The Rewatchables - ‘Neighbors’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan

Episode Date: February 23, 2021

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan politely request that the guys at Sigma Nu keep it down as they revisit the 2014 comedy ‘Neighbors,’ starring Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, and Dave Franco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Save at Whole Foods Market. The rewatchables is brought to you by the Ringer podcast network where you can find a slew of awesome podcast coming up. Oh no, Aschews! It is. Neighbors, it's next. Is that a fraternity? Do you guys want to come in? I don't think we should. Who's Batman to you? Christian Bell. Michael Keaton is Batman to me. I'm Batman. No, dude, I'm Batman.

This is what Batman sounds like. It's 4 in the morning. Pull the clubs. You have no idea what you started. A little dramatic. Sorry, my ball just got in your face. Who are we? Are we even now?

Yeah, we're even. Neighbors, Rated R. All right, I'm here with Sean Fantasy and Chris Ryan. We're going to talk about Neighbors, a movie that came out in 2014. You can make the case This is the last funny movie comedy ever I'm going to make the case right now I'm going to give you the last run

of really funny comedies before whatever reason the wheels came up 2010 to 2014 EZA Hot Tub Time Machine Bridesmaids Hall Pass Kind of like that one

Project X 21 Jump Street Ted This is the end The Heat Another one I think is underrated The Other Woman My wife loves that movie

Neighbors into 2014. And then I don't know what happens. I do kind of know what happens, but we follow that up post-2014. Hot tub, Time Machine 2. Ted 2, get hard, neighbors too, which we'll go into later,

is horrendous. Zoolander 2, dirty grandpa, train wreck, snatched, game night, good boys, girls' trip blockers. Do we just blame this on the whole woke thing, Sean? What happened here? No. Yeah, man. Cancel culture, baby.

To cancel culture, room comedies. What happened? Is this like a segment on Hannity? What are we did? No, well, for one, I think, I knew you're going to ask about this. And I know that Chris and I both really love Game Night. So I think Game Night probably gets a little love in the, what's the last great studio comedy, right? That's what you're asking.

Sean and I love Game Night 50% as much as Jacoby loves Project X. Right. Yeah, she's like 30%. Jacobi thinks Project X is better than Citizen Kane. Wait, are we in a safe space right here? I also love Game Night. I had no idea other people love that movie. Game Night's great.

All right. So my thesis is out the window coming out of the gate. I guess Game Night was when comedies died. But, Sean, what happened to comedy's second half of the decade? Well, I think that Neighbors is probably the end of the Aptovian moment, right? It's kind of like, it feels like an acknowledgement that all these guys grew up, you know, that they started families, that they bought homes, that they grew out of the manchild thing. That's what the whole movie's about. And so we moved out of that era.

And studio comedies really had a hard time finding its footing after that. And what it started to do, I think, and Chris made it, I don't know if you agree with this, but you mentioned a bunch of sequels. And comedies just started to act a little bit more like franchise movies. That doesn't mean there weren't franchise comedies before this. But, you know, the idea of like TED2 or, you know, what was the, like, ride-along two? You know, there have been like sequels to movies that you wouldn't think would necessarily get them.

and I think in a way comedies lost their way. It became harder to get people to come to the theaters for them. And this is something that Seth Rogen has observed before. Superhero movies kind of became comedies. Deadpool comes out in 2016.

That movie is basically a comedy in superhero gear. What do you think, Chris? Yeah, I agree with Sean. It's, what's strange to me is that comedy hasn't been able to stake out a place in the movie theater is the way horror movies have.

Like horror movies have continued to find new life in the theater. People reliably are, like, hey, you know what I want to do on a Friday night on a date night is either laugh or get scared. And for some reason, I think people are just like, if I want to laugh, I'll just, binge a show on HBO or I'll watch this new thing on FX or whatever. And a really good example of this is something like what we do in the shadows, which I think is another really good comedy from the last 10 years, but is now, I would argue, even better as an FX half hour

comedy than it is in the theater. So yeah, I agree with you guys that this is sort of like, this is, I don't want to say apex because we'll get to that. But this is the, in the best shape of your life, to borrow a football training camp phrase, in the best shape of your life, Apatow comedy, even though it's not Apatow. I wonder, to me, it reminds me a little bit of what happened with action movies from, you know, we've been doing action movies all year and we're going to continue them, like kind of the arc of action movies, starting with First Blood and 82, and how we had this amazing run, basically to about 97 to about face off that range.

and then it kind of died. And they kind of lost their way and we went toward kind of the Matrix and the Fast and Furious franchise, stuff like that. But this Schwarzenegger-Stalone kind of blueprint of how to do an action movie, it just kind of ran its course.

And everybody, we didn't have the same kind of stars. We'd done all the ideas. And then we kind of had to figure out, all right, now what's next? And then we kind of moved into that taken John Wick kind of modern action movie that's been the last 12 years. the comedy thing, you mentioned the Apatow hour,

which I think is really smart and the right take. It's really 04 to 2014, the R-rated comedy boom. And maybe we ran out of ideas, we ran out of comedians. Like, what was it? I think you're right that there is, it's not cancel culture to me, but I think that there was an increased level of sensitivity to some of the stuff that was happening in those movies.

And so it feels like, and we've talked about this when we talk about old school, we talk about hangover, you know, it's like those movies, They don't, it just doesn't seem like that movie would be made in that way today. So I think that's definitely a factor. I don't know if it's the number one factor. I think a lot of it is just like, look at what happened to movie theaters.

You know, it's just, it's hard to get people to come to theaters. And like Chris said, that emotional experience that you have with a horror movie, for whatever reason, hasn't totally converted. That said, Bill, I remember, you told me that Ben loved Good Boys. And Good Boys is from this same crew of people, the same producers, the same production companies. And it was a hit in theaters. So I'm a little surprised. I do think that there is a lane here, and movies like this could still be successful

if done, if basically if funded by the studios. So I'm still a little confused as to why we don't get more of them. So it seems like there's a quirkier. If you go from 14 on, there's successes, but they're quirkier successes, right? Like I wrote down a couple. I really like everybody wants them. Not a traditional comedy, but we'll end up doing it on the rewatchables this year. Lady Bird, really fucking funny.

Not traditionally funny, like some of these other big budget whatever comedies, but a really, really cool movie. Same thing for Booksmart. You mentioned Game Night. That's another one. That's a weird movie. That's not 40-year-old virgin. I know what this is on the poster. So it's almost like the big budget comedy became something else.

Good. This is probably my favorite of all of those, Chris. And I think that, you know what's weird, too, is that comedy is always viewed as like a stepping stone to something. something else. Like, even the biggest comedic actors of our lifetime, like, whether it's like Eddie Murray or Eddie Murphy or Jim Carrey, there's this expectation that they're going to start there and go somewhere else, that they're going to wind up making eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. Or even if they're making comedies, they have to, like, evolve into something more significant, you know? But I think one thing that's sort of refreshing about Seth Rogan is that he kind of

always does return to this kind of stuff. And a movie that I know Sean and I like a lot, which has its supporters and detractors is long shot, which I think was really his like, it was kind of like a Hail Mary where he was like, I'm going to put like everything into this movie and try to make basically pretty woman and of raunchy comedy at the same time. And it wound up being kind of bloated, but I really, really enjoyed it. And when that kind of fell flat, I was like, maybe people just don't want to watch these movies in theaters anymore. I mean, the one other thing, I think, I think your ladybird point is a good one, Bill, because there were not a lot of movies that had been like that before. And Girls Trip, too, is the same thing. I mean, girls trip was a

massive hit. There had not been a lot of movies like that before. There was an expectation that Tiffany Haddish was going to become basically a Will Ferrell Seth Rogan-esque star. It hasn't totally worked out that way. But I think some of it is just because people just go to TV now, too. They just don't even, they don't even consider trying to make more movies like this. Yeah, it's interesting. Girls' Trip was really successful in how to break out star. I just don't think it's as good as some of the movies that came out. I really think the reason that movie blew up was because Haddish was such a revelation in it. You know, it was almost like her performance. performance was the thing that ignited that thing over the actual movie.

The movie's fine. My wife loved it. I don't know if it has rewatchable's legs, but it's good. I just think bridesmaids is just a start to finish, like better, well-written, all that stuff. The Rogan comedy run coincidentally kind of ends here, and he starts getting way more experimental after this. But, I mean, he did a lot of movies over the stretch. but from 05 to 14, he's a 40-year-old version, knocked up super bad pineapple express, funny people,

this is the end. And neighbors, and it's funny, you mentioned how the Apatau era grows up. And he has the wife and the kid in this movie. He becomes kind of the proxy for this whole era from start to finish, right? Yeah. Chris, you said you love Longshot.

I actually really like that movie too. I think it was too long. Why do you think Rogan stopped doing these type of movie? is after this movie. The interview, honestly. Like, I really do think that, like, well, we haven't really fully unpacked how fucking crazy it was of what happened with that movie. And, you know, what it actually did to, like, a bunch of really important careers

in Hollywood. But I think that after that, he really did pivot away from these kinds of movies and maybe even just sort of, like, tried to lay low a little bit and move a little bit behind the scenes. And, you know, he did this movie American Pickle on HBO Max earlier. And I was kind of thinking, like, oh, I wonder if that's a lot of the movie. going to be the next five to ten years of his career is executive producing, producing with Evan Goldberg, writing stuff here and there, and then doing like smaller movies for streamers.

Because, yeah, the interview really seemed to take some wind out of his sales. So you think he's entering his, what about Bob, Mad Dog, and Glory stage of commerce? Yeah, or maybe like just like the Jamie Moyer, like just throwing a bunch of off-speed stuff, you know, and just kind of try to extend your arm for a couple extra years. I think you can't underestimate that he's the person. producer of the boys. He's actually a very powerful person in Hollywood right now, and his production company is really successful. And so if he's putting more of his energy into that stuff, then there's probably not as much time for him to be starring in these movies, especially if

there is not as much of an audience for them. It seems to be, if the audience isn't there, why not try to just make things that we know that the audience wants? Big picture, would you put him on the Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, all those guys level that of the guys, the guys, I grew up with as just this guy's in a good movie. It's going to be a guaranteed. I know I'm going to go there for two hours or is he level below? I just don't think he has an indelible character, like one of those guys do. Like, I don't think he has a Peter Vinkman or a Fletch. Yeah, he really does play Seth Rogen in every movie. Which isn't to say that Chevy Chase's memory, it's not a bad thing. It just is what it is. Yeah. I'm, that's so interesting. I don't,

I don't know if that's necessarily, maybe that doesn't make him like a comedy icon, but weirdly, him a movie icon. I think the character he plays and knocked up basically sets the template for the kind of dude he's going to be. And you're right, he is kind of that dude every time. He's not, he has shown some dramatic chops in like Steve Jobs. But for the most part, he's playing a version of that that man-child cliche that was written about when those movies first came along. But he is pretty reliable. I mean, I feel like he's like seven or eight out of ten of his movies are real good. And that's, that's uncommon for comedies. You guys know like comedies are pretty hit and miss. I would say his floor is really high too, because I really like,

it's funny that we're doing neighbors because just a couple of months ago around Christmas, I watched a bunch of his movies again. I watched this is the end and this. And I watched like the night before, which is an okay movie. But in comparison to like the comedies of the last five or six years is top 20. I don't know. Like top 15 comedy of the last five or six years, which at the time, you wouldn't necessarily think of it. But when you go back and watch it, you're like, this is hysterical. Like Michael Shannon in this movie is really funny. And, And I wish more movies like that came out now. Would you put him in that class, Bill, with those guys?

No, I think he's on a level slightly below with Ben Stiller and people like that. And the Ben Stiller thing is very similar to me, where he's this really funny, really smart, savvy picker of scripts, somebody that can innovate within the movie. But you kind of, you know, he's basically Ben Stiller in every movie. And I think he sensed that. And that's why he tried to break out of that and try to do some different. stuff. I just really like Seth Rogen. My favorite Seth Rogen performance, weirdly, is funny people, which I think is the most flawed of all the great movies he's been in for great comedies, where the movie just is going in nine different directions. But I think the first

like hour five of that movie is the best hour that Apatous had in his career. And Rogan's really good in it. The connection he has was Sandler. I just think he's a good actor. And even in this movie, Neighbors, the way he clicks with Rose Byrne is what makes this movie special. They're just really good as a couple. I really believe that they're married and just the quirkiness of their relationship, I believe. So yeah, I would put him on the second level with the Ben Stiller people. So you touch on something there because you're talking about funny people going on all these different directions. And it really just speak to one of the reasons why I think Neighbors is so good is it's so lean. It's, it really is about two things. It's two plots converging. And it just does not

waste a lot of time on like what Ike Barronholz's career might be or something like that. It's in funny people, there's just all these different like, like sort of amusing, but unnecessary, largely seemingly improv scenes that go in a bunch of different directions. And Neighbors is just like so point A to point B that I think it keeps it really, like refreshing to watch every couple of years. Couldn't agree more. It's like an hour 38, hour 39, something like that. The first 25 minutes are like unassailable.

Just every decision is perfect. It's even hard to pick rewatchable scenes out of the first 25 minutes are just lights out great from every moment of it is just like perfect. And, you know, I don't feel like it gets fat. Makes a couple like kind of goofy decisions, but it keeps going and keeps going. And I think that's why one of the reasons it's been so rewatchable over the last few years. You just jump in. You know what you're getting.

It's one of those movies, too, that unlike, you know, some of the more slightly serious-minded movies from the Apatau time, it is just a gag machine. But it's also still about something that most people experience, you know, with the kind of like coming of age when you get out of college and the coming of age when you start a family by a house. Those are two very, like, real thing. I think it's a very relatable movie for a lot of people. But it's still a movie in which, like, airbags are exploding and shooting people into the roof, you know? Like, it's still a really, it's a really high-end, super funny goofball comedy. I was watching this interview that Rogan was giving. I can't remember for what he was promoting, but it was like on this YouTube series called Off-Cameral show.

And he was talking about something that Amy Pascal had told him that Robert Town had told her. That was basically, like, you bring people in with plot and you give them story. It was talking about, like, the difference between plot and story. and he's really, really, really good at this. Like, Neighbors is a really good example of what a good writer he is. I know he doesn't get credit on the script, but you have to imagine that he and Goldberg did a lot of work on it,

is that, you know, you bring it in and it's like, frat war is the plot. It's like, will they defeat the frat is the plot? But the story is when will these people grow up and be okay with that? And he, over and over again, like, his best movies are ones that just do that very, very well. That, like, have, like,

they actually are about something, even though sometimes what they're about is repeated in several different movies which is essentially like the man child growing up but this is like a really effective version of that. Yeah, that piece and then what they do with the frat where they're really subtly making fun of the whole frat thing but they're taking advantage

of all the funny comedy parts of it but there's all these subtle ways that they're just ripping on how dumb frats are but you almost don't even know it as you're watching it. It's weirdly sympathetic though too. You know, it's like these guys who think that this is what they're supposed to do when they go to college and then they get to the end of this experience and they're like, how did I just spend my time? Now what am I supposed

to do? Who am I? Like there are a couple of moments between Dave Franco and Zach Efron where you're like, this is kind of emotional? They're kind of tapping into something here. Well, the other thing, it's perfectly cast. Rose Byron and Seth Rogan are great as a couple. I just love them together. Ike Barronhaus is fantastic. And then the four people running the frat, they went four for four. Like they brought McLevin back. He's grown up. So you got the stunt casting thing.

Gerard Carmichael's great. Yeah. Dave Franco's great. This was the movie. I think that put him on the map. And then this is the best Ephron we've ever had, which I guess we should talk about after we take this quick break. This podcast is brought to you by Carvana.

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Comfort in. It's calling your name. Save on the stay. Oh, and free waffles are. are yours to claim. Book direct at Storiesville tales.com. So, Efron,

if you watched only this movie, you were on the castaway island with Tom Hanks for 20 years and you came back. And then you were like, hey, here's five movies. And you watch this one. You'd be like,

was Zach Ephraim like one of the biggest stars in the world? You would come out of it being like, so he did a lot of stuff, right? Did he become the new Mission Impossible guy? Right. Is he in Top Gun 2? Right. Yeah.

He's Tom Cruise now, right? That's just how it played out for him. you're like, no, this is actually probably the peak of his career other than the three high school musical things. Now, he's a lot of storied issues with him behind the scenes. But I do watch this movie and think like this guy could have been 21st century Tom Cruise. He could have been in action movies. Unlike Cruz had the ability to be in a movie like this and be really funny and to go toe to toe with people like Seth Rogan. And it just kind of bums me out because I wish, I feel like he could have been in five to six more.

great movies like this one. Does that make sense? Yeah, it's like opportunity. It's about what choices you make in terms of the movies that you make. Like he did go for more movies like this. He made the Baywatch movie. The Baywatch movie was supposed to be a movie like this. You know, it was a big broad comedy, studio movie, big cast.

He was the star, essentially, along with The Rock. It was horrendous. It just didn't work. It's just not a good movie. It's not funny. And so if you make that choice three or four years later after neighbors and you don't capitalize on it, all of a sudden, Maybe you don't get another shot in a movie like this.

Chris, what do you think? I know you're in the Ephron hive kind of secretly. I know, I like him. But he's one of those people where I wonder if we just, if our idea of success and what a career should look like is just totally different for someone of his generational age. Because like he does do all these things where he's like, I've made a travel show or like kind of like,

he's like, didn't he make like a Bear Grills type like survival show, like outdoor survival show or did he just appear on Bear Grills? And then he made a travel show. He does a quirky YouTube channel. He does all this YouTube stuff. And I just kind of wonder whether or not, you know, the kind of thing that we want for him is not something that really exists. It doesn't seem to even exist for like Channing Tatum anymore.

You know what I mean? And that would be another person who I would kind of compare Ephron to who like emerges out of this kind of like child star factory. He can kind of sing. He can dance. He can do comedy. He can do drama. He's a heart throb. And Channing Tatum makes magic mic.

And I'm like, I'm going to see a Channing Tatum movie every two years. and it's going to be awesome. And he's just kind of vanished for the last few years and I don't really know what's up with him. Same thing goes for Efron. I know he's had some personal stuff,

but it is, I wonder whether we're just not doing those kinds of movies anymore or that those kinds of guys aren't being, there's not a premium placed on them. Or on the flip side, you look at, I think Cruz is a really good comparison.

Cruz had an incredible sense of how to build a career starting in the early 80s. He's like, I'm going to work with the best directors possible. And then I'm going to do some one for me movies like Cocktail to make some money. And I'm going to go kind of waffle back and forth between those two things. I'm always going to be working. But I'm still going to make sure I work with Scorsese and Cameron Crow and Oliver Stone.

And I'm going to check Zach Efron, maybe this era of celebrities and actors, they just don't think the same way. Cruz, I think, always wanted to build a career. I don't know if Zach Ephron did. So to me, his role model should have been Mark Wahlberg. Because Mark Wahlberg basically does everything. I don't think anyone thinks he's the best at anything, but he makes every kind of movie. He makes broad comedies. He makes action movies.

He makes prestige drama films. He is extremely flexible. He's extremely well known. He has basically a very similar kind of teeny bopper pop music background. You know, he had to kind of transcend being the younger brother of a new kid on the block, being in Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He had all that stuff, and he basically flipped it. And he turned himself into one of the, I don't know,

one of the 20 most bankable people in Hollywood. And Efron- Well, that started in the late 90s. Think about like he knew he wanted to do that basically after boogie nights. And I don't know, that's its own kind of DNA trade for an actor. Yeah, and you also have to want to produce your own stuff there. I mean, I think that the thing that Walberg does is he probably takes control of the material at an earlier point in the creative process than somebody like Efron is either allowed to

were as interested. It's kind of unbelievable that Ephron doesn't have his own version of shooter, that Mark Wahlberg movie. He used to be the best. Like somehow Ryan Felipe has moved into that world and he's grabbing those kind of discount Mark Wahlberg rolls. It's like, where's Zach Ephron? Can't somebody have murdered his wife five years ago and he got out of the business, but there's one last deal to make? I wonder what the, what the next 10 years for him looks like. Because he feels like somebody who should probably go be like the lost Dutton Sun on Yellowstone returned. You know what I mean?

Like he should do a prestige limited series kind of run just to kind of like get back in the mix. But I'm not really sure what goes next for him. Well, remember, Sean, what was that romcom he made with Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller where it was like, all these people, this would be awesome. That awkward moment. It just wasn't good.

It should have been good. I don't know what happened. It's like, um, you got, have a basketball analogy for that, where you've got a team that's got like three elite prospects and they never put it together and then those guys go off on other teams and they go off to do great shit? Like, I don't, what, the 2019 Celtics? Well, could be. Could be. Did you guys see him as Ted Bundy in that movie last year? No, I thought he was. He was good. I thought he was good. Yeah, I like Sean that you thought there was a possibility that Bill hadn't seen him as Ted Bundy. Yeah. It's a good point.

All right, skip that one. Yeah. Didn't watch that Ted Bundy one. No, you remember. the story. We were at Sundance and Kyle and I stayed in the place and we watched Ted Bundy for five hours over going to see Sundance movies. I was like, I'm seeing this this weekend. It's Ted Bundy. I got to. But yeah, he was good. This is why he's worth the conversation

though. I really do think he's a uniquely he brings a set of skills that are very unique and Walberg is a comparison. Cruz is a comparison. But like when Walberg tried to do comedy, I never 100% bought it. I didn't like love him and what was the other guys?

I liked him and other guys. You did? Yeah. I mean, I think it depends on it. I never totally bought it with him. Wahlberg is like as good as the material he's working with is. You know, like... I think there's one big difference.

And tell me if you guys agree with this. With Walberg, one of the reasons I think it's funny is that I never think he's in on the joke. I think he's like, he doesn't really get it. And that makes... This TED movie is pretty serious. There's really a bear there. Whereas Ephron, I feel like is too in on the joke.

And even playing Ted Bundy is the most like... Like, get it, this is me subverting my pretty boy good looks by playing a serial killer. And it's like, it's almost overthinking it in a way. I don't know. I mean, it's possible that that's not necessarily exactly why he hasn't quite taken off as a performer. But that is the subtle difference, I think, between people who are like, Tom Cruz. You know, Tom Cruise, he never does anything that indicates self-awareness. He's like, I'm Tom Cruise.

I'm at the center of your life. Deal with it. Well, I got to know, Zach Ephron, when the high school musicals stuff started taking off. in 07, my daughter was like three. And watching those, and one of the takeaways was like, man, some of these people are really talented on this. It wasn't just like garbage, you know, movie making.

It was, he was really good, and Vanessa Hutchins was really good. And it was, I remember thinking at the time, like, I would buy stock in these two people. I feel like there's real careers to be had. Sean went all in on Ashley Tisdale. Sean lost a lot of Tisdale. It's a bad beat.

What was that show she had on the CW? Wildcats or something, that was C.R.'s favorite show. He would text me still from that show. It was like a cheerleading show. Remember that, Chris? Yeah. I'm still holding on my Zach F. Frontstock. I think what he does in this movie is... Did you watch his travel show on Netflix? I didn't. Was it good? It's unique. I think I wouldn't call it the... He's not like taking Anthony Bourdain's spot anytime soon, but it was interesting. Is it like a Jacques Cousteau kind of thing? No, it's like him and he's just like on the road and he's like, trying to find his roots and then he'll just go to like Italy and be like, oh my God, pasta's amazing.

You guys have never even tried it until you've had it like hand-rolled by a 90-year-old woman. When will you give Chris a travel show, Bill? Isn't it time for Chris to have his own travel show? Pretty soon. He'd probably just travel Pennsylvania, though. Various parts. Amish country. That's right. I don't think we can overstate how famous he was from the high school musical stuff at an age where that might mess you up a little bit too. That was probably the last time I remember pre-social media era, something blowing up like that. And it was tabloidy too because he was in the relationship with Vanessa Hudgens.

Oh yeah. It was like us weeklyish as well. It was that and the twilight, I feel like we're the last two things where was kind of the old school version of how people blow up. Now it's like people can blow up in five seconds on TikTok. So this movie was directed by Nicholas Stoller who did a bunch of good stuff, including forgetting Sarah Marshall and he's always up to stuff. I think this is the best directed movie he did. This movie's really well directed. It's got it's got a couple scenes, especially in the frat house. They're just high level. Written by Andrew Cohen and Brennan O'Brien. $18 million budget made $270.5 million grossed $49 million in its opening weekend. Third highest

U.S. opening for a non-sequal R-rated comedy. But it's wild to think about the fact that Seth Rogen, by this point had already made super bad and knocked up, right? And he has to take like a pay cut to get neighbors made. Him and Zach Efron had to like cut their rates to get this movie made. And this is not exactly like scenes from my marriage. You know what I mean? Like there, this is where Hollywood is at in 2014. And I'm sure now where you're like, if you guys want to make a blockbuster comedy, you still have to work at like scale or whatever. Yeah, it's weird because there had been a lot of proven success movies. at this point over the last 10 years

that could have said if this works out. I remember hearing about it and thinking it was a remake of the Belushi Akroyd famous bomb. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That just has been well documented in the Belushi documentary in the book and stuff like that, where they made the fatal

mistake of having Belushi as the laid back guy and Acroyd as the crazy guy. I'll still never understand why they did that. This was not that, though. No review from Roger Ebert, I think he was gone by the time they made this movie. So let's do the categories. Most rewatchable scene.

I'm not going to put the opening scene as the most rewatchable scene just because it's Seth Rogen having sex. But it is really funny and effective opening. I'm going to go here for Most Rewatchable. I really like when we get Ike Barronholz introduced in the office and they go outside and they're smoking a joint and talking about possible prints. concert and bring the baby with you and Seth Rugg, it's like, we could bring the baby.

It's like the door to a whole new life and just Barrett Holt's talking about Grindr. See, we missed out on the whole kind of sex tech bubble. You know what I mean? Now they got sex book and fuck friends and there's this thing called Grindr

which is just your phone beeps when there's someone horny near you. It's kind of amazing. So mostly guys but I'm going to find a girl pretty soon. He's really good in this movie. We'll get to him. I like the meeting and the neighbor scene that morphs into the history of frat inventions

where we get the Lonely Island little cameo, uncredited. Workaholics too, yeah. Delta Si is simply responsible for the most epic party moments in history. Gentlemen, take a look at the wall. Travel back in time with me to 1930. Delta 7.

puts on a production of Julius Caesar. A girl in the audience unexpectedly hands one of our brothers a beer. And after that one fateful sip, the Toga Party is born! Hold that damn steady, did. The year's 1971. The US plays red china, ping pong. Meanwhile, back at Delta side. Our brothers play a little ping pong of their own.

An errant ball lands in a brother's beer. And he just... Just drinks it. Doing the keep it down stuff. The marriage, everything the couple is just dead on these first 25 minutes. The scene where they show up for the first party and then get sucked in, all of a sudden, Rogan's got a shirt off. That's probably my favorite scene. It's short, but I love the Robert De Niro party.

I could have spent more time with it. What are you wearing? What are you doing? We're throwing a Robert De Niro party. Oh. Should be pretty fucking loud. It's probably gonna go pretty fucking late, too. I'm a taxi driver, De Niro.

Yeah, I meet the fuck as De Niro. I'm watching you. I'm watching you. Who painted that mole on your face? Did you do that yourself? Yes, I did. Yes, I did, fucker. Who are you?

Oh, I'm Sam Jackson, you know, from Jackie Brown. Hula! Huah! That's Al-Mashita. That's not even, yeah. Sent him a woman? Hula. There's no.

There's no consistency here. You're all over the place with your references. You're upset and jinxy cat. Just stop doing this stupid shit. We're sorry. Yeah. The, uh, him with the taxi driver with the Mohawk. Franco doing Fokker's Denaro, but like really well.

Very good. Carmichael and Sam Jackson, he's just at a different party base. And then they just all start going, hooah! Really good stuff. The Rogan, and Ike and his wife and Rose Byrne,

they all try to make peace at the party and she's trying to get Franco to hook up with Zach Ephron's girlfriend. That whole thing's really good. The hungover breastfeeding is short but has some great lines. Like there's alcohol in there. It's like a wet rush.

We should go mom tipping later. That was utterly traumatic. All that. That's like my comedy wheelhouse. I like the fake you're off probation letter with the party invites followed by the crazy hotbox party in just that whole five minutes.

And then the last scene with Rogan and Ephron at the Abercrombie of Fitch is really funny that they did that. And apparently some of it was improvised. Sean, favorite scene? Going to the first party and then getting sucked in and getting high. My favorite part of the movie, by far,

is who's Batman to you? And the conversation they have. Where is she? And as soon as Ephron starts doing the Bail Batman, I was like, this movie is unreal. It's on another level. That's a perfect explanation of how equal and apart these two guys are. They have different Batman.

That's so funny. Hey, who's Batman to you? Like, when you think of Batman, who's Batman? Are you kidding me? Christian Bell. Christian Bell. Michael Keaton is Batman to me. Where is he?

Michael, Michael Keaton's Batman. I'm just like, hey, I'm Batman. No, hey, I'm Batman. No, dude, no, I'm Batman. This is what Batman sounds like. I'm churning on it. No, I'm kidding. I don't know, bad man.

We actually met in college. Yeah. What about you, Chris? I agree. I think it's got to be the first party. I think starting with keep it down. Yeah, keep it down. And we say, by the way, keep it down.

Exactly. Well, we won't say like that. No, of course not. I'll say it. Like, we'll just, you know, keep it down. Just do what you're doing a little weird. Do it again. Yeah, like, I'll throw it away.

Just like, you know, you can just keep it down. No, just. say adorable. It's an important key phrase here. Okay, watch. I'm just going to do it like this. Keep it down. The way that they run that line like 15 times and I think that

I have some mixed feelings about like the way improv changed movie comedies. Like I kind of wonder whether or not that it also killed like good comedy script writing and the idea of like I'm just pulling in one out like at random but like

just something that's really like tightly written like something like city slickers or something like that where it's just like we're just going to do a really good job with like a first second and third act and like all these characters are going to have these different beats and this is just but you can tell that Zach Efron and Rose Byrne can actually hang with the improv nature of this and like keep it down is definitely just like they're just letting the cameras run and Rose Byrne is just doing little bits it's just hysterical so yeah that through the first party wait can we quickly just go back to so Chris wants to burn every UCB

be to the ground so they'll make city sickers city slickers three i want to bring back loolgans and babaloo mando where are those guys i also was going to make fun of chris for bemoaning the old days with scripts this ad litre shit get the fuck out of here jenn appet but you guys want to know why these movies turn into like two hour and 35 minutes like showcases for random performers and it's like because they're not written you've quote so far you've quoted robert town and you've shouted out uh bobalu Gans. And you want to talk about Billy Wilder now? Oh my God.

I mean, it is true because when they're ad-libbing and then the whole crew is laughing and then the director feels like, we got to keep that in. You can't take that out. And now the movie's two hours and ten minutes. What's age the best? The couple's chemistry mentioned it a little bit earlier. Really, really good. Really could have gone wrong in the wrong hands.

And I think sometimes this seems to happen with some of these movies where you have the trained actor who's not typically the type of person who would be in a movie like this and those are often the best people to be in a movie like this. And she, we already knew it from bridesmaids. And when we did the bridesmaids pod and the research, they just didn't know Rose Byrne could do stuff like that, which I always enjoy in the research of this when they're just completely flustered that somebody, could throw this pitch in their baseball arsenal. I wanted to ask you guys, do you think she is the most versatile actor of her generation?

She has been in every kind of movie. Seriously. Serious dramas, superhero movies, broad comedies, she's done TV. Like, she's done everything, and she's always good. If you told me like, when you first watched damages and you're like, this

person is also going to be in a Seth Rogen comedy, I would not have believed you. She was really good in Miss America. I'm with you. I think she's, we always say somebody's underrated probably too often on this podcast. But I really think she's underrated. I think her body of work,

she has the most versatility. And it's interesting. Some other actresses, I think, have tried to pull off stuff like this. Like Nicole Kidman, she was in the Adamson, the Hawaii movie, trying to be this crazy comedy actor,

but it always feels like they're trying. Whereas I feel like Rose Byrne could really do this. Like, there's a whole world where she could have just made comedies. Another one stage the best. The stunt casting of McLevin. Christopher Mintz-Ploss. I was fired up to see him again because you don't want to just be McLevin your whole life.

Now he's got the second thing. It was good. I like he was a little heavier, a little grown out, looked a little older. It looked like he had some baggage. He's good and this is the end too. Yeah. I feel like this was a makeup for McLevin for him. Seth was like, I've saddled you with McLevin, so here's what you're going to be a frack guy with a huge dick who gets to have sex with this woman in the movie.

It feels like literally like I'm going to break the spell of McLevin for you. Well, speaking of boners, Dave Franco's intentional boners in this movie are so fucking funny. It's a top five segue right there. Thank you. He does it, I think, three times in the movie where he just kind of gets this faraway look at his face. the first time he does it first of all I think it was like two months ago

my son somehow hadn't seen this movie and we're looking for a movie to watch because it's the pandemic and this is really all we do unless sports is on and I was like oh if you see neighbors he's like no and we watch this and right around the first intentional boner he was just like

I can't believe you haven't shown me this movie like he was actually like angry it was all the things he likes in a movie so it's to say we bought it and he's watched a bunch of times since. The opening scene when he says, I'm taking it to Bonertown, bitch. She's like, don't call me bitch.

That whole thing kills me, Bonertown. The airbag gimmick is hilarious. I really like the soundtrack. I think sometimes with these comedies, the soundtracks have been essential. The hangover was like that too, where they just kind of nail the songs, especially because you have this frat party,

all the musical choices were really good. Anything else stage the best for you, Sean? Music is just such a little moment in time where it's like Missy Elliott, Flo Rida, Kesha, like, icon of pop. It was all of those acts between 2008 and 2015 that like were pop music. Yeah, they seem to be on at any gathering of more than 20 people. Exactly. Yeah.

It's really smart. Craig is, Craig is weighing in with a Flowrida bangs comment here, guys. Craig, do you think Flowrida is better than Bob Dylan? On a sale way. I can't. This is the first pot. I was just expecting Craig to just join just to be like, hey guys, I'm barging in.

Any other would say it's the best for you, Chris? Yeah, Roseburn's accent. Let people speak in their natural, like, great accent. Couldn't agree more. I don't really care. Like, if you meet somebody in their Australian, aren't you just like, cool, what's up? You're not like, how did you get here?

What is the math on how you arrived at this scenario? It's like, no, that's just an Australian person. I guarantee you. she's funnier in this movie because she didn't have to worry about her accent. It also leads to one of the best jokes in the movie when she thinks the Lisa Kudrow character's name is Dean. And she doesn't realize that we call them deans and not chancellors in this country. There's also the whole part where he's like pretty soon her first words are going to be cunt.

He's like you got to relax. Yeah, it's such an easy thing to account for in a movie. You just have to have one character reference it once. But like Jeff Chow, like one of the people that runs the ring with us, like his wife is British. when I met her, I wasn't like, oh my God, you're British. Where'd you come from? But we bring in all these British actors,

and they were like, yeah, now speak in this completely like muted, weird, strained American accent. And they're usually pretty good at it. But it's just like, I wonder if Rose Byrne was able to tap into that much more of an ability to improv because she wasn't like, I have to speak like this. They're the what's age the best for me,

Seth Rogen and Roseburn. We'll do what's age of worse one second, taking a break. What's age the worst? They have that sex scene when the frat guys are watching through the window and it's just a lot of Seth Rogen's body. I just kind of wish a football jersey had been on or something. I'm never prepared for it every time I watch it. You want it to be like Dennis Larian rescue me where he's always having sex with a t-shirt on?

Yeah, please. Wait, you're saying Seth Rogen's body age the worst? No, I just, just the decision. I just would have thrown a football jersey on him. Another one's age the worst. What football jersey? I don't know. A big Eagles jersey.

Carson Wentz. Future Carson Wentz. Another one's age the worst. Neighbors 2 is horrible. Because we watched Neighbors 1 and my son was like, now we got to watch Neighbors 2. And I'm like, I think that movie was terrible. I saw it once. I remember it being awfully.

No, no, no. We're getting it. We're getting it. And we watched it. And we argued about it. And I'm like, I'm telling you it's bad. No, no. we're going to watch it.

30 minutes. He's like, Dad, this sucks. Why don't you tell me? It's awful. It's hard to believe it was only two years after neighbor. I can't really remember a bigger drop off from one to two with a shorter year span. Usually if you have the bad sequel, it's like, you know, Fletch lives five years after.

We got it together to get back together. Yeah, another 48 hours, eight years later where it's like Keo turns out to be the Iceman. You're like, oh my God, why do we do this? This one, it's like it was right after. It was the easiest sequel ever. It was a sorority. They flipped it. Deep 48 hours cut.

That was great. Thank you. Fucking Keough. Frank Cruz is all of it bothers me. But I don't know how they fucked it up this bad. It was all the same people. It was Nicholas Stoller. And it's awful.

What happened, Sean? I have no idea. Same writers. Same director. Same stars. Same gimmick. I don't know. Sometimes you just don't need a second one.

That's what I was saying before. This whole 10-year period, there were so many, like, let's just try it and run. run back and see if we can do it again. It rarely works. I don't know why they made that movie. Because if you watch it, it looks like the Chloe Grace Moretz movie is they shot that. And then they also shot the Seth Rogen and Roseburn movie and then just kind of like put them together.

Very possible. Another one's age the worst. This is from like six years from now when when this movie gets canceled because of the fraternity hazing. I don't think it's going to be there yet. But like in 2007, somebody is going to. say how the as-juice character triggered something

and then the movie's going to be canceled. I know it's going to happen. I honestly don't think that this movie is going to have the cultural footprint to have that kind of influence. I'm telling you, somebody's going to write a 3,000-word think piece about as-juice and it's just going to be over. Why don't do it on the ringer? Yeah, I'll just do it now.

I'll write it. I'll write it. Chris, you write it. Yeah, I'm going to be like... Ast-juice, yeah, woke me up to the... to the sleep that I was in. Why didn't neighbors spend more time on ass juice and all the things that were happening with him. Did you emotionally relate to

ass juice at all in this film? Did you see yourself in him? Yeah. Yeah, that was just like, finally, I feel seed. What about ass juice by Chris Ryan? This week on the answer. There was one thing that that did get did make me go, oh my God. Ike says the N-word when he's doing the Obama impersonation. That was like, even in 2014, that was kind of a no-go. I'm surprised they did that. It's actually legitimately shocking. Yeah, it's a really bad decision. Anyway, any other what's Asia Wars for you guys? Yeah, you covered mine. I mean, I honestly, like, this movie gets away with a lot because it moves so fast and because it's so, it's so lean. Chris, is what about Asgeuse going to be a narrative podcast or just a feature, you think? Yeah, I'm going to get Sarah Koenig to

voice it for me. Okay, good. Good idea. Casting what ifs couldn't really find any other than Nick Offerman and Megan Malali. They were in it, but they got cut out. A couple in a final cut out. Yeah. They were supposed to be Christopher Mince Plas' parents. So, again, tight lean movie. They were like, fuck it.

This scene's out. Best That guy, aka the Joey Pants Award. Who? Seth Rogen's boss. Brian Husky. Kind of the ball guy, Brian, Bill Husky. or Brian Husky? Brian Husky. He's that guy.

Yeah. Same with Lisa Kakowski, who's the real estate agent. They're both really funny. Yeah. Who would you give it? We can go, Lucaskeowski is a good one too.

I should have that one. Is Natasha Legerro of that gal? No. She's Natasha Lazzero. She's Natasha Lizarro? Okay. Yeah. Vincent Hanna,

give me all you got a word for overacting. What do you guys think for this? Is it Carla Gallo? She's kind of old. doing that, but it's pretty much always funny. What's up with that? Yeah, that's just her move. You're right.

She did do that. When she calls in for the Zoom, you got to do the Pris concert. She's definitely dialing it up. Are you want to call a Carly Gallo now, Chris? Me? Yeah. You've canceled UCB. You've canceled neighbors.

No, I'm not. Does Carla Gallo need writers? Why can't Robert Town write the great Carly Gallo movie? Bob, one more. Drop that Chinatown series. The D-N. Waiters Award... This is... Drat Carmichael is...

Drogeligible, he's in the movie... Ineligible, okay. There's a lot of candidates for this. I think, Ineligible? I think ineligible. Ineligible. The scene when he's talking about... When they're making fun about his wife

was with some guy who had a huge dick, and he's like, I get it! Her vagina is ruined! Like, that whole thing fucking kills me. He's great in this movie. He's so funny. What? What are those childs is having sex with your wife? It's fine.

We're divorced. Jimmy, wake up. Wake up, man. His dick is this big. Hey, honey. I'm going to fuck you have him, a junk dick. Oh, my God, honey. Oh, my God, honey.

It feels so good, honey. Oh, my God. It feels so good, honey. Oh, honey. Oh, honey. Oh, honey. Okay, enough. Stop imitating.

I get it. He's got a huge dick. And her vagina? Bye. It's ruined. Gone. It's like when you lend a fat friend to shirt and it comes back.

and it's all stretchy and flappy. Sanging all over the place. Before we move on from Mike Barronholds, can I just especially shout out because I rewatched it recently, how fucking funny he is in Eastbound and down. He's funny and everything. Ivan Heschenko, yeah.

I feel like he's a Grantland Ringer, like, All-Star. Yeah. I just like that dude and everything he does. Kudos to him. I should have put him in one stage the best. All right, so we'll go Lisa Kudrow as a nominee. How I run this place is I think about the headlines. It's just really funny.

Speaking of cancel culture. Yeah. Hannibal Burris is the cop. Anybody else you have? Yeah, I got one. I understand that I'm biased, but Mansookas, in 20 seconds, I cry, laugh every single time. Your baby has HIV. It's how this could have gone.

your baby has HIV is how bad this could have gone the condom was unused I never don't laugh at that conceit for a joke of like is what I would say but his

his delivery and then Rose Burns reaction just be like what the fuck is wrong with him? Yeah that could have gone longer all right Sean who wins Wait, no Randall Parklove for the guy at the job there. The AT&T, we're a telecommunications company. He's like, you're too dumb.

It's a good one. It's a good scene. I would go, I'm going, I'm going Manzukas. Thank you. I'm going Lisa Kudra. Manzukas wins a day. She's really good. I like that.

I just like Lisa Kudrow and sometimes you just play Phoebe in a couple of movies and just give me Phoebe again. She's basically playing Phoebe as a dean. Recasting couch. I didn't have. anything for this. I actually really like the way this movie's cast. The only one I was on the fringe for was

the one we mentioned Carla Gall. I don't think that there was anybody else who was going to be up for the Dave Franco role, but it's an interesting thing to talk about because Seth Rogan really pushed for him to get it. He wanted him to be in something else previously. I can't remember what that was.

I think they weren't able to use him in that, yeah. So they cut him out of that. And he's phenomenal in this movie. He's really funny. and he's also, it's a little bit of that like Dustin Hoffman and Bancroft and the graduate thing. Like he was like in his 30s when they made this movie. He's like only five years or maybe late 20s.

He's only like five years younger than Seth Rogan. And you buy him the whole time as a 20 year old in a frat house. Halfass internet research. Story was originally about Rogan's character and students in a frat. Too similar to old school. They changed it to him and his wife. so the wife initially wasn't in it, and then they blew it out.

It was Rogan's wife's suggestion that they make this more about it. Smart. Yeah. Because she makes the movie. The two houses used in the film are situated in the West Adams district of Los Angeles.

Road trip, Chris? Yeah, let's go. Film was originally called Townies. Change it to neighbors. You mentioned the pay cuts thing. The first scene when they're having sex... You keep going back to this. well they noticed the baby kept looking around

they turned the baby around and that was going to be the scene and the baby kept turning around to look at them so that's they ad lib the whole thing but the baby somehow a baby pulled off and ad lib unlike you the baby liked Seth's body right I don't like my own body the final scene was

completely improvised they just were like all right show up and go did they shoot that at the groove It seems like, I thought it was that, you thought it was the Grove, I thought it was like Hollywood Boulevard. I thought it was like that, you know,

that open outdoor area at the Grove. I couldn't confirm this, but apparently Ephron broke his hand during the fight scene with Dave Franco and they fixed it. And it seemed, feel like I don't know how you don't have a cast if you broke your hand.

So that's really half-assed. I don't know if that's true. I tried to figure out, I went on Ephron's Wikipedia to figure out what he was going through and whether it collided. with the movie. He did seek treatment in early 2013.

Apparently has been sober since June 2013. But then it says in November 2013, Efron had to have his jaw wired shut after breaking him to fall at home. In March 2014, Efron engaged in a fight with a homeless man in Skid Row. Law enforcement officials do not make any arrests. This is on his Wikipedia page.

I don't know what was going on with him during this stretch, but I'm not sure it was great. Apex Mountain. Seth Rogen, no. Right? No? Maybe. Well, it's the last...

No, but I guess like Super Bad and Knocked Up Arrow would be bigger. But this is a pretty... To make a $200 million movie off of an $18 million budget where a year of the star is pretty big. Plus it sets up... Maybe this was Apex Mountain because he does sausage party two years later, which is a movie you can't get made unless you're a giant star.

Man, this is tricky, right? Because I feel like Pineapple Express was when he was at the height of his, like, clout. His quail. I can get anything done, Cloud. Because he got to be in the Green Hornet a couple of years later. And that didn't turn out well. But like the idea of someone like Seth being the star of a superhero movie was like mind-blowing at the time. So it kind of feels like that first phase of knocked up super bad.

Pineapple Express all being hits in a row was kind of his apex. It also seems like they make this. It's a huge hit and they use this clout. Maybe this isn't true. Maybe they had already had this plan beforehand, but they used the clout. They get off of this to make the interview. Yep. Right?

Yeah. I think Sean, do you like the interview? It's impossible to watch it with any kind of objectivity. You know, like I did watch it when they eventually released it. And it has some funny moments in it. And I think Franco isn't funny in it. Randall Park is really funny in it. but it also feels like something is just off.

You know, it's like, you know, it's like watching a movie where someone has died in the movie and you're like, you can't help but think of the fact that the person is not alive.

It's a little bit like watching a Chadwick Boseman movie now where you're like, I can't help but think about how there's not going to be another Chadwick Bowman movie. That hasn't stopped me from watching 21 bridges at least five times. Incredible film. Chris and I love this movie. Honestly,

if you guys want to roll right into a 21 Bridges rewatching this right now, I'll put that on the list. I thought, again, I thought I was in the minority on that one. I think that Taylor Kitch in that movie is making up accent-wise for everything Rose Byrne gave away in neighbors. Kitch is like, I'm going to do high-pitched Brooklyn to make up for Rose Burns as Australian. The same with Sienna Miller. She just should have been Australian in that movie.

It would have been great. Australian English. That movie is really good. Yeah. That movie rules. Huge fan of that movie. Apex Mountain for Frat movies. I guess it's either...

So it's this? The candidates would be in Revenge of Nirts. Well, old school? And Animal House. I think Animal House is the winner. No shouts for PCU? No. Animal House is the winner.

I think Zach Efron, I'm going to make the case for yes, because you could have said high school musical too or something, but he's a younger actor, who knows what's going to happen. But coming out of this, I really felt like a whole bunch of stuff

was going to happen. and it did lead to Baywatch and him getting his own movie. What was he, the DJ? We are your friends. We are your friends. Sneaky good movie, honestly. I kind of like that movie.

My wife likes that movie. Apex Mountain for Zach Efron's body. I think he's still doing fine, you know? Unbelievable body on Zach Ephron. It has to be said. I mean, he's just completely ripped. So would you like the first scene more if it was Zach Ephron having sex?

I'm out either way But His body They actually make it a talking point Multiple times in the movie Like they almost feel like It's like Schwarzenegger Like they have to acknowledge like

All right this is unique Rose Byrne Hmm That's a tough one I mean she's not the kind of star Who gets movies made But she's always like the reliable number two You know

Like Insidious was going to happen whether she was cast in it or not, but you're happy she's in insidious because she makes it that much better. So like she just, but that's kind of been true of everything she's done for the last 15 years. Like she's always just like, she's good. She's there. Has there ever been a moment or you're like we're at the height of Rose Byrne? I don't know, what do you think, Chris? No, she's just consistent. I just think that this movie unlocks the, this and bridesmaids obviously just unlock like a decade of just doing comedies where she can just be in spy or she can be in, you know, in a bunch of different like pretty, pretty hysterical of comedies.

I say yes for her because she's got Insidious and then this the next year. Sean, it sounds like you want to be on the Insidious rewatchables next month, scheduled for March 22nd. Did not know that was happening. Love Insidious. Insidious is great. It's one of the great jump scares of the 21st century. All right.

I'll pince you in. More apex mountain. Dave Franco. I don't know. I can't even really remember what else he's done. This is actually probably the first thing I think of when I think of him. Well, and he made a pretty decent thriller last year called The Rental, which he directed. Yeah, I'm going to say Hot Take. It hasn't happened yet.

I think it's coming. I really like The Rental. I thought that movie was really inventive and smart, and I think it's coming. He's good in The Disaster Artist. Did you see that, Bill? The movie about the making of the room. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was blanking for a second. Yeah, I like that movie. Yeah, he's good in that. McLevin, no. Abercrombie and Fish. at Chepex Mountain? Hmm.

In movies? Sure. Yeah. Chris. When has it ever been in a better scene than that? Over under seven items of clothing you've bought from Abercrombie and Fitch. Here's it. I've never owned a piece of Abercrombie and Fitch, but I think that

my next chapter in life is going to be an Abercrombian Fitch greeter. But I'm not going to change my look at all. You're just going to wear the USWNT hat and a T-shirt and you're going to go out there and try to get that gig. Yeah. Good luck. Chris is furious that that scene was adlipped.

He thought they should have gotten to the workshop. Maybe he got some lines. I think that you're lying in it. That's like an old built William Goldman's scene that they dug up. Right. They found it. It is notes. It's William Goldman's original ending for Goodwill Hunting.

Nicholas Stoll or Apex Mode? Yeah, probably. I would say yes. This led to a sequel. Picking next. Wait, I have one more Apex Mountain. Okay. There's never been a funnier use of airbags.

It's got to be said that the airbag joke in this movie, I don't care if you watch it five seconds later. What are you talking about? What is there better airbag? Dumb and Dumber. Lloyd Christmas in the airbag blowing up in his face when he goes to drop off Lauren Holly at the airport. Okay.

Also pretty good. I think this is funnier. I like when he's poking the last one to see if it's going to go out for that. When he goes through the ceiling in his office, it's just amazing. Picky Nits. Why didn't any of the other neighbors complain? Where were the other neighbors of this movie? The person on the other side

was totally fine with the frat party every night. Also, did they not consider the idea that if they bought this house on a campus that this was possible? Like, if you drive around the University of Pennsylvania campus and you see all the houses there, you're like, those are all frat houses. And even though these houses are dope,

if I move in down in the corner, I have to accept the fact that this is going to be life, you know? So can I talk about? personal anecdote. Did you, did you, go ahead. You were never in a frat.

I wasn't in a frat. No, they didn't even have Greek life in my college. But a couple of years ago, I almost bought a house, and the house was near Occidental College here in L.A.

And across the street was a sorority, had the letters outside. And we got really close on buying this house. And we drove past it on Friday and Saturday nights just to see if there was any kind of neighbor's vibe.

And there wasn't. But I think a real reason we almost didn't buy it is because just the idea of being haunted by this movie and this experience. So when you're buying a house, look out. Make sure there's no Greek life or anything. Do you think you would have like gone and invited yourself into the party yet? That would have been pretty normal for you to just be like, it's up sorority. Come on. Yeah, that's just something I do in any neighborhood I live in though, you know, just come knock on people's doors. Say like, what do you guys are up to tonight? Part cheesy. The party's raging and Sean's like,

guys, I'm watching Mean Streets. Keep it down. It's a laser disc. It's much more accurate. It's definitely much more accurate. Occidental College, where they filmed all of the 902 and O'clock scenes. Yep, yep. Also where Barack Obama spent some time. Did they shoot Shithouse there? They shoot a lot of pop culture movies there.

Pop Culture Movies TV, because it's like the perfect, generic campus. And it's a really good school. Yeah. Which I didn't realize until my daughter is now in 10th grade, and it's like the first time I've kind of looked at colleges. I'm going to work at Abercrombie to put myself throughout. Occidental. The ringers mirror and fader went to Occidental.

Yeah, it's a good school. I had no idea. I didn't, obviously coming from the East Coast, I never have any feel for the West Coast schools. But wouldn't you spend time in jail, like real time for a party that led to fireworks being shot in a cop car? Or when the barbecue grill hits the guy? They almost murdered a man.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like either of those is actually a felony assault and you're in jail. Chris, more grist for the canceling mill here for neighbors. It's true. It'll be a footnote, Grantland style. I'll just be like, and another thing.

Then there'll just be like a really long footnote. My other picky knit is I just don't like the title. I guess I could have put that in which stage you're worse. But neighbors seems like such an easy title. What would you? I feel like that could have done better. The frat next door? I don't know what the title is.

You know who would have been able to help with this. Some of our great screenwriters. Just get them in a room with a whiteboard and just start dialing up some alternative titles. I don't think that townies would have was the right title, though, either. There's a different movie that should be called townies that's about townies. It's not about guys, people who just, a family that just bought a house next to a frat house. That doesn't seem right either. So I don't know. Neighbors seems too easy. I don't know. I just, you know, the three of us know how hard it is to title something. We spent days on end staring at a whiteboard with

25 crazy names on it, trying to figure out the ring. They should have called it Chase the Knight. It would have been great. Bill, you were. Chase the Night's a good one. Were you in a frat? No, we didn't have frets. No? Two of my good high school buddies at Colgate did the whole frat thing, and they were really into it. I was pretty jealous of it, especially, you know, it's like a sports team. You start out as the rookie, and by the time you get to be a senior, you get to run the frat. I was like, this seems cool.

I don't know. I never really, we had parties at college. It was all good. Like, I didn't feel like there was any shortage of parties. I didn't need a frat to go to a party. Yeah, that's a good point Could this be your made Is a 10 episode Netflix show? No

But they should have I do feel like we are due Like a college comedy Netflix show But isn't that That's also what the other thing I never saw this show But I know Chris you liked it I think you liked the two pill

The Nick Stoller show The Friends from college Friends from college was like See I like similar to this Season 1 yeah I don't know if I saw Did season two happen? Yeah

Wait I don't know if I saw season I can't remember TV You can't even tell I remember it got canceled and I was annoyed. I was like, there's more to unpack here. Probably in answerable questions.

Braxton University, what state are we in? I think California. Yeah. Div one school, Chris? No, absolutely not. I don't, I don't get, because those guys, Delta Si is kind of like running the campus. And you know that like at a D1 school,

it's more oriented around like the football team or the basketball team. Any sports? What's the big sport at Brackston University? I bet they have some good water polo there. I don't have any of their answer. Women's volleyball, maybe? What piece of memorabilia would you want from this movie? I would want a Braxton University sweatshirt.

I would actually wear that if it was done correctly. What about you guys? Probably the... I know Chris wants one of the dildos. I would take Dave Franco's Focker's outfit. Oh, yeah. The taxi driver, Mohawk would be a vehicle. What obscure De Niro rules do you think that they could have mixed in there?

You know, it's a great call. Awakenings? No, one of them should have been Neil Kavanaugh. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No, that was, was that his name? Neil.

Neil McCauley. That was a great moment where you guys blanked on a heat fact. That means we got to do heat again. Wait, are you, who's, who's Neil Kavanaugh? Neil Kavanaugh is an actor. Is that Brett Kavanaugh's brother? Isn't it Neil Kavuto who was like a Fox News guy?

I don't know who Neil Kavanaugh's. It definitely means we have to do heat again. Neil McCauley should have been one of the characters. He's just been like, there's a flip side of that coin. I was thinking they should also have Cape Fear De Niro, just being like, ah! Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Who won the movie?

Rose Byrne. That's who I have as well. Shit, me too. That's not that interesting. She's fucking awesome in this. I feel like that role could have gone wrong with so many different actresses. Yeah. I think the winner of this pod, though, is screenwriters, you know, and their art form. Congratulations to them. I'm glad. I'm glad to do that. All right, we're bringing in producer Craig, because he always hammers us for not doing comedies from the last 10 years. Did we miss anything?

No. How is McLevin not the all-time Joey Pants? You don't think people know he's Christopher Mintz-Plass? No. You literally said, is this Apex Mountain for McLevin? It's a good call. I don't really have a counter. Yeah, I guess if you're McLevin, that means you're a permanent that guy. So you're saying he's Gen Z Joey Pants? Yeah.

Millennial Gen Z. I mean... Should we call it the McLevin Award? I don't know. I feel like we're getting into some weird procedural stuff here. But, like, I think that the whole point with Joey Pants is Joey Pants is that guy in a bunch of different movies, whereas McLevin's only really in like three. He's an I Love You Man, Super Bad and this, right?

He's almost his own category. He's in promising young woman, though, that new movie, basically doing a similar, like, what if McEleaven grew up to be a shithead role? Oh, no. Any other notes, Craig? No, I just, I was thinking of other comedies in the last, like, five years that were decent. Tag. Did you guys ever see Tag?

Tag was a thing for, like, a month. People kind of likes Tag. Chris was so hot on Renner during the tag moment. With his hands? Renner had broken both of his arms, making tag. Remember that? and they had to green screen his arms into that movie. Other than that, no.

I got nothing else. I forget who made this point. I'm stealing it from somebody that the funniest movie of the second half of the 2010s is actually Wolfo Wall Street. Oh, yeah. We might have even said that on the pod. I think when blockers came out

that prevented this style of movie to be attempted again because it was such a failure. But we need more of them. We shouldn't have just stopped with blockers because it was the right idea. It was just executed terrible. but I really do think that Blockers is why we haven't really seen this type of movie

get greenlit again. No, you know what we really need, Craig, is we need your generation to produce some funny people again. Yeah, stop putting it on fucking TikTok. Produce some Aetlisters, Chris. I mean, Craig, get off the, get off TikTok, get off social media, stop playing video games,

maybe make some comedies. Quit your job, go to USC film school, get a screenwriting degree, write the great American screenplay for your generation, and stop wasting all your time on Robin Hood. man. Craig,

study the screenplays on the internet of some of the great comedies. Maybe take a crack. You could be the next Babaloo-Mandelle. I'm coming. You and me are going to have a socially distant screening

of the Philadelphia story and his goal Friday. We're going to show you how to really write jokes. Craig, do you think your generation gets comedy more from social media and maybe movies are just less important for comedy?

Right now, yes. I mean, I don't know. I'm like kind of weird. Now, I'm 26. Like, I'm kind of aging out of it a little bit. Right, you're almost like a generation above it. But, no, I mean, super bad in Pineapple Express and 21 Jump Sheet were like the biggest thing. Hangover.

I mean, I don't, Facebook, when Facebook was really big, there'd be these things where you could like join Facebook pages. Yeah. And hangover quotes were like the biggest things you could join where it would just be like some Zach Alphenacus line. And it would have like hundreds of thousands of people would be a part of that page. And that was how it like, I'm dead serious. And that was a big thing. And now it's just everybody sends each other memes and TikToks.

I can't believe that was a healthier version of social media. It's like people being like, I'm liking the Zach L. Finacianian. Innocently being like, we all thought this was funny. Yeah.

Chris, but that matches with your Twitter theory. That it got bad when, when bin Laden got killed? Yeah. It's around that time. You were like, it's over now. This is the end, really,

I thought, after that, neighbors slipped in a little bit, but this is the end killed comedy, I feel like. But you, in a good way, or because it was so funny. Killed it, like, marked the end of it in a good way.

No, neighbors came in at, neighbors came after, though. I know, but neighbors was not as big amongst my generation as. I love when you speak for, for 25 million people. It's one of my favorite things on this show. I went to, like, a very traditional, like, high school, you know, a big group of friends. Like, I feel like, I mean, yeah, my sample size.

Huge, massive group of friends. All of us on this Zach Galafenakis movie quotes page. High five and each other liking stuff. That sounds like a great page. I wish it still existed. Chris spends every Friday night crying at city slickers. I spend every Friday night crying at mean streets. Bill's watching the Celtics.

You're hanging out with 500 men. Bill's texting Apatow asking if he could get the neighbors cut with all of the Rogan sex scenes. So we're going to cut those out. We have a lot of good comedies left. We're going to, people always ask, like, do this move, do that movie. We want the feed to last like six, six, seven years. like Craig ratted off three movies. Six, seven years from now or just six, seven years in total?

Well, we haven't done super bad Pineapple Express. 21 Jump Street is good. Are you in on that bill? 21 Jump Street? Yeah, I have it on the list for this year. That was Dave Franco. Bringing up baby. Good one.

We have it. City Slickers 2, the search for Curley's gold. You guys laugh, but City Slickers 1 is a good old school comedy. That was my point. Tropic Thunder is also incredibly funny. That's a solo Chris Pod. City Slickers or Tropic Thunder. No, tropic thunder so you can unpack all the downy stuff.

Yeah. Yeah, well, side side. It's a really funny movie. From the writer of the problem with Aschews. All right. So, Chris, your narrative podcast, the problem with Astros is coming out next month on Spotify. Sean hosts the Big Picture. Chris hosts the Watch.

Craig is on our fantasy football show in case you know that. And I'm writing the next Super Bad, so keep an eye up for that. And just FYI. I think we're doing two movies next week, but one of those movies is going to be the Doors. So I'm just preparing people now. That's happening. Yeah.

There's another good one, too. But anyway, so you have a week to watch The Doors. It's 30 years old next week. Valcomers in it. Check it out. Nothing is aged poorly in that movie. Nothing at all. Good to see you guys.

Thank you.