The Rewatchables - ‘Bridesmaids’ With Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin, and Mina Kimes

Episode Date: January 5, 2021

Bill Simmons, Mallory Rubin, and Mina Kimes really want you to leave but don’t know how to say it without sounding like a dick. We revisit the 2011 hit comedy ‘Bridesmaids,’ starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, and Melissa McCarthy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy New Year. Wanted to remind you if you want to hear the entire catalog of rewatchables podcast, which date back to 2017 and span almost 175 movies. You can only hear all of them on Spotify. If you want to hear anything from the last 60 days, you can hear it on all platforms, including this podcast. But anything past that 60 days dating back to 2017, only available on Spotify. This episode is brought to you by Adobe Firefly, the all-in-one creative studio with

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Learn more at adobe.com slash Firefly. I sold my car in Carvana last night. Well, that's cool. No, you don't understand. It went perfectly real offer down. to the penny. They're picking it up tomorrow. Nothing went wrong. So what's the problem? That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes to smoothie. I'm waiting for the catch. Maybe there's no catch. That's exactly what a catch would want me to think. Wow, you need to relax.

I need to knock on wood. Do we have wood? Is this tablewood? I think it's laminated. Okay, yeah, that's good. That's close enough. Car selling without a catch. Sell your car today on. Pick up fees may apply. We're also brought to you by the ringer.com and the ringer podcast network where we're cranking out all kinds of pop culture coverage, including The Watch with Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald, Sean Fantasy with the big picture, along with Amanda Dobbins, and binge mode with Mallory Rubin. And Jason Concepcion, Mallory Rubin is about to be on this podcast. Coming up, it's coming out of me like lava. Bridesmaids is next.

Will you be my maid of honor? Yes, are you kidding? Best friends forever. Your bachelor party is going to be amazing. Worst bridesmaids ever. Welcome to heaven. Ladies. This is some classic... Reagan. I'm sorry. I'm not even

confident of which end that came out of... Bring some bail money, because Mama's gonna raise your bitch. Uh-oh. What's that? I have to get back to my seat. Yeah, you gotta get back on my seat. Ridesmaids. Rated R. What a special 2021 holiday treat. This year's already...

This year's already so much better than 2020. Malley Rubin is here. Minicimes is here. Bridesmaids. We're starting to year off with that one. It's happening. It's the highest grossing R-rated female comedy ever. Mina, is this the funniest female comedy ever? Ooh.

Definitely the funniest female ensemble comedy. Is that a necessary caveat? I mean, I, okay, so if we define mean, mean, mean, I recently re-watched mean girls, and I think that is one of the funniest movies of all time. But bridesmaids is up there. I mean, I've seen this movie like five times. This is the fifth one for the rewatch.

And I still laughed. It has aged remarkably well for a comedy. Mallory, here are the nominees. Bridesmaids, mean girls, girls trip, the other women, and train wreck. And then my wife threw in Clueless, which I'm not sure as a female comedy, but maybe has to be mentioned with a female protagonist. So those are all the nominees, unless you can come up with anything else. Oh, my goodness.

Well, you really, you surprised me there with the clueless consideration because I probably, the two movies I watched the most in my youth were probably clueless and rescuers down under. Real tonal variety there, admittedly, but I loved them both. So I'm very fond of clueless. It's important to me. I would just throw in a television consideration into that set, too. I would put Broad City in the mix. Oh, well, if you're doing that, then sex of the city has to. I think it's of a piece, right?

Sex of the City has to go in, too, as well. I think the key part of the conversation is, no, just like just for a famous female driven, whatever. 30 rock, maybe. I think the key point here is that men are really irrelevant in this movie, which is usually you see the flip so many times with the male dominated comedies. But in this movie, the only male characters we ever really get to know in any way is the cop and the air marshal.

And other than that, men are out. You don't feel like you got to know John Ham's Ted quite intimately. He did ask with all of us to cup his balls. Right. He's in two and a half scenes. We don't even really get to hang out with Maya Rudolph's husband in this movie. We don't get to know Roseburn's husband as all, who's apparently the wealthiest person in America. He's the biggest, longest house I've ever seen in my life. But I think what's cool about this movie is, and why I think it's a rewatchable, even though it's too long.

And we'll get into a couple of the problems with, it meanders at some points. It just has like six or seven banger scenes. Yeah. When if it's on cable or if somebody's watching it in your house or whatever, like, oh, that scene's coming up. I'm staying. Oh, they're almost at the plane. I'm watching this one.

What's your favorite thing about this movie, Mina? I concur with you, like, about the scenes, right? And upon rewatching, like, the most memorable and we'll do the most rewatchable scene, the Bridal Salon scene is, I think, like that's, forget female comedy, forget ensemble. That is one of the funniest scenes. I think in the history of like the last 20 years of movies. It's a Pantheon.

But rewatching it, you're right. Like, I was like, oh my God, the dueling speeches scene. Oh, my God, there's so many scenes that I forgot that are equally funny in some ways. I think, for me, like, rewatching it at the time when Brise Mays came out, there were a zillion, it launched a million think pieces, right? Oh, wow, can women be funny? Can women do gross out humor? Is this gonna, now are we going to get greenlight all these female-driven movies? And I think, upon rewereven movies.

watching it, there's nothing political about the movie itself, like inside of it, except for the fact that you could replace all the female characters with men, right? It literally, it's just a funny comedy that happens to star a bunch of women and depict female friendship, which is what was kind of quietly revolutionary about it. Yeah, and that goes, so that's starting probably mid-2000s when S&L all of a sudden they have all these female stars in the show at the same time, which it became the female. Male stars were more important than the male stars for a couple years. Then that drifts in the 30 rock a little bit.

Tina Fey writes mean girls. This is like a seven-year odyssey to get to this point where it's like, well, why not? But it seems kind of crazy to talk about now in 2021. Like how I mentioned how it's 2021? That this was like a big deal that they were like, whoa, they're releasing this big budget comedy. And all the leads are female. And the men are peripheral characters. Now it's like, of course they would do that.

But in 2011, when it succeeded the way it did, it made $288 billion. It's the highest grossing Apatatat movie ever. People seem to be surprised. But it's not surprising when you rewatching. You think like, holy shit, there's a lot of talent in this movie. Now, what's your favorite thing about it? I agree completely with what Mina said. I mean, I think that the narrative around the movie in its wake, and really honestly,

still even to this point, it was pretty forceful because it emerged as, like, not just a film that incited a trend, but as this kind of archetypal force in cinema, right? And in storytelling. And I think the thing I love most about it is, you know, as Mina said, while that was very clearly a real thing happening in pop culture, it's not just about that. It's not just about the fact that women can be just as sexual or just as raunchy or just as gross as anybody else. It's not just about the fact that you could put women in scenes built on physical comedy and it can work just as effectively. It also within that has real character arcs and real themes and real heart built on ideas like friendship and relationship dynamics. and jealousy and shame,

all of the parts of your life that are just as real as stomach aches, right? And I think that's actually a pretty incredible combination. That's, I know we're going to get to the runtime later. Part of, I think, why the runtime, it'll shock you to hear Bill, doesn't bother me. Because I do think you need the room to have all of those parts mixed together.

They're like the shared buttresses of the film. I agree with that. The friendship piece to me is my favorite part because ultimately it's a movie about the friendship between Kristen Wiggs character, my Rudolph's character. And they set it up really well in the beginning when they're at that, when they kind of try to steal the workout with, who is that, Terry Cruz? Yeah, Rodney.

He just wanted $12. And then they go to lunch and it's just a really funny scene. And it's a scene that has been in a lot of Apatow movies where it's just two characters. Yeah, two characters hanging out for four minutes and you're like, this is fun. I just like being at the table with these two. who speak the same language, right? Such an accurate like depiction of friendship.

And in that way, we didn't mention this movie, but it reminded me a little bit of book smart, which I kind of view as more of a natural error in a movie I love, because it features two female characters, like two male characters who just happened to have a shitload of inside jokes. And I forgot about this scene. So I remember the other scenes we'll talk about,

but I was crying when Kristen, so they're talking about the opening scene, which is, of course, Kristen, we had Annie, and her fuck buddy John Hamm. Who we... Can't wait to talk about that. Incredible in this movie.

And, you know, Lillian, Maya Rudolph was trying to be supportive and saying, you know, he makes you feel like shit. And the part where Kristen Wiggs' character impersonates John Ham's dick

being in her... I mean, it's so... Unbelievable. It's really good. It's fucking funny. And yeah, and then, of course, the thing with the teeth, but yeah, you're right.

Like, that is... Like, that interaction, in some ways, actually is my... favorite scene upon re-well, I don't think it's the best scene in the movie, but upon re-watching it, it's such a hidden gem. Because like the scene that you mentioned earlier, the engagement party dueling speeches, a scene like that can't be as funny and can't be as effective if you don't have this scene prior, because you actually have to fully understand their shared history

together, Annie and Lillian shared history together. And that one meal just establishes something that I think is, you know, has everybody shit in the sink? Like, I don't know, but there are a lot of relatable elements to the movie, right? And that lifelong friend who you maybe find yourself growing apart from despite your enduring affection, that's like a very real thing for a lot of people. And a scene like that just establishes it so quickly. It's awesome. Well, and then it circles back at the end when Wilson Phillips is playing and Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wigger are just singing to the song. But the way they're interacting, it's like, oh, these people have clearly, they're clearly friends in real life, which I think they were.

And I think that's one of the reasons the movie works. Yeah, it's weird because I don't think of this as like, I even until I did the research, I wasn't thinking about it, like, oh, this is the biggest female comedy ever. Because I don't really think of it like a female comedy because it's just funny.

And it's not like it's not like any of the gender stuff's in your face at all. It's just the movie is what it is. And it's about relationships, which is why I think it's a special movie. Yeah, it's universal. Absolutely. 100% Apatow who over and over again

was able to see stuff from people before they became more famous than maybe we expected but he does this with Seth Rogan he was in from the get-go he was putting Jonah Hill in his movies before people even knew what Jonah Hill could do Steve Corral he builds 40-year-old virgin

we did that one a few months ago Kristen Wiggs another one she's in SNL, she's in Knocked Up, and she plays kind of the TV executive, who's a really funny character. She's not in it that much. Apatow sees her in that and was like, hey, you guys should write a screenplay

and make yourself the star in it because that's what he did with Steve Correll with 40-year-old Virgin. Why don't you write a screenplay and you can make yourself the lead of it and that's how you'll become more successful? So she spends the next couple years writing it with Annie Mamulu,

I think that's how you say your name. Who is in this movie as nervous women in the plane? Yeah, afraid of getting sucked into a toilet. Right. So then it ends up happening. He does this with Amy Schumer with train wreck. He does this with Pete Davidson this year. But his ability to spot talent, you know.

And the whole generation, it's hard to think of comedy in the 21st century without thinking to Apatow in the first sentence or the first paragraph. but his ability to spot these people a couple years ahead of when everyone else spotted them, I think is going to be his legacy. And he does it with this. I watched Saturday Night for a couple years there. I never thought Kristen Wigg could lead a movie, like a big budget comedy like this. And then as soon as you saw it, you were like, oh, yeah, this makes total sense to me.

Mina, why was this the peak of her movie career? Why didn't we tap into this more often? Yeah. Well, so I have a confession, which is I, well, you actually, agree. I don't love Kristen Wiggs SNL characters. I actually went back and watched some of them thinking maybe I'm wrong because she's so fucking good

in this movie. So I went back and watched some of the Target lady sketches and they're just not for me. I mean, I have that reaction to a lot of old SNL skits, I find. But there's something about her style of performing that just lends itself so much more

to, I think, a straightforward performance. Like being an, You know, like, she's so funny in this movie. And it's really understated because a lot of the other characters kind of steal the scenes, like obviously, Moses McCarthy. But the subtlety, I think, is what works best for her. Like, her humor is best in these little moments. Like the part at the end when she's driving up to the bridal shower,

for some reason, really sticks with me. And she takes lemonade and she goes, shit, that's fresh. Like, the little jokes like that are that's where she shines the best. The Jordan Almond moment. Yeah. Yeah, and the quietest moment in the shit. Dude, that movie, that moment is so funny. But yeah, I think that's true of a type of S&L actor.

Like, some of them went on in the, like, like Mike Myers or Adam Sandler, and they are insane and over the top, although Adam Sandler's obviously done serious work. Whereas others, like Bill Hader, who she was with in Skeleton Twins, which is a very dark kind of subtle movie, I think they're better at not playing the sort of characters

they play on S&L and just letting that humor come out in small ways. You want to talk about Cheetah and Wonder Woman 84 for a minute? I haven't seen Wonder Woman 84. It sounds like a skip. I was going to watch it at some point over the vacation and then people were so

revolted by it. I was just like, I'm out. Yeah, I'm with you on the Kristen Wig, S&L characters. I always thought she was amazingly talented, but they never I felt like resonated with me. I feel the little the same way with Kate McKinnon, where it's like she's clearly amazing, but

a lot of the times I'm more amazed by how she's throwing herself into the character versus the laughing part of it. And I think the thing she does in this movie, like in the Brattle shower scene when she starts attacking the giant cookie, like the physical comedy, some of the things she does in this movie is just really the highest possible level. And I think only a few people have pulled it off. What do you think, Mel? I agree. You know, I had never particularly felt drawn to the SNL performances in a way that I always kind of wanted. wondered if I was missing something or if there was something wrong with my comedic taste because so many people seem to love it. And I just never felt that way about it. But this was really my,

this movie was my Kristen Wake Awakening. It just made me absolutely love her and then reassess her other work and appreciated and new because she is, not that I ever doubted her comedic ability to be clear, but I think when you watch a movie like this where, And again, then you factor in, you know, she's the co-writer of the screenplay. She's nominated for an Oscar for writing this movie. And she's the lead and the dynamics that she's building with all of the other characters, the variance and the performance, the physical comedy, the heart, the humor. It's like kind of Titanic, all of the things that she's doing in it.

And I was pretty awed by it. And now I really, really, really, ever since Bridesmaid, not only enjoy revisiting her other work, but look forward to any chance I get to see her in something. Not in the Cheetah CGI, just to be clear. But other than that. She's so good in this movie that it throws you off a question we should just talk about now. Should this person have been hospitalized for insanity? Like at some point, especially when she falls apart in the Brattle shower,

it's like, do you need to like be admitted in a hospital for a couple days and regroup? There's 150 people there. she's jumping into a chalk of fountain, she's fighting a cookie. She's just like basically losing her mind. It's like, are you all right? It's hard not to have that takeaway when you're watching that, right? You know, my thought about that is we talked a little bit about sort of what was like, you know, groundbreaking about this movie.

And it's not actually things that happen in the movie. It's more of the way in which the movie changed the film landscape and the fact that more female-derved movies are greenlit and the business of it. The movie itself is fairly just like a movie, right? But one of the things that I saw watching it occurred to me is like, we haven't really seen a comedy where like the main female character is kind of a loser, like, which is a very male archetype. Her character, like, we have seen a lot of male comedians play this role of like kind of being

pathetic and melting down over the course of a movie. And she does it so well. And I think that what you're describing, like we have seen that kind of thing with guys where she's, she hits rock bottom and then she hits rock bottom again and then she hits rock bottom again and that's again it's not new to movies it's just new to a woman playing that character i'm trying to think of any movie character did any movie character have a bigger rock bottom than she has in this movie like without like committing a crime like there's a point where she's like she's unemployed

she has no friends she's just completely melted down in front of 200 people there's no she's has to move back in with her mom, and there's no sign of hope at all. To be fair. Yeah. Now, listen, I believe in accountability, right? We all possess agency. We make our own decisions.

Annie, there's a lot of culpability for Annie, right? And she's appropriately contrite at certain points. However, a lot of other people bear the blame, too, and I just feel compelled to note that. Fucking Helen stole her shower theme, okay? Yeah. You would have sloshed the chocolate. chocolate fondue everywhere too. If you would try to push through a Paris theme, been made to feel

like a basic idiot for thinking that was an innovative idea and then had somebody go do it anyway, right? Right. That's fair. Fucking Helen. Also, I'll just say this. Lillian, great character. Yeah. Yeah. And yes, Annie let her down. Of course. Okay. However, Lillian could have been a better friend. to Annie too. Call her back when she says she needs you, et cetera, et cetera. So I do not blame Annie in full, though she is, of course, responsible for her actions. She's a baker. She probably had a lot of thoughts on the structural integrity of the cookie. It's like, what will Paul Hollywood say? Mary Berry has to check, is there a soggy bottom? You need to look. Well, that's a nitpick that I had coming up later. We could talk about it now.

Maya Rudolph just kind of cutting her off after the after after the bachelor party trip goes wrong and she's like hey really thought maybe maybe Helen should be running the show from now on it's brutal she basically she's firing her as an NFL head coach So big. It's like hey Anthony Lynn It's been it's been rough for you these last few games

We're going to go in a different direction My wife this is her favorite movie I would say of the not only the last 10 years but maybe the last 15. So this movie's on a lot in my house. And it drives her crazy that Maya Rudolph's character at the first sign of running from Kristen Wigg, planning her wedding, whatever,

and she's just like, I'm out. She's like, just bad friend. I don't know if I'd be able to forgive her for that. The Kristen Wigg character has this arc of accountability and facing the music and whatever, and that's sort of the point in the movie. But Maya Rudolph's character really never faces up to the fact that she is actually kind of a bad friend.

And, you know, this movie more so than being about weddings or marriage or love or anything like that is about friendship and entering that new phase of your life and how do my old friends fit in. With Maya Rudolph, there's also this element of class to it, right? Where she's clearly growing apart from Kristen Wigg not just in terms of, you know, entering this phase of her life and marriage, but also entering a different class. And she's kind of in denial about it. And there's these great moments with her dad

where he's like, I'm not fucking paying for this or whatever, where you kind of get clued into the fact that Maya Rudolph's life is changing a lot. And she really never deals with the fact. Like a normal human being would recognize that your broke-ass friend might be uncomfortable with some of the decisions being made for financial reasons. And she never, ever deals with that in the movie. Yeah.

Yeah, we crush Mr. Holland. on the Mr. Holland's opus rewatchables last week. I think Lilian is, in a lot of ways, just as contemptible. Because the class thing is a huge part of this movie. And one of the reasons I like it so much, it's a theme that's not really hit that much in TVs and movies. I remember there was a really good,

I really, I stand by the first season of Friends. I think it's really good. And all those people are my age. And a lot of the stuff that they battled in that first season were things that, you know, me and my friends were battling with. And there's this one episode where they get the concert tickets. Two of them are doing better than the other four. And it's like they have this money for the concert tickets.

The other ones can't. They're like, oh, shit, I don't really have the money to do this. And it's like this real theme. And it's like, wow, that's really specific and stuff that we deal with with my friends. Because at the time, I had two friends that made way more money than everybody else. And we went out to dinner and they wanted to let's go here. And we're kind of like, oh, shit. I don't have the money to do.

do that. So I like that piece of it. What do you think, Bell? Yeah, it's a huge part of the dynamic of the film. You know, you have it actually baked into the geography of the movie, right? There's the, I'm still in Milwaukee and you've, you've graduated to Chicago. No shade that Milwaukee, to be clear, that's just how the movie positions it, right? Yeah. And the, you know, the set pieces, the, the grand estates that, the, oh, you're, you know people who are a member. of this club, actually, like, I'm a member of this club, right? She backs into it. She's embarrassed to admit it.

She's like, and yeah, I guess Doug's boss. Yeah. And I guess Doug. And I guess me. And I guess me, right. And that's interesting. But so I think to the point about Lillian's quality and reliability maybe as a pal, the class divide is, is manifest in a couple different ways in the film. It's obviously part of what Annie is struggling with, right?

her bakery closed. Her apartment situation is a disaster, right? Can't pay the bills, as she says. She's seeing her friend, her closest friend, this person who's been a through line in her entire life, succeed and experience all of these different things in myriad respects in life, not just the relationship that Annie herself is not currently enjoying.

And no matter how much you love somebody and how much you want to root for them, when that's happening, it can feel really bad, right? And the comedic part where it comes into play is that Helen is the foil, right? She's got money. She's not afraid to absolutely dunk on Annie at every opportunity. This is the bridesmaids gown we should get. The part where Annie observes that the dress is $800 and Helen says, oh, it's on sale is the encapsulation of all of that, right?

Well, the first class please, too. Yes, on the plane. Everybody should get to experience it once. It's like such a douche thing to say. There's more community in coach I found is an incredible Helen throwaway line. That's unbelievable. And you know she only offered to pay for Annie's ticket so that basically she could shame her, not out of any true altruism.

But it is notable that that Lillian didn't think about that. Now she feels bad in the moment. Of course. Yeah, she sucks. Yeah, I want her to, should I go sit with her? I should be with her. Fuck, Lillian. Let's lead into this. Well, but the problem with Lillian, though, is that we all love Maya Rudolph.

She's an absolute best. The best. I mean, she has like a unanimous approval rating, just a general. So the fact that she's playing Lillian throws you off the scent that Lillian sucks. Right. That's a great point because if it was another actress, I think it would probably be really much more visible or palpable that she's like kind of a shitty friend and a bad character. I think you just hit on something really big, Mallory, which is like this is much more a movie about how. how money changes friendship than marriage,

which is presented as being about a wedding, but it doesn't really matter that Kristen Wigg is single. It's played for laughs, like at the engagement party where random guys are standing next to her, and everyone thinks they're her, yeah, he's just his fellow. I want to clap him like a tree. But it's like, it doesn't matter that she's single. It matters that she's broke.

Like this is more about how money divides friends than a romance, which again is not something we had seen. Like every female comedy that we talked about is much more about men and chasing after men and romance. This is not really about that at all. Mina, did this happen to you when you started hanging out with Stu Gatz? Did your older friends? Like, they didn't understand.

Once you were friends with a celebrity like that, they didn't really identify with you at all? I'm cheap as hell. I'm like dollar bill in millions. So I, yeah, I'm still a woman of the people. I was just trying to make fun of Stu Gats there. Okay. This movie was nominated for two.

Oscars. I want to get to the category, so I'm going to raise through this. Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy. This is notable because the Oscars shuns comedies and treats, they literally hold comedies up, like it's this disgusting sticky stock, sticky sock, and they just kind of look at it and then throw it to the side comedy. Why is the sock sticky, Bill? Did you crack it in half? Did you crack it in half? Yeah, I was going to get to that. There's three boys in the household. Best original screenplay got nominated as well. Of course, didn't win. because comedies never get respect. Also, Roger Ebert, who is still alive when this movie came out,

three and a half stars. He said, a more or less deliberate attempt to cross the chick flick with the raunch comedy. This is before we stop saying the word chick flick. It definitely proves that women are the equal of men in vulgarity, sexual frankness, lust, vulnerability, over drinking, and insecurity. Kind of a weird review. Three and a half stars, though, that was good.

Very weird. I want to get to the categories because there's a lot to cover here. Take one quick break, though. This episode is brought to by Whole Foods Market. Spring is here, so celebrate it with fresh, juicy, seasonal produce, and some very tasty limited time flavors. New Whole Foods, Market Peach, Apricot, Rose, Italian soda. Perfect for a picnic or brunch, as is their trending mango, Yuzu, chantilly cake.

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It's the AI native ERP from the makers of QuickBooks. Learn more at Intuit.com slash ERP. All right. Most rewatchable scene. We mentioned this one earlier, but wanted to start with the first kind of hangout scene with Annie and Lillian, where the penis impression is just first class.

It's just great. Putting it near my face. They do that, don't they? Why do that? Let us offer. If we don't offer. Please, just slap it away. I couldn't.

You don't want to look right at it. No. It's too aggressive. It's like, Hello. That's my impression. Those are the balls? Yeah.

I'm trying to make it round, but I can't because I have elbows. Let us offer. And I think, I feel like it was in the research, there was a lot of improvisation. And I don't know if that was improvised, but it feels like it probably was at the table, especially the one eye. And the way it moves, she's kind of moving her shoulders back and forth. Are those supposed to be balls in? The audio audience, Mallory and I have been doing it. the penis impression to Bill for the last 30 seconds trying to make him lose it.

Yeah, I did, I did a good job. I like everything about that scene. In general, it was weird. There's a long time where movies just didn't have scenes like this, where especially comedies where they didn't feel obligated to have the four-minute scene of like, oh, this is why these characters are friend. Oh, oh, this is why I should care about their backstory. They would just kind of get to it, you know?

And I think one thing that changed, and I think Apatow had a big thing to do with this is just he, he understood how important it was to just throw in scenes when people are hanging out. And you see every movie over this stretch that basically take that theme, even the movie like the hangover that he wasn't involved with, where they just kind of make sure there's a couple scenes where it's like, we need these people hanging out. They're probably not ad-libbing half of the dialogue in it. Anyway, that's one. The next one, underrated, Jill Clayberg, who's only in two scenes and then dies after the movie, who was one of the biggest actresses of my childhood. I think late 70s, she was kind of the equivalent of like, I don't know, Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock there for like six, seven years. She plays Annie's mom and does that whole crazy scene where she talks about the chicken coop.

And you have to pack and then you end up. with two eggs and it's like, what the hell is going on? So that's in the, that's in the extended version. That's not in the real scene or the real movie? Did they take that out of the real movie? Or they cut it in half? I mean, there is a, there's, there's, check it out if you haven't seen it.

Check it out if you haven't seen it. It's unbelievable. So Apatow said after they actually toned that character down because she had died and they were trying to be respectful. But part of the reason for that character was, or the reason they wanted her was, like they just wanted to make Annie's mom this crazy, you know, over the top, saying things she shouldn't say. And then they had to, they phoned it back.

But if you watch the unrated on Amazon or voodoo or whatever, they really go into it. And it's really, really fucking funny. Next one, dueling speeches, which apparently a lot of this was improvised as well. They just kind of let him go. And then Rose Byrne started doing tie. And that was all improvised. And she was just making up tie words. She wasn't actually speaking Thai.

Yeah, so they had to, they cut away and they actually had, they dubbed in like a sentence that would make sense in Thai, but they're going back and forth and they're basically ad-living most of that scene. I went to Thailand recently with my husband Perry and there's a beautiful saying that I learned there. Kun, Ben Song-ong-ong-ong-chong-chang, Song-chan, Jacques Madai, my ben Chennan. It means you are a part of me, a part that I could never live. live without and I hope and I pray that I never have to. Kapkunka. Kapkunka. And that's it for tonight.

Thank you for coming. Thank you all for coming. I just wanted to say really quick. Dessert wine is out. Concello? Really quick. Speaking of Consuelo, Lillian and I took Spanish together in school. And so I would just like to say to you and to everyone here,

Gracius, para vivar in la Casa. And las squalas and al-Azul Marcada. That whole engagement party sequence, because the speeches are obviously the full manifestation of the point of that whole sequence. But everything before that in the engagement party sequence is amazing too. I mean, it's our introduction to Megan, right? The cruise story communicating telepathically with a dolphin. I'm going to say I survived. I thrived.

the sequence where Annie is introduced over and over to people. And I think to Mina to the point you made earlier about what is really driving Annie's despair or feelings of vulnerability, that's a really effective sequence for, she's not the one thinking about that in those moments. It's everybody else. Everybody else is the one who's eager to point out,

like, oh, you must be here with this guy, right? Oh, you're not. Oh, my God. I'm so embarrassed that I'm, made you feel bad for thinking about, she's like, she's not the one who's inciting those types of exchanges. It's everybody else of the kind of societal expectations around you.

And then you pair that with just a series of dueling speeches that ends up in like shared sing-along. It's unbelievable. The awkwardness of that, too, that's the other thing. Because a lot of, a lot of the comedy of the movie and a lot of great comedies, of course, is that that secret sauce of like,

how far can you push it before people can't bear to watch, right? It's just like your secondhand mortification is so strong that you just want to curl up under the blanket. That that scene actually quietly achieves that too because the face like Lillian's expression watching this, everybody in the crowd, they're so so embarrassed. I like how they're holding the glasses up too, which is a classic wedding thing where people are like, all right, is this going to fucking end? Is this? I love it. Can we just toast? Can we drink?

Have you guys ever given any memorable wedding speeches or engagement party speech? I have. I gave one really good best man speech that people are still talking about, frankly. Yeah, people. It's still a lot of buzz. 23, 24 years later. Did you mix in a few different languages? Did you sing? No, what I did, though, which was crucial. This is for my best friend Jeff, his wedding. At the end, because I wasn't with my wife or yet, I wasn't like really truly attached to anybody and did the whole, you know, this is something. and I hope someday I can find what they have. It was one of those lines.

It really got everybody. Yeah. People are a little emotional, you know. You know what I like about this scene too is they introduce a lot of characters, but they do them in a really effective way where each character is distinct, right? Because you have all these different friends of her life that come in, and that could easily go terrible and it just doesn't. Normally when you're doing like an ensemble comedy and you're like,

here's the kooky one. Here's the like over-sexed mom. Here's the virginal Ellie Cap. Like, whatever. It's not that funny. But every single character's introduction in this scene before the doing speeches is so funny. Even, I mean, I'm a master class from Rita. Yeah. Oh my God. That's, I mean, I kind of got to that earlier when she talks about her teenage boys and. Oh, my God. It's even everywhere. Crack the blanket and hat. It's so funny. And then they're savages. Seamen everywhere. Becca is interested

Ellie Kemper's character is introduced with her husband and you know they just went on a honeymoon to Disneyland and she is she's,

you're right, Malarie, she's the one who makes it awkward that Annie is alone and then she's like, let's rewind and the husband goes

and she goes, I have a husband, you don't have. This is incredible. It's fantastic. And then of course Helen, full-length ball gown.

I just want to take a moment as we kind of consider these speeches to give credit to Rosebird because I think her performance in this movie is one of the most underrated aspects of the film. I loved her in neighbors as well. I don't know you guys have seen that the frat movie. Oh, yeah. It's

on the 2021 schedule. It's really funny and that movie's great. Understated and funny in it. But when she does the tie and then Kristen Wigs, Annie comes up and just starts doing the Spanish verbs and then like that dance between the two of them is

such an excellent, like, masterclass and acting. And it's something they do a few times in the movie, notably at the end when they're in the car where they go back and forth. It's so subtle and so funny. And I was cracking up because in some ways, Mallory, this scene is more cringy than the scene that we're probably going to talk about soon. Yeah. Like, I was more uncomfortable watching the dueling speeches than the shit splodering.

I'm glad you brought up. I was going to do Roseburn and what's age the best, but we could do it now. the surprising thing in the research was that they had no idea she was this funny and this capable of you know being able to ad lib and do stuff like in that that dueling speeches thing where she's just kind of matching Kristen Wade because at that point she was just a dramatic actress and they hired her to be yeah they hired her just to be like this kind of evil villain Glenn Close type foil and had no idea that she could be really funny and the neighbors taps into this whole other piece of it

where she's toe to toe with Seth Rogen for that whole movie. But I agree with you. I think she is obscenely underrated and probably has the hardest part in this movie because it's kind of the subtle villain. It's all like passive-aggressive bullshit stuff, but

I think everybody has one person in their life who does a lot of this stuff, which is what makes it fun. Next one. I think the iconic scene of the movie from just like a, the scene everybody knows is the food poisoning, dress fitting scene. My dress was probably just tight. Oh, my God.

You got food poisoning from that restaurant, didn't you? No, I had the same thing that she had, and I feel fine. Oh, my, okay. Oh, no. What is happening? Nothing's happening. Oh, my God. You know, I don't really care which dress we get.

It doesn't matter me. I just need to get off this white carpet. No, okay. No, not the bathroom. Everybody go outside. I'm serious. Oh, my God. This was not in the shooting script

was added later on during production because Apatow and Paul Fieg who directed the, is it Figue or Figue? It's Figue, right? No idea. Movie nerds are going nuts right now. But they encourage they encourage Wigg and the co-writer

to put one more physical comedy scene in the movie. And this is what they came up with. A pure masterpiece. Everything's great. They go to the Brazilian restaurant before. There's this key moment where the stray dog walks across the parking lot as they're about to go in.

We're like, oh, no. What is this place? Yeah. And then they go to the fitting and it just all hell breaks loose. I just want to, because I don't want to skip over this, when they're at the restaurant and they're suggesting themes and Becca suggests Pixar theme and then. Megan suggests a email fight club. Yeah.

It's incredible. But yes, I mean, oh my God, just, I don't even know. The gross out scene from start to finish is like so well choreographed. Every little moment in it is perfect. It's the one thing I wrote down in my outline before even rewatching the movie. Just put it right there under most rewatchable scenes. It was going to be the focus of the conversation. the number of, I mean, we'll get to best quotes later,

and there are a lot throughout the movie, but the number of Zinger lines in this sequence alone, I just need to get off this white carpet. Unbelievable, the whole, no, Megan, no, look away. Look away is my favorite. No, no, Megan, no. Look away fucking kills me, like the intensity interface. I'd like to think to even say that.

look away. I'm shitting at the sink. That's brutal. And then, you know, Lillian walking out into the, into the street, it's happening, it's happening,

it's happening, it happened. The drive home when Lillian is, as one would be so dismayed, and mentions that she shitting her shorts in the street. And Annie says, people do that.

It's just every note of it is. How about the lady who works in the wedding place? How horrified she says, no, oh. That's a tough one. The thing I forgot is how funny the interaction between Annie and Helen is the whole time. That's my favorite part.

I think you remember, look away! You remember it's happening. But Annie, I'd forgotten this, her determination to not concede anything to Helen. And the camera, as it's going from, you know, they're going from showing the women in various states of disarray, back to Annie progressively looking like death. Like just melting the makeup. She's like great. time they cut her. She looks worse. I know, but she refuses to bend and then throws her hands or the Jordan Alvin. It's so funny. I mean, that might actually be the funniest part in all of it now looking back, even though Melissa McCarthy steals the scene. You're not sick. No, no. In fact, Helen, I'm hungry and I wish I had a snack. You're hungry. It's starving.

I think that's one of the funniest scenes of all time. And what, What is great about it is you can show it to a person of any age and they're going to laugh. I remember my son was probably five when we were like, ah, fuck it. And showed him that scene. And he just, he thought it was like the greatest. Lookaway became, look away as a running joke of my house. It's just, it's just perfect from start to finish. It's just fucking funny.

The, and again, it's like, it really captures that, that balance of the, the brilliance of the movie. obviously it's this grotesque gag, right? This shared horror that they're all living through. But it's anchored in what we were talking about earlier that the rivalry between Annie and Helen, the economic aspect that fuels that. You know, to the point Mina that you made about Annie not being able to admit that she isn't feeling well,

it's because Helen was the one who didn't want to go into the restaurant. right so well no she didn't eat the meat either she didn't right so she can't accept the blame for for what has happened and that's what the Jordan almond sequence it's like the quietness of just moving inching it toward her mouth oh that's a great thank you because she has to say no I'm hungry you know I just need a snack outside I don't have a stomach I just need a snack it's amazing the other thing I really like about that scene I don't I'm sure you've been in places like that. Those are, like, when you go into one of those places, it's like if you even drop like a piece

of a fingernail on the floor, you feel like you've completely desecrated the place. They're so clean and immaculate and everything's white and you're just terrified to even walk. So them just wreaking havoc and shitting in the sink and all that stuff, but a place like that is really funny. Let me ask you both a question. If you'll indulge me for a moment. Have we ever shat in a sink? I'm not going to get that specific. Which character would you, if you had to be in one of those situations of all of them, because they all have a different experience,

who are you picking? And you can't pick Helen, right? You have to pick one of the people who gets sick. Do you want to be? Do you want to be Rita? You reach the, you reach the toilet first, but then Becca vomits on your head. You don't want to be her.

She's the last pick. Yeah, bottom of the... Lillian sitting in the street in the dress. Who are you picking? to be Lillian. I want to be the one who just throws up on top of somebody else, and that's really my only experience. I think she's the big winner. Okay. I'd be the, like, not who I want to be, but who I would be is the look away. I can't stand people looking at me in moments of physical, I won't get into any detail, but like, yeah, agony. I'm like, you know, when I walk my dog,

I don't know, you know when you walk a dog and some dogs look at you when they're chitting and some dogs look ashamed and give me my privacy. Anyways, my dog looks like he's like, my dog basically does the look away every time I take him out and he does the squat. He does not want to make eye contact with me. And I am that,

I don't really wish I didn't go down this road, but I am that dog. I don't want. This could be a whole separate podcast about dog pooping habits. It is funny. They do have a couple different reactions, right? Some dogs don't want you to make eye contact with them.

Or some dogs, some dogs really milk it. They do like the circle. Like our new puppy we have, it's like a three-minute experience for him. He's really going to enjoy it. He's going to walk around. He's going to step them off. I think for some dogs, it's a show of dominance.

Interesting. I think Megan should have leaned in and should have just said, you know what? Is a sink all that different from a bidet? No, I'm not a plumber. I can't speak to the impact of that. But, you know, own it. I had this in unanswerable questions. It's tough morning for the janitor the next morning.

Yeah. Like, hey, Bob. That's a rough cleanup across the board. He buys all the dresses, but does she pay for the cleanup? Something I was wondering, too. Yeah, it's tough. Next one. And the reason this movie is great, even though it's probably too long, we'd all change a couple things.

It's just got a couple banger scenes. And the plane trip, this is my wife's favorite scene. From the moment they're the slow motion walking into the, it's just, just it's a great 10 minutes. There's a lot going on. Um, the oversex wife and the, the virginal, you know, new wife, that they're sitting next to each other. It just goes off the rails. McCarthy is the funniest in this scene. No, carry on, huh? No. Yeah, I noticed. I know she didn't put anything in the overhead bin either. And I get it. I get it. I want you to know, protect and serve air marshal style. What?

I don't want to fringe on your privacy, man. I just, I really appreciate what you do for this country. And I respect the hell out of you. That's great. Not an Air Marshal. I'm going to take a nap. Awesome. Cool.

I'll take the first watch. I'm not an Air Marshal. You don't need to take a watch. Okay. She's like, you're an Air Marshal who's a real life, real life husband. And then Kristen Wigg just goes to another level. She just, welcome to Germany.

She does the help me on poor. Not allowed up here in first class. It's policy. I'm sorry. Oh, this is a very, this is a very strict plane that I'm on. Welcome to Germany. On futile's an asshole. All right.

Aren't you go on go down? I'm going to take a nap. I'm tired. She's off the rails and it's really great. And plus Rose Byrne, as we mentioned, has a couple really good passive-aggressive things. This scene start to finish is. unassailably good, in my opinion. It's, we've mentioned the ensemble factor a few times, and that really homes here, because one of the keys to a good ensemble movie is not just how all of the characters function together, but how any subset, like any pairing, right?

I think about this. I've obviously been thinking a lot about Marvel movies lately, and I think about this all the time with Infinity War and Endgame, that the real achievement of those movies, more than the massive set pieces are closing the loops on three phases of canon at that point, is the different pairings that the Russo brothers were able to unlock among this cast. Like, should you put Rita and Becky in the seats in the same row so that they can talk about their sex lives?

Oh, you wouldn't necessarily think that scene would unfold in this movie because it's not about either of their characters. But it's such a delight when Becca says that her husband has to basically plan every aspect of the hygiene leading up to sex, right? Has to shower, has to shower alone. Sometimes by the time he's finished cleansing himself, he's too tired to fuck, but she's not tired. Well, then the other one's going, my husband won't even kiss me on the mouth. It's just like, can you imagine sitting in the road behind them? Listen to this.

Sometimes I want to watch the daily show without him entering me. Like the contrast is just fantastic. You're totally right about like those two characters are built. And then of course they, oh my gosh, I want a glass of alcohol. But then they end up kissing. So we talked about the look away. I think one, I hate to say this is like a barometer for a rewatchable comedy. But this is a movie that's gift a lot, okay?

In the same way that like Anchorman and some of the icons. 90s, 2000s comedies are. One is look away. You see that gif a lot on the internet. And then the other one is Kristen Wigg. When she walks up in the first class, I think it's the first time she does it. She does it several times.

And Helen tells her she's got a reservation for them at a restaurant in Vegas. She knows the owner and Kristen Rigg responds with you, T. Right. That's a gift you see a lot. on the internet, I think,

which sort of weirdly speaks in 2020 to the memorability of the scene because people remember her voice in the presentation of the moment, and it's such a great performance of sarcasm. And then, of course, it spirals from there into the Hitler impersonation.

McCarthy, putting her leg up. McCarthy putting the leg up, can you feel the heat from my undercarriage? All that is really good. All of it's really good. I also like the, I like stove, the air, the air stewards just good in that scene.

He's only in one scene, but he's really good. He detests Annie. Whole thing's great. I really like when funny things happen on a plane, because planes are just not a funny place, especially since 9-11. It's a place where, and now in the pandemic, even more so, where it becomes just this vehicle

to go from point A to point B, and you just want to have as little interaction with anyone as possible. So when somebody could unlock that in a really funny way, with, you know, it's just, it works. Two, one small one. I really like the scene when Annie gets fired with, because of the fight with the 15-year-old girl. Oh, I bet you are.

That whole scene's really good. Forever? I don't think you guys will be best friends forever. No offense, but, you know, the friends you have when you're younger, sometimes, sometimes you grow apart, you know, when you get older, and maybe she'll find a new best friend. And maybe she'll be more successful than you are

and prettier and richer and richer and skisher. and skinnier, and they end up doing everything together. You're weird. I'm not weird. Okay? Yes, you are. No, and you started it. No, you started it. Did you forget to take your Xanax this morning?

God, I feel bad for your parents. I feel bad for your face. Okay, well, call me when your boobs come in. You call me when yours come in? What, do you have four boyfriends? Exactly. Yeah, okay. Have fun having a baby at your prom.

You look like an old map. You know what? You're not as popular as you think you are. Very popular. I'm sure. You are. Very popular. Well, you're an old single loser who's never going to have any friends.

You're a little cunt. The next big set piece scene, there's two more re-watchables, the Brattle Shower, which we talked about a little, but the bleach of the asshole is great. It's supposed to be about my time. You have managed to ruin every event in my wedding. Thank you very much. Okay, well, thank you very much. It's all her fault.

It is not mine. and you would know that if you got your beautiful haired head out of your asshole. In fact, out of her asshole, which I'm sure is perfectly bleached. You know what? It is. And you know how I know? Because I went to the fucking salon with her. And I got my asshole bleached too.

And I... You know what? Why can't you just be happy for me and then go home and talk behind my back later like a normal... I am happy for you. I love my new asshole. And then when she says, why can't you be happy for me and then go home and talk about me behind my back like a normal person. I love that line so much.

Good line and a good quote. Everything's great. The golden retrievers. I have some notes coming up on the puppies as party gifts. A lot of thoughts on the puppies. Melissa takes two, but then as we see her driving home, she's got nine in the car. More comfortable with six, it turns out. Yeah.

Everything start to finish in that scene's really good, too. Anything other things to add before we keep going? I would toss in one quieter. nomination too, which is Megan's pep talk to Annie. You know, it opens with Annie watching Wilson's death castaway, one of the saddest and most poignant moments in movie history, right? And her mom had previously talked her about watching castaway. It just feels like it's stitching a lot together. And then the reason I like the scene so much, it's not just like the physical comedy of their fight on the couch or the humor of,

of Megan's reveals about her own, her job, her life, everything she has, knowing where the no one where the nukes are. But it's just like that, that, that perfect blend of the humor and the heart. That really shines through so effectively in just a couple minutes. I love that scene. I've never seen a character like that in a movie, ever. I mean, this was, I guess we can kind of, you know, Melissa McCarthy. I'd watched Gilmore Girls.

I'd seen her in that. I've never, I hadn't seen Mike and Molly, which preceded that. So for me, and I think a lot of America, like, that was the most stunning revelation of this. It's not like, oh, women can shit and women can be funny or whatever. It's like, who is this human? This is one of the funniest people I've ever seen in my life. She wasn't from SNL, so it's not like I knew her, like we knew Kristen Wig or Maya Rudolph. And she just blows your socks off in this film because everything about her performance,

the character, which is an unusual character, and you kind of learn the backstory of her in that scene. The confidence, the weirdness. It's so esoteric and so specific. And she just freaking kills it. She's unbelievably funny. It's very sweet too. Yeah. And sweet.

And like, yeah. It's a really important point, though, because you're right. Nobody knew who she was unless you were in this Mike and Molly world or, you know, you'd seen her one other thing. But she was a legend in the improv circles. So it's almost a little like I was watching the John Belushi doc where everybody in the improv circles, he was a legend. but nobody else knew who he was

and then it finally happened for him. And I think I'm sure like people who worked with her and did improv with her or saw her and Chicago or wherever were not surprised that she became famous. But for somebody like me, I had the same reaction. Who is this?

This person's a force of nature and ends up getting nominated for an Oscar. The only other tiny scene just because my wife loves this scene is when she keeps driving by the cop trying to get his attention. And she says that there's like the hardcore rap one. There's like the, um, I took my bra off.

She does like seven of those in rough. Because you can't, you can't convince me you do that with a car that is a primary part of the plot revolves around how your car is basically a piece of shit. Oh, when she's doing like spin-offs and stuff. Yeah, we could. Oh. It's some good wig though. Yes.

For sure. For one scene, like I think this is probably going to come up as. like a heat check, but I think John Ham seems, seems far. We got a, so funny. I mean, we can jump ahead to that. All three of them are crying, laughing. All three of them are incredible. What's that fuck, buddy?

I like what he does the open for biz. Just take a little lap nap if you want. Open for biz. Okay, can you just pull over? Yeah, actually, that's an even better idea. Yeah, take a lap nap. Open for bidet. Oh, for bees.

What's your most rewatchable? What do you have? It has to be the shit, the shit scene. It has to be. Right? Yeah, I agree. Let's take a break. We'll do the rest of the categories.

All right, what's age the best? You mentioned John Hamm right before we went to the break. He's great in this movie. He's only in three scenes. And it was an important performance for him because he was kind of hamstrung by the hamstrung, no pun intended. by the Don Draper slash, oh, is this guy's movie career just going to be him as the guy chasing Ben Affleck in the town and that's just who he is. But he had this funny side that S&L tapped into. And then in this movie, he just plays like the ultimate douchebag where he's...

Asshole fuck boy. Oh, and it's like you're my third, you're my third stringer basically. My number three. Yeah. That's a rough moment. What's up, fuck buddy? It's brutal. I love the...

Cut my balls. The cop's reaction, like, what does he say? Really? Really? She's just so horrified by him. The iconic line is, this is so awkward. I really want you to leave, but I don't know how to say it without sounding like a dick.

I mean, that's from the opening scene, which we jumped over to the gate. But it's... The gate swing. Kristen, her writing the gate as it swings out, in terms of establishing her as, like, kind of a loser, right? Yeah.

As I was saying, like that loser character. that scene is flawless. The gate swing of shame. Love it. Yes. And when she leaves to put the makeup on, it gets back into bed. And it's like, okay, I just learned everything about this human being in two minutes.

Totally. The other thing I love about that the ham aspect of those scenes is like he's this textbook narcissist, right? And it's not like anybody else in the movie has any delusion or illusion about what kind of person he is. Like, Lillian's

like, why are you wasting your time with his asshole? He makes you feel like shit. Annie literally says out loud, but he's so hot, right? Like, we all know what it's for and what's about. You just sometimes just like, need to touch another person. But the thing that I love so much about it is that the idea that this really handsome, you know, rich, he's got the Porsche, the beautiful house person who you just are, are fucking. There's no emotional depth and no other aspect of that, even though, of course, the first scene hinges on him saying I basically like, you know, I don't want to be your boyfriend and the nanny has to pretend, like, I don't want that either, right?

But it's that he's horrible at sex. I love that choice. He's an absolutely awful, awful lover. Could he do this? When he massages the rest of us, I think he's second. Yeah, no, I mean, but your description of that character, like that, again, I said the loser is not a female character.

That's not a male character you see a lot in comedies. I mean, you see the rich douchebag, but in relation to a woman, like that's usually, the roles are typically reversed. And he just leans into, I mean, watching him,

I'm like, this is probably the most fun he's ever had acting. It looks like an actor just like on vacation. He enjoys every second of it. And it's a really well-written character, right?

Because he's only in the movie for probably nine, 10 minutes total. There's little touches with him. Even the Porsche they picked. Well, Bill, as he said,

he'd never last 30 minutes. So couldn't have been in it for more than that. The Porsche is like the perfect Porsche for for who that character was, right? It's kind of like the cheesy one you would buy if you're that guy, but you think it's like, oh, I'm hot shit in this thing. Can't pull over here. There's so much gravel.

Oh, my God. Another one's aged best, speaking of performances, is the over-sex, the over-sex wife, who's played by Wendy MacLendon Covey, who is so good in this movie. I almost don't understand why she hasn't, why she didn't have it. I'm not saying she should have broken out like Melissa McCarthy did, but I know she's in some stuff. She's in stuff I don't watch.

She's in like Reno 911 and a couple other things. The Goldbergs. Yeah, the Goldbergs. But she's just awesome in this movie. And it's basically like the Kim Katrall 2.0 character. And I just like every moment she's in the movie. You know what I was thinking watching her because I was thinking about like recasting possibilities

or alternate universes. and I was thinking this could be played by Jennifer Coolidge, who plays a similar character in a lot of films, like she's illegally blonde or whatever. But then I thought, and no shade to Jennifer Coolidge, that would have been distracting. Like, her performance is much more subtle and realistic. And so I wouldn't recast her.

I thought she's fantastic again. She's like kind of like a better version, frankly. Yeah. Well, yeah, and again, because she really captures, I mean, every line reading that she has is actually perfect. I laugh probably the hardest at her quotes in her dialogue. About her sons.

Yeah, it's just unbelievable. Not only the iconic semen blanket cracking scene, but the other... Semen everywhere. But the other moment, too, where she, you know, because... And that's like the brilliance of the character, right? In a movie that, you know, part of the plot obviously hinges on, oh, like other people in your life are getting married, they're going to have kids. She is there to remind you that this thing that other people may view is idyllic, right?

And Becca's like, oh, I can't wait to be married for as long as you have and have kids. Sometimes sucks, right? exhausted with the reality of her life. And so that other scene where she's just describing how she was making dinner. And then her kid wanted to get a pizza and then tells her to fuck off. And then the way she says, he's nine. The other night, I'm slaving away making a beautiful dinner for my family. My youngest boy comes in and says he wants to order a pizza.

I said, no, we're not ordering pizza tonight. He goes, Mom, why don't you go and fuck yourself? He's nine. I love it. Morewood's the best. I like the whole concept of stealing Terry Cruz's training class because you're saving $12. I don't understand the part where then we find out

my Rudolph's marrying like the richest guy in Chicago. It's like, do you have the $12 or not? Both scenes when Kristen Wigg is trying to work in a store and sell stuff is just really good. Those are great. She's so bad. it. The Joe Clayberg casting we mentioned was great. I like

the Bill Cosby, but it's Cosby with a Z. Don't mention the whole Bill Cosby thing to him. He goes nuts. That always makes me laugh. The concept of a nice policeman, how about Fiona Apple as the

music in the cupcake therapy scene, which is a really good scene, but then Maya Rudolph is married to Fiona Apple's ex-boyfriend, Paul Thomas Anderson. I thought that was an interesting choice. And it's a really good Fiona Apple song, too. But my wife really likes that scene because she thinks it's an important one to show how broken this, how broken Annie is, where it's like baking has become this thing that it actually, like, she hates doing, as we find out later when the cop buys are all the stuff and she just doesn't want

to do it. But she makes this one cupcake and spends, what, three hours making this one cupcake. It's a masterpiece too. Yeah. And then just kind of eats it. Is she doing it or does she My take her from the whole cop scene Which we can you know the where he gets her the baking stuff is more just kind of like It's so associated with her failure that she Yeah they can't publicly do it She can't do it around other people

She can't jump back into it she like can't restart her life Or you know it's kind of hit pause I think she still likes it and find solace in it But making a beautiful leaf out of a hand-rolled piece of fondant That's one of my what's age the best, just baking in general in the Great British Bakeoff era. It was so delightful to see her make that cupcake, the construction of the carrot-shaped cake. Loved that. Back on Aunt Annie's mom for a second, I have Annie's mom's paintings on here as like the subtlest little touch that breathed so much life into the movie.

I love those looking to see which celebrities you can spy. Yes, the choice is celebrity. Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift. I laughed out loud when you realized one of them is Taylor Swift because it tells you a lot about the character. I mean I was curious for your take as an artist on uh on the achievement. Yeah. Um, yeah, you know, I, I thought, I like her style a lot. That sort of caricature, New York street, the style, if you will.

We don't, like, the character makes no sense of them. Like, who goes to A meetings, but then constantly reveals the identities of people, including, by the way, Bo Cosby, which is like, I know you from the, that meaning, which is you're not supposed to do if we're going to pick Nitz. I just want to do for a what's age the best. We talked a little bit about class, and I think, you know, the money stuff in this film has aged really well. But also just how dumb weddings are.

Like, it's not the point of the movie at all. The wedding, it's like, in some comedies, it's the last night of high school, the prom, and this just happens to be a wedding as a mechanism or a catalyst for all these funny things happening. But weddings are ridiculous. It's insane. The amount of money

spend, this is just my personal view, I guess. And, you know, the way in which Lillian gets bullied and sort of some of it is from herself into making all these stupid financial decisions, spending money on stuff she doesn't want, the absurdity of the wedding at the end, even though it's a happy scene, I thought is a pretty accurate depiction of the wedding, you know, industrial complex. That's a real thing. I had weddings in what stage the best for just as a movie trope. Guess what I? Guess what I? always worse than a movie, a wedding. You get to put a bunch of people in the same place, whether it's a brat or shower, wedding, whatever. All the characters basically get to cook.

You get to run some plays for them. You get to interact with them, all that stuff. Drive people crazy, too. Weddings make people go insane. So, it makes sense. That's the only time I've ever gotten a fight with my dad in my entire life. Really? Three weeks before my wedding. Weddings just drive people apart. my dad really wanted one of my cousins' boyfriends to get invited. And we had capped the wedding at a hundred.

The guest list was always a nightmare. The guest list is just a brutal free-for-all. And we had capped it at like 125 because we were like, it wasn't even a money thing as much as we just want to be able to hang out with people. And we want people there that, you know, and it was like, she's not going to end up with this person.

I'm not inviting him. And then it was like, well, you know, family. I'm like, no, I'm not. And we didn't talk for like two weeks. It's the only time. Oh my goodness. Weddings. Weddings are brutal.

I can't wait to play in my daughters. Helen's stepkids are what's age the best to me. They come in quick. I've seen better tennis playing at a tampon commercial. The disdain. Helen's passive-aggressive, bitchy stuff, there's like 11 or 12 lines. My wife's favorite one is when she makes through the drink on the plane and she goes,

I used to do this. I'm much smaller than you so you can handle it with the thing. such a little like, fuck you. Chris Newie goes, I love that. I wonder what kind of sketch it was. Open for Biz. Is it nine golden retriever puppies or six?

Nine. She says that she would have been more comfortable ultimately with six, but she just got nine. And then I like seeing Wilson Phillips. I like that whole ending and I like the dancing to it is really good. Any other what's age the best for you?

I think just generally things we've already talked about. The performances among the ensemble. are legendary and really hold up. The presence of scatological humor. Love it. And in general, just the, you know, explicit R-rated comedy. You don't get enough of those. I forgot to mention Milwaukee for me, because I was like, I like Milwaukee.

I like Pittsburgh. Two really underrated cities to go visit. Yeah. And it's aerial views and all that. The R-rated humor when she walks by her store and someone's written cock baby. Yeah, dick in her hand. That's my sense of evil. What's age the worst?

Let's talk about the cop. Yeah, that's the only thing for me. Are we sure this was a good, well-written character that worked? Because I am not. I think it's the weak spot of the movie. Well, it's telling that literally we haven't talked about it once, as we've talked about the things we love about this movie and the scenes that are memorable.

Like a lot of his scenes are not particularly memorable. which is the point, as you said at the beginning, the male characters are kind of throwways. But Ham's so good, though. That's the part that I don't get. It's like Ham's perfectly written and perfectly performed, and I don't feel like the cop is. I was just thinking they would never have a cop.

But yeah, it's the character more. They wouldn't have a friendly cop making jokes about like, I'm going to go shoot people. It's just not something you would see now in 2020. Yeah. That's a pretty easy, what stage is the worst. I don't really like the performance that much either.

And I don't understand, like, I never really totally understand why he likes her. I don't understand what his motivation is. He's just, for an entire day, is just hanging out running radar traps on some random street in Wisconsin. Why does he have an Irish accent? Why does he do the thing where he hooks up

they have some drunk night they hook up? He goes and buys her $200 worth of big stuff and just expects her to wait. to wake up in the clothes you were the night before. Like, hey, let's bake some stuff. Like, who does that? Even, like, the most pee-wipped person right after her first hookup of all time wouldn't do that? I just don't understand it.

I don't think the cop worked. I think in the baking scene, in the baking scene, he was trying to be sweet and encouraging. But certainly, it's, as we see from her response, quite presumptuous and really not something that she felt up for in the moment. I think to the Irish accent, obviously the actor, Chris O'Donad, is Irish. So I think from everything you read about it, he was the character was supposed to be American. And then they just enjoyed his actual voice so much that they decided to not have him do an American accent. Interesting choices in this movie, Ray, because Rebel Wilson speaks in her accent.

We haven't talked about her, the roommate and her brother. And then Rose Byrne, who's also Australian. She's Australian, right? Yeah. So she doesn't, she's not Australian in the movie. She, by the way, her and Chris O'Dowd are in, have you guys seen Juliet Naked, the Ethan Hock movie? They're great in that.

Yeah. They're really good in that together. But I agree with you. When we were doing the recasting, this was the character I kept going back to as someone I feel like could have been. We're going to do that in one second. Because he's my nomination. The only other thing that's what stage the worst for me is the Apatow movie

kind of formula for lack of a better word. where it's like fucked up character. They hit rock bottom with about 27 minutes left in the movie and then there's some sort of rally at the end. It just feels a little more familiar because we've seen it in like five other movies. And I don't think it's really a fault of this movie,

but it is kind of the beats of this movie where this person is a complete shit show. Oh, now they've really done it. Now they've hit complete rock bottom. And now it's like, oh, they might be redeemed. It just feels familiar. I thought you were going to mention the real. runtime here. It's not one for me, but I felt sure it would be one for you.

Well, we talked about the top, but let's do it. It's, you know, I'm probably too crazy about this stuff because it's always a recurring thing with me. I always feel like you should make the movie what the perfect time is, not, oh, let's pat it by 20 minutes because people want to spend more times with the character. It's just some people feel differently. I feel the same way with documentaries because obviously I care about those a lot. And I think that people have gotten in a really bad habits with documentaries. They make them nine parts when they should be four. They make them three hours when they could be two and things like that. I just think that's part of when you're making something. It should be the right time. And this is definitely too long. It's the Apatow thing.

And like you said, that's how I felt watching. I mean, like, you know, I was thinking about funny people, which is a movie. I actually really, it's a very divisive Apatow film, but it's, I actually really love it, but it's so clearly like 30 minutes too long. And I think this, you're right, this does follow the exact same formula as a lot of as movies, like the best. scenes are kind of either through the first two-thirds. And then, you know, it's fine, but he doesn't quite...

I'm with Bill. I don't think it needs to be as long as it does in the final third. Apatow's movies throw an incredible first six innings. Like really great. One hit, one hit, ten strikeouts, just cruising through. It's Blake Snow. Inside joke from out. Yeah, you like that.

I can still grab a baseball joke. That's great. I have one more what's a. the worst, a quick one. Okay. Giving out puppies as party favors. Now, to be clear, I love an animal. I love a puppy, but that is irresponsible.

Are the people who are receiving the puppies as party favors capable of caring for them well? Is there any sort of questionnaire interview process? Also, Megan, generally good-hearted and well-intentioned says she's just keeping them in the back of her van while she's at the party. What the fuck? The scene is worth it. I had this and then answerable questions.

It's so over the top, I think it actually works because where would you find 50 golden retriever puppies who are all exactly the same age and look exactly like and who's taking them home and the whole thing is bonkers? It doesn't work without the pink berets. But after the meltdown that she walks, she's leaving, storming off, and then the cut to the guy holding the golden retriever puppy with the pink beret, I just lost it watching it.

And then I love the puppies. The callback. It all pays off for the callback. Casting what ifs. Casting what ifs. So several actresses auditioned for the Muslim McCarthy part including Rebel Wilson and Busy Phillips

and then McCarthy crushed it. Maya Rudolph won the Lillian part. She beat up Mindy Kaling. Interesting. I think they made the right choice. Greta Gerwig and Judy Greer were supposed to be in this movie and they audition.

for roles that ended up, they didn't make it. And then the biggest one that I found out, there's a whole scene. I guess you can find it on one of the DVDs or Blu-Rays. Paul Rudd. Paul Rudd. Yeah.

Paul Rudd goes on a blind date with Annie and they just cut the whole thing. I honestly cannot imagine cutting Paul Rudd out of a movie. That part doesn't make sense to me. Because there's another blind date in the, in the unrated thing where she goes and meets this kid or meets this guy who has a seven-year-old kid. And then the guy goes upstairs

and she's stuck with the kid. It's actually pretty funny. It just doesn't really belong in the movie. I actually think Paul Rudd, and then the other name I had was Jason Sadekis, both would have been really good as opposite Rhodes. Oh, that's good. Yeah, hold that thought.

We're about to get to that. I had one of those two. Best That Guy, A.K. the Joey Pants Award. Three nominees. Okay. Air Marshal John, who is married to Muslim McCarthy in real life. I did not know this person's name

until I did the research for the movie. It's Ben Falcone. But he is like an improv guy from that generation. He's been in a bunch of stuff. He just, I think he's that guy. Annie's boss at the store. This is the clear pick. I don't know what that guy's name is.

I can't even name the nine things I know I've seen him in. What has he been in? He's Hamilton Swan and Best in Show. He's the Beatrice Busy Bee. Right. Dad invest in Show. I shout every time I see him in the movie, Oh, Busy Bee.

That's my pick. He's also in crazy ex-girlfriend. I don't know if either of you watch that. The Rachel Bloom comedy, which is, I think he's a producer of, but he has a role as in Townie, like a weirdo that's kind of funny.

But yeah, I did the Leo Fingerpoint when I saw him. Watching him in Parker Posey and Best in show, it's just a consistent delight. What a great movie. Wendy McClendon Covey, I feel like might be a, might qualify here because I just,

if I see her, I just see her as breaking the socks in half. I don't, I can't break out of her with, that and I don't watch the Goldbergs. The, uh, Vinci and Hannah, give me all you got a word for, oh, what do you got? I got a couple for the, that guys. Andy Buckley, Perry, David, David, uh, Dave Wallace from the office.

It's a tiny role in this film, but, right? And then the one, like, that's crazy because he really doesn't do anything. Tim He has Doug. Strange. He must have gotten cut out. Yeah, they must have cut out. He can stand up at a sea. Yeah.

He's like, okay, I, I, I, maybe this is just. big in the Kimes household because I'm, you know, Tim and Eric, but you guys watched, I think you should leave, right? Yeah. The scene where he's Howie, the older boyfriend at the celebrity who keeps throwing jazz references into

the, um, anyways, it's, I, I think he's really funny and it's weird that he doesn't do anything in this movie, but I have more questions about him in a later category. Give me all you got a word for overacting. I didn't really feel like there was like a crazy over acting scene, was there? What is it?

I say this with nothing but deeply rooted love and admiration. It's John Hamm. Now, it's by design. It's supposed to be this completely over-the-top performance, right? So we give this to him as an ode, not as a demerit. I would throw a similar caveat on mine, which is Rebel Wilson.

However, I think it's fine. But if her character had the, like 25% more dialogue, it would be too much. It's like the perfect dose of that character. She's one of my favorite lines in the movie, which I'll say for quotes. But she really... The diary one, I'm sure.

Yes, the diary one. She goes all out. I think in this is a movie where you award the Vincent Hanna, give me all you got, award for overacting as an honor. It's an honor to receive that for this episode. Just to be clear. Yeah.

Well, we can give them that. and I also think he should win Dionne Waiters. He's in three scenes. He's throwing a hundred and five miles an hour. For each, yeah. Yeah, the other nominees would be Rebel Wilson, her bald brother. And then Joe Claiburg.

I think it would be the three. But I think Ham just owns those three scenes. He's really good. He's super creepy. He's really funny. And to me, it's honest. Recasting Couch. the Doug's husband thing, I just don't understand whether he got cut because they decided he was superfluous or whatever.

But I'll go with the cop here. I had the same thought with Paul Rudd. This is such a clearly Paul Rudd part. He would have made so much sense to be in Milwaukee. Sudecass is another good one. I think Bill Hater, it's weird because they were on S&L together and then when they're in the skeleton twins. So I think that's another one. but I feel like it needed to be somebody like that

who's just like the good guy that you're like, oh man, don't fall for this person. I never felt that way about Chris O'Dowd. So I would personally go with Paul Rudd. What do you think, Mal? I mean, I love Paul Rudd and everything.

He's one of my absolute favorites. He's a delight to me in every respect. I will whatever the movie is and whatever the prompt is, I will never say no to introducing Paul Rudd into either. The movie entirely. are actually seeing him so that he was not cut out of it. He's great. So I had one suggestion for a recasting.

I think John Hamm is incredible. I gave him many awards, but I was just kind of thinking, who would I love to see in that role? And I came with Tom Cruise. Oh, wow. Tom Cruise as the douchbag boyfriend could be really fucking funny.

So... That's a good one. Here's my... Here's one of the reasons, though, that I think it can only be Ham. It's the timing of when the movie came out. Yeah. This is peak madmen.

Like the idea of just casually fucking a goofy, ridiculous version of Don Draper is something that I just can't sub out in my head. It's true. I love him. The only other one I had for the cop was Michael Pena, who I've always liked in everything. And I think that would have been a good one. Have Fast Internet Research. Together with Paul Rudd and Ant Man. Have Fast Internet Research.

The cast spent two weeks improvising with each other, a lot of which was incorporated in the movie. That's an epitaph special. Maya Rudolph, pregnant with her third child during the filming of the entire movie and most of the clothes she were had some sort of belt or something or she's holding something or whatever. But they were very careful to conceal that. She has like five kids with Paul Thomas Anderson. More than a couple. Ham chose to go uncredited. Yeah.

Because he felt like if he was in the credits, people would be confused. because he was considered to be such a serious actor at the time. Now I think it would be different. This is my favorite one. Ted, John Ham's character, his house. The same one. 9-0-2-1-0, Kelly Taylor, 902-0.

Same house. Amazing. That's a Bill Simmons nugget right there. It's really, it's my, it's the Venn diagram for me. Apatatow didn't want to call up bridesmaids. He didn't want people to think it was a wedding movie. They had trouble coming over the title.

it was going to be called Made of Honor and then a movie called Made of Honor came out I think with Patrick Dempsey so they kind of begrudgingly settled on bridesmaids the lesson as always really hard to come up with titles I remember the five of us all hanging out in that house in 2015 on Taft Taft Street

the whiteboard and just dozens of titles couldn't figure out what the ringer was going to be called and it was just fucking hard Mina had it easy when she named her podcast. She just named it after herself and added her dog at the end. Yeah, she had the genius stroke of adding Lenny's name in at the end. People get it wrong all the time, though.

They forget to say it. That just called the Meenheim show or The Meekom Show with Lenny. But yeah. Bridesmaids, Jill Kleberg's last movie. Great career for her. Some really good 70s stuff. She's in a movie in the late 70s with Bert Reynolds, starting over, that is one of the best Boston movies.

It's got great Boston scenery and Beacon Hill and Snow and the Boston Garden, all this stuff. But she was really famous for a long stretch there. She's great. The original script had the woman to actually make it to Las Vegas. And they actually had a bachelorette. And then the hangover happened. And Apatow's like, we can't do that. It's too close.

So the hangover did it too well. We got to avoid that. So they rewrote it and had Annie freak out on the plane and never got to Vegas. Interesting. And then Rebbe Wilson and the bald guy ended up living together in real life. Oh my God. Just as roommates. Yeah.

They just hit it off. Did they get me tattoos out of vans? Yeah, I don't know. Ice them with some peas. Apex Mountain. Chris and wig. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. There's one more.

The whole thing about Melissa McCarthy modeling the role of Guy Fieri. she told GQ that. Did you think that was real? I didn't know if she was making that up. I didn't want to see too half-fass for me. But it's in that GQ oral history of the movie where she and Rose Byrne actually each comment on it, I think, if I'm remembering correctly.

And there's like a part about how she actually wanted to have short, bleached, spiky hair, but they decided that would be too ridiculous. Even if that's just a bit, that's hysterical. That's good. So maybe Guy Fierre is an apex mountain for him. Other apex mountain, Kristen Wake, I would say yes. I think she's still on S&L at this point, too. So, um,

Ham, definitely, because Mad Ben is, uh, one of the biggest dramas at that point. And then he's been in the town and then this and he's just, it's all happening for him. Melissa McCarthy, it's a tough one because she's, she's had a good career. Yeah.

And she's been in a bunch of, bunch of movies. I really like the Sandra Bullock movie. I think what's that movie called The Heat? Yeah, I think that movie's really good. I think she's done a lot of good stuff, but she didn't get nominated for an Oscar for this. Yeah, and this was when she just became a, like,

mainstream sensation. I mean, the, you know, leading franchises after this. Did you guys see she was on the New York Times list of the best 20 actors of the century or something, which was a, I guess, a controversial choice. I saw film Twitter complaining about it. it. I mean,

I think she's incredible. Yeah, I think she's incredible. I don't know if I would put her there, but I think this is her best performance. And I say that as someone who, you know, in hour six of an international flight, I'll put on spy. I'll put on boss or whatever, you know,

but this is her best role. My Rudolph. Hmm. I feel like I thought she had a really great stretch era. SNL. You can make the case. She's in the running for a most talented

SNL cast member with all the way she can sing and all the different characters she can play, all that stuff. I don't feel like this was her apex.

Her run is the judge on the good place. Some of the best TV in human history. Love that burrito. She's, if you're talking about high approval rating,

she's way up there. I don't think anybody's against Maya Rudolph. She's got to have one of the highest ones. Rose Byrne, I would say no. But this did pave the way for a lot of good stuff that happened with her.

I would probably say neighbors just because that movie was so good and so successful, they made a sequel. Apatow, probably not. I mean, he didn't direct this one. Yeah. Wedding movies? Oh, my God. A rich canon.

Tough one, right? I mean, because you have some of those indie ones. My best friend's wedding. You also have the indie ones Like Rachel's getting married Things like that That probably don't win

But yeah I would say it's my best friend's wedding Vers this and the finals Oh you're Are you guys not wedding Crashers fans? No we did it out Yeah we It's it's been a rewatchable already

Maybe that maybe it's a three movie finals Yeah I'd put that in the mix With this Um The woke generation has a lot of problems With Wedding Crashers We should mention

do I I'm unaware of the discourse. How about Paul Fike, Figue? I mean, so he went on to make, he, Ghostbusters, he also created Freaks and Geeks, which is one of my favorite shows of all time, and probably the best cast show in the history of television in terms of like raw talent, you know, going on to do other things. The coaching tree.

I'm sure this is his biggest, you know, critical commercial when you consider all of the things that went into it. I would say definitely. And I think he does a great job in this movie. This movie is very well-crafted. What about Apex Mountain for shit scenes? What's the Mount Rushmore bill of shit scenes? Defecation?

TV movie. Obviously, Kendall and Succession is a favorite of ours on the TV front. You got Battleshits and Harold and Kumar. What's in the mix? You're a cinema expert. You know, I'd like to apologize to the audience. I should have spent some time trying to figure this out. This is clearly a 20-minute thing.

Follow-up pod. There's got to be one. Isn't there an outhouse one where they tip the outhouse over? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I think this would be the peak. That happened to someone I know.

Diarrhea had as Apex Mountain for diarrhea in a movie? Yeah. I think that Modium, some of the other pharma, the companies out there brands really missed out on a chance for a sponsorship deal here. Yeah. I'm going to say, by the way, I've been meaning to ask you, do you think Lamar Jackson should lean in to being the poop quarterback, like, and get those emotium? Leave Lamar alone. That's an apex mountain.

He had cramps and he had to just take some time working out the cramps. And then he let a miraculous comeback. And I believe in him and I'm delighted by the way that the season has unfolded. Never lost faith. Mina, that's our new podcast we're launching on June 12th. It's called Leave Lamar Alone. It's hosted by Mallory, by our song. there's no guess.

It's just her screaming. Leave Lamar alone. Chris O'Dowd for Apex Mountain? Yeah. I would say yes. Memorable performance in Thor the Dark World. Wilson Phillips? Oh, boy. So here, you would say on the surface, no,

because they were really successful in the early 90s to the point that S&L used to parody them and all that stuff. but they have this second life now with this movie that has become this, you know, obscenely rewatchable movie and they're a huge part of the last 10 minutes and it kind of lives on forever. So you can say it's almost like a belated apex mountain or second apex mountain.

They actually have like multiple appearances in the movie because there's the CD in the memory box, the actual performance of the wedding, then you run it back in the credits. Hold on a good song. Hold on. Hold on just a flat out good. pop stuff. And then the only other one I had is Milwaukee, which I feel like Laverne and Shirley was

probably the apex sitcom from the 70s, just because it's so prominently featured in the credits. And they're located there. And that was one of the three most popular shows for like four straight years in a row. So I would say that for that. Okay. Picking Nits. We talked about this, but I guess was Lillian completely out of line for dumping Annie as made of honor? We all think there's something that didn't sit right with that. Here's a tough one. The whole part where Lillian like disappears because they need some conflict at the end,

they need to get Rose Byrne and Kristen Wink together. Like, what the hell is happening in that scene? She can't find her. She's melting down. Then it's like, oh, no, she's in her bedroom. That kind of falls apart. Yeah. Not the best stretch.

She's just kind of making a what's move on face. No, I'm with you on that. The other one I had two, which is interesting because you mentioned that they filmed a Vegas bachelorette scene. The fact that they can't go to Vegas just because the plane is diverted doesn't quite sit with me. Like I understand the plane's diverted, but it feels like Roseburn's really rich. They could have still figured out a way to get to Vegas.

The other one, and this is something that's not at me for nine years now, who buys carrots at a convenience store? It's really weird. Oh, God. Maybe it's a great little, maybe it's a great little like local treasure, a gem, that convenience store. Who knows? Just strange. You mentioned the, the Vegas parts while I'll toss one of mine in there.

I just don't, and I love Vegas. I don't buy that Helen would have been pushing for Vegas. I just don't buy that. That's great. That's a really good point. Yeah, it's Declassette. Yeah. Yeah, she would have wanted to go to like Europe, you know.

No, I would have said to work. She would have gone with. New Orleans and she has a friend who runs a jazz club there and made it super douchey. She knows the owner. You can still gamble if you want. So Helen's husband. Yeah. How rich was this guy and what was his job? Because the house they have in Chicago was like a $120 million house. When you have a driveway that's that long and you have a house and a guest house and all that stuff, but you're in Illinois. which is the third biggest city we have.

So you assume they're in like one of the suburbs, like a Weneca type, whatever. But that house is at least in the time, 2011, like a $50 million house. And this guy owns a business where I get, how did they say somebody worked for him or? Doug works for his, he's, he's Doug's boss. Doug's boss. They never explain what he does. What did he do? It could be finance.

It could be finance if they're in Chicago. But then shouldn't Doug have been much wealthier? Why is she slaving over a $12 workout with Terry Cruz? Well, I think that it's a bit of a, she doesn't, she's pretending at the beginning that she's still on prior part of her life. Okay. You know. All right.

Well, this guy is basically ax and billions for court of that house. Multiple bridges. You got to drive past the second bridge to get to the horse. And then my last one is just. We see Doug at the end. We mentioned how, for some reason, we don't know what happened to his scenes. Do you see Maya Rudolph with Doug? I have how long does their marriage last as one of my unanswerable questions?

More so than a, yeah, than a picking nip. But it's a strange one. It is strange. I love the line of the beginning when the scene with Maya Rudolph and Chris and Bigg when they're at the cafe where she says Doug's been acting weird. He's been calling me dude a lot. That kills me. I love that. Such a great.

Such a great line. But yeah, I don't know. There's also another scene where Megan, Doug's sisters, like, my brother's kind of an asshole. We all know it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And throwaway line too. Yeah. Doug and Megan don't look like at all. That's another weird one. Like where you're like, whoa, you guys are brother and sister. Fucking Dougie. I have a couple tiny picking nits.

Very small ones. Okay. Annie capitalizes a lot of random words in her emails. Why are we capitalizing Lakehouse, folks? Oh, I just, I'm sorry, I'm an editor. I stood out. That's great. That's why Mallory's here for key info.

Yeah. Did not notice that word. The, considering how obsessed Helen is with nailing every single detail of the planning, I think that putting the giant cookie and the chocolate fountain outside. has to be a nitpick because you can't control the elements, right? Especially in Chicago. Exactly. August of Wind comes in and that fondue chocolate fondue fountain is ruined, spoiled for everybody who knows what kind of fibrous elements or leaves or particles are stuck on

the icing of the cookie. And why wasn't Annie's mom in the car with her driving to the shower if her mom was in fact there? They were living together at that point. good question could this be remade as a 10 episode Netflix show my initial reaction was fuck that but then I was kind of like I definitely kind of interesting because we could spend more time with like the oversex wife character and actually get to go into our house for an episode and give me a read a spin off immediately I love it yeah um all right best quote maller you only get

three pick three okay well we've I think we've done all right almost everything on my list already. I know Mina and I share this one. So the Bryn saying at first, I did not know that it was your diary. I thought it was a very sad handwritten book. It's definitely one of my favorite. That's such a savage dunk. I love the bill. You already said it, but the Lillian's line, why can't you just be happy for me and then go home and talk behind my bag like a normal person kills me every time. And I just, I guess I just have to go with. I cracked a blanket in half in the entire speech about how there's semen everywhere. Tremendous.

Best Seamen Everywhere speech probably in a movie. Mina, you have any ones that we left out? Give me two. Things that we've left out. Okay, Megan, one of her very first lines, when she sees the tall man, one of the first guys, or one of the guys who's confused for Annie's boyfriends and says, I'm glad he's single because I'm going to climb that like a tree. Yeah.

Okay. thing that people have since copied, but she originated that. We did a bunch of the John Ham lines from the scene, including, you know, what's up, fuck, buddy,

you call some roadside assistance, you know, that cop talks weird. Take a little lap. That cop talks weird is really good. Yeah. So funny. But the other one,

and this is, again, I think similarly to the Megan line, I'm going to climb them like a tree, the thing that's entered like the cultural lexicon. This is the first time someone has said,

it's called humor, learn about it. That was a good one. It's such a douchy thing to say. I mean, he's amazing. Absolutely amazing. Probably in answerable questions. How did a cop with an Irish accent and up in Milwaukee?

We'll never know. Should Annie have been briefly hospitalized after the wedding shower? I say yes. You guys were more lukewarm on it. I think Andy's just going through the normal ebbs and flows of life. I support Annie. This one's for Mallory specifically. Oh.

You're going to love this. Okay. Which bakery I had made you. the hungriest. As somebody who is the only person I know who routinely orders ice cream and bakery items from postmates. Yeah. I do love dessert.

I was really into the cake that Annie left. I thought the cupcake was beautiful, but the cake that Annie leaves for Nathan, I thought was just delightful. And it's actually one of my unanswerable questions because we see the raccoons feasting on I'm hopeful still, even though we're winding down here, that we're going to get to the Brandy Booth category soon because there are a lot of remarkable animal showings in this film. He says later that he ate the cake

and had to fight off the raccoons. I want to know how many days it was sitting there before he ate it. I'm very concerned. I feel like you're taking the cake right away. Who's turning down a cake? I agree. You don't leave that out there. Also, him leaving it out there is such a show.

Like, come on. I didn't even do the. Brandy booth category because the golden retriever puppies. But okay, the puppies are beautiful. They're fluffy. They're angelic. They're wonderful. But we would be remiss not to mention the raccoons.

What a performance from the raccoons. How about the swans and the rabbit at the shower? Is it a hedgehog that Annie almost hits with her car? There are so many animals in this movie. True. Good animal movie. What, if you could take any prop. or artifact from this movie,

what would you take? Ooh. I'm going to take Annie's mom. I would include a golden retriever puppy if you want to take one of them. Well, as you know, I have a cat and I'm devoted to him fully, though I do love dogs.

I would take the painting of the portrait of Willie Nelson in Annie's mom's home. The dresses are really memorable. The various, I mean, we've really talked about the costume design in this movie, the contrast between, you know, the way Kristen Wigger,

dresses and the way Helen dress. I mean, Helen's outfits are amazing and just conveying so much about the character. And then of course the grand finale of the wedding dress, which is just like this insane confection. Do you have a chainsaw? I mean, the way

they use dresses in this film, like the scene, it's happening. It's at the end of the shit scene when Maya Rudolph literally, she's dressed like this confection and melts onto the street. It's such an amazing act of physical

comedy, but it's really enabled by the fact that she looks so ridiculous, which wedding dresses are ridiculous. Like, as props, they're so underused. And this movie, I'd say it's an, maybe it's not an apex mountain for wedding movies, but it's an apex mountain for the wedding dress as a physical prop and like elements. So you'd like the wedding dress. I just think it's so funny. So that one jumps out to me.

I like John Hamm's car. I know it's corny. That's one of my unanswerable questions. What exactly, what is the source of Ted's wealth? What's up with Ted? In general. Yeah, right. You know, what's Ted's story?

I assume he's like a banker. If Annie was number three, who's number one? Who's number two? There are so many unanswerable questions. I know he's moved on, but I can't help it. Who are number one? No, no. No, no.

Who's number one and number two? What happened? What do you guys think happened between, um, between Annie's mom and Bill? after she set them up there on their little for their little chat. I thought he would show up at the wedding as a callback when they do all the other callbacks.

I mean, the Air Marshal callback is probably the best callback that he's at the wedding with the dogs. But yeah, I thought they'll cause the sandwich. I would take the sink

and put it in like a small bathroom be like, hey, little story about the sink. I think it would be a good conversation started at her party. So remember you was seen in bridesmaids? A plaque next to it, like at a museum, you know, with a quick summation of its cultural relevance. No, the lookaway picture right over the sink.

This movie really made me want a radar gun, too. Or like, I wanted to try it. Like, it looked really fun, trying to point at the license plates and catch you know. You said when you're working on your fastball, you know? Check that Vila. All right. Wait, I have a couple more unanswerable questions quickly. We had, there are so many.

what do you guys think happens between Reda and Becca if the plane if they go to Vegas? Like if they don't have to land early they're hooking off already on the plane. Where does that go? I feel deprived of that storyline personally. Wow.

Nobody else has thought about this. I just, I didn't understand how they got drunk so fast. Oh, God. In like 20 minutes, they're completely hammered and making out. Like, so what was in that cocktail? You know, planes do you get drunker? It's the altitude. right?

I always go for tomato juice on the plane, you know, craving that umami flavor. What's the future of Annie's bakery? Does she reopen it with Nathan? Does she run with the cock baby name? Really lean into the icing there, you know? Wow. I would say the 2010's made it easier for her to have like an online delivery bakery, right?

We've seen a lot of success with that. Postmates is coming in. I think she could have made it. That would actually be, though, a great business. business idea, like a bakery that specifically caters to Bachelorette parties called Cockbaby. The Eclare. Absolutely. It's not hard to reshape that carrot cake into something else in a hurry.

I have been to Bachelor at parties with penis cakes. Raise your hand. No, no one else. And I often have wondered, who made this cake? Like, did you go to a normal bakery? And they're like, oh, yeah, the penis cake, we got, we do this. Or are there specialty bakeries that cater to this business model, the aforementioned? mentioned wedding industrial.

In bigger cities, bigger cities have them, but like Milwaukee, probably that would be a great opportunity. Someone has a business where they put butterflies into invitation boxes, so,

you know, that was funny. No shortage of. My only unanswerable question is one that Annie asks in the movie, which is why is an Irish due to cop in Milwaukee?

But we never know. Never find out. Who won the movie? Melissa McCarthy. Melissa McCarthy. That's what I had, too. I didn't know if that was going to be a controversial pick.

it has to be her, right? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think you can definitely shout out multiple members of the cast and the production. And I think I think Whig certainly merits a nod here, at least not only for being the lead in the film, but the co-writer, you know, everything that happened around the conception of movie making in the wake of the film. But Melissa McCarthy became an icon because of this role. Like, her career skyrocketed. She got nominated for an Oscar. that's amazing.

It's a tough beat for Kristen Wig because she's great in the movie. She's the most important character and she co-wrote it. And you would think on the surface, it's like, oh, she won the movie, but she clearly did it. Melissa McCarthy.

And then the other one is Rose Byrne who just ends up being like the Sammy Watkins of this movie where it's like, yeah, Tyrico, Tyrokel Travis Kelsey and Sammy got 160 yards, but who cares? Because the other two. The, uh, Bill Cosby kind of looks like Andy Reid.

I was actually thinking that. It's funny that you mentioned that. But yeah, Chris and Big is the performance you recognize more in the second, third, whatever viewing. Melissa McCarthy is the one that just knocks your socks off, your, you know, semen-crusted socks off the first time you see it. Yeah, it's the John Belushi Animal House. Like, geez, come away being like, wow, I just want to spend more time with that person.

We never, last thing before we go, how long do Annie and, uh, the Irish cop last? because I'm giving it about two weeks. I didn't really say the chemistry. I think that they relaunch Cockbaby together, give it a real run for a while, lean fully into the rebrand,

and then Annie realizes that she doesn't need him, doesn't need anyone. And then one day when she has earned her first James Beard Award. Ted drives by in another Porsche. She doesn't even give him the time of day.

She's found a piece with her cupcakes. She went to James Beard Award and then gets canceled five years later when video surfaces from the wedding shower online. And then that's it. She has spent the next two years apologizing. If it's Paul Rudd, they're together forever. that's all I'll say. And that's why that was the biggest

miscasting thing in the movie. Well, this is really fun. I'm glad we cracked a blanket in half and did this. Meena Kimes, we can see you on NFL live. And also... I'm sorry.

I keep doing the John Hamm dick face to disrupt this podcast. I've handled it well during the soon. We can listen to your podcast as well. Just search. for Mina Kimes, it will pop up. Mallory, you are still cranking down binge mode, a podcast I've heard of. And I'm sure you will pop up on our NFL properties as we head into an exciting playoffs,

plus the premiere of Leave Lamar alone on January 12th. I'll just be reading my text messages from my father aloud. Thanks for doing this. We will see you next week on the rewatchful.