailer. I've avoided reading about it. I just want to walk in and sit down. I did the same thing when Coco came out. I said, I just want to walk in and sit down and take a little journey. That's what I want to do.

That's such a part of these. With Soul, the reason I'm excited about it is because Christmas time especially is like, it's about family. That's what it is. Spend some time with the people you love. And every Pixar movie at its core is essentially about that exact same. thing. Sometimes it's finding family where you didn't know family was. Sometimes it's literally your family. You know, that's all, that's all, that's all, that's all of every single picture sometimes it's a fork that you convert it into a toy. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. And now that's like a part of the

family. Every Pixar movie is about family. Christmas time is about family. That seems like something I want to sit down with my three sons and my wife and we're on the couch together and we're all wearing only sweats and we're under blankets and it's a little cold outside but not too cold and we're watching this thing. We're going to get a little emotional at some point and then it's going to be over and then we send the kids off to play with their toys. That sounds like a great afternoon for me. And then those toys come to life shortly thereafter. I hope not. I hope not. Okay, I have a question. First of all, I thought that was lovely and I'm touched and inspired. Sincerely. Do you approach movies this way typically like you try to avoid the trailer?

you try to avoid plot points you want to go in with as little knowledge as possible so that it's as fresh of a viewing experience as it could be for you? Or is this specific to the Pixar viewing experience for you? I don't think it's specific only to Pixar, but there are certain movies where I see them coming out and I know I'm going to watch them where I don't want to see the trailer for it. Like with a Pixar movie especially, there's always a twist in there of some sort, some sort of thing is going to happen that I wasn't expecting it. It's going to be like, oh, that's a, that was cool. And I, and I don't want, I, I never want for that to get spoiled and this. It's like, Den of Thieves, too, when that comes out. I'll watch the trailer.

I'll watch the trailer immediately or when the Furious Nine fast. Talk about Family Fun. Yeah, when the Fast Furious Nine trailer came out, I watched, I like put it up on the TV. That's where I watched it and I turned it up real loud. And then Han came walking out and I lost my fucking mind. You know, sometimes you watch a trailer and it gets you excited to watch the movie. Sometimes you watch a trailer and it makes you feel like 5% less excited to see it because you kind of know some parts of it. In this case, I don't want to know any part of it. There's going to be so much other stuff going on at Christmas that I already know about. I already know every present that everybody's getting.

So there's no magic there. But with this movie, with this movie, I don't know anything. And it's going to, there's my Christmas magic right there. What presents is the puppy getting? Oh, he gets a ton of stuff. He gets more stuff than pretty much everybody else. Just toys on toys on toys. Yeah.

New treats, like some snacks. So many, so many treats that he loves the Kong with the spray thing in there. He fucking loses his mind for that. So it's just containers of fake cheese and fake peanut butter. Wow. Yeah. Do cats do that?

Do cats enjoy fake peanut butter and cheese? Or do that enjoy fake peanut butter and cheese? Or do that enjoy present? Do cats have chew toys? I've never had a cat. Do they really? Yeah. Halo has a ton of toys.

He likes in particular. He's fond of small mice that he can chase and bat around. But he also, the closest thing that he has to chew toy, it's this line of dental toys. So they're kind of wrapped in mesh. They clean his teeth. And one of them is a mint stick. It's shaped like a piece of mix. He's brushing his teeth for fun.

He loves it. He's the best. I will be spending my entire holiday with my cat, and I'm not afraid to say that out loud on a podcast. I love him. Adaway. What movie are you watching together with the cat? I would like to spend a moment here telling you about a little film called Wonder Woman 1984.

Yeah, yeah. So, first of all, this is a long movie. Is it? or a 35 minute movie. Now, your mileage may vary on whether that is absolutely appalling or a delight. For me, I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled to hear that because I love a long movie.

I love to fall fully into a comic book story, a fantasy world. And I really, really loved the first Wonder Woman film, 2017, the sequel, like the original, directed by Patty Jenkins. I'm going to say two things here as like a bit of a warning. One, I have not seen this movie and I don't actually know any details about what happens. I'm only going off of what is out there in trailers and castless. But I will be talking quickly about that. So if you don't want to hear that, I guess fast forward for a few seconds.

Chris Pine is in this movie. Is he? He's back. Spoiler, if you watch the first movie, you know that this character died at the end. So this takes place, as the title might indicate, too, Jay. It's all really right there for you. It takes place in the 80s. Obviously, that's decades after the original film. So I've been avoiding working hard to avoid any details that have surfaced about how that actually happens. I want that to be fresh and surprising for me when I watch it. But I'm excited to find out how he's back in the story, what magic presented itself to allow that to be the case. I also, I just want to say, my guy Chris Pine is rocking. And absolutely. elite set of outfits in the trailer. Real like stranger things, mall season vibes with the sneakers.

It's amazing. I just can't wait to luxuriate and all of that. The villains. The villains in this movie. The weirdness, that spirit and spark and oddity that is so unapologetically on display in the trailer and the way it's been marketed.

Kristen Wigg, Barbara, Cheetah. Absolutely. I mean, I really don't need to hear any more beyond that. And then, of course, Pedro Pascal. I mean, it's, it's Pedro Pascal season right now, right? Coming off season two of the Mandalorian, it looks just again from the trailers like he is having an absolute blast in this movie. And I just cannot wait to see it. I think also there are a couple larger things and points to consider here beyond. on just anticipating the sequel itself. You know, the streaming aspects of this, COVID, the changes to movie theaters, how we're consuming films, putting Wonder Woman, which had been delayed already quite a bit,

out on streaming is a huge deal, much as putting Soul on Disney Plus streaming, is a huge deal for the state of the movie industry. And I'm really curious to see what the numbers are, How many people watch this? I think that both of these movies are going to do extraordinarily well with a lot of people watching them from their homes and that that has a chance to really have an impact moving forward. And then, of course, Soul is the first Pixar movie featuring a black protagonist. Wonder Woman is a superhero movie directed by a woman starring a woman.

These are really important things to us and to a lot of people out there. And I'm truly delighted to watch them both. So for me, it's not an either-or. I can't wait to spend time with both of these movies. I can't wait to watch both of these movies with my cat. I'm really looking forward to it. What's the order that you're watching these? Because I assume we were going to watch both of them on the same day.

On Christmas, we're sort of not doing anything, just hanging out. Well, here's a thing. You know, we're going to watch both. We're sitting here right now on Zoom with my binge mode producer, Steve. So I can't tell him that I will just be watching other movies. movies and not working on Marvel outlines all day on Christmas or he'll be very disappointed in me, okay? But for the sake of answering your question, I'm thinking double feature, man, back to back, you know? Which one's first though? I think I'm actually going to watch Soul first.

Yeah, me too. The runtime of Wonder Woman has real, that's how you wind down your night, written all over it to me. Two and a half hours is, again, I'm personally excited about that, but that's, you turn it on at 10 p.m. I as a 34 year old who is increasingly coming to terms of the fact that I'm really 95, try hard not to fall asleep. And I wind down my evening with Diana Prince kicking ass. Maybe I start the day with soul and take a little break in between for some, you know, consume some sports, right? Yeah. We got her. Christmas sports. I think that's the exact order right there.

Soul first, take a break, and then Wonder Woman. And when we watched the first Wonder Woman, Laramie and I went and saw it. We were in New York at the time when it came out. So just the two of us went with no kids. And we went and saw it. And I didn't know anything about it going in. I just knew we wanted to go watch it. And we sat down.

And the scene near the end, not quite the end, but near the end, when she runs across the battlefield, we were so fucking pumped at that. You know, just filled with adrenaline when that part happens. I think that's probably, hopefully, going to be something like that in this one. And I don't think you need that at like 11 in the morning on Christmas. Really questionable strategy from the opposing troops to not spray the fire. You disseminate that a little more evenly. I'm always puzzled by that every time I rewatch.

It's like, once the other characters start joining Diana and the charge, Are we really just still aiming only at her shield? But anyway, yes, I agree with you. It's thrilling, thrilling to watch. I won't get into any of the plot specifics of soul since you have worked hard to avoid them, but I will just say the trailer, the visual, the aesthetic style of the trailer is gorgeous.

Yeah. Gorgeous. It looks so cool. And as you already noted, the plot of the Pixar movie is, of course, always part of the appeal. But I think that we agree that the real draw is the emotional impact that you know it's going to have. Always. It's guaranteed. And what's one of the most exciting things about a Pixar movie? You kind of know the way you feel about it the first time you see it is not going

to be the same as the way you feel about it the second, third, fourth, because it changes with you as you grow and age. And when you're at a different point in your life, you relate to it differently than you did the first time. And so that's always one of the things that excites me so much about a new Pixar movie is establishing that first connection with the story and the characters, and then getting to look forward to the fact that you'll be able to return to it time and time again. I love that. And then, you know, the comic book world comp is, is there too. Like for a lot of DC comic fans out there, they're going into this movie with real

expectations about who these characters are, how they could be brought into the cinematic universe, obviously with DC films in particular. Part of the Wonder Woman's story is that it was able to break through a lot. of the bleak morass of the DC cinematic universe and the few films that preceded it. And that's, I think, simultaneously a pretty heavy weight to carry to be able to continue doing that, but also genuinely energizing and exciting. It's like Patty Jenkins knows how to make a dope movie. Also, shouts to Patty Jenkins getting the Rogue Squadron Star Wars announcement the other week. Amazing. What a time. What a time. It's not just Pedro Pascal season. It's

Patty Jenkins season. What else, man? What else is on your mind about these movies? Was there... Okay, so at this point, I think Pixar is one of those studios,

are these, I don't know, studio production company, whatever. But when you see the Pixar logo, or you say, you hear that they have a thing coming out, you're automatically excited because they just have such a track record

of top level stuff. When was the last time you watched a Pixar thing and were surprised by sort of how unexpectedly good or emotional a part of it was? That's a really good question. I go into every Pixar movie expecting to be moved and expecting to feel something.

The last three that I had probably the strongest reactions to would be Inside Out, which was 2015, I think. Coco and 17. And Toy Story 4 and 19. And again, not because I wasn't expecting to love them. but three different different reasons. I think inside out, I thought, oh, this seems like a Pixar movie

where there's actually a deliberate attempt to really establish and lean into the concept, like kind of the opposite of the point I was making before, right? Where it's not just about the way it's going to hit you in the gut. There's a plot mechanic at play that is pretty elevated, actually. And I wasn't really impressed by that, but also just floored by how, touched I was by the movie,

how profound I thought it was, and also how it got me, how it led me to rethink every other Pixar movie. You know, if this is how, because I like to think about Pixar as a shared universe. And so if this is how

emotions develop and form inside of Pixar characters, what does that mean for every other Pixar movie I've watched? So that was really cool because there were a lot of layers to that for me. I think for Coco, I was so excited for that movie. It's one of my, as you and I discussed with Sean Fentasy,

on our recent Toy Story's rewatchables episode, it's one of my top five all-time Pixar movies. I was, I like stopped existing in human form during the course of watching that and just literally became a puddle of tears in a movie theater seat. And during, I mean,

the remember me parts toward the end in particular, I was just a fucking wreck, like blown away. And then I think for Toy Story 4, again, it's not like I'm surprised by a Toy Story film's ability to wow me, but four movies in to still just be bowled over by how amazing it is. I think the fact that it felt fresh, even though it is definitionally an extension,

it was just so impressive to me. I haven't seen Onward yet. That's the most recent Pixar movie that came out in March, and I have not seen that one yet, which I am looking forward to catching up on. What about you? That Onward has a great look. little twist in it when you, like, they trick you and they pull the rug out from under you

at the very end that really, really gets you. But for me, the one that did it, the one that I think of immediately is inside out. I just remember being in the theater watching that part, watching that movie. And like the whole beginning of it or whatever, oh, isn't it funny? Like, look how silly anger is or whatever. He's yelling at everybody. Hooray. But the part where where sadness sort of comforts Bing Bong. And they're just sitting there to... I was just going to mention Bing Bang. They're just sitting there together.

And as Phyllis from the office, you hear her voice, and she's perfect in this role. Absolutely perfect. But she's just sitting there telling him it's okay to be sad. And I was like, God, they're really going for it right here. That's the first one that I think of. So it has to be that one. I think that's the other, like the through line of a lot of the Pixar stories

that I love so much is not only that. connection to your your own sense of self-awareness, your own awakening, your family, your friends, the memories that you do form and how, but also the inverse of that, like the fear of being forgotten. You know, that's obviously central to Coco. That's a big part of Inside Out. It's foundational to what Toy Story explores. You know, what does it mean when part of the progress of your own life means leaving something else or someone else behind? That is quite mature and heavy stuff to think about. And again, to package that in pretty short movies that are delights to children and also can impact people of all ages in this way. I just, I think it's

such a marvelous achievement. Pixar's so dope. I love it. Soul and Wonder Woman. It's going to be a good Christmas. A good Christmas day. Happy holidays to all. Happy holidays to Bing Bong living on in our hearts still. Shay, enjoy your double feature. I will. You too. It's great to be here with you. And happy holidays to you and yours. At a way. You too.

To everyone. We'll see you next time on TV Concierge, available on Spotify.