The Worst Idea Of All Time - Replay S01E04: Dread (Dredd)

Episode Date: February 10, 2024

Please enjoy this victory lap of Season One episodes as we celebrate 10 years of The Worst Idea of All Time. Join us for our 10 year anniversary show on Feb. 10 (NZT) live and live-streaming via worstideaofalltime.com.Original Episode Description:Guy's found a way to digest the film; Alcoholic ginger beer. Also discussed Guy's childhood, Tim's musical information nobody cares about and we dig into Sandler's rich film history. Also, Shaq features as one of our Shining Light moment. Also, hotcakes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello again to my dear friends and welcome to this Guy Montgomery hosted preamble to the fourth episode of the original season of The Worst Idea of All Time. And I've just had a really nice time listening back to it. This is a unique time capsule in that I'm hearing a friendship form in real time. And I'm also hearing, I guess if I was a couples therapist or relationship analyst, I could identify emerging patterns in our relationship. I don't know that I'd describe these patterns as problems or that anyone's in the right or wrong, but I think what I'm hearing is that the origins of the light and shade

that come to define the podcast across its myriad following seasons i appear to have had a very good time watching the movie and tim appears to be downtrodden by the screening but also i think there's a loom you know you can really pick up on a looming sense of fear um even towards the end of the episode he's asking how long I think we'll go for, you know, looking for an out. And you can hear how wide my eyes are as I'm saying, no, man, let's get into deeper water. You know, little did either of us know how deep the water would get. I feel like if we started at the shore of, you know, say, a beach in New Zealand

and we kept paddling out and paddling out and we'd look back and we could see the land and we're paddling out and we're paddling out. I think at this point in our life, this is present day guy talking, 2024, if we look back to see the beach that we got into the water from, we couldn't see anything, it would just be the horizon. And if we look forward, we'd be closer to seeing land somewhere else probably american land uh fun little bits of trivia from this episode i talk about a series of books i've read as a child in the intervening years i've had myriad people reach

out and ask what were the books um it's about a cricket club they're british books i think in the series someone discovered it after i said i can't remember enough details it's called uh glory gardens cricket club by bob cattle i also discuss philip pullman's dark materials trilogy um which was the northern lights the subtle knife the amber spyglass those i didn't realize those books were kind of coming out as i was growing up i must have been reading those in real time i think it's quite cool because when you're a kid often you just read the classics uh there's an incidental reference to teenage mutant ninja turtles obviously not realizing that would become a seminal part of our working relationship going forward.

Tim talks about wanting to get a sort of arthouse movie on DVD, which I think is quite a lovely little, it's like seeing an old cell phone in a movie. That really gives it a sense of time and space. He also coins the term the Trojan turd. It's a lovely piece of phrase making. And in terms of trigger warnings uh tim uses the r word but less in a in a disparaging sense and more in this a scientific sense to describe the negative impacts watching the movie is having on me um but otherwise i just want to say, enjoy.

Welcome to the Worst Idea of All Time podcast. Are we ready? Yeah. I'm keen, bro. I love this movie. Here we go again. It's the Worst Idea of All Time featuring Tim Batt. And Guy Montgomery.

This is week four of watching Grown Ups 4 2. Watching Grown Ups 2, this is our fourth watch and therefore our fourth review and I am a box of birds this morning. Tim, how are you? Real bad. This is the first week where the mood's changed for me a bit into a feeling of dread. Well, don't you go breaking me down because i just watched a light-hearted family romp through small town america featuring relatable characters and family situations guy tell me all the things that you liked about the movie and what's happened to you this week

i am just feeling really great and it might be because 40 minutes through the movie, I felt really blue and I drank a ginger beer, which had 4.5% alcohol in it. And I'm telling you, that was a real turning point for me. Is that all you need? 4.5%? I just need one. What you need is when you feel like this, you just drink one beer, do the podcast, go home and just...

Then you don't have to watch this movie for another seven days. That's right. Actually, to be fair, we should be at the happiest at this point because this is the longest point of time before we have to watch the film again. This is the payoff, man. Yeah. This is why we do it.

Now, this is... This should be a celebration. You came in very cold. You came in right off the bat. Adam Sandler was in bed with Salma Hayek, as he is every week on a Monday morning. Doesn't change. And you said, look at his stupid fucking face.

I hate him. Yeah. And I said, because the problem is something for me, have you ever liked Adam Sandler? I mean, is this something that you should have thought about before we did the movie? Do you genuinely not like the guy at all? The movie's not about liking the movie,

or the podcast isn't rather. It's about, I don't know, is it like it's a public warning or it's some sort of community service that we watch it each week? I think I made this, definitely not community service. No one wants this. I didn't even make the question too broad. I mean, were you raised on Adam Sandler? Oh, we all were, mate.

Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison and even Little Nicky. You know, they were fine when you... You liked those movies? Well, they came out when I was about 10 years old or something, so they were fine. They were funny. They were funny to me because I was 10. I'm not 10 now.

I'm 26. I'm still watching his films. If you were 10, do you think you'd find this movie funny? Yeah, I probably would. Look, there's a lot in there. There's a moose. Or is it a reindeer? We never really cracked that.

But I'm not convinced the computer animators know what animal it is either, who made it, because it's a fake animal. It's computer generated. The back half was a moose, it looks like, and the front half is a reindeer. Well, the thing is, I grew up, I remember the first time I saw an Adam Sandler film, I was only allowed to watch one episode of TV a week,

and it was Friends when I was growing up as a boy. There's a very strict no TV rule in the house. I didn't know that. No, you do. These are the things we discover about each other. Is that why you're such a big reader? Because you were brought up in a house of books. I don't read books.

Books are for losers. I only watch grown-ups too. You read books. Anyway. Don't you tell me you don't read books, Guy Montgomery. If there's two things I know about you, it's you watch grown-ups too every week and you read a book uh look what i'm saying is my neighbor came around i was ready to watch friends and she had i don't know how old i was but she had happy gilmore and she said we've got to watch this movie we're not what you're not

stop watching friends this week and it was it was a different time then Because you'd go to school The next day And you'd talk about What had happened On the episode of TV The night before One second Could you watch a show a day

Or one a week? One a week I was allowed to watch Friends One like half hour episode Of something per week Yeah Okay The rules relax

As we got older And learned to push back But you know Anyway she bought Run Happy Gilmore And I watched it And that was the funniest movie I'd ever seen i couldn't have had a better time right and adam sandler and then there's billy madison the water boy i saw the water boy in the cinemas oh man the

water boy that's a good i walked out of that and i was like there's no way there's a better movie that has or ever will be made than this movie what it sucks it really really sucks what and anyway so adam sandler he's got this like what's that line about the crocodile when he's in class about the crocodile teeth or something it being cranky i can't remember because i don't want to play no football uh anyway so the thing is that i i can forgive these like i know that i i respect adam sandler some way, but I feel like right off the bat, within a second of watching Grown Ups 2, the disdain in your voice and the hatred you felt

was so strong that... I don't know what the point of what I'm saying is. So, okay, I think where you're going with this is that you got the idea that I've been wronged. Like, it felt like I was set up because Adam Sandler has such a fine history of cinema behind him. No, I just...

And suddenly I've been surprised on the fourth watch of this movie so this is what it was you've said in previous weeks you hate the character Adam Sandler plays do you just hate Lenny Fader in this movie or do you hate Adam Sandler I think it's a little

from column A and a little from column B because Adam Sandler wrote this movie and I think there's a lot of Adam Sandler in the character of Lenny because like, so Lenny's character went to Hollywood and came back to his hometown and stuff, so I think there's like him grappling with his own inadequacy about getting rich

when his friends probably didn't that has spilled over onto the big screen so Adam Sandler's written himself into the film, and guess what, he's a fucking arsehole No, Adam Sandler, the Adam Sandler's written himself into the film And guess what? He's a fucking arsehole No, the Adam Sandler character in Funny People Is the real, or is closer to the real Adam Sandler This is just

They're just cashing a check But you I don't think he is I think everyone else is But he co-wrote this I reckon there's a little bit of him in print Well anyway I mean it was certainly

It was certainly a negative way to start the movie. How many books did you read when you were a kid? Like, a lot? Yeah, I guess. I used to read one about a cricket team, a young cricket team in England. I was hooked on that series. That was a series? How do you make a series about that?

Then again, how do you make a movie about this? The Philip Pullman one? I can't remember. I used to read books. I still do sometimes. Fuck, I watched a lot of TV as a kid. Yeah? Like, too much, man.

Even at the time, I was like, I'm watching a concerning amount of TV, as an 11-year-old. That was running through my head. What were you watching? Fresh Prince of Bel-Air really stands out. That was on all the time. Simpsons, there's usually a Simpsons episode.

I remember trying to watch The Simpsons when I was a bit younger and I thought since it was a cartoon I'd be allowed to watch it. But I was allowed to watch it, which is so stupid because it's such a funny show. A bit crude in the Montgomery household. What else was on?

I don't know, you had like Eek the Cat and Samurai Pizza Cats. Yeah, weekends by the way were free for all. Oh, Saturday mornings. Remember the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Yeah, I do. And I was loading up on Nickelodeon cartoons too. Oh, man.

Like Hey Arnold, Cat Dog. Stop. Hey Arnold, what a fine show. Rocco's Modern Life, which was the weirdest TV show, which sort of laid the foundation for your Sponge Bobs, I think, with the off-the-wall humor. I think you're right. Rocco's Modern Life really paved the way for a lot of good cartoons. Although I never understood

what was happening really. And Rocco yeah it was quite like kind of drug inspired it felt to me. Both the palette and the kind of visual style but also just the storylines and what was being said. It was a psychedelic trip. You know what's not a psychedelic trip? Grown ups do. Well you say that but

it is a little bit of a psychedelic trip. We had two poppins during our viewing today, both who reside in the house in which we watch it. And one of my favourite lines in the movie is when Adam Sandler goes downstairs to get something from the kitchen and they're having a party in his house and Nick, the bus driver, is in his underpants on the bench, on the kitchen bench, and Adam Sandler says,

why are you naked? And Nick, without missing a beat, doesn't turn around and just says, global warming. It's a funny line. And the scene keeps going. And I thought it was a really funny line. And I asked one of our poppins, I said, now, is this a funny line?

Like, objectively, I need to know. Because, you know, I think we're losing perspective a bit. And he said, I'll need to think about it. And then a second later, with great comic timing, he said, no. Which is worrying for us, because I thought it was funny as well. Which means that we are now operating in a slightly separate frequency to the rest of humanity that doesn't have to watch this film multiple times.

During the 101 minutes we're watching it. I mean, the other thing is there was a conversation in the Kmart scene that they have, and it was cutting between the two faces of the people talking, and I couldn't remember whether or not that was a convention used only in Grown Ups 2 or a convention used in film. That was a really weird thing because you said that out loud. You said, do they normally cut to the person that they're talking to in movies? And I was like, oh, my God, you've actually like this movie is retarding you against film conventions.

Like you're forgetting how cinema works as an art form, which is worrying. What I need to do to ensure I keep up with it is watch another movie once a week at least. One other movie per week. Do you know what I saw last week? I saw, what's it called? What's it called when you're addicted to sex?

Oh, the one with, did you see Nymphomaniac? That's it, Nymphomaniac. Was it Lars von Trier? Nymphomaniac that's it nymphomaniac is that lars von trier yeah yeah yeah are you good um it's four hours it's a lot of movie just parts one and two i saw shia labeouf having sex on a big screen which um i always dreamed about well i didn't know it was coming ever since he was in turn a phrase um but you know what i was preparing myself for it to be a lot worse and I think I've been hardened by multiple watchings of

grown ups too but it was actually reasonably enjoyable the first half is way better than the second half I think it's a bit lighter

and more fun to it Uma Thurman complete scene stealer there's a great bit with her in it oh that's nice yeah that's in part one

maybe just go see part one I don't know how you would get it though because I don't think it's going to get a wide release anywhere and i can't imagine it would even really be out on dvd it's quite an art house sort of affair well aren't you just so lucky you get to see all these salty alternative movies and swan in here to our podcast derail the whole operation by talking about them what i want to talk about quickly tim is what do you take what after four viewings

and this is the fourth podcast, what are you taking away from this? Not the movie itself, but the viewing experience, the podcasting experience of what is the worst idea of all time? The first thing that comes to my mind is something we talked about, I think it was last week, and it's something that we've really started to implement now, which is the checkmarkers, the signposts that are along the way. So I will apply this to other future challenging times in my life. When you know you're going through things that are hard, just look forward to little brief reproves of goodness.

So, for example, we're at the start of the film. example we're at the start of the film and for the first time this week i felt a really deep like in my the pit of my stomach a sense of dread that i was like holy shit i have to watch this whole movie again like i have to sit through the whole movie again and then so it started going a little bit longer i was like okay we're about 10 minutes out from john lovett's first appearance i'll just i'll grab hold of that and you and you did applaud when he arrived on screen yeah i think we should applaud every week when he comes on um and you know every every time you're going through a bad time and we did this a lot during this film uh this viewing rather where it was like okay about 40 minutes left how many we'll do a scene countdown what do we got we got the um nightmare party uh

we got dinner and we've got that supper yeah yeah but i mean are you is there anything in this is there any redeeming feature in this either not in the movie and in the whole pot like is there is there a point to what we're doing is that what you're asking i guess are you asking is there a purpose to this i don't think there is man i don't think there is and in some ways that is the point if you can dig that existential buzz. Yeah, man. You know what I did notice about this viewing of the movie? Surprisingly well shot.

Yes. Well, this is the problem, isn't it? I mean, any shithouse movie can sort of put high production values on it and dress it, what is it, to polish a turd. To polish a turd. And then it becomes a Trojan turd, where it gets itself through all of the kind of screening process that a studio subjects a big-budget film to. And they go, well, it looks fine. It looks like someone colour-graded it,

and it was framed up reasonably well, and there's a lot of faces I recognise. Let's rush it to cinema. But no one watched it, mate. No one watched the whole movie. Except for the people who spent $230 million watching it. Yeah, but you know what, man? I've said this before.

If you've got a big budget film like this, you can do some very creative accounting. What I was going to say was, one thing that you're speaking about is, I can't remember, but the editing throughout the film, we noticed today, it sort of changes at the end.

The last sort of three to four scene changes, I mean, they were imposing hard cuts early on where obviously the writers or the director thought was a punchline would arrive and then it would just go boom. And that's a write-off, we'll go to the next scene. Obviously, they wanted to sew a button on each scene, they had a line and then boom, hard cut to the next bit. And then at the end of the movie, though,

they're just cross-fading, just willy-nilly between, they head a line, and then boom. And then at the end of the movie, though, they're just crossfading, just willy-nilly between, they just go, okay, this isn't working, how can we subtly move on? What's this? The picture's changing and we're in a different environment. Yeah, fuck this shit. Cross-dissolve out of this situation. Not even on good lines.

Like, one of them's on Steve Buscemi just giggling. Yeah, Steve Buscemi just giggling. Yeah, Steve Buscemi just giggling after Salma Hayek kicks his wife in the jaw. This fucking movie, man. This fucking movie. Hey, that scene, so that's the party scene near the end. Couple of things about that.

That is featuring a guest appearance because you're not allowed to have a scene in this film unless a new guest appearance is being introduced uh the jay guiles band uh famous for their song centerfold oh i didn't oh you were going to sneeze and you're going to turn in and no we don't need to go there today um so interesting thing about them, the J. Giles Band no longer have J. Giles in it, but they still call themselves the J. Giles Band and tour around and everything.

Which I think is like, that's just the perfect amount of shitness to have in this movie. A band that still named themselves after the lead singer who was left. Interestingly, also, in the car wash scene, which was featuring the boys from Lonely Island, Andy Samberg and co,

they used the song in that scene called Cherry Pie by glam rock band P1. She's my cherry pie. That's the one. Now, I wish I had the... I'll find the quote, actually, but Janie Lane, who sadly died a couple of years ago. Where have you picked up all this shithouse trivia?

You know, mate, I work in radio. You learn a few things. I don't know, I'll get the quote. But he said of that song, he said something akin to, I wish I had shot myself in the fucking head instead of writing that song. But I'll just find the exact quote. But yeah, so what I'm saying is it's funny

because it's like there's all these little telltale clues that it seems like the editors have put in this film that you shouldn't be watching it. And a lot of them are musical cues. And as we mentioned last week, it becomes stronger and stronger each time you see it. The end credits roll, REO Speedwagon's song Live Every Moment kicks in as they implore you

to live every moment in your short life. Can I say the direct quote from the lead singer of Warrant who wrote the song? I could shoot myself in the fucking head for writing that song. Wow. That's what he said in an interview once of Cherry Pie. Well, it is very well placed in the middle of Grown Ups 2 then. Tim, this is getting bleak.

What is your shining moment in this week's viewing of Grown Ups 2 then. Tim, this is getting bleak. What is your shining moment in this week's viewing of Grown Ups 2? Ooh. Ooh, didn't pick one this week. Shit. Look. Okay, I'm going to go with Shaq. Shaq's smiling face. I'm going to go with the, we're still on the car wash scene,

the bit where his off-sider, whose name I forget. Dante. What? Is that his name in the film? Yeah, I think so. Fuck, where is his name ever mentioned? I've seen this movie four goddamn times, I've never heard his name. Well, no, because a lot of the secondary characters who show up in all the Adam Sandler movies

just go by their actual name in the movie. So Nick, the bus driver's real name is Nick. Yeah. And Dante, who is also called Dante and Grandma's Boy, which was a B-grade comedy I really enjoyed. Yeah. That happens every once in a while. I really like Van Wilder, Party Liaison.

But, you know, can't all be winners. But anyway. So anyway, the bit with the shining light for me is that bit where Shaquille O'Neal is getting washed down just like the cars because he's so big. I guess that's the gag there with the sponges and the soapy water and stuff. And as Dante says, what does he say? You're doing it wrong.

Come on, you've got to get in there. I'll do it. And then the glee on his face as he's washing down a soap-sud laden Shaquille O'Neal. It's just charming. It's a charming moment. That was a... Do you have a shining light this week to bring to the fold? I can't remember what happens before it

But it was when the party Gets quite ludicrous And it actually involved Dante and Sheck as well So Dante It just cuts to Dante Who's a police officer In the movie by the way

He's on top of Adam Sandler's roof And his underpants And some snow skis And he yells out something And just skis across the roof Shooting guns He shouts out I am the law. That's the reference to Judge Dredd.

I am the law! And then he skis across the roof firing his guns in the air, leaps off like goes off sort of a ramp part of the roof and just lands in the pool and everyone starts cheering. Oh yeah it's brilliant. And then Shaquille O'Neal goes to dive off the diving board but he's so big

he breaks the diving board. Breaks the whole platform at the part where it joins into the concrete. And you also had another idea, which was you wanted to discuss the character you enjoyed most per viewing. Yeah, what we need to do, Guy, is it would be too easy to just get on the mic every week after seeing this film and just spill bile about this film it would be too easy because there's a lot of darkness in our hearts when we get out of this viewing experience

but that doesn't make for pleasant listening for a podcast so we've got to punctuate it with positive moments now my favorite character on this fourth viewing of grown-ups 2 uh was higgins played by david spade because i don't know call me crazy which would probably be a fair call after seeing this movie four times but there's something about David Spade in this movie where I think he is bringing the noise he's doing some acting I think his comic timing's pretty good um you know what Adam uh Adam Sandler gave him absolute shit in terms of a script but David Spade just made do with what he could and I think he's done all right. All right. How about you? Favourite character this watch?

Favourite character this watch was probably the lady, Adam Sandler's old girlfriend, the crazy lady. Oh, yes. The self-described hubba-bubba baby. I enjoyed the lunacy of her character. I felt like it wasn't misplaced this week for some reason

right off the bat she just comes in she works at Salma Hayek Adam Sandler's wife's shop and she's just batshit crazy and she does that and it just carries through right to the end of the movie and she's actually pretty hard done by everyone ignores her no one likes her in the world of this movie.

Not even her husband, Steve Buscemi. Steve Buscemi laughs like a maniac when she gets kicked in the jaw, which is her final scene, by the way. We can assume she might have died. It looked like a pretty serious kick to the jaw. But I just, you know, I thought that she was... It seems odd. It seems odd to, no, no,

this goes against the point of the segment. What are you saying? It seems odd to be singing the praises of any specific character or actor contribution. But yeah, I thought I enjoyed her lunacy throughout the movie against the, what, see, it sounds, I feel like I'm going insane when I say this out loud.

I can't finish the sentence. Finish the thought. I can't articulate like I'm going insane when I say this out loud. I can't finish the sentence. Finish the thought. I can't articulate what I'm thinking. Pretty much, she was my favourite character in the movie today. Here's what I want to throw out there. Everything we say in this podcast, when we say we have a favourite moment, when we say something is funny, when we say we have a favourite character, that is within the context of this film,

which is incredibly shit. So what we're doing is we're grasping at straws here, people. So if we say, like, someone's really talented, it's against this cast of idiots. Where did the term grasping at straws come from? When's the last time you grasped at a straw? These are the big philosophical musings you take away on your fourth viewing of grown-ups too. These are the big philosophical musings you take away on your fourth viewing

of grown-ups too. These are the things you think about, you mull over, you turn them over in your head. Where did that come from? Where did the expression selling like hotcakes come from? I put that to you. How popular were hotcakes, where and when, to foster that phrase? That's right. And I mean, how they, in common language, remain so popular, that's still a turn of phrase that we use just some food for thought here at the tail end of the worst idea of all time podcast this is week four of grown-ups too my name's guy montgomery uh i'm tim bat and um

and have a great week hey we mentioned this last week and we've forgotten to pull them out but if you've got any thoughts on the movie if you've seen it or a little review for us send it on through yeah you can tweet us guy underscore mont and tim underscore bat

b-a-t-t and can we just take a brief moment here, Guy? Like, how many more of these do you really believe that we can do? Look, Tim, I am still of the opinion that we will find purpose the deeper we go. You know, this is like going under, you're exploring underwater and you go 30, 40 metres down and suddenly, you know this is like going under you're going you're exploring underwater and you go 30 40 meters down and suddenly you know so this is 40 meters 10 meters a week and no we'll say 400

meters because this is how deep we're going here and you go you go guy i'm not enjoying it it's just more ocean around me every time it's more ocean let's turn back and i say no tim let's go deeper what is there further down here under the sea but what if it's less like a diving trip and more like a drug trip where we don't come home from it like for example i know a guy who um was doing nutmeg because you can get high off nutmeg but it fucked his brain up for eight years and he had to move back in with his mom and stuff like he was irrevocably damaged by it so So what if our multiple watches of it... I don't think it's strong enough.

I don't think the drug's strong enough. I think you underestimate the movie, man. Look, in my mind... But this is the thing. You'll never know, because the very thing that you're measuring the movie with is your mind,

which is the same thing that's being destroyed by the film. No, it's this sort of conversation that you try and fucking ram in at the end of the podcast, which will make us go down the rabbit hole. Tim, this is Guy Montgomery signing off. I'm standing up and leaving the booth.

See you all. Be back next week. Episode five, big milestone. You want to say anything else, Guy? He's flipping me the bird. Bye, everyone. The worst idea of all time. Podcast.