The Reel Rejects - MEETING THE MEDIA KNIGHTS!! Why They’re One of the BEST Reaction Channels Out There! (DOARR)

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

REACTORS UNITE!! Buckle up for an epic episode of Diary of a Reel Reject because today, I’m chatting with the powerhouse duo The Media Knights! If you haven’t come across Ari and Denise yet, get ready – these two are blowing up in the reaction scene. With over 200,000 subscribers and view counts through the roof, The Media Knights bring this amazing blend of genuine reactions, humor, and a ton of heart. In this episode, we dive deep – like really deep – into all things movies, relationships, and personal stories. We’re covering everything from their favorite childhood celebrity crushes and how they grew up with different cultural influences, to their first disagreements on classic movies like The Matrix and Terminator 2. Plus, Denise shares how horror hooked her early on (she was that kid who loved creepy bedtime stories!) and what draws them both to storytelling. It’s a ride full of laughs, a few spicy debates, and a whole lot of movie love. Look, if you dig movie reactions and real talk about what it’s like running a YouTube channel with your spouse, you’re going to love this one. Ari and Denise are the real deal – so genuine and just plain fun to watch. Their love for each other (and movies!) really shines through, and that connection they have? It’s why they’re on a fast track to becoming one of the top reaction channels on YouTube. Honestly, I can’t wait to see what’s next for them! PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/thereelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Music Used In Manscaped Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that at Chevron, you can fuel up on unbeatable mileage and savings? With Chevron rewards, you'll get 25 cents off per gallon on your next five visits. All you have to do is download the Chevron app and join to start saving on fuel. Then you can keep fueling up on other things like adventure, memories, vacations, daycations, quality time, and so many other possibilities. Head to your nearest Chevron station to fuel up and get rewarded today. Terms apply. See Chevron Texcores.com for more details. Introducing the new Volvo XC90 with seven-seat versatility, Google built-in, and advanced safety features for all your precious cargo.

The new Volvo XC90, designed for life. Visit volvocars.com slash us to learn more. At Sierra, you'll always find apparel footwear and gear for 20 to 60% less than department and specialty store prices. But right now it's clearance time, so you can save even more on everything you need to get active and outside. Visit your local Sierra store today. Today, the first time I'm doing two people. At the same time, that sounds naughty, and you might have heard of them.

I currently have over 200,000 subscribers, but don't let that subscriber count fool you because their view count, what's like, wow, it's constantly through the roof. They're called the Media Nights, Ari and Denise. Other people, like, come up to me, like, have you heard of the Media Nights? Do you know who they are? They haven't seen anything. Do you guys know the first time you want to? really disagreed on a movie or a show.

Oh. If he didn't like it, would that have been a problem? Break up right then. Toss them out. Right on the street, the cold. Let's just agree to disagree. She's also my best friend in a way. You know, we game together.

We chint together. My wife turns the lights off when I walk in the room. What was the first movie you guys saw together? Not on the channel. It was actually no. It was like, we should have done that for the channel. I wish we could have done that for the channel, you know, kind of immoralize it. Was there a bit of apprehension at all in terms of being a couple?

The biggest concern was just people not understanding where we're coming from. Being out there in the public and sharing your opinions on a huge platform, I have like severe stage fright at the same time. So this is really cool to me to hear that the first time you guys had a truly like emotional sobbing experience, it happened on camera and you guys got to share that with people. What is going on there? Reject Nation. This is Greg Alba here for another installment of diary of a real reject. The show where we talk movies, TV shows, impossible celebrities of how they help shape our identity for the most part. Today I am joined the first time I'm doing two people at the same time. That sounds naughty. The first time I am talking to two people at this. same time. And you might have heard of them. They have been blowing up in the past couple of years. They're called the Media Nights, Ari and Denise. They currently have over 200,000 subscribers,

but don't let that subscriber count fool you because their view count would, like, wow, it's constantly through the roof. And the way how I got in contact with the media nights is through our mutual editors, though people who help us look great and get. And, get around yellow dollar bill signs and monetization problems all the time. Oh, yeah. That is the team prepper or preper. Who knows how you say their name? It doesn't matter.

Shut up. P-R-A-P-E-R. They are taking over the reaction field and now they're going to take over the podcast field when it comes to their edits. And I've heard other reactive have other people like come up to me and be like, have you heard of the media nights? Do you know who they are? They haven't seen anything.

It is so, It's so cool to be talking to you guys, and this is a very surreal moment. We only just met for the first time about, I want to say five minutes ago, maybe five minutes ago. Yeah, just about. Yes, I would say we've got exactly five minutes of knowing you, Greg, and it's been going great. It's going excellent. You guys are three hours ahead. You're talking with me at 7.30 my time, 10.30 p.m. your time.

I feel like let's just swinging in things. I want to get to know the two of you, especially because you're a married couple. I'm married as well. So this is exciting to me. So my first- We're adults. We're freaking- It's incredible. Adults right now.

I know. It's such a mature time in my life and my wife would totally disagree with me. So my question that I would love to ask you guys this and I don't know if you guys have actually talked with each- I didn't have this discussion with my wife until like a couple months ago. So I don't know if you guys actually know each other's. I'll be curious enough if you guys know each other's answer to this question.

Who was your celebrity crush growing up and why? Oh. All right. Ladies first. I'll throw you under the bus right there. Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate that. I think this is my time to shine. I have two guesses. I think it's either Emma Stone, Circa, Zambuland. Oh, cool. Or and Cameron Diaz, the mask era. Wow. Okay. That's a good answer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought you were answering yours, honestly. And I was like, oh, you're the first bisexual person. But you're actually answering for your hubby. I forgot that that's how I set up the question.

So you said Cameron Diaz and Amazon and Zombie Land. The two questions. Yes for him. Okay. And what about for Denise? Okay. I am going to go ahead and say, it's unfair because I know you too well. So I think of, I know.

He was like it's not even a challenge. I'm going to go ahead and say Daniel Ratcliffe, Harry Potter. I did not expect that answer. Yes. And, okay. Yeah, I think I'm going to go with Angelina Jolie, Lara Croft, Times. Yeah. I think that's it.

They're both accurate. Okay. Awesome. They're both accurate. That's badass to hear. All right, which one would be the most fun one to it? Let's go with Angelina Jolie, Laura Croft. What was it about Angelina Jolie?

Is it just physically or is there something about her that you were like found inspiration? What was it about or that you were gravitated towards? Oh my God. It was so inspirational because I was obsessed, like, as a kid, with the game Tomb Raider as well. So, and like, whenever I did have the time to play, and trust me, it was not a whole lot. Like, I just, I just really wanted to be her, you know, she's, she's rich, she's sassy. She's an archaeologist. She gets to travel.

I'm like, oh, my God, that is goals. And she, you know, wields two guns. So, you know, there's really not that much higher of a standard that you could set. And seeing Angela Jolie in that movie was just, oh, like she was like flipping her guns and stuff like that. And I remember, you know, seeing some of the behind the scenes work where they were talking about how she wanted to do way more of her own stunts, but they couldn't. And I remember being like, oh, yeah, I want to be like that. That's totally like what I want to be like, you know. And that was basically it.

And I remember watching Girl Interrupted. And then I was like, holy shit. Like, she's so versatile as an actor. Like, you get so many different facets. And she was so believable in them to me at the time. And I remember just being so mind-blown by that. So it was kind of like a conglomerate of everything. And I think it does help that she's very pretty.

Yeah, that always helps to look at pretty people. It does. Would you say that there were sort of, personality traits or qualities about her beyond just like these cool confident physicality things that you might have adopted maybe even subconsciously like for me i like a this is not my celebrity crush growing up but like i noticed with binging a bunch of ryan gosling movies in a row i have when i listen to people in person i often i learned about eye contact from watching him and the significance of that and like true connection via eye contact and i learned that from like watching

Ryan Gossling movies, but was there anything about Angelina that maybe you found yourself adopting? Yeah, 100%. Especially, you know, in the Tomb Raider era, I was a bit more of a shy kid. I definitely was a kid that was being bullied. So it was like the strength and to, you know, the will to stand up for yourself and also for what you believe in, right? Even when people tell you not to do something or whatever, it was that will that I

always craved so much, especially as a young man. You know, it was something that felt so difficult for me to attain. And like eventually I think I definitely adopted that as a person. I don't think anyone is going to call me shy nowadays. I can tell you that. That's really neat. So like your household I imagine was a little bit, was it an antithesis to what you were, because you said you were shy. And do you have like siblings as well? No, definitely only child syndrome. here yeah and like I grew up in a really small town in Germany and you know it was with my mom and my yeah and like we were like the you know the Turkish immigrants there so there you know there were some moments where it didn't quite gel a whole lot you know um and I did I I was very

much a neurodivergent kid like I realized that now like I was a bit of that weirdo that I had a hard time connecting with other people, um, especially people my own age. Um, so I really did more solitary things, you know, like, again, like practice the piano and, you know, play some PlayStation when I could or like, rewatch the same movies over and over and over again. Because like, that was me. I, I hated trying anything new when I was younger. Like, it was always like the same comfort movies over and over and over again. So, you know, I think that was kind of like the source of comfort, right? That was where I kind of, like you said, I love that you ask that actually. It's the fact that you see all these characters on screen and you're like, you like craft

in your head all of the best aspects that you think you will need when you're all grown up. Sure, sure. And you try to model yourself after that. And it's actually funny. Like Tomb Raider, like, 100% was one of those characters. I'm like, I think I can be a badass. I think I can be That's cool. Yeah, because you talked a lot about like comfort and routine. And when I think of Angelina Jolie, I'm like, she's anything but that. You know, she's such an experimental individual and such. I remember being younger. And now she's like, you know, composed, poised mom. But back then she was a little bit of a wild car. You know, so it's like, it's pretty cool. Yeah. I remember the whole the blood vial thing and like all that era, you know, it was, it was a fascinating time, the 90s and the 2000s. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I want to get to your other one, but like you guys gave two, and this is the first time I've talking to two people at the same time. It's the first time people I've given me two.

So Ari, you said Emma Stone Zombie Land and Cameron Diaz from the mask. I remember watching Cameron Diaz in the mask. Absolutely beautiful. Yeah, okay. You get it. Yeah, yeah. But I guess I would ask same thing. Likewise,

was there anything about her? Because it's really easy to, I think when you're young, obviously you get caught up in the physicality of someone and then oftentimes it's not to you like look back and go you know what it was actually something about who they were playing or who they were beyond just what they look like that I was actually drawn to do were you able to discover that at all well I'll be completely honest with you with Cameron Diaz it was mostly just physical yeah understandable but with uh it was very early on too I was very young I probably watched that movie when I was geez I don't know five maybe

four and a half five so I just remember just seeing her and being like oh okay I and I remember her still from that film and I haven't revisited for quite a while but Emma Stone I do remember and we also actually just recently watched it I made her watch it uh here for for the channel and yeah I would say I like the you know I would say probably like the defiance aspect of it I like you know I like that she has a bit of a bite to her like she's a fighter she's feisty cool She's badass, but she also kind of, you know, she kind of screws people over, which is not the most healthy trait. But, yeah, she, I mean, I thought she was charming in that. And, yeah, I think that those are the traits.

Why were you drawn to those qualities? Honestly, I don't know, man. It's not healthy. I'm telling you. I think it's just, I like the fact that she's brave in that sense. Like, I would say the fact that she is still, obviously, she's a survivor. She's in the zombie apocalypse. can clearly handle herself and her younger sibling, which I guess I also feel that kinship

because I'm also an older, you know, I'm the oldest of all of our siblings, so I understand that dynamic. But in terms of her, I would say just the fact that she's out there, that she's, you know, willing to go the extra mile, that she doesn't really have, that she speaks her voice, she speaks her mind, whatever's on her mind, whatever she disagrees with. She's very open with. Cool. And then at the same time, she's not. Yeah. The same time she doesn't. She does not know how to communicate and then she just disappears. So, you know, I like that contrast. Did you grow up?

So, yeah, this is going to be a bit of a headache. So I was born in Boston. Okay. But I was raised in Madrid, Spain for most of my early, you know, you know, as a young boy and then into my early teenage years. Okay. And with both your parents? So my mom was a single mother. So, you know, later on life.

Yeah. Just how you talked about the MS-down character. I was like, that's really where I was going with us. To be silly honest. Yeah, that's what I was picking up on. Yeah, so I grew up a single kid with a single mom. And then, you know, later in life, I, you know, we got super lucky. And my mom met a super great guy, married to the guy.

And so I had someone to kind of, you know, step up to the challenge and become my, my stepdad. And, you know, it was amazing. It was great. And then, yeah, we moved to Madrid, Spain after that. And that was a completely, you know, know, that changed my life completely, as you can imagine, you know, being growing up in Boston and having all my friends there to just absolutely like out of nowhere pull the plug and, you know, relocate.

So weirdly, you both had like an immigrant experience growing up. Yes. Oh, that's really fascinating. And then I take it from like the, what you talked about, the independence of Emma Stone and stuff. I'm like, oh, it sounds like qualities that a single mother with several kids would probably have to possess. And so it's a little bit of, do you, would you say that there are qualities about, um, What you said about Emerson's case? What was your character name again in Zambiland?

Wichita. Wichita. Would you say there's anything about Denise that resembles those qualities in this traits that you recited? I would say so. Yeah, definitely the feistiness. You know, the also the just the... The communication skills. Yeah, the communication skills.

The fact that she, you know, she speaks her mind. Whenever she disagrees, she's very much vocal about it. Um, brave, too. I would, I would put that on there. Oh, that's really, how long you guys been together? Oh, 2019. No, married since 2019. Married since, okay.

Together since 2018. There you go. It's a good amount of time. Yeah. That's a good amount of time. Yeah. Okay. And then I guess that'll unpack the question.

And he started the chant, was you guys start the channel in 2022? That's the oldest upload I could find. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. 22 August or September I believe yeah okay damn that's what it all started really great growth for the two of you but really quick thank you you said Emma Stone and I'm Stone you said the Angelina Jolie and who and Daniel Radcliffe yes was that was it was it like Daniel Radcliffe specifically or was it the ideal that the idea of Harry Potter and the personality there which one was it Um, I think it was a bit of both. Okay.

Really, I really loved Harry's character and, you know, again, it was his defiance as well, you know, there were so many opportunities where he could have, you know, tucked tail and run or, you know, just be more quiet and, you know, you see him starting to come into his own and starting to learn, you know, his craft, right? And I remember just being so, like, enamored with his bravery as well. You know, he steps into Hogwarts knowing absolutely nothing about witchcraft and wizardry. And he still does his best. And there are certain things that he naturally takes to. And there are certain things that are more difficult for him than, you know, how he realizes that he has such a, actually a past through his parents with Hogwarts. Yeah. All that jazz, like I remember just loving that so much, you know, especially I resonated with that a lot because when I was 12, my mom and I moved to Turkey.

And so it was Turkey was like Hogwarts to me in that sense. So Harry Potter was such a, again, it was another comfort thing, right? Where it's like, okay, if Harry Potter did it, I can do it too. It was kind of like, it was a little bit like that as cheesy as it may sound. I really had a thing for guys in glasses back then. I'll be very honest. It was definitely the glasses and the, and the scar. Because, like, I also have a forehead scar.

So I was like, oh, my God, we have so much in common. We're meant to be. So, yeah, I think, you know, you definitely see it in the progression of his character in the books in particular. You know, he gets sassier. I think the movies kind of stripped him of that. Like, he's a little bit more sassy. He's got a bigger mouth in the books. And I remember loving that, you know, he, he had that attitude to, you know, to bite back.

It's like you said for Emma Stone's character, right? It's, it's that bite. And it's like always something that I really wanted to have, you know, because like, you know, the people pleaser in you just, like, it would just make it so hard for me to retort to anybody in any way. Gotcha. And so eventually now it's like really hard to turn off. Like, I've, I've gone. It's a pendulum swing. Like, I've gone the other way where it's like, now I will absolutely retort.

That's my, that's my knee-jerk reaction. But again, it's like what you asked, right? It's what parts of characters that we really admire, you know, like for me, it was something that I really wanted to adopt in my own personal life. And it ended up working out. I think I did a good job adopting those personality traits. That is really cool. I never thought I'd hear someone draw a correlation between Harry Potter.

Laura Croft that the way you I was like I was impressed with so when you guys started this channel together was there a bit of apprehension at all in terms of being a couple on camera to be doing a a YouTube channel where you're pretty much going to be very like I think a big part of doing

reactions is beyond like commentary and stuff is of course being empathetic and willing to be vulnerable and with you guys as a couple like for me I'm I don't know if I would go hardcore with that the way you guys would have done it. Was there a bit of an apprehension? Yeah, I think, you know, at first we thought about it quite a lot.

There's a lot of things that came to mind. You know, the obvious one was, you know, being out there in the public and sharing your opinions on a huge platform. It's funny because I didn't grow up being super sociable, but I had a really like tight group friends that I grew up with. So, like, I, you know, spend my evenings going out and all that, but I have, like, severe stage fright at the same time. Okay. So, you know, being in front of the camera has been kind of like the exercise to get me over that for the most part. But at the same time, you know, as a couple, I think there's a lot of things that, you know, we consider it as like, well, you know, we're out here. We don't really state it on, you know,

on our channel, we kind of just go with it and a lot, you know, a lot of people ask because, you know, it's cool. They're interested. Are you a couple? Are they brother and sister? I'm really trying to figure it out. Yeah, I'm like, you know, anybody that has, uh, that has attention to detail, they're probably, you know, spot at the ring, like, you know, here and there. You know, but I would say, you know, the biggest concern was just, you know, I guess the people not understanding where we're coming from, you know, uh, I think for a lot of the first initial comments that we got is like, you know, and I'm sure you guys get it all.

the time too is like oh my god how have you not seen this movie or whatever so when she's showing me a movie it's like we get a lot of those comments sometimes and i guess the initial uh concerns were like how are people going to take this like are they're going to enjoy our uh commentary our opinions on films that have been out for decades now and how much of it how i guess how much weight do we have in this right how much how can we apply what we actually know and what we are passionate for for and for people to want to listen to it, right? Are people going to be interested in people at, you know, and like me, for example, who has never seen that many movies from the 70s or 80s, are they going to want to listen to my, you know, to my commentary? And for her, it's the same,

but with other genres, right? So I guess that was the main concern. What was the first movie you guys saw together? Not on the channel. Can you recall the first time you guys saw what movie you I saw together, just as a couple. I know the first one she showed me. Okay. And I wish we could have done that for the channel. Oh. Yeah, you probably already know.

Yeah. You do? I think so. Okay. So the first movie we actually watched and she was like, you have to watch this. And she was actually one of those YouTube people. She was like, oh my God, you have not watched this. No, I'm so sorry.

It's worse. Yeah, she grilled me over it. It was actually The Matrix. No shit. Yeah, I know, I know. And in hindsight, it's so funny because it's kind of our inside joke is like, fuck, we should have done that for the channel. We should have done that for the channel, you know, kind of immortalize it. Should have waited for that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we watched the first one and I remember being mind blown. Yeah, and again, it goes back to my interest too growing up. But I guess I reached the point. What was these interests? Sorry to interrupt. What was the, you've talked like your passions and your interests growing up. What exactly is that?

So it's funny because I really was into storytelling and I did grow up watching some movies, but I was kind of like boxed in the one genre that I really enjoyed growing up, which was comic book movies and sci-fi adventure, I would say, I would classify them. But other than that, I wouldn't really watch anything else. And it's funny because growing up, you know, I'm talking to my 2010-ish or so. I remember looking back in movies that were that had a 1990 release. state and of. I was like, oh, that's too old. I need to watch the new stuff because that's the new VFX and it's going to look great. And I mean, looking back, I sound like a total

idiot. And I've, you know, I've mentioned this before in the child. I'm like, I'm so disappointed in myself. But, you know, we go through this growing journey, this journey of, you know, growth and appreciation. And now I look back at those movies and I'm like, those movies are bangers. So when she showed me that, I was like, yeah, no, I've never, you know, I know, I've seen Neo before, you know, I've seen Keanu Reeves with a suit and the transcode, of course, but I have never actually sat down and watched this and, you know, she put it on on one of our date nights and I remember just being mind-blown. I was like, whoa, I didn't think this was going to be this deep, this philosophical, this amazing, like the effects,

everything. I was going crazy. And I think that was the initial spark of it all. It's usually either that or Terminator 2, which tend to hover is my favorite movie of all time. I know you guys had reaction to Terminator 2 as well. Yeah. Yeah. I really enjoy that. There's definitely similarities thematically between the two of them while both executed very different so i got a question then denise if he didn't like it would that have been a problem for you break up right then really toss them out right on the street the cold not no i mean there of course i think when you're sharing a movie with someone you're sharing it with the hope that they like it of course yeah you it's it's not the most pleasant experience when something that means a lot to you is kind of shot down by the other person.

I was hoping he would like it, but I mean, if he didn't like it, you know, like it's, it would have, it would have been fine. It would have been like, you know, it's okay. Like, it's just a little something that I'll keep to myself and, you know, nourish in the dark. But it sounds like it was an emotional, like to me at least, if I, especially in the early days, when I showed my wife, then girlfriend, anything that like I loved and then I saw her respond positively to it. It became like a memory for me, something to really hold on to. I mean, yeah, it really does become a core memory. I think it's especially like if you're someone that loves movies, you know, it's almost like a way we express our affection, right?

Absolutely. Like we share something that we truly love. And, you know, sometimes it's like it's the usual stuff, you know, like the Matrix because like it's awesome. But then there are also certain movies that maybe I'm a bit more of a guilty pleasure or whatever. And like it's those little moments that we get to share bits and pieces of ourselves. And then when the other person is receptive to that, I can totally understand why that becomes like a core memory in the relationship. Do you remember the first movie you showed Denise? Oh, great question.

I don't think it was a movie. A show? Was a show? Yeah. Well, yeah, true. two shows actually come to mind one uh i really so i listen i kind of had a feeling i'm like okay i'm going to risk it it's i know it's a great story and i've really enjoyed it but i do not know how she's going to like it and i'm talking about the show sons of anarchy i had really enjoyed it

enjoyed all seasons of it and you know i love the hamlet-esque type themes that are going on in that and i was like you know you might appreciate it but at the same time you know it's it's all dudes it's bikers is like, you know, a lot of testosterone in there. I'm like, you know, you might not like it. I don't know. And I remember, you know, showing her that. And, well, yeah, I don't know how you. Did you lie to me back then?

Did you enjoy that show? Damn it! No, I genuinely like the show. It's just one of those shows that it was, it was, there were a lot of moments where it was really a tough watch. But I really, really enjoyed the story. And I was like, you know, I was very pleasantly surprised that that was something that he was into.

I was like, oh, no shit. Like, Sons of America, I remember hearing about it, you know. I lived in the San Francisco Bay area for a few years. Oh, my God. No way. Yeah. Yeah, so I remember, like, hearing about them, right? And I remember, like, you know, rumors about, you know, like the bikers and stuff like that.

So when he was like, you should check out the show. I was like, shit. I mean, why the hell not? You know, a little throwback to NorCal. And it really was a great show, but it was, it had some really tough moments, man. I'm going to say, I think that that's the one and done type of show for me. My wife has wanted me to watch that show for a less. She loves that show.

She's been wanting me to watch it. I haven't seen it yet. No, I haven't seen it. You got to watch it. Yeah, that's one I recommend. It's very good. Yeah, you can tell you. It's very good.

It's very good. Do you remember, do you guys recall the first time? It's so fun to talk because you guys are a couple. So I actually like asking these questions. Um, do you guys know the first time you really disagreed on a movie or a show? Oh. We've disagreed in a few, actually, but I'm trying to go back to the first one. Has it ever gotten heated?

Oh. Well, not, not really heated, but it's gotten spicy for sure. You know what? Let's just drop it because, uh, let's just agree to disagree. You're on the wrong side of history here, but you know, we'll let it slide. I remember two. And hilariously enough, it was like one of them was me begging him to watch it. Okay.

And the other one was me showing to him. It's, I don't know if you've ever heard of this movie called Stoker. Oh, no. What is this Stoker? So, um, it's with Nicole Kidman, Matthew Good. And, oh, damn it, I forgot. I forgot the actress's name. So the person that wrote it, uh, is actually Wentworth Miller.

but he sold his script under a pseudonym. Okay. So, because he wanted the script to swimmer sank on its own, right? And I remember hearing about that and being so impressed. And like, it's a, I enjoy the movie, okay? I liked it. It's a bit out there. I will, I will grant that.

But I remember it was the ending. And both of the movies that I was thinking of that we watched together were, like, we did have, like, a spicy discussion. It was, it was about the ending. Yeah. I very much dislike sometimes. It's hard to adjust, I would say, when, you know, the movie's going a certain way and, you know, it's not that I want the ending that I expect to happen. It's more of when it feels like it really came out of left field and it doesn't make a lot of sense dematically or it's just there to reinforce the themes already. So it feels like the character development is all kind of, it's coming full circle, but not in the completionist type of way, more in like the redundant type of way.

Yeah, yeah. And I felt like the this, this, well, I don't want to, you got to check it out. First of all, but that movie kind of felt that way towards, you know, towards the climax of it. I was like, okay, all right. Well, what are they trying to say here? Because it just seems like a very toxic message overall. But what's funny is that I really enjoyed the movie up until that point, you know? Sometimes with me, it may happen where, you know, I get 90% through a movie.

And then that last 10%, man, I'm like, why did you have to screw it up? Like if I just chopped that last bit, it would have been great. And then, you know, sometimes it takes a turn that I'm not expecting. I'm like, shoot, that's it. And she was trying to defend that 10% and I was like, nope, it's not working out for me. Sorry. I got a phone one. Is there a movie where you're like, like for me, when I think of a couple that I see my wife and I in, I usually see, I don't know if you guys watch the show friends, but I see myself like through Chandler, Matthew Perry and Courtney Cox's character, Chandler Monica.

I often see us there in our dynamics. Is there a couple in a movie or a show where you're like, I feel like that's us. Do you guys have that with anyone? Oh, that's an amazing question. I love the way you guys receive the questions. You see you. That's amazing.

Yeah, we're like, hmm, if I had a mustache, I'll be twirling it right now. You haven't seen it yet, but definitely Edward and Bella vibes, you know. No, I know exactly what you're talking about. No, we're going to watch them with a channel. Oh, you haven't seen it? Oh, those are fun. And now you're making it. No, this is not fair.

This is fun. Help me, Greg. Please talk to him. Oh, my God, you'll have a blast. They're fun. They're fun. It's okay if you don't like them. You'll have fun.

Okay. They're a guilty pleasure. Like, they're really, really fun. Yeah, see, thank you. I appreciate the backup from Greg Elwood. I can't believe I'm saying that out loud. Um, okay, what couple? Let's get serious here. This is important. You got to focus. You're the one that's, you know, going on the, the tangent of the...

I offered a solution. Let's see. You didn't like it. I'm trying to think it. No, no, I can't. Can't remember. I have a feeling some of these questions you'll have answers for like tomorrow. Yeah. You know, that always happens, especially with interviews, I should have said that. It just came to mind. Or like an argument, for example, whenever we're talking about why the movie should have ended. Shit. I should have said that. For God. Mood.

Can you think of a couple? We're like, oh, yeah, these two definitely give off. Sit and Nancy vibes. Like, between, like, from just interacting with you two right now? Can I think of a couple from you guys? Oh, my goodness. Wow. I feel like I'd have to, I feel like I'll have that answer closer towards the end of this conversation.

All right. Okay. But I'll keep that in the forefront of my mind, for sure. Can we circle back to this? Yeah. If I can think of something. No, absolutely. Absolutely.

I've got... Can you think of anything? I'm honestly spacing out on couples. I feel like we have a very full dynamic. You know, like, she's also my best friend in a way. I really mean that. Not in a cheesy way.

Like, actually, like, you know, we game together. We chill together. You know, obviously watch movies together. So it's... It's tight. I mean, obviously, you would expect. that from your wife, I know, but like at the same time, I feel like I can pretty much share anything with her. My wife turns the lights off when I walk in the room. What's that? My wife turns

the lights off when I walk in the room. That's always a good sign. Yep, that's healthy. That's hilarious. Sorry to interrupt your super sweet moment. That's what I'm known for. Undercutting a really tender moment. You know, that's what movies do too. I love that. See, it's like you're an inherent storyteller. It's like, you know, you have a sweet, like, bonding heartfelt moment and then boom, something interrupts it. Some explosion happens or, you know, something happens and the zombies finally walk in. Like, that's, that's how it is. I agree. I agree. What, what comedies then are like, would you say that you guys laugh together the most at? Hmm. Super bad was pretty funny. Super bad was pretty funny. We found that pretty pretty, pretty darn funny. Yeah. That's more,

that's like your sense, your type of humor. Yeah, we like the well we we actually like a lot of dark humor like just in our day-to-day Yeah, like also start like people that are sarcastic people that you know can make Those types of that you know people that have that type of humor. Yeah, mesh well with them. You know people that can take a dark joke or two Yeah, things that we can't say on the line as much anymore Yeah, I know exactly. I know you have to be here. You know I don't want to get a I don't want to get a Yeah, a little strike. Yeah. Yeah, I think dark humor is definitely one of of them you know there are a few i don't really dwell a whole lot in comedies but there are a few

gems that i have yet to show him and i know that there are still a few that you have yet to show me but like one came to mind uh we did watch rick and morty and that was a blast that was an absolute blast the jokes there were so messed up that i remember being like how did they get away with this i have no idea have you ever have you ever i've seen the first few seasons of it i get the sense like people would like because I have a pretty dark sense of humor and I and I think that people usually with a bit of a edgy upbringing to put it lightly usually can have a pretty good dark sense of humor and I think people like dark humor more than they like to let on I think a lot of people are really the reason why this shit in your naming is so freaking popular

because and a lot of people get afraid to make like the dark humor jokes but I think dark humor is like my favorite thing and it's kind of in a weird time when you could like watch it's weird you can like do a reaction to a super bad or scary movie one and it's fine but if you like make a joke today like that it becomes a problem you know like so we can like react to it and laugh at it but then nowadays if we like make jokes like that it can be a bit of a controversial thing because people are very sensitive to that kind of stuff but i feel like we're kind of swinging back around to not being as sensitive about those types of things i think humor to me, especially in relationship, humor is the, like, the most important thing to me. Oh, yeah. Totally agree. Totally agree. It's like the main thing that, like, keeps us

really tight, I feel. And I feel like, it seems like you guys actually just make each other laugh quite a bit. Oh, all the time. All the time. He's the funny one. He's the one that's actually funny. I'm the one that's unintentionally funny. It works out well.

He's teaching me he's working with me on my delivery when it comes to sarcasm because my sarcasm goes a bit too hard sometimes where people think I'm actually being serious I understand I feel you so I completely understand what you're talking about so I'm like

no that's not what I meant so like he's he's guiding me he's my he's my coach in in that sense I'm like you have to at least smirk a little after the punchline you know or else people are going to take you seriously because she does the whole deadpan delivery thing very well and people are like are you are you serious and then she's like no no no I'm joking they're

like oh thank God okay it's not a movie related story at all but I'll share a story about my wife so one time we were at a party this was like the first year we were dating let's give you an idea of our humor we were at a party didn't really know anyone and then we went to um I went away I was talking with some people then I came back to her and she was talking with this couple then I went up to her and I kissed her like hey babe I kissed her on the lips and and and And this couple we were talking to was just looking at me so strange and weird. And I didn't know why. And then she's like, oh, no.

I told him you were my brother before he showed him. No. And that's so messed up. We don't have Alabama. But that shit just like me just makes me laugh so much. It's like that's so funny. Yeah. That is.

Yeah. That is great. I would pay to see the look on those people's faces when you did that. I had no idea what I did. And your face, too, not even knowing what the hell is going on. Just imagining you being so confused. Like, what just went wrong? They were so creeped out of what was going on.

Oh, my God. Imagine you're like, yeah, it's my wife. And they're like, wait, what? You married your sister. It's like, listen, we love each other. The more you try to explain, the more you sink. Because I do. Because I know, you don't want to come across judgmental in a moment like that.

It's like when I encounter Scientologist. Anyway, I'll stop it there. But when you guys, you know. that happened for or I think someone's joking with me that they're Scientologists. I'm like, oh, you're actually hard. Um, no, no, can you imagine? Yeah, it's my, oh man, my cancellation moment here, but the, the other part that I, when I was browsing through like just thumbnails, um,

Ari, I noticed that like, yes, you'll allow yourself to get emotional and cry as well. And do you know when the first time was that you like got emotional with the Denise while watching a movie. Because I think as a guy, it can be a really fascinating experience. That is also, wow, these questions are hitting hard, man. Damn. Yeah, he's getting us. Well, the finale of Game of Thrones was, uh, it did give me.

No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, I wanted to cry really hard. Yes, but out of rage. It was more like screaming into the abyss, you know. You know, I didn't really get into movies that made me feel, any type of negative emotion for the longest time because it was just not my jam I already had a lot of my mind at the time

and it was more about survival you know especially when I first met Denise it was about you know I was going to school and then working and it was kind of like a full-time thing so whenever I did want to watch something it was something that was oblifting and kind of nice but I think the first thing that really hit hard to the point that I was sobbing

I don't think I'd ever sobbed that way was Green Mile. The Green Mile absolutely destroyed me, man. I don't even know if I want to re-watch that movie ever again. And it's the thing, it's a beautiful film. It's such a beautiful story and it just, it hits you at your core, especially if you have any kind of empathy. And I remember I didn't care, you know, it was being recorded.

I'm there. It's my first time. And I just remember, even now I just get choked up. talking about it like i just remember how i felt and how that story impacted me and it was just you know the tears were flowing man and uh i feel like after that it's always nice and almost cathartic to kind of release that you know that emotion when you're when you're feeling sad while watching something yeah i think it's funny because like i was absolutely not a crier like at all uh and yeah in fact i had a really hard time crying in general um and it wasn't until

you know, like, I think, you know, when you find someone who is like your person and who, like, you realize that there are your safe space, I think that was one of the things that really allowed me to be more vulnerable in general. And so the fact that I could cry in general, but also feel comfortable crying on camera, like that I don't think I would have been able to do that if it wasn't like for you know the support that you know we gave each other i think but also how comfortable i felt being vulnerable in front of him you know that was that was a big milestone and i remember like green mild that was oh man tough yeah that shit that should broke me like it was ugly crying too and it's like snob coming out of your nose and you're just like

trying to fix your situation it was oh my god it was so worth it though like what a fantastic movie yeah like I gave that example because that's the first time I felt like we sobbed like I actually felt like I was crying I've definitely shed a tear or two with other films

the one that comes to mine was in theater with Infinity War towards that ending just I know it sounds ridiculous like Infinity War but that Tom Holland performance man when he's like you know I don't feel good I don't want to go I don't want to go I was definitely shedding a tear there But yeah, no, the green mile takes the cake on that one.

Yeah, where we actually got to, yeah, like the went hits hard. So this is really cool to me to hear that the first time you guys had a truly like emotional sobbing experience, you actually happen. It happened on camera. It happened with the cameras pointed at you. And you guys got to share that with people. I think this is like part of the appeal of what you guys do. specifically. Like, I think in this, in the reaction field or any kind of, if there's anyone who's like, I think YouTube is often, uh, like high school or whatever I've heard high

school to be like, you know, like there's like, I didn't actually go. When I see like, when I was first doing this, there was only like a few of us doing reactions. Now it's like a billion people as, as you guys know. And it's really easy to kind of like look at other channels and it's really easy to compare yourself, especially for as long as I've been doing it. You see everyone's numbers. I mean, just yesterday, like, the time of filming this. Like, we both uploaded V for Vendetta the same day. And you guys, like, totally outperformed us in terms of view count wise. And it's what I want to do oftentimes is like put away comparison, put away jealousy and often look at like, okay, what are they doing? That's actually like really cool to find out. And I think it's

what we've been talking about this whole time is you guys have such a support of each other emotionally and this comfortability that seems so genuine that I think this is it really does feel like we are with you guys watching a movie like in your room you know and you talk about like having these first time experiences which I think is really cool like with the real rejects has changed so much over the years of how we do it and now we got like a whole team of people and stuff. And I've always been more of like a talk show kind of guy. So I've always been drawn to that. Like Conan O'Brien was like my hero growing up. And so seeing which he was like absolutely my hero. I died to meet him. And but like hearing what you guys, how you guys just respond to each other

reciprocate this dialogue back and forward. I'm like, okay. This is this is the energy and the gravitational pull that they see you guys. Like you guys seem like you're both empathetic towards one another and it's like I feel like you guys are going to be like fucking huge like you guys are going to be like really like way like beyond like view I think there's something about the connectivity that you guys have that when you guys are connected people connect to you and I think that's what makes you guys such a strong YouTube channel and wow and just when you guys are super big you remember I said something nice that truly truly truly truly a lot to us. You know, we, I think a big part of why we really enjoy doing this is also

connecting with people as well. Like, you know, we don't want it to be just a one-way street where it's performative or we're up here doing it for people to watch. We like, you know, jumping in the pool and seeing what people are saying about X, Y, Z film. You know, whether we agree with that film or would their take on the film or not. And, you know, the one thing that I remember working hard on because like I mentioned before I was more well we both were a bit more introverted was you know let's try to be just genuine and the realist you know people that we can be like let's just be ourselves as much as possible you know it's not really natural to have a camera and lights pointed at your face when you're doing you know especially when you're just watching

movie and it's a very personal experience like you know so I guess like the biggest exercise for us was always, you know, how can we just try to be ourselves the most, you know, at the utmost level. And that's been something that's always been in the back of our heads to really just, whatever it is, whatever opinion we have or whatever we want to say, try to say it in the way that we would normally say it if, you know, none of this were here. Well, you guys seem like you're both respectful, though, like of the movies, even if you don't really like it or something. Like, you guys are really good.

Surprised it for people who are coming like, oh, I haven't really watch these movies and stuff. I think you both are very, actually, I'll usually, I'll skip more toward the review than the reaction. And you guys will actually talk for quite a bit about a movie. And I'm like, okay, they really do. Like, you guys know how to actually talk about movies. And so when you say, like, you're not really interested growing up and all these things. I'm like, well, you're pretty articulate about both of you about movies and your experiences with it. Especially with horror for you, Denise, I would say, too.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. The horror is like my, I'm sorry. Horror is my first love. Like it was like the first, like, it was such a visceral experience for, you know, little old me. Like I remember, you know, even like this bedtime story that my mom used to tell me from this little booklet. I can't remember what it's called, but it's like a skeleton family essentially. And I think they live like on top of a hill and they have a skeleton.

dog like it's something like that i i can't quite remember the name of it but like that's what my mom used to read to me when i was younger okay and eventually she just could not keep reading the same thing over and over anymore because that was just me like again again so she ended up starting to tell me little snippets of it and about pennywise and whoa this evil clown and wow these kids have to fight against him and i remember just i've never heard anyone do that before that is so cool. That is awesome. Listen, she was so creative for that.

Like, I have to give it to her. Because it's actually so smart. Like, why don't you just tell stories of movies that you love or books that you love? And you just condense them in a way that, you know, a child can understand. And, you know, horror became such a comfort place for me. And it's absolutely like also the vein of the kinds of scripts and books that I want to write or that I am working on. at the moment like that's that's that's just been the way to go for me i think horror is such a an incredible space to explore human nature or make social commentary or show certain things that

you know other genres were not that comfortable showing you know uh that was always something that i admired about it and you know i remember watching the first scream movie when i was super young or like the first like Halloween movie and oh my god I was like this is amazing it's you you get to experience fear and the safety of your own home and that was such a mind-blowing experience to me and the next thing I know it was just a rabbit hole of all kinds of horror movies and you know I'm really lucky that I found someone who will join me on that adventure um but yeah like circling back to what you were saying when it comes to like supporting each other i think one of the main things about the channel

that like i really that really just pushed us into the idea of doing it was we would just spend hours and hours theorizing about marvel right i remember like in the pandemic times especially like you know we watched wandavision and like after every episode it's like oh my god you think you think like with this scientist they're referring to you think that's read richards like and of course Mephisto like I remember Mephisto we were waiting for Mephisto and he never happened justice for Mephisto and eventually it was just like I think should we should we try to do this like you know and I remember I get unbelievably uncomfortable in front of a camera but obviously this has helped kind of I think both of us work through that that's crazy how did you guys feel about skipping Deadpool

and Wolverine in the theaters. It was awful. It was, yeah. Fucking sucked. It was awful. It's so straightforward. It was awful. Yeah.

The thing is, I've said it in the comments. I've said it already in the comments when people were asking. I was like, listen, don't expect this to be the huge thing because I grew up on comic book movies. That was like my bread and butter. I love them. They are a huge inspiration. to, you know, hopefully one day, even for a short film, I would love to, you know, take on something

like that. But yeah, I remember with Deadpool and Wolverine, it was a decision and I was like, this might be a one and done thing because it's really hard. The first thing I did was mute all the words on our phones that were related to Marvel. Oh, yeah. You know, we stayed off. And obviously, we are on social media. I mean, we have to post on YouTube.

So posting with one I open, just like opening YouTube studio going straight into it. and not really dealing with. But we wanted to share that experience with our audience because those films in particular, Deadpool, it was me showing her. Right. Denise was kind of like the one exploring those films and I was sharing them with her

because they're films that I very much enjoyed. So I wanted that third one, you know, which we knew was going to be pretty huge. We wanted that to be here, you know, and not just for the audience, which of course, obviously for the channel, but also for us. Like we're also keeping a record of, you know,

our experiences watching films, and what we thought about them at the time. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want, like that dream house or ride, is a great feeling. That's why the State Farm Personal Price Plan can help you save when you choose to bundle home and auto. Bundling, just another way to save with a personal price plan.

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. On WhatsApp, no one can see or hear your personal messages, whether it's a voice call, message, or sending a password. To WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat

or trading those late-night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages, stay between you, your friends, and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp, message privately with everyone. MailChute. When you want to grow your list size. Pop up like it's hot, pop up like it's hot, pop up like it's hot. And when you gotta boost your revenue, pop up like it's hot,

pop up like it's hot, pop up like it's hot. Pick your favorite template you can tailor to your brand. They're MailChimp-A-Riffick, you're gonna be a fan. MailChimp your marketing with our new customizable pop-ups. that's cool it's like man i'm calling this podcast diary of a real reject but you guys are like essentially creating like a video diary of these moments of watching these films together the i mean one of the purposes of the channel is also you know logging our like i said our thoughts after a film and and the thoughts that you know movies that really inspire us um especially when it

comes to you know writing we're both working on projects right now on independent from YouTube where we're script writing yeah you know our stories she's working on a whole novel you know that's a whole different story I she's nuts for attempting I regret it I regret it so sucking a little hype out of me but yes the whole purpose of this was you know we were very much into we want to be able to do this at some point but I realized at the same time there's a lot of value in what came before obviously you have to go back and see what worked and why it worked So I knew what I enjoyed, but I didn't, I couldn't articulate yet why I liked something or why I didn't think something worked. So doing this entire exercise of, you know, watching movies from the 70s, like the Godfather or the 80s, like the, you know, the thing back to the future, it's allowed me to understand why those movies are so popular.

I wasn't a contrarian, I want to say. Like, it wasn't like I didn't want to watch movies that were super popular just because they were popular and people were like, oh, they're cool. And I was like, I'm not going to watch it. You're just a hipster. No. not at all it was just you know it wasn't

I always always focused on what's coming out in the moment you know so I was like Avatar Marvel whatever right

so now doing this I have a lot of a lot of information that I think I lacked the context as to why something is great now you know it's like

oh this guy did it first and this is how that has evolved and now I kind of get that so having this is also a great way to kind of like jump back into a specific movie that I know inspired me and say,

oh, what did I think about this and why did I think it worked? Okay, cool. How can I apply that now onto my work? What genre are you? Because you said you're writing in horror, Denise, and what are you writing in? Sci-fi. Sci-fi.

I would say sci-fi adventure, which are also kind of like the movies that, you know, I grew up with. Which was what? Like you've been saying that. Like, you grew up at sci-fi, which, what are these sci-fi movies? Star Wars.

Star Wars was pretty big for me growing up. I would say in terms of adventure Pirates of the Caribbean Harry Potter obviously and then loads of comic book movies like Marvel DC all that stuff So you I mean you kind of listed more Fantasy realm is where it seems to go Like Star Wars often cited as sci-fi fantasy

And you listed parts of the Caribbean Which goes very fantasy adventure And And what was the third one you said I'm so sorry What was the third one? You said Star Wars Pirates And Star Wars Pirates Harry Potter very much fantasy

Yeah Yeah And blockbusters You're trying to write Huge fucking movies And you're writing like Independent Horror films Yeah

You know what's funny I actually would love to take it back To basics as well Like those are the things that I enjoy And I want to apply elements of it But I would not dare to write You know a blockbuster Just like this

I want to start small and uh you know we have concepts for horror films that you know with a little bit of sci-fi obviously alien was massive for me uh as a you know in particular because it kind of married all those ideas i did not know obviously why that movie was so popular i knew it was and i knew about you know ellen ripley and all these things but i didn't quite know why it was so you know why so many people gravitated towards that film and once they watched that i absolutely fell in love from you know the set design to the performances to the way they marry sci-fi with horror, that was it for me. And I was like, my God, I want to do something like this. And

then the thing obviously kind of also tied into the whole, you know, one location, paranoia type stuff. And I'm like, oh, you can actually write something very smart with very minimal budget and keep it in one place and make it very damn interesting if you have good performances in a tight script. And that kind of like sparked that initial passion to write something like that. I think horror is kind of the under recognized genre that even if you splice it with something, it makes it more intriguing. You mentioned Pirates at the Caribbean. And I think there's totally horror elements in that first one. I think he doubles down Gore-Brovinsky way more in the second one. And Star Wars Empire Strikes Back is often set as the best one for most people. And I think

it's not exactly overtly horror, but there can be horror undertones that create peril, you know. So I really do think that it is, it's my, it is my favorite genre. My, my passion is in writing as well. And, like, that is the main, it's hard, it's time, especially with this, you know, like, I'm doing, this started off where I was mainly just in like, in a, essentially what was a studio apartment with a wall, so it was a one bedroom. Like, that's what it was. And then now it's evolved into what it is and there's a whole team of people and, you know,

like we share the same editor editing company prepper there's a whole bunch of people now so I'm like literally running a whole business operation yeah and uh I'm and finding the time to write has been like like today I managed to find time and it was like 45 minutes just lock in for 45 minutes and get it done and I do I do think it is like what that's what's cool about like Tarantina is one of my favorite filmmakers and I think with what we do for a living this allows us to be uh students of film like this is are a way of, like, there's such a difference in watching a movie on your own at home. Oh, yeah.

Versus when you have a camera and you got to, like, make commentary because you got to be extra engaged. You got to have a thought process. You got to reflect on it, you know, so it does become, like, really cool homework. I'm surprised you guys don't watch as much horror as a man. I've seen a little bit more horror pop up on your. guys is page what was what was the horror movie for you denise that is the most impactful to you i know like i saw i saw your scream one reaction um when you introduced pari to it um but what was like the horror

story that most impacted you was was it penny wise it and story wise absolutely okay i remember reading the book and it was like it that was a big book big boy like and um it was it was The thing is, like, the, you know, I think the movies did a really good job as best as you can, you know, to do justice to that story. Because, like, it goes bonkers on so many different levels. I don't know if you've read the book, but it's, it's a hell of a journey. I can tell you that. And I remember I also watched, there was like a made for TV, like a film, like an It film where Tim Curry was playing. And he was.

yeah and i i remember like i watched that and it was oh he was haunting my dreams i swear like it was it was it was true terror that i was experiencing um so penny wise is definitely really high up there when it comes to you know the the elusiveness of it right the fact that it can just turn into anything that scares you yeah and the fact you know that like it is munching on children essentially is just horrifying especially when you hear about the story as a child right you're in a much more vulnerable situation yeah yeah you're like i could possibly be a victim if it was real um but yeah like it was life-changing like i i cannot explain like i cannot put into into words just how much that story has influenced me and like another i guess it's technically

horror but not really. I remember watching the sixth sense. That's horror. That was one of those movies where I could not believe what on earth I was watching. I was pretty young, I would say, definitely not when it first came out. That was definitely like a

VHS rental type of situation. But yeah, like those are like the two hallmarks for me when it comes to horror and fear and the things that it can help you understand or even explore, you know, as a writer or even like as the actors, you know, I think that's one of the reasons why horror is such a, such a big deal for me. You chose to, you cited two movies or stories where the main characters are children

who have to deal with a supernatural thing and also there's a lot about accepting your emotions in both of those stories. It's almost like there's a common thread there. Yeah. I mean, is there a reason why there was, I mean, from everything we've kind of talked about,

it seems like you've had a lot of these experiences of identifying with characters that were about, again, a bravery. Like, honestly, accepting, going on an emotional journey, it can be a brave in it of itself.

Like, for years, I've been pretty comfortable with crying as a guy because I've, I kind of like trained myself to be okay with it because I think like kind of the cliche of guys was like walk it off, you know? And I'm like, but I think it's because you're, they're afraid to feel their emotions. So if like being a man, it means facing your fears, then I should be okay with feeling my emotions. Like it's like like logically computed it. And so I've lost my own train of thought in that process. But like with you, with you citing those two movies was it. It's like, it's like, like, it's like, like, you, is there something correlated to why specifically you're drawn to that kind of storytelling that is okay to ask if you don't want to answer totally okay yeah no no no totally it's it was actually it's a great question it just had I hadn't even phrased it to myself in that way so I appreciate you catching the correlation there and I think you know um as a you know

as a child, I feel like there are a lot of moments where you feel completely out of control, right? Like you have to do as you're told. You do what your parents tell you to do, what your family tells you to do. You try to trust your teachers. And, you know, I didn't have a whole lot of great experiences with teachers, especially when I was younger. You know, they weren't exactly like a safe space. I felt like there were some adults in my life that, you know, that I, where I did feel like I was let down. Not necessarily like my family, but like there were a lot of, of moments where, you know, someone of the authority could have done something and they didn't, right? And it's like, I think knowing that there are children out there who can kind

of take their own fate into their own hands as best as they can, I think as a child was huge for me. That was like, that's why I think like we circle to bravery because, you know, when you see another kid do it, you know that you can too. It's like the, it's the representation. of it, you know what I mean? It's like, okay, so if they can do it, so can I. And I think that's one of the reasons why, because the enemy that these kids are facing really, it's almost a faceless enemy, right? It's very elusive and abstract. And like, the true enemy is fear if you think about it, right? And they conquer it in very different ways. And even in the books, you know, like the way like the the losers club the way they took on pennywise and like the way they

coped with it all on their own it was amazing like it taught me like oh okay so it's okay for me to be openly brave it's also okay for me to be scared it's okay for me to find different ways to cope with the situation it just doesn't have to be like that one stereotypical oh i'm your leading person i got this type of way it there's many different ways to handle fear and difficult situations. And I think that was like the big learning lesson there for me as a kid. That's really cool. It's cool. I ask you these because I think a lot of the time when I talk to people, they're not, it's kind of, you're pretty much, this is what I wanted to do with this podcast. It was like a lot of times we kind of just watch movies or take this in,

but don't realize how much it actually might have affected us. And you seem like you have a pretty big awareness of how these things actually did help shape your identity. And maybe that has to do with the fact that you're like an only child. So you were able to, these were like the people you hung out with or something. I'm not, I'm not sure. I'm not an only child. So, yeah, that's a really, really cool answer. I really loved hearing that.

Thank you. And Ari, you saw yourself at Han Solo, I'm assuming. I'm sure you were like. All the time, man. That's me. Millennial Falcon. Yeah. Yeah, that's me the cool guy.

You know, didn't he shoot first? Who knows? But that is me for sure. I've never seen myself portrayed on screen like that. I don't know. What was it? To a T, man. You cited Star Wars first.

And I know it's so late for you guys. I'm just really enjoying this conversation. If you guys want to end, don't worry, are you? I mean, let me know. Dude, not worry. We're having a blast here, man. This is a perfect way to wrap up our day.

Okay, perfect. Yeah. I think Star Wars has sort of become. like a religion for a lot of people, you know, and what was it about Star Wars for yourself that you felt like you saw it, you were a child, I'm assuming. And what was it that you connected with? I connected with, uh, you know, obviously Anakin, you know, when I was watching the obvious I connected with. Wasn't expecting an obviously Anakin. Obviously the dark theater. No, I think a lot of people would probably

connect to him, but my reason is, you know, he trained so hard to reach a specific level, right? He's trying to get to that, you know, sweet Jedi title, and you see everybody, you know, shoot him down. So that, for me, it was always, I love the, almost like the poetry in trying to avoid something to happen. And then it's actually kind of causing it because the more they resisted, you know, him. the more they kind of cause, and you could see this in chapter two and three, the more they kind of cause what we know, you know, he will eventually become. And I think a big theme that I really enjoy through, you know, all of the Star Wars films and a big part that I connected through,

again, Anakin and Darth Vader specifically, is how well they told the story about balance. I think a lot of that gets lost a lot of times where it's like, oh, yeah, like, Luke, you know, he saved the day, whatever, he defeated evil. But I don't think he could have defeated evil if Darth Vader didn't allow himself to open up to those emotions and realize that he is a father. You know, spoiler alert, for anybody out there that has not seen that movie. So I really love that, you know, the writing does such a great job at, you know, coming full circle and making it about neutral, which also makes the whole balance of the force thing makes sense. I really do believe that, you know, he is the chosen one.

Even though he is Darth Vader, he was the chosen one to bring balance to the force. And by kind of saving his son in a way, it all comes full circle. He became like the worst of the worst, but he, you know, inevitably brought it back. So that up and down and that entire journey, it's crazy how they still manage to, you know, wrap around and still make it make sense by the end. And you can kind of see how they needed to go through this journey to really bring balance. you know with i don't think without any of these elements it would have worked out that well for them yeah yeah it's essentially the i think the term is like self-fulfilling prophecy

and i've talked a lot about like you know accepting your emotions and stuff because it will just you oppress you repress them they just grow before they just inhabit and i actually never noticed i never saw uh the story of aniken's emotional journey being the thing that actually overtakes everything um i never actually quite saw it in that life before I've heard so many Star Wars discussions. I've actually quite seen in. Oh, yeah, it is the thematic thing kind of driving the force of it all. Oh, very cool to hear.

Well, I wanted to, okay, so there's a couple of things I just want to ask really quick that are just like just general things that I like to find out. Just things I like to know from time. What was the, is there a character in television or movies where you're like, I definitely adopted personality traits from them? I don't mean just like connected with or crushes like for me Chandler from friends Conan O'Brien very much like I adopted a lot of their like external personality traits is there characters that you are like yeah I definitely took some of that on oh Darth Vader Yeah, oh definitely

The bad mood when he wakes up Let me tell you that's definitely something I relate to I think so I'll talk about the person You know the fictional character I think And this is I know a lot of people probably feel the same way But And I think it's one of the reasons why the character's so popular For me it was Spider-Man

It was Peter Parker Cool Growing up in a you know in a different, especially like he was, to me, you know, the fictional character that allowed me to go, you know, to get through a lot of hard times, you know, especially when I was that new kid in school when I first moved to Spain. I did know the language, thankfully, but I still had to learn how to write in Spanish and a lot of things that were kind of, you know, I was a bit more limited in how I communicated to, you know, my, the new peers around me and whatnot. And it's a different

environment. I remember going back and just, you know, either watching the movies, or grabbing a comic book and just reading about him having very human you know problems too like he's getting bullied or he's got to figure out how to you know make make rent even though he's a superhero you would assume that he he could just you know get by quite easily but the fact that his struggles are so grounded that's what uh and how he goes about it you know and the fact that he doesn't go the easy route even though he is a superhero he could easily charge you know per criminal taking care of. That'll be $1,000, ma'am.

Imagine the fact that he still goes back and, you know, tries to make, you know, get by the honorable way and by doing the right thing, that was always something that I aspired to do on my day to day. And I think that's a trait that I would, you know, proudly say that I took from Peter Parker. Yeah. So you didn't just like superhero movie. Like, it seems like you really were genuinely inspired by them. oh yeah okay oh yeah i don't actually weirdly don't come like i have there's someone here who

um one of my close friends and one of the people on the channel coy and he's very much that very much has been affected inspired by personality has been shaped by it but i actually weirdly don't come across people who have actively taken that on you both were experienced bullying growing up yeah unfortunately for me it was uh yeah it was pretty bad because, you know, I was, like I said, I knew the language, but I still, when I went to Spain, I still had a bit of an accent. I was the outsider. So, you know, it's very easy to kind of, you know, target kids like that. So it was tough. And I hated the place at first. You know, I'm so sorry, but I really did. It was so different. The culture was weird. They're eating

Teresa all the time. I was like, what is this thing, man? What is this? What are my burgers? I'm like, I was that. I was that. kid, but eventually the beauty of it all was starting to actually appreciate the culture and actually start to understand why I was different. Like some of the things probably were perceived a bit, you know, rude there that I, for me, was normal, you know, in the States, it was like, yeah, it's totally fine. So like a lot of that, the cultural differences, that cultural shock was really tough because normally you go through a period where you, you know, us grownups, we get to visit a city and we do tourism and we get to learn from.

that place but I was just thrown into school and it's like yeah figure it out you know with a bunch of kids so I think my safe haven was really you know keep calm and collected like even these superheroes have struggles you know even they go through some tough times they get bullied they get whatever because they're different and it's always them being their genuine self which eventually makes them succeed right once they embrace that that's when they just get out of the literally summarize your mission statement with your channel right there yeah that's cool yeah yeah that's pretty much yeah oh shit that's a great choice that's awesome yeah do you have one denise i think you know once i kind of grew up a little bit you know at first like i really wanted

to be like you know like harry or hermione you know i wanted to be like intelligent and also like competent and all of all of that all of that jazz as well but i think once i grew up a little bit and I actually watched the Lord of the Rings movies, like, again. I remember just being so floored by the beauty of those characters, especially, like, you know, I mean, every single one of them, like Samwise Gamgee or Aragorn, you know, just the pure love and kindness and affection that they were showing each other, even in the face of the greatest trials and tribulations,

and that they kept fighting for what was right, but still keeping a kind heart. I think that was such a unique quality to me. I felt like because in my head I had associated strength with, you know, more of an iron fist type of situation. And I still, like, I'm a person that kind of struggles with that, you know, like it's difficult to be strong and vulnerable at the same time. And, you know, an argument could be made that vulnerability is strength. um which i certainly believe but like you know when you're younger and like you when you go through bullying and like you you start having mistrust towards people it's really hard to you know really allow yourself to open up you know and having trust in in authority or having trust in peers

it was really it was a heck of a journey you know to to go through for sure but i think you know really growing to love Lord of the Rings where I was like man these guys know how to do it man like that's how I need to be you know I think it was one of our reactions where I actually said and like this is something that I will always say is that

if you don't have a Samwise Gamji in your life be Samwise Gamji you know that's great philosophy and again like it is a wonderful philosophy one that I try to live up to it doesn't always work you know But yeah, I would say those are some of the most influential, like, characters of my childhood and obviously Tomb Raider. That's cool. So you guys live in New York, though. And New York is kind of associated with a bit of aggression in the streets.

Oh, yeah. How do you guys today as adults handle that? With considering the backgrounds you guys told me about, are you guys okay with conflict with strangers? Are you willing to? to just kind of fight back or get aggressive back or whatever. New York, yeah, it does give you that, you know, it toughens you up quite a bit. I remember, you know, I went from, again, that was another cultural shot going from Spain way back to New York, you know, and I remember the pace was different. The pacing was absolutely insane. And like you said, the people there, I think a lot of people attribute, you know, a little bit of that rudeness to New York, but I think it's a lot of people just trying to get to a place very, very fast.

regardless of what's going on. I'm like, I don't care. I'm just trying to get too. It's just get out of my way. And it's funny because, you know, I made quite a few friends there where, you know, like you're walking through the street and you immediately see people just looking up.

And then I remember as an outsider being in this massive city with this person who was already a New Yorker grew up there. And, you know, they were showing me around at the time being like, yeah, if they're looking up, their tourists, just keep going, man. just run through, just don't worry about it. And I'm just like, okay, okay, that's, I get in the perspective of an actual New Yorker.

Yeah, a lot of times we've had that encounter where, you know, people bump into you or, you know, they have a bit, they're, I feel like they're a bit more direct. And they don't really care, you know, most of the time, I feel like it's not about caring or not about the emotions. I think they just, they just try to be very direct about why they're upset and kind of flipping that switch and be like oh okay it's not personal a lot of times they're just like really it really is because they're in a rush or because something else upset them it's not directed at me that kind of took the edge off of living in a city like new york i think a lot if you go in there

and you take everything personal then it's gonna definitely hit hard i know it did for me quite a few times where i was like what the heck like what do you mean like dude just relax where you're bumping into me or whatever walking over here yeah yeah I did feel that at first, like this, I would say there's an energy to it. And at first, it can be quite aggressive, but I think it's just the pacing of the city itself. And it's people, they're quite, I would say like, you know, New Yorkers are really warm, actually. It's just it takes a little bit for them to kind of unfold compared, like versus Europe, where I grew up, everything is a bit more warm at first, but then you actually get to really meet a person and they're completely different. Yeah.

So I would just say, like, New Yorkers, they tend to just show their true colors for better, for worse. And most of the time, I rather have that authentic, you know, first experience where they're like, yeah, man, like, fuck off. Like, you're in the way. And then it's like, oh, I'm so sorry. I was just no rush. Like, how's your day going? And then having that, you know, politeness, I rather that than, you know, some of that, just like a fake smile throughout an entire interaction. That's, I cannot handle that.

Yeah. And a lot of that comes from New York, too. They say, like, a lot of us who have been living here for quite a bit is like, oh, yeah, you guys are always serious, which is not true, by the way. But we do hear it from, you know, other people. Like, oh, yeah, they're always serious or whatever. They always have a bagel in their hand or whatever it is. Bagel and comfy.

That's not true at all. I'm going. Sometimes it's a hot dog, not a bagel. I'm taking my wife to New York. I'm taking my wife to New York in December for the first time. She's never been. Oh, never been. And she's either going to fit right in or get us killed.

she's a very very like anyone who knows her knows like she's not afraid to speak her mind and she's not afraid to throw down if it hit like right away I think she's gonna fit right in them she's my that sounds like a new yorker already she no people have thought a lot of people think she's from the east coast just because of like oh that's funny and like in california we're whatever like to me i've always this kind of described new york as the because i've a lot of i'm half italian and my Italian size all in New York. So I've always associated my, New York is like, they're cocaine and California's weed.

And I know now they're everywhere, but I'm like the energies though is what I, what I've always associated as. And there is a little bit more, I think, fakeness out here in California, L.A. specifically. Like both, there's comparisons I could think you can make. Like, yes, there's a lot of it can be very status. driven. And I think New Yorkers care a little bit more about fashion and then California's

do. But L.A. people is, yeah, honestly, is kind of a hard thing to come by. Whereas New York, though, much more blunt, I would associate with it. And so it's kind of like talking to you two, even though you guys just live there. Is there an entire relationship? You guys have both been in New York this entire time? Yeah. Yeah. Well, we went back to Europe during the pandemic. for a very short time, but then we bounced back as soon as things were getting better. Yeah, you guys come across very warm. Like, I want to think you guys are New Yorkers just because of how warm you guys are. A lot has to do with our friendships, too, and our relationships.

Like, we have had the pleasure, you know, to meet so many people in school. It was such a great experience because we were in New York and it's this massive city, but we got to meet a lot of people from Europe. Yeah. You know, people from Norway, people from Spain, Portugal, Italy. people coming from all the way from L.A. to come and study here, you know, and people from Asia. So we really, like, we got to experience, like, the full, like, like the melting pot of it, right? You know, and it was beautiful because we got to, like, have dinners at people's places and

then eat food from a completely different culture and kind of really connect with them. And I think that has really much helped us be a bit more understanding about everybody. I think that, you know, that's definitely a gift that we've been able to experience in a city like New York. yeah i think you know it's very easy to get it sucked into the new york bluntness of things i remember you know i was it i lived in northern um california like the bay area for about i think three years or something like that before moving to new york and like norcal was my first experience in the u.s so like i thought wow that's how it was right and then i get to new york I was so not ready for that shit

Oh my goodness I was just getting bumped left and right And I'm like, what is going on? It took me no time to get used to it though Like at first it's very Oh my God these people are really really honest You know when they're like Yeah, no, I'm good, thanks

And just walk away And you're stuck with this Rejection dysphoria in that moment Until you realize it's not personal And it's actually a huge load off when people just say things straight up with no bullshit. Yeah. It takes a lot of pressure off.

It takes a lot of the overthinking out of the equation. And like for me, that was a huge source of comfort because I do tend to overthink a lot. Likewise. And I like, you know, I do have a tendency to also take things like really personally. So like New York was a great exercise for me to,

you know, kind of shake that off a little bit. And like you said, you know, we got to meet people from all over the world. like it was such a fantastic experience so like you know new york is just that city that like you said you either love it or you hate it yeah i feel like there's not really like an in between there i would love to live there for a little bit to just the the experience of the the natural thicker skin

because it's always like a work like i almost got into a fight like last week um and i was willing to fight it was the whole thing in my neighborhood yeah it was just so stupid it wasn't like a stranger It's a long story I was like all right I guess I'll fight this guy But I but I'm like but if I was a New Yorker I probably just like just charge right I'm very like when if someone's about to fight me I got I weirdly become like a psychopath like I calm down I get really calm and I'm like my pulse Yeah my pulse doesn't go

Yeah you know you run this guy was like run This guy was charging at me and I was just like I had a burrito and I just put my burrito down I was like all right here we go I'm like, all right, I'll fight you. But I do like the idea of like living in New York just to develop, because I'm a pretty sensitive guy, all things consider, he was insulting my, he insulted my wife. And that's what got me defensive and started fighting with him. Oh, yeah.

And normally, though, for me, like, I, if someone has their phone on in the movie theater, it takes me a long time to just tell them to turn their phone off. I will fantasize for like an hour about what I'm going to say. Yeah. Totally get that. Instead of just, whereas my wife is like, what the fuck are you doing?

Turn your fucking phone. Like right away. Are you sure she's not a New Yorker? That sounds pretty New York to do, man. People get really intimidated by her. Rightfully so. But anyway, yeah, I mean, I've had such a great time talking with you guys.

I feel like I should wrap this up. But I want to wrap it up with a fun one. I want to, I got a fun one. You're stuck with us. Yeah, I know. I like to do it again. And maybe when I'm in New York, if you guys are in town, it'd be cool to meet up.

That'd be really fun. Super game. I'll crash your set. Please. That'd be fun. What was the movie that you guys thought was the scariest movie experience you've ever had? Actually, I got two fun ones I want to ask. So let's go with that one first.

I have a pretty, yeah. One just came to mine, and I just remember why it felt scary. I'm going to go ahead and say quite recently, actually. actually watched this one in the movie theater and you know I remember I always kind of gauge how good a horror movie is based on the silence after the fact and I remember this entire theater was silent okay after uh it was hereditary oh shit you're watching the theater hereditary yes man and that movie was insane yeah I mean I I was really loving the vibe and how you know it was a bit of a slow burn and how you kind of had to pay attention to the family

dynamics that were going on and how deep they went with that. But then it's all building up for that absolutely bonkers third act. And I remember people kind of getting impatient in New York. Again, you can imagine. People are like, shit, I got to go somewhere in like five minutes. This is the movie's not moving. And then that third act came, you know, it just happened in front of us. And I remember people were locked in.

And I remember feeling absolutely nauseous. And that movie ended. That's the only movie I can remember top of my head that actually made me nauseous. I felt a mix of depression, nausea, and just this sinking feel. I felt like somebody called me with really bad news. Wow. And I was like, wow, this is a different level of horror. This is like I'm feeling a physical reaction here that I've never felt before watching a movie.

Normally with horror is like, it's kind of fun. You get that release of tension. And you go, oh, and then you laugh about it or whatever. That movie ends and you're like, gosh, I don't want to do that again anytime soon. It seems like it struck you at your core as wild. Yeah. And is supernatural horror usually the thing that gets you more than anything than like a serial killer horror? I think, yeah, I think I would say so.

I think that the mix of reality with the supernatural element from that movie in particular, like the the heartbreak of this family collapsing, right? And I guess the thing that really struck me the most about that movie is the how they could not avoid, you know, their destiny. Like, you know, I don't know if you've seen that movie. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Have you seen the movie? Yeah. Okay.

So basically, once the whole cult aspect of it, you know, comes to light, I was like, oh, shit. Like, they literally could not do anything about their destiny. And that really sunk with, like, I had that sink and feeling of, oh, my God. Like, you cannot run from this. Where do you go? Like, you're going to bump it to a naked guy if you run outside your door. There's a dude there waiting for you. He might just, you know, trap you.

If you remember that movie, yeah. The true horror. They're all around. And the more you pay attention to the movie, the more you pay attention to the movie, the scarier it gets when you realize that they are everywhere and that they are a big reason of why this, you know, things are happening to this poor family. But right out of the theater, my main thing was that family drama mixed with how things, you know, turn around with the supernatural element. So I guess the mix of both is really

what gets me. Did you really? Yeah, I think, sorry? No, I was just going to ask if you rewatched it, because you get all the clues and stuff when you're like, oh, yeah, like, oh my God. One of the things that I remember once we rewatched was catching that guy that I was talking about the naked dude. In the beginning, in the funeral scene, I was like, oh my God. They're, they're literally everywhere from the beginning. And then I started like really paying attention. I was like, I need to catch as many of these Easter eggs as I can to see if I can figure out more of the, you know, a hidden theme within the movie itself.

And man, Ari did a great job without film. I have to say that movie still, it's one that I will, I rewatched once, I enjoyed it, but it's going to take a minute to kind of cool down in from you to want to do it again. I do love that movie. I love that movie a lot. Hell yeah. And Denise, what's one, I mean, for a horror fan,

what's one is, what is the one that like, this was the scariest movie experience you've ever had. Interestingly enough, one thing that always fascinates me is how our fears change as we grow up, right? Like as kids, it's a bit more simple. It's, you know, maybe you're scared of the dark or you're scared of, you know, what's in your closet or under your bed. It's a little bit more straightforward, shall we say, right? It's really very much based on your helplessness and your vulnerability as a child. So, like, as a kid, I remember I was terrified of Michael Myers.

I watched the Halloween movie way too freaking young. I did. Oh, my God. I was scared of my own shadow. It was not cool. 10 out of 10 would not recommend. But growing up, you start to discover different kinds of fears, right? anxieties and you know paying bills and the different things that start stocking up or like those

basic things don't seem to matter all that much anymore they don't frighten you as much because you feel like you have bigger problems um so that's one of the reasons why for example like hereditary i think did such an amazing job because in a way it feels it makes you feel so claustrophobic it makes you it's almost reminiscent of the fears you would experience as a child because you realize how helpless that family actually is. Yeah. Right. In hindsight, you're like, dude, they never sued a chance, you know.

And, you know, what happens to that little girl, like the scene that struck me the most where I was genuinely, oh my God, that's a, that's a true nightmare. Like, that's a nightmare that is feasible for anyone to happen to, God forbid, hopefully never does, but it's the decapitation scene where the brother, he's just rushing to get her to the hospital and you can just see it in your head as an accident like it's feasible and I think the fact that that that is feasible and how he refuses to look back and he just drives home in shock and just lays down in bed that was that to me is true terror it's true horror it's in being in shock with what you've just done with the fact that you cannot take it back and how

this teenage kid has been forced into adulthood by what just happened to him and like that that snippet right there dude like you know seeing mom in the corner floating around or banging her head like all that is creepy and shit but like like the true fear for me was really that and also you know seeing the mom my god tony colette did such an amazing job like the dinner scene seeing how she's doing her best as a parent but she she just is incapable of communicating things in a healthy way, and it just blows up at that dinner. And, you know, seeing all of the dark sides of humanity, you know, like, represented towards you in a way is really terrifying. And I think those are more mature fears, I guess, you know, like in quotation marks. But again, like, if you give me, like, a solid slasher, like, that's good, that it has, like, you know, the good chase sequences, you know, all that jazz and like the good, good jump scares, I could definitely, you know, I'll take being scared of that for sure. Do you still, you still read consistently?

Not as much as I should. The way you're, your vernacular, like you have a good, like, the way you use your words, your vocabulary is like really well articulated. Thank you. That's very kind of you. No, it's probably because I'm obsessively researching for, the book that I'm working on. Okay.

Well, one day I would love to read it. I guess a more fun one would be what can you recall the first movie theater experience you had that was the crowd going crazy? I think I can. But go ahead because you would probably have one way earlier than I would, I think. Or is it the same one? I think it's the same one. Well, I think the one that where it really went wild, because we were both there and we saw it and I've never experienced anything like it.

I'm sure, you know, you, you probably, you too. It was with Avengers Endgame, right? I've never seen that, that like, you know, people are normally, I don't know how it is in L.A., but people are quite vocal here when something happens, something awesome. It feels like we're all in a reaction channel, actually. Everybody's like, yes, oh, in the theater. I remember that day that that film specifically it felt like you were in a stadium watching like your favorite team get you know score points every single 10 minutes like people roaring standing up popcorn flying like we saw it all that day yeah and it was the most surreal insane crazy fun experience we ever had in the movie theater yeah like it was we've seen great movies but like that theater experience was just so electric I remember people it was a journey man

we waited a whole year for that conclusion nobody knew what was going to happen we sit down the movie opens and then we get that five year flash forward you know like five like the time jumping you're like oh my god and like the mood just died in the theater everybody went from like

feeling like there was that we could do something to like absolutely defeat it again to kind of like really drive the point from Infinity War like really like yeah you guys are gonna suffer yeah And then to have that super rewarding ending, I remember people were just over the moon, man. That was a great experience.

Yeah, I think definitely Avengers Endgame. And I know it's not technically like the first, but I remember no way home. I remember just waiting and pleading and hoping. And I was like, oh my God, I need all the Spider-Man, please, please, please. And I just remember once, you know, that portal opens up and you see a Spider-Man, like at the end of the, I was going to say hallway. the dark alley yeah it was like oh my god

people went nuts dude I went nuts I went nuts I went I went eight shit I did not even try to control myself like I was like gripping on to him the chair and everything else

like I was up on my feet I'm losing my mind the guy behind us just yelling Andrew yeah I was like I was like I got get up he started like

I was standing at the theater that was so much fun man yeah I think uh end game was that's such an irreplaceable memory it really is so it's and so many people I know cite that as like even if it's not the first like it was just the perfect culmination you know yeah um but weirdly enough for me my my first crazy experience and I'm only I'm bringing it up just because of what you brought up earlier Denise is my first crazy experience in a theater was return of the king it was

the first time I'd ever been with a crowd that was just like, they would not shut up. I can only imagine. I didn't see the first one in the theaters. I saw the second one at a midnight show, and that's kind of a dreary movie, and I was really tired when I saw that, but the return of my mom on Christmas, it was before reserve seating. I waited in line for like, I'm not waiting in line for a few hours, and then we get in on Christmas Day to watch it, and the crowd was going bananas. And I had never experienced that before.

And I didn't know what to do. It was like being at a concert where you're like, I don't know how to express my emotions. And that was the, that's part of why I would love doing reactions is like I didn't know how to express myself during that. And, you know, I'll share it with you like growing up with horror as well in my life that I used to have this cable channel called the Monster Channel. And what they would do is they would run 24 hours a day. uncensored horror movies and I was like a little kid and I had this thing in my mind that was like don't look away during very gory scenes just don't react the whole point was the antithesis what I do now don't react because you're a man be a man don't and like you can handle the

gore and and I'm doing this has this sort of for like what I always tell people since we have I used to bring on like a bunch of guests and now we have like a regular team. And what I always tell people is whatever you're feeling internally, this is your chance to let that out. I know normally sometimes you might be at home, you might not be as vocal, but there's a chance to let out those thoughts and those emotions. And I think because you guys probably just like, I'm very vocal, like I'm very vocal when I'm just alone with my wife. Like we're both very vocal. We make a lot of jokes and whatever. And I think with you guys, you have translated that experience to your reaction.

channel in a way that I think is very genuine and it's been an honor getting it to know you guys and I'll never speak with you ever again now I said this is a one and done man this was a really really difficult experience we all got the point here right can we go we got the footage we monetize our friendship we're good um now this is uh yeah yeah that's what it's all about this is all about about abuse I don't even know people I will see it be cool I hope people watch it'll be cool I really love for people to see the side of you guys especially since you guys don't really talk about you guys being a couple but I really love chatting with you guys and thank you so much for lending me your time especially at the hour that you guys are at the day after election day thank you so much thank you so much yeah man thank you guys thank you for having us honestly like it felt surreal when when we first saw it's like like Greg alba I was like I want to share a story actually actually if we have the time for it really quick before I say bye.

Yeah, yeah. And we've never publicly stated this, by the way. This is fresh news and you're getting it here on Diary of the Real Rejects. Of a real reject. There you go. There you go. So back when we were in New York, you know, like back in the, what, 2018, when we were actually in Manhattan because now we're in Brooklyn.

So it's very different. You'll see when you come over. Um, I remember we had, listen, it was a tough time we were studying and then working and it was a bit of a full time thing. And I just want to share this because I think it's important to remember also because we, we can kind of get lost in the whole, you know, the business side of YouTube as well, which a lot of people don't know about, but also the, uh, you know, obviously what we do on the day to day. Um, and I remember at the time again, we were excited to go watch No Way home and we used to, we were servers. We were late night servers. So that's why I I tell you we're owls, man, like this is nothing for us. We could go on and on, right? We still have that. We never could have a normal schedule like that. It kind of ruined it for us.

Yeah, facts. But I remember, you know, not to get super dramatic and sad here, but I remember, you know, being in a very tough position. Both of us were just trying to make due, you know, being servers during the pandemic in New York, not really the best, you know, of options out there. Sure. And I remember the one thing.

that we used to look forward to is getting back home and just putting on some YouTube and kind of watching some videos. Oh, cool. So here comes a day where we're like, you know what, like, we're excited for no way home. We were like researching something and this channel popped up and we're like, oh, this looks cool. Like they're reacting to the trailer. And it was you guys, the real rejects.

And we actually played it. We love the reaction. We love you guys's theories and all that. So, yeah, like we've known of you guys from way back. Oh, cool. And I just wanted to say. here on record. Like I think that people, you know, especially yes in this position, we forget how much it can mean to someone just to have, you know, that reaction that people can relate to or that

commentary. And we were in a very tough position, but I just wanted to say it because I remember going back home and putting some of, you know, the trailer reactions or your discussions and feeling so much better about my day. And, you know, it really meant a lot to us at the time. And it puts it into context for us to, it gives us that purpose in a way where, oh, I wish that we could do the same for someone else who's experiencing a bad day, kind of disconnect from reality. You know, times are tough right now. Sometimes it's good to kind of just have that, you know, that escapism in a way. And yeah, you guys did that for us with your videos at that point in time.

And I just wanted to say, thank you. It all comes back full circle. Yeah. You know, we were, like I'm telling you, in a very tough spot. and you guys actually put a big smile on our faces. Yeah. And yeah, it was, it was great. I just wanted to share that publicly.

Wow. You just put it out there, you know, on the record. That's really, that's what I did not expect that. That's really heartfelt. Thank you. I want 10% of your channel's money. I'm moving forward. Yes, wire transfer, ACA, or whatever you want.

10% ad sense. No, that's really, that's really cool to hear. I haven't, I haven't experienced that. That was surreal. Thank you. Thank you. I'm trying to learn to receive a compliment. Thank you so much.

Yeah. It's okay. We're all kind of getting. Still working on that. No, that means a lot. And watching how you guys are inspiring people, I've brought up a few times already.

But yeah, watching the way you guys are connecting with people. I think you are, you have carved out a unique spot for yourself in the react. There's a lot of reaction channels out there. But the consistency in the way people return. And I think they under your empathetic sides really do shine through in your experiences with the films.

And it's really cool to see just how big you guys are getting. And I hope that you guys just get even bigger, especially with the way you guys conversed about stuff. I'm like, it's really, really strong. So thank you. Thank you, man. That means the world. Yeah.

I can't wait to see how popular you guys get. And hopefully when we're in New York, love to meet up for real. Yes. That'd be amazing. Got to take you to get some good slice, you know. Yeah, a dollar slice, a hot dog, you know, take him to Nathan. yeah yeah you're gonna try the good stuff man yes all right guys well this is media nights if you

haven't heard of them what are you doing go follow them you'll probably like them more than us I've seen in our comments always makes me feel good that's not true I'd rather watch media guys and do go follow them guys and thank you are in these so much once again thank you so much it was amazing pleasure pleasure you