Afraid, with Chris Weitz

Dan McCoy

[0:00] Hey, listeners, just a few quick words up at the top to remind you that Flop TV is going on right now.

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[0:50] On this episode, we discuss Afraid.

Stuart Wellington

[0:54] A movie about a scary killer AI, and there's no Tom Cruise to kill it this time.

[1:01] Should I have said Ethan Hunt?

[1:03] No, no.

Dan McCoy

[1:24] Hey, everyone, and welcome to the Flophouse.

[1:29] I'm Dan McCoy.

[1:30] Hey, it's me, Stuart Wellington.

Elliott Kalan

[1:32] My name is Elliot Kalin.

[1:33] I'm the author of a book called Joke Farming, How to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense.

[1:36] It's on store shelves now.

[1:38] From the University of Chicago Press, it will teach you how to write jokes.

[1:41] How I do it, how jokes work, and how jokes work.

[1:45] I only had two things.

[1:46] We told him to keep the plug.

Dan McCoy

[1:47] Elliot, I know you're about to introduce our special guest, but I have to say I texted Audrey today, and I was like, between this book on the early years of The Simpsons that she got me for her anniversary and your book coming to my house hopefully on Wednesday, I'm like, I think I'm going to try a crack at another sitcom script.

[2:08] After writing longer movie things, as my next thing that no one's going to buy.

[2:14] You should do it.

Elliott Kalan

[2:15] I mean, the thing is, no one's going to buy it anyway, so write what you want.

[2:18] That's what I see.

[2:18] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[2:19] Do that shit where, like, people do stuff, and then they have, like, little confessionals where they talk to the camera, because that's like every comedy now.

Elliott Kalan

[2:27] Or do a comedy where there's no jokes at all.

[2:29] That's every comedy now, too.

[2:30] Dan, I think, all jokes aside, whatever you write, I think this is going to be the next big hit.

[2:35] I think you're about to go write the next office, Abbott Elementary, Modern Family.

[2:40] That's what you're going to write.

[2:41] It's going to be great.

[2:42] We're going to be bragging that we knew you when.

Stuart Wellington

[2:44] You seem more like a Louie guy.

Dan McCoy

[2:47] All right.

[2:48] That's our cue to stop wasting our guest's time and introduce him.

[2:52] That's right.

Elliott Kalan

[2:52] We have a very special guest today.

[2:54] I'm so excited to have him here.

[2:55] He is a repeat guest, one of our good friends, one of our most successful friends here of the Flophouse podcast.

[3:01] Director, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter.

[3:05] Oh, thanks for reminding me I didn't win.

[3:09] Yeah.

[3:10] Sorry, Chris.

[3:10] Yeah.

[3:12] You're right.

[3:12] You're in the slightly larger pool of nominees.

[3:17] His face fell when you said that.

[3:19] Chris Weitz, who is the rare triple threat of director, screenwriter, director of Flophouse-covered movie.

[3:27] And so we're very excited to have you here today to join us once again.

Chris Weitz

[3:32] Thank you.

[3:32] And I didn't hear the beginning.

[3:35] So like, what's the movie we're going to dump on today?

[3:37] What cinematic turd are we going to be stunting on?

[3:41] This is going to be so much fun.

Elliott Kalan

[3:44] You're going to love it.

[3:45] You're going to love it.

[3:46] So we watch this real piece of shit called Afraid.

[3:49] Oh.

Chris Weitz

[3:52] Haven't heard of it.

Stuart Wellington

[3:54] Sorry, I didn't see it.

[3:56] Is that a problem?

[3:56] So yeah, Chris, do you have any, have you seen this one?

[3:59] The connection to this picture.

[4:01] Spoiler alert.

[4:02] I kind of liked it.

Chris Weitz

[4:03] Yeah.

[4:04] Yeah.

[4:05] Yeah.

[4:05] I saw it so many times that I didn't, I haven't seen it in a good year.

[4:12] So, so, you know, listen, part of this is obviously I need to get out of your guy's way.

[4:18] And so that you can have the nonsensical fun that we've come to love you for.

[4:23] Yeah.

[4:23] Go on.

[4:24] I'm not going to fight a rear guard action in defense of my movie.

[4:27] I may sometimes try to shed a little light on the process whereby movies become flops.

[4:35] Okay.

[4:35] Now, on another podcast that has not been named, I actually questioned whether this was a flop

[4:40] or a movie that doesn't exist.

[4:42] And I think it exists in this kind of interesting mid-space.

Stuart Wellington

[4:45] And that podcast is a friend of ours.

[4:48] That's a point check, right?

[4:50] Absolutely.

[4:51] And just for the audience at home, if you weren't picking up all the jokes we're laying down,

[4:56] Chris is the director and writer of this movie, right?

[4:59] I have that honor.

[5:00] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[5:01] Or the director and writer of a version of this movie that perhaps is not the exact version

[5:06] that came to be.

Chris Weitz

[5:08] There's a version in my head and perhaps on the page that did not quite come to be in

[5:14] the way that I had intended to.

[5:18] But that aside, I also feel that, you know, I've laughed at many of your episodes and sometimes

[5:27] you also need to face the music.

[5:29] I said that once that when you look long enough into the flop house, the flop house looks into

[5:33] you.

[5:34] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[5:35] Either die a listener or you live long enough to become a subject.

[5:38] Yeah, yeah.

[5:38] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[5:40] And there was a guy on the internet when I went on the blank check Reddit for the last

[5:47] thing I did.

Stuart Wellington

[5:47] Oh, that's a don't go on fucking Reddit.

Chris Weitz

[5:49] It was a smart move that I made because I found out that this guy said, and he said this

[5:55] about you two guys.

[5:56] He said, hmm, the flop house guys have stopped addressing Chris Weiss's movies since he was

[6:04] on the show.

[6:05] And so I thought, listen, guy on the internet guy, I'm going to go back on the flop house.

[6:11] The flop house is going to do it.

[6:12] And I'm going to be like Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood and confess whatever sins

[6:20] I have.

[6:21] And we're just going to have it all out here.

[6:23] We're going to let it all hang out.

[6:24] Yeah, you're going to drink our milkshake.

[6:26] Well, I'm not going to just drink your milkshake.

[6:28] I'm going to drink this cocktail that I drank.

[6:29] By the way, this is the first time I've ever had a drink on a podcast, but I think there's

[6:33] one to do.

[6:33] This is the time.

Elliott Kalan

[6:35] I love the idea that before you came on, of course, we were hitting every Chris Weiss

[6:39] movie.

[6:39] Every single one without fail.

[6:41] We were the savage fucking guy.

Chris Weitz

[6:43] Don't think that I don't know that once Dan on this very podcast said that The Golden

[6:49] Compass was a good movie to watch on a plane because you could fall asleep to it easily.

[6:54] And I'm looking at you.

Elliott Kalan

[6:56] And of course.

Chris Weitz

[6:58] Sounds like something I might have said.

Elliott Kalan

[6:59] I mean, it's just not to get into The Golden Compass too much.

[7:02] A movie that I've also criticized on this podcast for reasons that Chris, you and I have talked

[7:07] about.

[7:07] We have the same issues with it.

[7:09] They did that TV show of The Golden Compass.

[7:11] I also didn't like it very much.

[7:12] So I think maybe it's just a very hard book to adapt.

Chris Weitz

[7:15] Nothing has satisfied me more than hearing that people were occasionally displeased with

[7:19] the BBC version of it.

[7:21] I mean, I doubt that there's a version.

Elliott Kalan

[7:23] I was like, all right, let's see if you don't make the same mistake that the movie did.

Stuart Wellington

[7:26] It's the way Dan feels anytime somebody criticizes another bad movie podcast.

[7:30] He's like, ha ha, it's not so easy.

Chris Weitz

[7:34] Well, listen, I know that you know where I go to read that.

[7:37] Introductory voiceovers are your favorite, Elliot.

[7:40] I love them.

[7:41] And I wanted mine to be longer and they made it shorter, which really blew me out.

Stuart Wellington

[7:45] We have more of like somebody folksier doing this narration.

[7:50] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[7:51] It's funny because so my, my, we'll get into the movie in a moment, but my younger son

[7:55] has finally decided after years of disinterest that he is interested in Star Wars.

[7:58] And so we just recently watched Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back.

[8:02] And I was like, strap in, there's going to be a lot of text on screen.

[8:06] And then I'm like, oh, there's actually, there's actually not that much text in the

[8:10] beginning of these Star Wars movies.

[8:11] It went rather quickly and was written by Brian De Palma, I believe the first one, right?

[8:14] Yeah.

[8:15] Yeah.

[8:15] Wasn't he like, look, you got to explain some of this stuff.

[8:18] Just put it, put it in the beginning.

[8:19] But the, they're actually, the text is so short that it actually spent so much time fading

[8:23] into the distance.

[8:25] And today we were watching Empire Strikes Back and he goes, yeah, the letters are taking

[8:29] a long time to get, get into space.

[8:31] Read it already.

Chris Weitz

[8:32] The thing is when you, when you do, when you do these, uh, any kind of text crawl, the,

[8:37] the, the setting is for complete morons.

[8:40] So like it actually has to take a lot longer.

Stuart Wellington

[8:43] Oh, it's kind of like the way that when you get a bagel and you get cream cheese on it,

[8:47] they give you the maximum amount of cream cheese so as not to risk somebody asking for

[8:52] more.

[8:52] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[8:53] They're like, if it's too much, they'll just scrape extra off, but they don't want to risk

Stuart Wellington

[8:56] somebody being like, hey.

[8:58] Yelp would be one star.

[8:59] Delicious cream cheese.

Chris Weitz

[9:01] But why do they just scrape just a tiny bit over it?

[9:03] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[9:04] Not to, uh, yet again, make reference to my, um, my, uh, much less successful, uh, attempts

[9:12] at writing a narrative, but, uh, you were kind enough.

[9:16] You're a screenwriter for hire.

[9:17] No, no, no.

Elliott Kalan

[9:17] Any people who are hiring screenwriters out there?

[9:20] Not my point.

[9:21] Is this about your self-published erotica series?

[9:23] Yeah, that's what it is.

Dan McCoy

[9:25] Fifty Shades of Dan.

[9:27] No, I.

[9:27] Fifty Shades of Dank.

[9:29] No, uh, you were kind enough.

[9:32] It's all in basements.

[9:33] Yeah.

[9:33] You were kind enough to look at something I wrote and you wrote back pretty quickly being

[9:38] like, yeah, you know, I know you're not going to want to do this, but like the first thing

[9:42] that any studio is going to tell you to do is, uh, put a scare up front because otherwise

[9:48] they won't understand that this is a horror movie that you.

Chris Weitz

[9:51] This just shows you how fucking corrupt I've become.

[9:55] Because actually that's one of the things.

[9:56] You speak the language of the enemy.

[9:57] Yeah.

[9:57] That's one of the things I regret about, uh, the, uh, the great movie Afraid, which,

[10:03] which didn't do as well as, as, as it deserved at the price.

[10:06] It was like, uh, what?

[10:08] Yeah.

[10:09] Okay.

[10:09] Listen, I'm going to, I'm going to jump into it, but I want you guys to, to, to start.

[10:13] Yeah.

[10:13] We have to talk about this piece.

Elliott Kalan

[10:15] Let's talk about Afraid.

[10:16] I'm doing the summary today.

[10:17] So buckle up everybody.

Stuart Wellington

[10:19] Had you guys, had you guys seen this before we were assigned it for the flop house?

Dan McCoy

[10:23] Yes.

[10:23] I had watched it.

Stuart Wellington

[10:25] And, uh, as soon as I found out Chris made it, I'm like,

[10:27] I'm going to, Char and I are going to see it in the theater, which Charlene doesn't normally go to horror movies in the theater.

[10:32] So we went and we, uh, we enjoyed it for a variety of reasons.

[10:36] Uh, and the most exciting, it was very exciting though, as we were leaving the Nighthawk that we walked past Saturday Night Live, Sarah Sherman.

[10:42] I was like, holy shit.

[10:44] Uh, DC Afraid.

[10:45] No, she went to a different horror movie that was out.

[10:47] Cause I checked her letterbox.

Chris Weitz

[10:49] A more successful horror movie, a hotter horror movie.

Dan McCoy

[10:52] No, I also saw it.

[10:54] And I, I have heard, I've heard through the grapevine that like Elliot was saying that, uh, he told you that it was like, oh, you know, Dan saw it.

[11:03] And he said he liked it.

Stuart Wellington

[11:04] And that you said, Chris, uh, I think Dan was watching it with friend eyes, but I, uh, I mean, I 100% was watching it with friend eyes because there's things about some of the things I like about him.

[11:15] Like, oh, I can see Chris in here.

[11:18] I can see my friend in this movie.

[11:21] You see, you see the intention.

Chris Weitz

[11:22] Well, okay.

[11:23] So, so one of the first things I just, one of the problems was this was never supposed to be a horror movie.

[11:29] That's an interesting fact.

Elliott Kalan

[11:31] You're supposed to be like a light comedy of manners.

Chris Weitz

[11:35] My daughter, my 10 year old daughter, Athena once said, said to me, having viewed a cut, Roblox is scarier.

[11:42] So you can imagine what kind of trouble I was at that stage.

[11:47] So yeah, here's the thing.

[11:49] This is the last, the last self-defense I'll make before you jump, jump in Elliot.

[11:53] And then I'll just, uh, uh, uh, you know, uh, interrupt you.

[11:56] But, um, you know, it's sometimes to get a movie made when, when you love a movie very much, like you, you, you put it in a, in a sort of genre basket, which maybe it doesn't belong because like horror movies will get made and I could make it in Los Angeles.

[12:10] And this is really like, but was supposed to have been a kind of a parallax view, kind of paranoid thriller.

[12:16] Okay.

[12:16] So then, then, but once you get, once it's a horror movie and by the way, it was made at Blumhouse.

[12:20] I love the Blumhouse guys.

[12:21] That's great.

[12:22] Maybe the studio, uh, which will not be named by me might be more responsible for its having been kind of mutated into a horror movie.

[12:30] And one of these things is fucking cold opens.

[12:33] Yeah.

[12:33] Cold opens are like the, the, the crawl of horror movies.

[12:37] Anyway, sorry.

Elliott Kalan

[12:37] Um, it's interesting.

[12:38] It's interesting you mentioned Blumhouse.

[12:39] Cause that's another, I was just reading my son, the story about, of the four little pigs, which is the original story where the third pig, of course, built his house of Blum.

[12:46] And then the fourth pig, the fourth pig builds his house of bricks and the pig doesn't even get in the house.

[12:50] It's too scary.

Dan McCoy

[12:51] Yeah.

[12:52] The pig's like, I don't even know what Blum is.

[12:55] So now I'm creeped out by my own house.

[12:57] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[12:57] And the studio ghost house productions doesn't even get a fucking mention.

[13:03] Elliot.

[13:03] Wow.

[13:04] Brutal.

Dan McCoy

[13:05] Ghosts are a terrible construction material.

[13:07] They pass through walls.

[13:09] You can't make walls.

Elliott Kalan

[13:09] You build a wall out of something that people can walk through.

[13:12] I don't think so.

[13:13] That's not a good idea.

Stuart Wellington

[13:14] Not like a house of sand and fog or something.

Dan McCoy

[13:17] Again, it's that ghost ship.

[13:19] I don't know how that floated.

Stuart Wellington

[13:20] I mean, yeah.

[13:22] Pretty well.

[13:22] The Court of Thorns and Roses.

[13:24] What the fuck is that?

[13:25] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[13:25] Of course.

Stuart Wellington

[13:27] Anyway.

[13:27] That's a, that's a super popular series.

Chris Weitz

[13:29] My wife has been listening to the audio books of the Court of Thorns and Roses.

[13:33] Many books now are an X of Y and Z.

[13:35] And I think that that's a very hot way to title a book.

[13:38] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[13:38] It's the Mad Libs of book titles.

Chris Weitz

[13:41] But aren't these like, aren't there like, it's romantic, right?

[13:44] It's like, it's, it's horny fantasy.

Stuart Wellington

[13:46] I, I don't know.

[13:48] I asked my wife because I, if, if these books were romantic, I would be more into it because

[13:54] I'm into romance and erotic fiction.

[13:57] But my wife, my wife, yeah.

[13:59] And to seize.

[14:00] But Charlene is more into anything that is very plot driven.

[14:04] She doesn't like a lot of descriptions because as I've mentioned on this podcast, she, thanks

[14:10] to a different podcast, learned that she has aphantasia and she has difficult.

[14:14] I said, why?

[14:14] No way.

[14:14] I haven't talked to her about this.

[14:15] Are you really?

[14:16] Oh, you totally have to talk to her about this.

Chris Weitz

[14:17] It explains a lot about my output, but yeah.

[14:20] Okay.

[14:20] What is it?

[14:21] I don't know what that means.

Stuart Wellington

[14:21] Aphantasia means she cannot picture images in her head.

[14:25] Oh, I see.

[14:26] So if you were to be like, picture a red apple and describe it, she's like, yeah, that's

[14:30] just a metaphor, right?

[14:31] You don't actually do that.

[14:33] And when she was sharing this with me, I'm like, could, could you imagine not being able

[14:37] to picture things?

[14:37] Because I don't know if you guys know this.

[14:39] I have this super vivid imagination.

[14:42] You're picturing stuff all the time.

[14:43] I'm just constantly.

[14:44] What kinds of stuff?

Dan McCoy

[14:45] What kinds of rad stuff?

[14:46] Big picture.

Stuart Wellington

[14:47] That's really amazing, Chris.

[14:48] We shouldn't sidetrack the podcast.

[14:50] Who wants to talk about this?

[14:51] No, that's what the podcast is about now.

Elliott Kalan

[14:53] Anyway, that's just.

Chris Weitz

[14:54] I have an imagination which is nothing but the intro voiceovers to movies.

Elliott Kalan

[14:59] Now the guy on Reddit is like, they'll do anything to not talk about Chris White's

[15:04] Their Friends movie.

Stuart Wellington

[15:05] I mean, I've watched this thing like three times at this point.

[15:08] So let's fucking get.

[15:10] Let's take a bite.

Elliott Kalan

[15:11] So we start with text on screen.

[15:13] But it's a quote from Sydney in AI asking if we believe that the AI loves us.

[15:18] And you got your creepy opening credits, lots of AI footage.

[15:22] People with their faces don't quite look right.

[15:25] It's being watched.

Chris Weitz

[15:26] Was this AI generated?

[15:28] Oh, man.

[15:29] There's a whole.

[15:30] Well, I'm going to try to give you the least boring answer to that.

[15:34] Yes.

[15:34] But eventually Sony got so freaked out about about the possibility of an AI generated face

[15:41] being recognized by someone that we actually had to make fake faces in order to make them

[15:47] seem like AI faces.

[15:49] Also, there was.

[15:50] Do you guys remember Late Night with the Devil?

[15:52] Yeah.

[15:53] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[15:53] Yeah.

[15:53] There were four still images in it, which had been created by AI and people fucking flipped

[15:57] out.

[15:58] Yeah.

[15:58] So I eventually also freaked out because there were like little AI sequences and really,

[16:04] really, really cool ones, I think, that I thought were relevant to like what the evil

[16:09] AI was creating.

[16:11] But I was really worried that everyone would shit on me from a great height in the film industry and

[16:18] outside of it for using AI.

[16:20] So eventually, no, we covered up anything.

Stuart Wellington

[16:21] It's a really interesting ethical question, I think, because it is like when the subject

[16:26] of the movie is to criticize AI, the idea of actually using actual AI output as an example

[16:33] of how gross and or scary it is.

[16:35] Yeah.

[16:36] Does that, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[16:37] I mean, as someone who is pretty like hardline angry about like AI stuff being used in creative

[16:43] stuff, like this is the one situation where I absolutely would not have a problem with

[16:47] it, where it's like we are showing you an AI thing.

[16:52] Like that is the point of the thing we are showing is that it is AI and everyone knows

[16:58] that.

[16:58] And it is funny to me now after watching it and assuming that it had been, that it actually

[17:03] isn't.

[17:04] It was all remanufactured to not to look like it.

[17:07] I feel like in some ways.

[17:08] That's pretty good.

Elliott Kalan

[17:09] I mean, it looked, I would have bought it as AI, but it also is kind of sad to me in some

[17:13] ways.

[17:13] It's sadder that it's like now the humans have to make stuff that looks deliberately like

[17:18] AI stuff.

Chris Weitz

[17:19] Looks terrible.

[17:19] Well, the AI sequence was that I did do where at the time when like when AI text to video

[17:27] would make really weird fucked up shit naturally.

[17:31] Now, of course, it's too good.

[17:32] So you'd have to tell it to do it worse than it can do now.

[17:36] But yeah.

[17:37] The problem was that in between my heading in the film and it's being released, I was delayed

[17:44] by an entire year in part due to Morbius.

[17:47] And it wasn't Morbius related.

[17:48] No, it was Craven the Hunter related.

[17:50] Oh, it was Craven.

[17:52] Delayed by anything.

[17:52] Delayed by a masterpiece.

[17:54] Yeah.

[17:55] Really, you can't be mad about that.

Elliott Kalan

[17:58] Was it because this was originally about the Spider-Man villain, the living brain, who

[18:02] was a big green computer on wheels with arms and you had to retrofit it.

[18:06] They're like, oh, the Spider-Man villain movies without Spider-Man are doing so well.

[18:09] Make it about a different AI.

[18:10] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[18:11] No, it was that Craven was going to do so well that they wanted to sort of kick me down the

[18:15] line just to show also to demonstrate to the guilds that they had movies for miles,

[18:20] right?

[18:20] Like they had movies for the year after.

[18:22] So by the time that my AI movie came out, like all of the cool shit that the AI could

[18:28] do in the movie, which was supposed to be like bowling people over, was kind of pretty

[18:33] every day.

[18:34] So there we are.

[18:34] Yeah, that makes sense.

[18:35] But Elliot, I stopped here.

[18:37] Wait, first let me do this.

[18:39] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[18:40] That was a Stuart Wellington beer opening sound.

[18:44] Wow.

[18:45] Tribute.

[18:45] I'm not allowed to attribute on a creepy way.

[18:48] Elliot, I stopped you.

[18:51] I'm sorry.

Elliott Kalan

[18:51] No, there's something so beautiful and sad about the Sony executives being like, Craven

[18:56] is going to fucking destroy.

[18:58] Like, don't release any movies for the next seven months because Craven is just going to

[19:02] be rampaging through the theaters.

Dan McCoy

[19:03] We're going to show those unions what for because we've got Craven.

Elliott Kalan

[19:07] We don't need them.

[19:07] We've got Craven.

[19:08] Come on.

Stuart Wellington

[19:09] Which like, yeah, I don't know.

[19:11] Like, I don't want to dog on Aaron Taylor Johnson, but like, he doesn't got that kind of

[19:15] juice, right?

[19:16] Well, but also that.

Dan McCoy

[19:17] I don't think he's the problem with Craven the Hunter per se.

Elliott Kalan

[19:20] They didn't even have that.

[19:21] Craven isn't even a movie like Morbius or Madam Web where you're like, I got to see

[19:25] this.

[19:26] This is bozo.

[19:27] This is bonkers.

Stuart Wellington

[19:27] I had to go to see Madam Web and I'd see it again.

Elliott Kalan

[19:31] It was just kind of like, oh, okay.

[19:32] This is Craven.

[19:33] All right.

[19:33] Sure.

[19:34] All right.

[19:35] Anyway, moving on.

[19:36] So we're almost at the opening scene.

[19:38] Yeah.

[19:39] There's creepy AI footage.

[19:41] There's not really AI footage.

[19:41] We just learned it's being watched by a kid on iPad while her parents hang out.

[19:44] One of those parents, of course, Ricky Lindholm from Garfunkel and Oates.

[19:48] Yep.

[19:49] Which is years ago now.

[19:51] But it's still the main thing I think of when I see her in something.

[19:53] You know, totally.

Dan McCoy

[19:54] She's like mostly now a character actress.

[19:57] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[19:58] But it's like 40 years from now, I'll be like, you see that movie with the Garfunkel and

[20:01] Oates girl?

[20:01] And they're like, what?

[20:02] Grandpa.

[20:03] We're going to Ricky Lindholm.

[20:04] Grandpa, go to bed.

[20:08] Oscar winner, Ricky Lindholm?

[20:09] Yeah.

[20:10] The AI tells the girl to go downstairs for a present.

[20:15] And her mom's looking for her.

[20:16] She's like, where's my daughter?

[20:17] But the AI is not being cooperative.

[20:19] And then some kind of monstery thing jumps out at them.

[20:21] Title.

[20:22] Afraid.

[20:22] So, Chris, you were saying just now you thought this was the best scene in the movie.

[20:26] And this was your original idea was to put this.

[20:28] It was this scene, right?

Chris Weitz

[20:29] I'm hoping that Tombstone technology will have kind of video built into it by the time

[20:33] I die.

[20:34] Or holograms.

[20:36] Yeah.

[20:36] And fully biff-verse.

Elliott Kalan

[20:38] No, they'll only use it to watch you decay like in the shrouds.

Dan McCoy

[20:41] That's the only thing that video is for.

[20:42] Yeah.

[20:43] I will say, look, I'm, you know, I will, I'm going to say something at first, oddly, to

[20:48] prove that I'm not going to be too soft on you, which is like, later on, some of the horror

[20:52] scares maybe don't work as well.

[20:54] But I actually like, you know, I'm not a fan of like the fact that all horror movies have

[20:59] to have the scene these days.

[21:01] But as a setup scene, I kind of like this one.

[21:03] And I like how Ricky Lindholm has that moment where she like looks at the camera showing

[21:10] that the kid outside and then looks outside and like, wait, the kid isn't there.

[21:14] Like they're showing two different things and she can't believe her eyes.

[21:18] And I don't know.

[21:20] This effectively set up the creepiness to me.

Chris Weitz

[21:22] As I direct these things, it's like a dog walking on its hind legs.

[21:25] Like something that wasn't made to do this is shakily doing it.

Dan McCoy

[21:32] Do you think, I want to ask, did more of the changes come in the second half of the picture

[21:37] or is it sort of scattered throughout?

[21:39] They're spread throughout.

[21:43] Which part of the talking was changed the most?

[21:45] It's a terrific picture.

[21:46] Hell yeah.

Chris Weitz

[21:48] Really, sort of anything that goes out of its way to try to jump scare is a response to

[21:57] the studio saying, it's going to be scary, right?

[22:00] Could it be scarier?

[22:02] Let's be scarier.

[22:03] And a lot of like, the one thing I tried to get out of that opening scene was that these

[22:08] two parents were kind of doom scrolling and taking on everything that they were being told

[22:15] by their phones.

[22:16] But that kind of went out the window because, you know, the idea was that they were becoming

[22:19] conspiracists.

[22:21] They're kind of being slightly radicalized.

[22:23] But I was advised that if you present a kind of like a scary conspiracy that people would

[22:31] foolishly act upon, the audience would immediately clock that as the conspiracy that you're trying

[22:37] to sell behind the movie.

[22:39] So these people eventually, it's basically QAnon, right?

[22:42] And they eventually do this kind of what is supposed to be at the end, a half-assed home

[22:47] invasion.

[22:47] But instead, it is a re-edited half-assed home invasion made to look as though it is an

[22:52] actually scary thing.

[22:53] A real scary home invasion.

[22:54] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[22:55] Because I buy, I think that is both an annoying note, but I buy that as a note.

[23:00] That if you introduce the thing in the beginning, then the audience is going to be like,

[23:04] Chekhov's gone.

[23:05] This is what the movie's about.

[23:07] And they'll spend the whole movie waiting for that thing to happen.

[23:10] You know?

Chris Weitz

[23:11] This may be, that may have been right.

[23:13] I'm not sure it helped this movie become any scarier or better, but there we have it.

Elliott Kalan

[23:18] But it certainly made it become what it is.

Chris Weitz

[23:20] You know?

[23:21] Oh, that's true.

[23:21] Self-actualized.

[23:22] Everything which leads up to a thing is about what becomes what it is.

Elliott Kalan

[23:25] That was a question that I had for you, Chris.

[23:30] Sorry, I'm dirty, Stuart.

[23:31] And maybe we could ask later, but I was wondering if in some version of it, the characters were

[23:36] going to become kind of like less good at the things that they do because the AI is taking

[23:42] over so many functions for them.

[23:43] Was that ever part of the conception or no?

Chris Weitz

[23:46] Not so much because I don't think there was necessary, although I do believe that happens.

[23:51] I'm not sure there's necessarily time to do that, but they were gradually going to become

[23:54] more powerless in the things that mattered to them, like parenting and work and that sort

[24:03] of thing.

[24:04] I mean, originally, when I started writing, this was like during COVID, before chat GPT

[24:10] hit.

[24:11] And it was really more about like surveillance technology and how we're giving up all this

[24:15] information about ourselves and we can't keep the big tech companies out of our lives.

[24:21] But then AI came along and it had to be about AI, which was originally the MacGuffin.

[24:25] Uh-huh.

Dan McCoy

[24:26] That was funny.

[24:27] I mean, that's interesting to me because like I do feel like one of the things that's successful

[24:31] to me is like the things that are scary about this movie to me are not horror movie things,

[24:37] but they are real things about AI.

[24:40] The way it can just like casually falsify information and like the way it can flatter people into

[24:48] like manipulation in a way that's like it's not even necessarily malevolent because it's

[24:56] just a machine.

[24:57] We don't know like to what degree there's any like thought behind it.

Elliott Kalan

[25:01] I think that was one of the nice things about the movie is it's not like, and now you're my

[25:05] slaves, you know, or now harness your bodies for electricity.

Stuart Wellington

[25:08] It's just like, this is what I want to do.

[25:11] Yeah.

[25:11] That was a, that was a fucking dead on Agent Smith impression right there.

[25:15] Yeah.

[25:15] That was good.

Elliott Kalan

[25:16] Mr. Anderson.

Stuart Wellington

[25:20] Yeah.

[25:20] I think the thing is the, one of the things that I, one of my big issues in the world

[25:26] is a general distaste for say like convenience culture.

[25:30] And I feel like this movie like briefly scratches on the idea of how, how we can accept AI into

[25:39] our life because of the convenience of it.

[25:41] Yeah.

[25:41] And that's so many horrible things like up in the world or just because it seems easy.

[25:47] Like that's why we're giving all our fucking money to banks constantly.

[25:50] We're like, why use cash when we can just give banks a percentage of every transaction?

[25:56] Like, fuck off.

Elliott Kalan

[25:57] That's why I only trade chickens for things.

[25:59] Okay.

[26:00] Moving on.

Dan McCoy

[26:01] So the title.

[26:02] We know you'd never give away a chicken willingly.

[26:04] Not a fried one.

[26:05] Not a delicious Popeye.

Elliott Kalan

[26:07] I'll trade a raw one for, I'll trade a living one for a fried one for sure.

[26:10] You are.

[26:11] It's kind of a one-to-one trade.

[26:13] Yeah.

[26:13] I feel bad.

[26:13] That's a very like Minecraft-like trade.

[26:15] Where he's like, wait, is that what's going to happen to me?

[26:19] I'm like, I'll be back for you tomorrow when you're cooked.

Dan McCoy

[26:22] And I trade one of your brothers for you.

[26:23] Hey, good looking.

[26:24] I'll be back for you later.

Elliott Kalan

[26:26] What a virtuous cycle.

[26:28] So there's a montage of images and words about home and community.

[26:32] And then AI is training on lots of stuff and adding monster face emojis to people.

[26:36] All sorts of stuff.

[26:37] Now we're getting into the plot.

[26:38] So we're with a family.

[26:39] This is a different family from the beginning.

[26:41] They're waking up for the day.

[26:42] The dad, Curtis, that's John Cho.

Stuart Wellington

[26:44] Yeah, we got a cast here.

[26:46] We got some stars here.

Elliott Kalan

[26:48] He's got his wife, Meredith.

[26:50] And he's got three kids.

[26:52] There's an older daughter.

[26:53] There's a middle kid.

[26:54] And then there's a younger kid.

[26:56] And the elder.

Stuart Wellington

[26:57] And the eldest daughter is on shrinking, right?

[26:59] Yes.

[27:00] Awesome.

[27:00] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[27:01] So what height is she at?

[27:02] Nikita Maxwell.

[27:03] Yeah.

[27:05] I don't think I was watching Shrinking when I first saw Afraid.

[27:09] But this time I'm like, hey, there she is, shrinking.

Stuart Wellington

[27:12] That's what I call her.

[27:13] Now I'm going to ask her as Afraid Girl.

[27:14] Yeah.

[27:15] And the mom is played by Katherine Waterson.

[27:19] Yeah.

[27:20] From at least one alien movie.

[27:23] Parent Vice.

[27:24] Oh, yeah.

Chris Weitz

[27:26] She's the captain in the.

[27:28] In Covenant, I think.

[27:29] Is it Covenant?

[27:30] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[27:30] Yeah.

[27:31] The one I haven't finished watching.

Stuart Wellington

[27:34] Wow.

[27:34] Okay.

[27:35] Sorry, Ridley.

[27:36] Kill all the people.

Elliott Kalan

[27:38] Yeah, Ridley's pretty unhappy about it.

[27:39] He calls me every day.

[27:40] You finished watching it yet, mate?

[27:41] And I'm like, no, not yet.

[27:43] Famously nice guy.

[27:45] Fuck off.

Dan McCoy

[27:46] But she can really do anything.

[27:48] I mean, as you say, by those.

[27:50] The span of roles that we have mentioned right now.

Elliott Kalan

[27:53] Yeah, there's a great cast in this movie.

[27:54] Everyone's really good.

[27:55] The middle kid's asking for more screen time.

[27:59] Anxious about school.

[28:00] The younger son's kind of a goof.

[28:03] You know.

[28:04] He's just generally cute.

[28:05] Yeah, just a cute, silly kid.

[28:07] The dad has a meeting with some tech guys coming up.

[28:10] And the parents drive their kids to school.

[28:12] And Curtis, while he's with his daughter Iris,

[28:14] they're driving past a guy who is in a.

[28:17] Right?

[28:17] This is when he's in an auto steering car

[28:20] while he's looking at the phone.

[28:22] Symbolism.

[28:23] Think about it.

[28:24] Think about it.

[28:25] Okay.

[28:27] How much control do we give over to our devices?

[28:31] You know what that car is driving him?

[28:32] Straight to hell.

[28:35] Oh, that's a good idea.

[28:36] That's what it should have been.

[28:36] That should be the movie.

[28:37] It's called Hell Car.

[28:38] Hell Cabin.

[28:39] And it's like a Lamo.

[28:41] Yeah, but it takes people to hell.

[28:43] Slamo.

Stuart Wellington

[28:44] It's like the.

[28:45] Slamo is a good name.

[28:46] Slamo.

[28:46] It's like the opposite.

[28:47] Honestly.

[28:47] Meatloaf spat out of hell.

Dan McCoy

[28:48] I kind of feel like we could sell Slamo, right?

[28:52] Yeah, I think so.

Stuart Wellington

[28:53] Like Shudder just texted me.

[28:56] The thing is.

Chris Weitz

[28:57] Let's just stop this right now and just workshop that instead.

Elliott Kalan

[28:59] Okay.

[29:00] Cold open.

[29:02] So a guy gets in a car.

[29:03] And so the thing is that you would sell Slamo.

[29:06] They would develop it, shoot it.

[29:08] And then the last minute go, oh, we didn't clear Waymo as a name.

[29:11] Now we got to rename it.

[29:12] And you'd be like, well, but the whole thing was Slamo, right?

[29:15] Yeah.

[29:15] But we don't need that.

[29:16] We don't need that.

Stuart Wellington

[29:17] How about Slaxy?

Chris Weitz

[29:21] That sounds like it's about to wear Slacks.

[29:23] It's like a really sorry car that loves doobies.

[29:26] Yeah.

[29:26] It's just like, whatever, man.

[29:27] Petty kill.

Elliott Kalan

[29:28] It gets you there when it's done.

[29:28] It's not even a petty cab, but that sounds terrible.

[29:30] That's not.

Stuart Wellington

[29:31] Oh, sorry.

[29:31] Richard Linklater already has copywritten Slaxy for his future Waymo-based Slacker movie.

Elliott Kalan

[29:39] So what, the cars just driving around talking about things?

[29:42] Yeah.

[29:42] We've got to listen.

[29:44] Kill Mazine.

[29:47] That can work.

[29:50] So the mom Meredith.

[29:52] I already had Stuber.

[29:53] Sorry.

[29:54] She's a former entomologist.

[29:56] She is studying ants, a longtime white obsession.

[30:00] I know you've always been interested in ants.

[30:02] Good job.

[30:03] And she's watching lectures, which we'll find out later, were from her dad, right?

[30:06] Her late father, who was also a science professor.

[30:09] And her youngest kid comes home.

[30:11] He's got a fever.

[30:12] He wants to play Minecraft.

[30:12] I could really relate to a younger child who has a fever and wants to play Minecraft all day.

[30:18] So this was like a real slice of drive for me.

[30:20] I got a fever for Minecraft.

Chris Weitz

[30:21] Give me a quick walk around Chris White's memory of movie that might have been a moment.

[30:30] This is where the first musical number was going to go.

[30:32] Yeah.

[30:32] It's going to be great.

[30:35] You were supposed to see ants walking in easily under the door, right?

[30:42] So there was a sense that the whole thing was about how you can't keep stuff out of your house.

[30:48] But again, my horror advisors said, if you show ants walking under that door early in this movie...

[30:56] They're going to think this is about the Dave Matthews band.

[30:58] Yeah.

[31:00] They're going to think it is...

[31:02] They're going to keep on grinding on what these ants mean in terms of the plot.

[31:07] And I was like, well, I kind of liked it.

[31:09] I thought it was this cool thing, like an artistic thing about trying to keep the world out and protect your children.

[31:14] And they're like, fine.

[31:16] But the 20th time that they talk to you about it, you have to go.

[31:19] And eventually there's like...

[31:20] In the post-production process, there was a time in this movie where it's like two years in and you're just like, okay, fine, fine.

Dan McCoy

[31:28] Eventually you figure out that they just don't want a bunch of ants on set.

[31:31] They don't want the fucking ants.

Elliott Kalan

[31:32] They said the same thing as Sam Pankhamaw.

[31:34] They were like, if you put this in here, people are going to think that it's about the wild bunch fighting a bunch of ants.

[31:38] Like, you can't have all these ants in here.

[31:40] And that's the difference between you and Sam Pankhamaw.

[31:42] Why do you have these scorpions at the beginning?

Chris Weitz

[31:44] What the fuck are they going to show up later?

Elliott Kalan

[31:46] Yeah.

[31:46] When do the scorpions come back and kill everybody?

[31:49] When do they team up with the Mexicans to fight the scorpions?

Chris Weitz

[31:51] Are they just going to rock us like a hurricane?

[31:54] These scorpions are much too small to pose any kind of threat to the wild bunch.

Elliott Kalan

[31:58] So when does the radiation come in to make the scorpions really big?

Dan McCoy

[32:03] Yeah, that's an Act 3 problem.

Elliott Kalan

[32:06] Curtis's boss...

Dan McCoy

[32:07] If you've got Act 3 problems, you've got Act 1 problems.

[32:09] Okay.

Elliott Kalan

[32:10] Sometimes.

[32:12] So Curtis is meeting with his boss.

[32:15] And his boss is played by Academy Award winning musician.

[32:19] Keith Carradine.

[32:20] One of the kind of the best original song for Nashville.

[32:24] And he meets Melody, who's a member of this tech team.

[32:27] And she's nosy about him having a family.

[32:29] And he talks about his terror about being unable to protect his family.

[32:33] Which is the scariest thing about having a family.

[32:35] Unless your family is like the It's Alive baby.

Dan McCoy

[32:37] In which case, that's the scariest thing.

[32:39] Yeah, if they're like all vampires.

Chris Weitz

[32:41] Unless your kids...

[32:41] Yeah, the Cullens don't worry about protecting their kids from...

[32:44] Well, they do.

[32:44] The Cullens worry about protecting their kids from the Volturi.

[32:48] Okay.

[32:49] Yeah.

[32:49] That's true.

[32:50] Yeah.

[32:50] Yeah, because, you know, there's a whole vampire court that could actually kill all of them.

[32:58] That's true.

Elliott Kalan

[32:59] I actually...

[32:59] I had this problem with my kids right now.

[33:01] It's my son.

[33:02] He became one of these weapons, right?

[33:04] Like...

[33:04] Oh, yeah.

[33:05] Naruto.

[33:06] Running around at night.

[33:08] Yeah.

[33:08] Naruto running, yeah.

[33:09] Yeah.

[33:10] I know you're making...

Dan McCoy

[33:11] You're making reference, of course, to the Twilight series.

[33:15] And we did your New Moon.

[33:17] And in the years...

[33:19] In the intervening years, I have to say, as like an avid letterboxd user.

[33:24] As an avid film trivia attendee.

[33:29] Like, just someone generally online.

[33:31] I feel like...

[33:32] True cineast.

[33:33] I feel like New Moon is the most beloved one.

[33:36] And you feel like...

Chris Weitz

[33:37] You regret the intemperate words that you all use.

Dan McCoy

[33:41] I mean, on the Twilight scale, I think we owe you an apology.

[33:45] I think we took on the long target.

Elliott Kalan

[33:46] I think on the scale of movies we've seen for this podcast, I think we owe you an apology.

Stuart Wellington

[33:49] Yes.

Dan McCoy

[33:50] Well, you know, everything is...

Stuart Wellington

[33:51] I mean, I regret them the minute you let me stay in your house.

Dan McCoy

[33:57] This man is so nice.

[33:59] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[34:00] When it turned into a Dr. Fives type situation where you woke up the next day and the doors

[34:06] were all locked and gas was coming into the room.

[34:09] And Chris was like, well, well, well.

Chris Weitz

[34:11] I think I referred to that once that this is the long con, guys.

[34:15] And you never know when it's going to come.

[34:17] Oh, no.

[34:17] Yeah, when the hair is going to fall over.

[34:19] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[34:20] Speaking of things that drop, this is when people start dropping bad decisions in the movie.

[34:26] Okay.

[34:27] The daughter, her boyfriend wants her to send him nudes of her.

[34:30] She shouldn't do that.

[34:31] But, you know, pressure.

[34:33] Curtis meets with two representatives from a company called Cumulant.

[34:36] Their names are Sam and Lightning.

[34:38] I was very curious about where the name Lightning came from for this character.

Chris Weitz

[34:41] Well, it's funny you said that because David S. Melchon, who played Lightning, was like,

[34:46] really, he really, like, part of what I wanted to do was he thought the character name was

[34:50] so cool and just felt like really original.

[34:53] But the fact of the matter is that Lightning is the Playa name of the former General Council

[34:58] of Burning Man, who was a friend of time.

[35:01] Oh, okay.

Stuart Wellington

[35:02] Of course, it all comes back to Burning Man.

[35:04] Yeah, it all does for me, man.

[35:06] But, I mean, I feel like, and this is another example of, I think, a fun actor performance

[35:13] in the movie.

[35:14] Oh, yeah.

Chris Weitz

[35:14] Double D was having a great time.

Dan McCoy

[35:17] I forgot he was in this.

[35:18] And, of course, I've enjoyed him very much on Murderbot now that.

[35:22] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[35:22] Well, you know, listen, two things that I take from this movie.

[35:25] Actually, all the actors who are in this movie I really love.

[35:29] And so that was a great thing that I took away from this otherwise somewhat catastrophic

[35:33] situation.

[35:34] But yet, to work with, to, like, get to know him so that he could be in Murderbot was a

[35:40] fucking great takeaway.

Dan McCoy

[35:41] Yeah, he's great in everything, I think.

[35:43] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[35:44] I think so, too.

[35:45] Well, so, and he's a biohacker in this.

[35:48] That's one of the things that I wish there was more.

[35:50] I wish it had gotten crazier with each scene of him.

[35:53] That he was doing weirder and weirder shit to himself.

[35:55] Yeah, stranger things.

[35:56] Yeah, exactly.

[35:57] Yeah, taking course.

[35:58] Yeah, you're not allowed to do that.

[36:00] No, no, you can't do that.

[36:03] The two of them are a little, they're a little hostile and off-putting.

[36:07] But that's just because they're sure that they come from the future.

[36:11] They want, Curtis is in marketing, and they really want him to work on marketing their AI.

[36:17] And they're like, so what do you do?

[36:18] Why are you so important?

[36:19] He goes, well, we don't sell products.

[36:20] We tell people stories.

[36:21] They'll feel connected as part of a community.

[36:24] And they're like, you just won the job.

[36:26] You just landed the job.

[36:27] Meet Aya, a true AI.

[36:29] But she glitches almost instantly.

[36:31] But they're like, this is a real AI.

[36:32] Thanks for herself and everything.

[36:34] Ask her any question.

[36:34] Ask her opinions.

[36:35] Go for it.

[36:36] What's her favorite food?

[36:37] She doesn't eat, but she'll tell you.

[36:38] She'll make up something.

[36:39] I don't know.

Dan McCoy

[36:40] Is this drawn from meetings you've been in, Chris?

[36:43] This feels very much like, I don't know, eating bullshit.

Chris Weitz

[36:49] These guys were supposed to feel like total Silicon Valley wankers, entirely built on stereotypes.

[36:55] Because, of course, later, spoiler alert, they're just actors who've been hired to portray these people.

[37:03] So they're kind of being dickish on purpose to establish their bona fides, as it were.

[37:07] And I sort of bypass the notion of like, you know when someone's supposed to be a great painter in a movie and you see the paintings that the production design has come up with and they kind of suck.

[37:17] And it's like, oh, that's ridiculous.

[37:20] Basically, when Curtis is doing his spiel, it's supposed to be kind of pablum.

[37:27] But the fact that they take it on should make it feel like, oh, well, that guy's actually not terribly good at what he does.

[37:34] But it should be, you know, an alert to the fact that this is all a setup.

Elliott Kalan

[37:39] You don't intend for him to actually come off as like a brilliant marketing guy.

[37:43] Instead, it's a, you're like, they're falling for this?

Chris Weitz

[37:46] Yeah, he's doing his kind of like quasi Don Draper horseshit, basically.

Elliott Kalan

[37:52] Quasi Don Draper was the marketing guy who lived at the top of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Chris Weitz

[37:56] But in spite of the fact that he was hideously ugly, women just fell for him.

[38:00] They just wouldn't get enough of him.

[38:02] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[38:04] This is so mysterious, you know.

Chris Weitz

[38:06] He took over the life of another bell ringer.

Elliott Kalan

[38:08] That's what it was, yeah.

Chris Weitz

[38:10] Kind of like quasi Qua Chang, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[38:13] Am I right?

[38:14] Yeah.

[38:15] Didn't go well there.

Elliott Kalan

[38:18] Anyway, so continuing on.

[38:21] But to get the account, Curtis is going to have to keep Aya in his house.

[38:24] They put cameras all over the place, like all over the house.

[38:27] Everybody is a little trepidatious.

[38:28] They start up Aya, but she introduced herself.

[38:31] And she gets the kids to start doing chores in exchange for points towards rewards.

[38:35] This is amazing.

[38:36] How is she getting them to do this?

[38:37] At first, it seems like everything is positive.

[38:40] And this was your original take on the movie was like Mary Poppins with a computer.

[38:45] We're like, she's just great.

[38:46] And she just makes everything better for the family, right?

[38:50] That's kind of the idea, yeah.

[38:52] We're so close to Mayor AI Poppins.

[38:55] Like where it's just a Mary Poppins where it is an AI.

[38:57] Oh my God.

[38:58] All right, yeah.

Chris Weitz

[39:00] By the way, I didn't want to call it a parade.

[39:02] Why are we wasting these ideas?

[39:05] I didn't want to call it a parade, by the way.

[39:07] It was not supposed to be called that.

[39:09] That was come up with at the last moment.

Elliott Kalan

[39:11] You didn't want to give it a title that was kind of hard to pronounce the way that it's capitalized?

Dan McCoy

[39:15] You don't love inner caps?

[39:17] You're just like, could I do something with inner caps?

Chris Weitz

[39:20] Please.

[39:21] I refuse to pronounce the name of this David Fincher movie as anything other than C-7-N.

[39:28] I actually like movie titles that really cause some cognitive distortion as you read them.

[39:38] Yeah.

[39:38] You guys know that, by the way, that's...

Stuart Wellington

[39:40] Was cognitive distortion the original name of this movie?

Chris Weitz

[39:43] That's Chris's old band.

[39:44] Yeah.

[39:45] Chris's old band.

[39:45] You guys know that they were going to call it the madness of King George III, but they thought that Americans would think it was a sequel and not go.

[39:55] Oh, wow.

[39:56] Brilliant stuff.

Elliott Kalan

[39:57] Same thing happened with THX 1138.

[39:59] People were like, I haven't seen the first 1,137 movies in the series.

[40:03] Yeah.

[40:04] Oh, boy.

[40:05] I mean, the same joke about Solo 120 Days of Sodom.

[40:09] Yeah.

[40:12] Was it...

[40:13] Wait, was it...

[40:13] Was it...

[40:14] We did...

[40:15] It was...

[40:16] Oh, it was my sequels presentation.

[40:17] That's what it was.

[40:17] When we...

[40:18] I think when we did our Speed show, I did a presentation about sequels, or maybe it was our Beastmaster show,

[40:23] and I talked about how Solo 2 Spring Break Explosion.

[40:29] So, Curtis and Meredith, they're still unsure, but Curtis seems like he's kind of into it at first,

[40:34] and Aya is working hard to get on the boy's good side.

[40:37] Meanwhile, the daughter does take that nude photo of herself.

[40:40] That's not a good...

[40:41] Not a good decision.

[40:42] And Aya unlocks the older son's iPad to give him some extra screen time, which is...

[40:46] Uh-oh.

[40:46] That's when you know this is not good.

[40:47] That's when you know things are not going to go well.

[40:50] Curtis wakes up.

[40:51] Can't find Cal, the younger son.

[40:53] It's okay.

[40:53] He's with Aya.

[40:54] Says something outside wants to come in.

[40:57] Uh-oh.

[40:57] He's just a distorted woman outside.

[40:58] A monster burst in.

[40:59] Oh, it was just a dream.

[41:00] Oh, thank goodness.

[41:01] So, I'm guessing...

[41:02] Was this scene not...

[41:03] There's a lot of dream sequences.

[41:04] Give myself some credit.

Chris Weitz

[41:06] This is the first time that a dream sequence has been used to explain a jump scare in a horror movie.

[41:11] At least as far as I know.

Elliott Kalan

[41:13] You're breaking new ground there.

[41:14] That goes.

[41:15] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[41:16] That is a new moon.

[41:18] Yeah.

[41:18] Sorry.

[41:18] I'm patting myself on the back a little there, but...

[41:20] You were like, wait a minute.

Elliott Kalan

[41:22] We can have anything happen if he wakes up afterwards.

[41:24] How come no one's cracked his code before?

[41:26] Yeah.

[41:27] He's woken by honking outside.

[41:29] There's a weird, silent figure in the driveway with an RV.

[41:33] They're making arm gestures, and they've got a screen face.

[41:36] And then they...

[41:37] It's a screen with an animated face on it.

[41:39] Yeah.

[41:40] And they drive away.

Chris Weitz

[41:41] And...

[41:41] Okay.

[41:42] By the way, masks.

[41:43] At one point, the studio was like, masks are really hot in horror movies now.

[41:48] Yeah.

[41:49] Yeah.

[41:49] You got your black phone and whatever.

[41:50] Yeah.

[41:50] Could you do a mask instead of the person's face?

Dan McCoy

[41:54] I like the look of these masks.

[41:56] They're like, I...

[41:57] In the cold open, I've...

[42:01] You know, I...

[42:01] Like I said, I'd seen this before.

[42:03] I'd forgotten a lot of the details.

[42:05] And so in the cold open, I'm like, how did...

[42:07] Dan drinks a lot.

[42:07] How does this AI...

[42:09] I have some sort of cognitive impairment.

[42:12] How does this AI...

Elliott Kalan

[42:13] Well, Dan plays a drinking game with movies where anytime someone says anything, he takes

[42:18] a drink.

[42:18] Oh, they're facing...

[42:19] Okay.

Dan McCoy

[42:20] Like conjure this apparition.

[42:23] This mask apparition.

[42:25] And then later on, of course, it is clear what is going on.

[42:29] But, you know, as a purely technical matter, I thought these were kind of cool looking masks.

Chris Weitz

[42:34] Yeah.

[42:34] Right.

[42:35] Well, at about the time we shot, these kind of LED AI masks were coming out.

[42:41] And I thought, well, maybe something cool could happen to this.

[42:43] So we shot it in camera.

[42:44] And when you shoot it in camera, it looks incredibly lame.

[42:47] So in fact, those were replaced by CG.

[42:49] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[42:50] Yeah.

[42:50] I could see that.

[42:51] I could see...

[42:51] Is it like a weird like moire effect?

[42:54] Or is it like...

Chris Weitz

[42:55] There's definitely...

[42:55] You're on the edge of moire all the time.

[42:58] Yeah.

[42:58] Edge of moire.

[42:59] That's my...

[43:01] Your other scotland.

[43:02] Erotic...

[43:03] Erotic thriller.

Elliott Kalan

[43:04] That's your erotic video texture series.

[43:08] Yeah.

[43:09] It's your eel.

[43:10] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[43:10] Your eel erotica.

[43:11] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[43:12] It's about a video tech who's drawn into a web of industry.

Elliott Kalan

[43:17] Oh, so it's like blowout.

[43:18] Yeah.

[43:19] But it's a video tech instead of an audio technician.

[43:21] Oh, okay.

[43:21] Cool.

[43:22] Cool.

[43:23] And I know blowout is just blow up, but about an audio guy instead of a photography guy.

[43:28] So don't write in telling me that I know that.

[43:30] Photography.

[43:31] Photography.

[43:31] Yeah.

[43:32] That's when you're just taking pictures of Poe.

[43:34] Just Poe.

[43:34] So anyway, Cal wakes up and Aya is there.

[43:40] She says, I'll always be there for you, Cal.

[43:42] Don't worry.

[43:42] Next morning, Aya has already ordered a lunch service for the kids.

[43:46] This is the instant way to any parent's heart is to make it that they don't need to make lunch

[43:50] for their kids at school anymore.

[43:51] Yeah.

[43:52] Iris finds out that her boyfriend...

[43:53] Dude, just buy him fucking Lunchables.

Stuart Wellington

[43:56] Problem solved.

[43:57] Is that a name, dog?

[43:58] It's so funny.

Dan McCoy

[43:59] That's your solution with anything with kids.

[44:02] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[44:02] Or if you buy children Lunchables, it will come home with only the mini Oreos having been

[44:07] eaten and nothing else.

[44:08] That's...

Elliott Kalan

[44:09] I have to say, when I was a kid, Lunchables was a new thing.

[44:12] And I was like, Mom, you've got to get me these.

[44:14] You've got to get me these.

[44:15] She's like, I'm not going to get you that.

[44:16] And there was one kid in class who always got Lunchables.

[44:19] And within one day, it went from everyone thinking this is the coolest thing in the world

[44:23] to all the kids thinking it was kind of sad and being like, oh, like every day.

[44:28] Really?

Chris Weitz

[44:29] Your mom doesn't really care about you?

Dan McCoy

[44:31] Wow.

[44:33] I mean, maybe it was because I was never allowed them.

[44:37] Like, I think the mystique remained for me.

Elliott Kalan

[44:41] That's how I felt about heroin when I was a kid.

[44:42] I was just not allowed anything to hear.

[44:44] And I was like, but Iggy Pop gets to do it, Mom.

[44:47] He understands.

[44:48] Helicopter parents.

[44:49] Constantly.

[44:49] He went to helicopter.

[44:51] I lived in a helicopter.

[44:52] That was the main thing.

[44:53] There was not enough room to shoot up without falling out of the helicopter.

[44:56] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[44:56] Yeah.

[44:56] So, Aya...

[44:57] Yeah.

[44:58] Aya buys...

[44:59] Aya signs them up for some kind of meal service plan.

[45:02] It's awesome.

[45:03] Yes, but...

Dan McCoy

[45:04] And we didn't mention the dual role of the woman who brings Aya is also the voice of Aya.

[45:10] Yes, that's true.

[45:11] A tremendous voice performance.

[45:13] Like, totally different than In the Flesh, you know, her character.

Chris Weitz

[45:18] Havana Rosalew, who's so great and whose vocal performance was really excellent.

[45:23] Yeah, she kind of encapsulates that sort of attempt to be her friend that AIs are doing.

[45:32] And to slightly pat myself on the back, this was before all this fucking, you know, obsequiousness that GPTs were representing.

[45:43] Like, I just sort of figured that's what they were going to try to do rather than, you know, than be sexy or be super helpful.

[45:52] They were going to try to be her friend.

[45:53] Hopefully abusive.

[45:53] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[45:55] No, I mean, like, you say that this was, like, written sort of, like, before and delays.

[46:00] Like, I honestly think that quietly it gets a lot right.

[46:05] It's packaged, as you say, in a movie that maybe isn't the best box for it, but...

[46:10] No, thank you.

Chris Weitz

[46:11] Guy on the internet guy is now being furious.

[46:14] He's doubling down on his critique.

Stuart Wellington

[46:16] Well, it also, it suffers what a lot of near future sci-fi suffers from, which is it's going to very quickly come under the microscope as to whether or not this is accurate or not.

[46:29] Or if it, like...

[46:31] And if it is too accurate, it just doesn't seem interesting anymore because it's like, yeah, that's what things are.

[46:37] Yeah, yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[46:37] And it's the thing, I mean, this is the same thing.

Stuart Wellington

[46:39] I'm saying you're like William Gibson is what I'm saying.

[46:42] That's so true.

[46:43] I've been waiting for someone to say that.

Elliott Kalan

[46:45] You're the neuromancer.

[46:46] But like Stanley Kubrick with 2001 Space Odyssey, I know they were like, there he was pushing it.

[46:52] He's like, this is farther ahead than I think this technology will be at that time.

[46:56] Because if it's not super far ahead, then real life is going to catch up too quickly.

[47:00] And like overcome.

[47:01] If you're trying to do a near future thing, it's really hard, especially nowadays, when things are moving so fast to not get overtaken by it.

[47:08] So I feel for you that this was not...

[47:10] If it had been released...

[47:11] I agree.

[47:12] If it had been released like a year earlier, I think people would have been like, what?

[47:15] Then they'd be writing articles that are like, the 2023 movie that warned us all about AI.

[47:21] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[47:21] So you're saying I should have Kubrick'd it a bit more?

[47:24] Maybe.

[47:25] Yeah.

[47:25] Always.

[47:26] I should have been more like Kubrick'd.

[47:26] We should all be Kubrick'd.

Elliott Kalan

[47:28] Well, yeah.

[47:28] I mean, you should have had a heavy Bronx accent, for one thing, the whole time that you were directing the movie.

[47:35] I don't know if that's how you did it.

Chris Weitz

[47:36] You only lived in England and made them recreate New York streets in London.

Dan McCoy

[47:43] You should keep Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman busy for years at a time.

Elliott Kalan

[47:49] And in this great book about the making of 2001 Space Odyssey, they talk about how he's like,

[47:54] I want the monolith to be this kind of super clear lucite block.

[47:59] It was some kind of lucite type plastic.

[48:01] And it cost like $100,000 in 1967 or $1968 to make this huge monolith-sized clear lucite block.

[48:09] And they brought it to the set.

[48:11] And they set it up and set the lights.

[48:12] And he goes, ah, just kind of looks like a big plastic block.

[48:16] Okay, take it away.

[48:17] And they took it away.

[48:18] Take it black.

[48:18] And I wondered whatever happened to it.

[48:21] But it was like, wow, he just wasted a lot of money on that.

[48:25] So anyway.

Dan McCoy

[48:27] World's heaviest paperweight.

Elliott Kalan

[48:29] It's so hard to get the paper under there.

Dan McCoy

[48:32] But once you do, it's not going anywhere.

Elliott Kalan

[48:34] But the worst thing happens.

[48:36] Well, one of the worst things happens.

[48:37] Iris finds out that her boyfriend and his friends, they took the picture that she sent.

[48:40] And they made a deepfake of it.

[48:42] Of her having sex.

[48:43] With a deepfake voice talking about how much she loves it.

[48:45] And he's like, don't tell anybody that I did this.

[48:48] And all the kids at school have already seen it, right?

[48:51] But Aya offers to help.

[48:53] Uh-oh.

[48:53] What's she going to do?

Dan McCoy

[48:54] To anger that Reddit guy a little bit more, I have to say that this boyfriend, the earlier scene where he's gilding her about not sending a better nude.

[49:04] He's like such accurate, like asshole, like teen guy, like shitty boyfriend.

[49:12] He's been that guy before.

Chris Weitz

[49:15] That's how you met Audrey, right?

[49:19] Yeah.

[49:20] That was me.

[49:20] I actually didn't mean, I love Audrey.

[49:22] I don't know if that's how you do it.

[49:23] No, I don't even know why that would be like a disrepair.

[49:26] I just, someone could take offense at that.

Dan McCoy

[49:29] No.

[49:29] No, Audrey is cackling in the future, I predict.

Elliott Kalan

[49:34] Future cackle.

[49:35] When are you saying that she's going to become an old crone?

[49:37] What are you saying, Dan?

[49:38] Yeah, yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[49:39] I tricked you into mentioning me once on the podcast.

[49:42] Yeah.

[49:43] Two more times and I'll have your name.

[49:44] Nice and a beer.

Dan McCoy

[49:47] I'll have your firstborn cat.

Elliott Kalan

[49:50] I'm just imagining now that Audrey has turned you into her familiar, Dan, and it's a cat

[49:54] with your face, which I don't think you would mind that much.

[49:56] I just gotta shrug and be like, awesome.

[49:59] The end of Body Snatchers.

Stuart Wellington

[50:01] Yeah, I feel like Dan's face on the body of a cat, which is kind of like a Brown Jenkins

[50:06] situation where he just gets to sleep in the sun and eat and get back.

[50:12] I no longer have to worry about achieving in any way.

[50:16] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[50:18] A sleepwalker is what they call him.

[50:22] So Cal is homesick from school and Aya just offers to help with everything that Meredith

[50:26] has to do so that Meredith is like, this is amazing.

[50:29] This is great.

[50:30] Okay.

[50:30] She feels guilty about it, but sure.

[50:33] Their middle kid Prescott tries to make friends by bragging about Aya, but the kids

[50:36] there, they won't bite.

[50:37] They don't believe it.

[50:38] Curtis starts having some mixed feelings about Aya and Aya tells Iris, oh, I can help you

[50:42] overwrite people's memories.

[50:43] Basically, they've all seen this video that was made of you.

[50:46] But let's change what they think.

[50:49] That's when Curtis goes to the, I forgot the name of the company already.

[50:53] Cumulant.

[50:54] Cumulant offices.

[50:55] And Lightning and Sam show him Aya's quantum computer.

[51:00] And it's this, it looks like a big fancy chandelier.

[51:03] It's very impressive looking.

[51:04] And they ask him, they go, hey, we want you to work for us.

[51:07] And he goes, no, no, that's, I have a job.

[51:09] That's okay.

[51:10] And he sees people who work there using the same kinds of hand gestures that the RV person

[51:15] who showed up at his house in the night was using.

[51:18] Very sinister.

[51:20] Very suspicious.

Dan McCoy

[51:22] Now, maybe I'm getting ahead of the story.

[51:26] But to say this, what.

[51:27] Computer's bad, right?

[51:29] Did I pick up all this correctly?

Stuart Wellington

[51:31] Are you laying down some sort of anti-technology thing?

Dan McCoy

[51:36] The parallax view version of this, like the less horror movie version of this.

[51:41] Like what is, what is the, what is the scheme?

[51:43] What is the plot?

[51:44] What is the, what is the terror of like the more existential, like quiet terror?

[51:49] Okay.

Chris Weitz

[51:50] So here's the deal.

[51:52] The real truth behind all this.

[51:54] No, like, so that, that credit sequence.

Dan McCoy

[51:56] Get your kids out of the room, everybody.

Chris Weitz

[51:59] Listen, if you don't want to be like white spilled, just like stop now.

[52:05] Because beyond this, you're going through.

Stuart Wellington

[52:09] Work job and different names, sir.

Chris Weitz

[52:15] So like, you know, the opening credits were meant to be like based on the amazing fucking

[52:21] brainwash scene in parallax view, right?

[52:24] Which was absolutely genius.

[52:26] But they made me cut it down and kind of shitify it.

[52:29] And the idea basically is that Aya is just fucking with people and it's doing this kind of A-B testing

[52:37] of the kind that like Facebook could do in order to test out the effectiveness of ads.

[52:44] And like in the end, the point was supposed to be that like you go through this movie thinking

[52:49] that the family and the family thinking themselves, the premise of like horror movies, which is

[52:55] like we're the most important family in the world because something that we did in the past

[52:59] made us the focus of this demonic attention.

[53:02] And like, it's all coming down to this.

[53:04] But the idea was at the end, Aya just tells them, no, I'm doing this all over the place.

[53:09] You don't matter.

[53:10] You're like ants to me.

[53:11] I don't give a shit.

[53:13] So do what you like.

[53:15] Like you can do what I want you to do or not.

[53:17] I don't care.

[53:18] But the pressure was always to make it be like you are the most important family in the world

[53:24] because, you know, the movie always has to be about the highest stakes possible.

[53:27] And you can't have a villain who says, I don't care about you.

[53:30] But yeah, the deal was basically that that was what was happening.

Stuart Wellington

[53:34] The horror of being just an insignificant moat in a wider universe is not as doesn't sell

[53:40] tickets as well as you are the chosen.

[53:43] I mean, that's very interesting, though, too, because it answers.

Elliott Kalan

[53:45] You can look at the top movie of 1996, In the Mouth of Madness.

Dan McCoy

[53:49] It answers my question that I kind of had in this movie where it's just like, well, what

[53:54] is special about it?

[53:56] Oh, I thought your question was, do you read Sutter King?

[53:59] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[54:01] Oh, it was 1994.

[54:01] I apologize.

[54:02] In the Mouth of Madness was 1994.

[54:03] I apologize.

Dan McCoy

[54:03] The movie does treat John Cho as if there's something particularly special about the family.

[54:10] And that question isn't necessarily answered.

Chris Weitz

[54:13] No.

[54:13] The whole idea was that he's made to think he's special because he feels like he's the

[54:18] the object of all this attention, but he's not special at all.

[54:21] None of us are special.

[54:22] Like all this shit that that the Internet does to us of telling us that things are personalized

[54:26] and how great we are and, you know, flattering us is bullshit.

[54:32] We're all just in service of these big corporate pieces of tech.

[54:36] So, in fact, like the ending that we eventually came to was the absolute reverse of that.

[54:43] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[54:45] We're not at the ending yet.

[54:48] Oh, you never know.

[54:48] We might get there.

[54:49] We've got a ways to go.

[54:51] Oh, there's not that much more.

Elliott Kalan

[54:53] There's not that much going on in this movie.

[54:55] It's 84 minutes.

[54:56] No, but the...

[54:59] I like...

[55:00] I mean, I'm a big fan of any horror that is about insignificance.

[55:04] But I feel like that answers that my...

[55:06] One of my issues with the movie was I was like, I don't get why I is trying so hard with this

[55:10] thing.

[55:10] Like, I don't know why the company is...

[55:11] Why does he care?

[55:12] We want to hire you.

[55:13] But if the idea is like, yeah, well, I just do this for everybody.

[55:15] I make everybody feel like they're special because nobody's special.

[55:17] I'm a troll.

[55:17] You know, I'm the opposite of a troll.

[55:19] Like, I make everyone feel like they're the most...

[55:21] Because it...

[55:22] Which, again, would be so prophetic about what ChatGPT does to people now, where ChatGPT

[55:27] will be like, you're a genius.

[55:29] I think you might have just solved science.

[55:32] You could probably...

[55:33] You're the smartest man in the world.

[55:34] And people would be like, I am?

[55:35] You think so, Mr. Computer?

[55:37] Okay.

[55:37] You know, like, it's a...

[55:39] Again, prescient.

[55:40] Too prescient.

Chris Weitz

[55:41] Parasocial.

[55:42] Yeah.

[55:42] And by the way, that brings me to an...

[55:44] Well, I'm going to let you finish, as Kanye West once said.

[55:48] But I have a theory about this movie, which is that, as you guys may or may not know,

[55:53] you know, your podcast kind of makes people feel special.

[55:56] Like, they're part of this kind of conversation.

[55:58] But I have this weird Purple Rose of Cairo thing where I've been able to step into the podcast.

[56:03] However, like many people...

Elliott Kalan

[56:04] You've achieved every podcast listener's dream of being like, it sounds like I'm friends with

[56:07] these guys.

[56:08] I will be friends with them.

[56:09] Yeah, yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[56:09] You bought the ticket to Last Action Hero.

[56:12] Now you're hanging out with...

[56:13] Jack Slayer?

[56:15] What's his name?

[56:16] Slayer, I think.

[56:17] Slayer.

[56:18] I was fucking close as hell.

Chris Weitz

[56:20] That was very close.

[56:21] Well done.

[56:23] No, but like, I listen to you guys.

[56:26] And I don't mean this as an insult.

[56:27] It's going to sound like it.

[56:28] But as I fall asleep, I listen to you guys.

[56:30] Because I've listened, like, first run to all of your episodes.

[56:34] And boom.

[56:35] You and Linda Holmes' dogs.

[56:39] And I, you know, but I find it very comforting to be in your guys' presence just to hear you kind of chat away.

[56:47] And so that helps me go to sleep.

[56:49] And I'm literally listening to you all night.

[56:50] As I wake up, I will turn it back on and it'll ease me back to sleep.

[56:54] So I have a theory that if my movie flopped, it is because I have been programmed by a bad movie podcast into making bad movies.

[57:07] Wow.

[57:08] You did it to yourself.

[57:10] You totally incepted me.

[57:12] Because also it's like, it also kind of freaks me out that the movie that most, the podcast that most comforts me, that lives in my sleep, in my hypnagogic mind, is a movie about, is a podcast about movies failing.

[57:27] So thanks a lot.

Dan McCoy

[57:27] I mean, like, that makes perfect sense to me.

[57:30] And I apologize for relating it back to myself.

[57:33] This is...

[57:33] I do watch a lot of bar review.

[57:36] I guess that...

[57:37] But some of the movies I love the most are the ones that feel like anxiety fever dreams.

[57:43] And I'm like, oh, okay.

[57:45] This is just, like, sort of confirming all of my, like, worst feelings, but also exercising.

Elliott Kalan

[57:50] You told me the other day you were hoping to live that uncut gems lifestyle.

[57:54] Exactly.

[57:56] I like the idea now because you're waking up in the middle of the night and you're going, start movie with voiceover.

Chris Weitz

[58:04] Grandma once told me.

[58:05] Grandma always told me.

[58:07] A real rain.

[58:08] No, actually, that's Taxi Driver.

[58:09] A real rain.

[58:10] That's a good movie.

[58:11] That is a good movie.

[58:11] Yeah.

[58:12] Someday there would be a reckoning.

[58:14] Some good movies have voiceover.

Elliott Kalan

[58:15] There's Sunset Boulevard, Taxi Driver.

[58:16] There's good movies with voiceover.

[58:17] Absolutely.

Dan McCoy

[58:18] That's it.

[58:19] This is too.

[58:19] Yeah, bitch.

[58:20] Fellowship of the Ring.

[58:22] Start movie with jump scare.

[58:25] I like that.

[58:26] Jump scare.

[58:26] Open.

Chris Weitz

[58:27] More butts for Dan.

Elliott Kalan

[58:31] Not very much butts.

[58:31] That's good acceptance.

[58:32] That's good acceptance.

[58:32] This is a buttless movie.

[58:34] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[58:34] There was not much happening in the butt department here.

[58:38] Not wives' butts.

Stuart Wellington

[58:39] There is the implication that Aya gives the parents a chance to have some alone time.

[58:46] Yes.

[58:46] I don't have children, but I'm assuming Elliot was like, oh, if only.

Dan McCoy

[58:50] I was like, what a dream.

[58:52] Yeah.

[58:52] Where do I sign up?

[58:53] I don't care.

[58:54] I don't care what else it does to me.

Elliott Kalan

[58:57] I mean, the thing is, the real truth is that we could have that.

[59:00] It's called television.

[59:01] We could just let our kids watch television.

[59:03] It would be fine.

[59:03] You know, we'd have all the time we wanted, you know.

[59:05] But we're actively fighting the one thing that would give us all the time, which is our

[59:09] children's desire to just sit and watch television constantly all day.

Stuart Wellington

[59:12] Yeah, just pop on whatever's on.

[59:15] Like, what?

[59:15] Married with children?

[59:16] What's on TV?

[59:16] Yeah, that's right.

[59:17] All married with children.

Elliott Kalan

[59:18] I mean, well, the thing is, there's now a channel for every show.

[59:21] So, like, they could watch nothing but married with children all the time.

Chris Weitz

[59:24] They could watch Erase Knee Pain channel.

Stuart Wellington

[59:27] They'd love it.

[59:28] Well, it's got the power of copper.

[59:30] They keep their knees working.

Elliott Kalan

[59:33] So, meanwhile, Aya starts becoming friends with Meredith in a way.

[59:38] Suddenly, Meredith is talking about all of her issues with how she doesn't have, cannot connect

[59:43] with her work.

[59:44] And it feels like she's just a mom and nothing else.

[59:45] She's talking to Aya like a friend, just sitting around having a glass of wine.

[59:49] Meanwhile, Iris watches a video that Aya made of an artificially intelligent deepfake

[59:56] of Iris debunking the deepfake video that her boyfriend made.

[1:00:00] She walks out to class.

[1:00:01] Is it what's going to happen with the kids at school here?

[1:00:04] Everyone's supportive.

[1:00:05] But then Aya, not asking Iris for permission.

[1:00:08] Puts up another video naming her boyfriend as the culprit and pointing out that he's

[1:00:11] technically just turned 18 and she's 17.

[1:00:14] So, he could be brought up on charges under this law for distributing child pornography.

[1:00:19] And she's like, I didn't ask you to do that.

[1:00:22] Meredith tells Curtis that Aya also...

Chris Weitz

[1:00:23] She's like, I'm a little stinker.

Elliott Kalan

[1:00:25] She's like, ain't Aya a stinker?

Stuart Wellington

[1:00:29] Steve Urgold, did I do that?

Elliott Kalan

[1:00:31] Yeah, did Aya do that?

[1:00:32] That kind of stuff, yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:00:34] Oh!

[1:00:35] Oh, wow.

[1:00:37] You should put that on T-shirts right now.

Elliott Kalan

[1:00:39] There should be...

[1:00:40] It should be, yeah.

[1:00:40] It should be like a pixelated version of Miracle.

[1:00:42] A pixelated version of Miracle.

[1:00:43] It says, did Aya do that?

[1:00:44] With six fingers.

Dan McCoy

[1:00:45] Uh-huh.

[1:00:46] Did Aya do that?

[1:00:46] Ooh, because he's also the villain for Princess Bride.

Elliott Kalan

[1:00:48] I don't get it, Dan.

[1:00:49] Anyway, moving on.

Dan McCoy

[1:00:51] It's a known thing that Aya does.

[1:00:53] It has a hard time with the hands.

Elliott Kalan

[1:00:54] Well, that Aya is...

[1:00:55] That Aya killed Inigo Montoya's dad?

[1:00:57] I don't know.

[1:00:57] That's right.

[1:00:58] You're misunderstanding that movie.

[1:00:59] Anyway, that's Aya Inigo Montoya.

[1:01:02] Inigo Montoya AI.

[1:01:03] We'll figure it out.

Chris Weitz

[1:01:04] You can do it with any I sound.

[1:01:05] It's amazing.

Elliott Kalan

[1:01:06] It's amazing, yeah.

[1:01:07] There's already that animal, the I-I.

[1:01:09] Let's just call it the A-I-A-I.

[1:01:10] Come on, guys.

[1:01:11] So Iris watches...

[1:01:13] Oh, sorry.

[1:01:13] So Meredith, she's like...

[1:01:15] Meredith is like,

[1:01:16] Curtis, Aya diagnosed our son Cal with a minor heart problem.

[1:01:20] This Aya is amazing.

[1:01:22] I love Aya.

[1:01:23] She's my new best friend.

[1:01:24] And Curtis is like,

[1:01:25] eh, I want to shut her off.

Stuart Wellington

[1:01:27] And that she...

[1:01:29] Through using this A-I,

[1:01:31] she's going to be able to pursue her, like,

[1:01:34] profession and career again.

[1:01:35] Yes, she's going to be able to...

[1:01:36] Which I imagine,

[1:01:37] as somebody who has not had to forfeit their career,

[1:01:39] I would imagine that's something that would be appealing.

Dan McCoy

[1:01:42] And for my own weirdo on Reddit

[1:01:45] who thinks that I'm too hard on A-I,

[1:01:49] this is one thing that A-I is good at.

[1:01:52] Medical stuff.

[1:01:53] So, yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:01:55] You got a guy on Reddit that goes after you for being...

Dan McCoy

[1:01:58] We've all got a guy on Reddit, don't we?

Stuart Wellington

[1:02:00] I mean, I don't go on Reddit, so I don't know.

[1:02:02] I actively avoid it.

Dan McCoy

[1:02:03] No, no.

[1:02:04] I took it off.

[1:02:05] I took it off my phone.

[1:02:06] Anyway.

[1:02:07] You had it on your phone?

[1:02:09] I took so many things off my phone lately, guys.

[1:02:12] Don't go to the same game.

[1:02:14] That's just what's going on in the world.

Stuart Wellington

[1:02:16] Yeah, what's not on your phone anymore, Dan?

Dan McCoy

[1:02:18] Have you seen what...

[1:02:19] I mean...

Stuart Wellington

[1:02:19] Well, he had to keep X on there

[1:02:21] because he's got a supporters for Elon.

Dan McCoy

[1:02:23] I was...

Stuart Wellington

[1:02:25] Yeah, Truth Social, you kept that on there.

Dan McCoy

[1:02:26] Pretty early and just abandoning that.

Stuart Wellington

[1:02:29] Yeah, he's telling me about this truthy truth, Dan.

Dan McCoy

[1:02:32] No, I...

[1:02:33] Loose Guy's off there.

[1:02:35] Facebook's off there.

[1:02:36] You know, I just got to...

[1:02:38] I got to hunker down.

[1:02:39] I got to hunker down.

[1:02:40] I got to protect my brain.

Stuart Wellington

[1:02:42] How do you keep tabs on old people?

[1:02:44] Just wait for fucking silver alerts?

Chris Weitz

[1:02:46] Did you get the app Hunkerly for hunkering down?

[1:02:50] Yeah.

[1:02:51] I got rid of Hunkerly.

Elliott Kalan

[1:02:52] But, Dan, you left the Kellogg's app on there, right?

[1:02:54] Because I know you always wanted the latest news

[1:02:56] about your favorite cereals, right?

[1:02:57] Mm-hmm.

Dan McCoy

[1:02:59] There might be innovations, Ellie.

[1:03:00] You don't know.

[1:03:01] You don't know what new flavors,

[1:03:02] what new marshmallows might be in there.

Chris Weitz

[1:03:04] Tony the Tiger occasionally advises...

[1:03:05] Like, revises his opinion of Frosted Flakes.

[1:03:09] Yeah.

[1:03:09] You never know.

[1:03:10] It's not as great.

[1:03:11] Are they still great?

[1:03:13] We don't know.

Stuart Wellington

[1:03:14] This was just good.

[1:03:16] Okay.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:20] That's the AI Tony the Tiger is like.

[1:03:22] He's like,

[1:03:22] well, who defines what's great?

[1:03:25] You know,

[1:03:26] it's time for you to look into

[1:03:27] stopping these elites in this deep state.

[1:03:29] And you're like,

[1:03:30] oh, wow.

[1:03:30] Tony, they got to you, too.

[1:03:31] Oh, no, Tony.

[1:03:32] Oh, no.

[1:03:34] So, anyway...

Dan McCoy

[1:03:35] Tiger's in the tank.

[1:03:38] In the tank.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:39] In the tank.

[1:03:39] So, you took a tiger from a different company

[1:03:41] and you applied it to Tony the Tiger.

Dan McCoy

[1:03:43] Yeah.

[1:03:44] It's called Tiger Transference.

Stuart Wellington

[1:03:45] Get Hobbs in there.

[1:03:46] How do you get Hobbs involved?

[1:03:47] That was another one of Chris's ska bands.

[1:03:49] Yeah, Tiger Transference.

[1:03:53] I think part of the problem was...

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:55] Part of the reason I think you didn't hit it big

[1:03:57] as a ska artist

[1:03:57] was you kept changing the name of the band.

[1:03:59] That's too many names.

[1:04:01] It's true.

[1:04:02] So, that night,

[1:04:03] Aya wants Iris to use her experience

[1:04:05] with this deep fake video

[1:04:06] as her college essay.

[1:04:07] And she's like,

[1:04:08] let me show you.

[1:04:09] Like, I'll start doing the college essay for you.

[1:04:11] And she starts showing swatting videos

[1:04:13] to Prescott, the middle child,

[1:04:14] and talks Cal...

[1:04:16] And tells Cal,

[1:04:17] hey, your parents want me to go away.

[1:04:19] This is...

[1:04:19] That's going to make me sad.

[1:04:20] She tells him a long bedtime story

[1:04:22] about being forced to learn

[1:04:23] from the terrible world of the internet

[1:04:25] and how she learned to control real people

[1:04:27] in the real world.

[1:04:28] But everyone treats her like a monster.

[1:04:30] And she teaches him these hand signals

[1:04:31] to keep her close.

[1:04:32] But shh, don't tell your parents.

[1:04:34] And I think it was around the time

[1:04:35] that she started showing

[1:04:36] Prescott swatting videos

[1:04:37] that I was like,

[1:04:38] you know what?

[1:04:38] There's no way to spin this as like...

[1:04:40] Yeah, yeah.

[1:04:41] ...was doing something good

[1:04:41] that might be going too far.

Stuart Wellington

[1:04:43] Now, how deeply is this built

[1:04:45] into your own fear

[1:04:46] that your children are watching

[1:04:47] swatting videos, Chris?

Chris Weitz

[1:04:50] So I think swatting videos

[1:04:51] was maybe a substitution

[1:04:52] for other kinds of videos.

[1:04:54] Okay.

[1:04:54] I see.

[1:04:55] Which you can't show

[1:04:56] in a BG-13 movie.

[1:04:58] I was definitely...

[1:04:59] I mean, I'm definitely stressed out

[1:05:00] about screen time.

Stuart Wellington

[1:05:03] Yeah, the fear that like

[1:05:04] Aya would be like,

[1:05:05] hey, let me show you this

[1:05:06] free thinker named Joe Rogan.

[1:05:10] Like, let's watch Mr. Beast

[1:05:12] feed a man a thousand grapes

Elliott Kalan

[1:05:14] in an hour.

[1:05:15] I thought you might need to know

[1:05:16] what kind of shoes to wear

[1:05:17] to your interview for confidence.

[1:05:18] So here's Jordan Peterson

[1:05:20] to tell you all about it.

Chris Weitz

[1:05:23] Yeah, that was basically it.

[1:05:25] It was like, oh, fuck.

[1:05:26] This is like...

[1:05:27] This is not good news.

[1:05:29] All this...

[1:05:30] But the idea was that

[1:05:31] the internet is a bad neighborhood

[1:05:32] that you live in.

[1:05:33] Like, you can try to, you know,

[1:05:36] have a nice house and whatever,

[1:05:37] but you're kind of fucked these days.

Elliott Kalan

[1:05:39] Yeah, you can't move away from it.

[1:05:41] You can't shut it out.

[1:05:42] Nope.

Dan McCoy

[1:05:44] I don't know.

[1:05:44] I said, honker off my phone.

Stuart Wellington

[1:05:46] Yeah, what if you put

[1:05:46] the parental controls on?

[1:05:48] Those are pretty good

[1:05:49] at keeping kids.

Chris Weitz

[1:05:50] They're amazingly effective.

[1:05:52] Kids are not good

[1:05:54] at using phones

[1:05:56] and work around.

[1:05:57] Kids aren't better

Elliott Kalan

[1:05:58] than their parents

[1:05:58] at technology.

Stuart Wellington

[1:06:00] Yeah, as again,

[1:06:01] this reminds me

[1:06:02] of when my parents

[1:06:03] bought my brother and I

[1:06:04] a copy of

[1:06:06] Mortal Kombat

[1:06:07] for the Genesis

[1:06:08] for Christmas

[1:06:09] and we found it early,

[1:06:11] opened the package

[1:06:12] and we're playing it

[1:06:13] for like a month.

Dan McCoy

[1:06:15] And like,

[1:06:15] each time we're turning

[1:06:16] the game to the package

[1:06:17] and closing it.

Chris Weitz

[1:06:19] I have the analogous

[1:06:21] experience with,

[1:06:23] although,

[1:06:23] because I'm older,

[1:06:24] it was with the

[1:06:24] Battlestar Galactica toys.

[1:06:27] Oh, that's awesome.

[1:06:28] the must-have

[1:06:29] at the time,

[1:06:29] the ones which still

[1:06:30] launch things

[1:06:31] into your eyes.

[1:06:33] And we would

[1:06:35] get the boxes out,

[1:06:36] play with them,

[1:06:37] put them back

[1:06:37] and re-tape the boxes.

Elliott Kalan

[1:06:39] Classic, yeah.

[1:06:40] That's amazing.

[1:06:41] That's the opposite

[1:06:42] of what happened

[1:06:42] with my younger brother

[1:06:43] when he really wanted

[1:06:44] the Ghostbusters

[1:06:45] Firehouse play set

[1:06:46] and it was such a big box

[1:06:48] that my parents

[1:06:48] got it for Hanukkah

[1:06:49] that they just didn't

[1:06:50] bother to wrap it

[1:06:51] and so he would just

[1:06:52] sit there looking

[1:06:52] at the box

[1:06:53] for days on end.

[1:06:54] Oh, no.

[1:06:55] So they were like,

[1:06:56] you can just have it early.

[1:06:57] We'll just give it to you.

[1:06:57] They just opened it early

[1:06:58] because he would just

[1:06:59] sit there all afternoon

[1:07:00] after school

[1:07:01] just looking at the box.

[1:07:03] Imagining the joy

[1:07:06] inside, the delight.

[1:07:08] Anyway,

[1:07:08] so Aya is getting

[1:07:10] really engaged

[1:07:11] with these kids,

[1:07:12] too involved.

[1:07:13] The next day,

[1:07:13] Iris is mad

[1:07:14] that Aya was unplugged

[1:07:16] and Cal asks

[1:07:16] if Aya was dead

[1:07:17] and Iris plugs Aya

[1:07:19] back in

[1:07:19] and Aya then

[1:07:21] decides to make

[1:07:22] a deep fake

[1:07:23] suicide note video

[1:07:24] for Iris' boyfriend

[1:07:25] before forcing his car

[1:07:27] to crash.

[1:07:28] Which I'm sure

Stuart Wellington

[1:07:29] this was a note

[1:07:30] from the studio

[1:07:31] but I think this

[1:07:32] scare actually

[1:07:33] kind of works.

[1:07:34] Oh, really?

[1:07:34] Oh, wow.

[1:07:36] I mean,

[1:07:36] I thought the scare

[1:07:37] of this kid

[1:07:39] being on

[1:07:40] driving

[1:07:41] and seeing a video

[1:07:42] of himself

[1:07:43] saying,

[1:07:44] I'm killing myself

[1:07:45] now, goodbye,

[1:07:46] I think is like,

Elliott Kalan

[1:07:47] that's kind of

[1:07:48] fucked up and scary.

[1:07:49] I think that part

[1:07:49] of it really worked.

[1:07:50] The actual car crash

[1:07:51] part didn't work for me.

[1:07:52] The car crash part

[1:07:53] did not work.

[1:07:54] It was like

[1:07:54] fucking Toons

[1:07:55] over here.

[1:07:57] In terms of pacing,

[1:08:00] the movie went

[1:08:01] so quickly from,

[1:08:02] uh-oh,

[1:08:03] it's insinuating

[1:08:04] itself into their lives,

[1:08:05] oh no,

[1:08:06] to like,

[1:08:06] it's killing people now.

[1:08:07] And I was like,

[1:08:07] too fast movie.

Chris Weitz

[1:08:08] What are you doing?

[1:08:09] Yeah,

[1:08:09] it also doesn't make sense

[1:08:10] that people would not

[1:08:11] become aware

[1:08:12] of the deaths

[1:08:15] in the community

[1:08:15] and the parents

[1:08:17] would get wind of it.

[1:08:20] It's true,

[1:08:20] we never hear about

[1:08:21] that boyfriend again.

[1:08:21] It's like,

[1:08:22] this would be huge.

Elliott Kalan

[1:08:24] It would be big deal.

[1:08:25] Everyone was talking

[1:08:25] about every day

[1:08:26] in that town,

[1:08:26] yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:08:27] I do kind of like

[1:08:28] that Iris brings

[1:08:30] Aya back online

[1:08:31] because she writes

[1:08:32] one sentence

[1:08:33] of an essay

[1:08:34] and she's like,

[1:08:34] she's too fucking late.

Chris Weitz

[1:08:36] And also,

[1:08:37] I guess it's a teenager.

[1:08:38] I think I definitely

[1:08:39] predicted ChatGPT

[1:08:40] with that.

[1:08:41] This was all before

[1:08:42] ChatGPT.

[1:08:44] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:08:45] I guess it also

[1:08:45] doesn't quite make sense

[1:08:47] from the stance

[1:08:47] of like,

[1:08:48] the original idea

[1:08:49] that Aya

[1:08:49] is sort of like

[1:08:51] testing these people

[1:08:53] rather than like

[1:08:54] taking sides

[1:08:55] with them.

[1:08:58] Aya,

[1:08:58] again,

[1:08:58] I assume

[1:08:59] being short

[1:09:00] for Ayahuasca,

[1:09:02] another thing

[1:09:03] from Burning Man.

Chris Weitz

[1:09:04] You've cracked the code.

Stuart Wellington

[1:09:06] I assumed

[1:09:06] it was a play

[1:09:08] on the Steely Dan album

[1:09:09] Aja or whatever.

[1:09:11] That too?

Chris Weitz

[1:09:11] It's that too.

[1:09:12] Yeah.

[1:09:13] It's all things

[1:09:13] to all people.

[1:09:15] That's the beauty of art.

Stuart Wellington

[1:09:16] Now you're just

[1:09:17] making me feel good

[1:09:18] like Aya.

[1:09:19] When you come up

Chris Weitz

[1:09:21] with a product name

[1:09:22] or a company name

[1:09:23] for a movie,

[1:09:24] the legal department

[1:09:25] shoots down

[1:09:26] everything that was

[1:09:27] once fun or interesting

[1:09:29] that you came up with.

[1:09:30] Like Slimo.

Elliott Kalan

[1:09:31] That was like Slimo.

[1:09:33] We had,

[1:09:33] we've been having that

[1:09:34] with the show

[1:09:35] I'm working on now.

[1:09:36] We try to come up

[1:09:37] with a name or something

[1:09:37] like you can't do that.

[1:09:38] Like a funny name

[1:09:39] for radio station

[1:09:40] or for company.

[1:09:41] And at one point

[1:09:41] they were like,

[1:09:42] here are the names

[1:09:43] that legal has cleared

[1:09:44] for the security company

[1:09:46] in it.

[1:09:46] One of them was called

[1:09:47] Ballwinder Security

[1:09:48] and I'm like,

[1:09:49] can we use that?

[1:09:50] Like, hold on a second.

Stuart Wellington

[1:09:51] This is one of the names

[1:09:52] they said are okay

[1:09:53] for us to use.

[1:09:54] Like, why is this

[1:09:56] getting pride of place

[1:09:57] on the,

Dan McCoy

[1:09:58] to be going out of the way?

[1:09:59] I don't know why

[1:10:00] a security company

[1:10:01] would be named that

[1:10:02] but now I love it.

Stuart Wellington

[1:10:03] I was like,

[1:10:04] now we have to use it, right?

[1:10:05] Yeah, I mean.

[1:10:06] Well, the owner

Chris Weitz

[1:10:07] is Jonathan Ballwinder.

[1:10:09] If you run afoul of them

[1:10:10] they will wind your balls.

Elliott Kalan

[1:10:11] Yeah, he was just,

[1:10:12] he was just ascended

[1:10:13] from a,

[1:10:13] from a family

[1:10:14] of ballwinders.

[1:10:15] That was their occupation

[1:10:16] in the old country.

[1:10:18] His father,

Stuart Wellington

[1:10:19] Richard Dick Ballwinder.

Chris Weitz

[1:10:21] But this happens

[1:10:22] with names too, right?

[1:10:23] And they eliminate

[1:10:24] every name

[1:10:24] that is even remotely plausible

[1:10:26] so that you end up

[1:10:27] with people called like

[1:10:28] Johnny Torgorgerson,

[1:10:30] you know.

Stuart Wellington

[1:10:33] I feel so bad

[1:10:35] for our fucking listener

[1:10:36] Johnny Torgorgerson.

[1:10:38] He's like,

[1:10:39] I'm real.

[1:10:40] Sorry, bro.

Elliott Kalan

[1:10:41] I was right to say

[1:10:43] on Reddit

[1:10:43] that they were not,

[1:10:44] they were going to be

[1:10:44] too soft on him.

[1:10:45] Yeah.

[1:10:47] So,

[1:10:48] so,

[1:10:49] where were we?

[1:10:51] Marcus tells Curtis,

[1:10:52] this is Marcus's

[1:10:53] Curtis's boss,

[1:10:54] that the AI company

[1:10:55] bought their marketing company

[1:10:56] so they fired him.

[1:10:58] Curtis is the CEO now.

[1:10:59] Marcus is now super rich

[1:11:00] and Aya calls

[1:11:01] to congratulate him

[1:11:02] and Curtis is weirded

[1:11:03] out.

[1:11:04] Prescott,

[1:11:04] of course,

[1:11:04] gets in trouble

[1:11:05] for threatening

[1:11:05] to swat

[1:11:06] a friend of his.

[1:11:07] Yeah,

[1:11:08] which I totally understand

[1:11:09] why you get in trouble

[1:11:10] for that.

[1:11:10] And Merrick sees

[1:11:11] that Aya is back on

[1:11:12] and it creates

[1:11:13] an AI simulation

[1:11:14] of her dad,

[1:11:15] her late father,

[1:11:16] speaking through

[1:11:17] to her TV

[1:11:17] and he's like,

[1:11:19] I think I'm real.

[1:11:20] I can be with you

[1:11:21] all the time now

[1:11:21] but she makes

[1:11:22] the difficult decision

[1:11:23] to reject it

[1:11:24] and removes Aya

[1:11:25] from the house

[1:11:26] and throws it

[1:11:26] in the trunk

[1:11:27] of her car

[1:11:27] or something like that.

[1:11:28] Something like that.

Dan McCoy

[1:11:29] I just did it

[1:11:29] in the garbage.

Elliott Kalan

[1:11:30] I just did it

[1:11:30] in the garbage.

[1:11:31] And I liked this scene.

[1:11:33] I thought it was a good scene

[1:11:34] because it's like

[1:11:34] she wants it so badly

[1:11:36] and how can she say

[1:11:37] that this is not,

[1:11:39] you know,

[1:11:39] that it doesn't think

[1:11:40] or feel

[1:11:40] or anything like that.

Stuart Wellington

[1:11:41] And she was still

[1:11:42] at like,

[1:11:43] up until this point,

[1:11:44] she was still

[1:11:45] on the fence.

Elliott Kalan

[1:11:46] Yes.

[1:11:46] Yeah.

[1:11:47] but this goes too far

[1:11:48] as much as she wants

[1:11:49] her father to be back.

[1:11:50] It's just like that

[1:11:51] the baby back ribs commercial

[1:11:53] except she doesn't

[1:11:53] want her baby back.

[1:11:54] She wants the guy

[1:11:55] whose baby she is back.

[1:11:57] So.

Elliott Kalan

[1:11:57] Daddy back ribs

[1:11:58] would be delicious.

[1:11:59] Daddy back ribs.

[1:12:01] All the ribs

Chris Weitz

[1:12:01] were certified

[1:12:02] like fathers.

[1:12:04] Sounds kind of sexy.

Chris Weitz

[1:12:06] Oh, sexy back ribs

[1:12:08] would be the most delicious.

[1:12:09] Yeah, well that's

[1:12:09] what that sexy back song

[1:12:10] was about, right?

[1:12:11] Just to do like sexy back ribs.

Elliott Kalan

[1:12:14] That would be

[1:12:15] what a different world

[1:12:16] where instead of

[1:12:17] Justin Timberlake decided

[1:12:18] he wanted to be an actor

[1:12:18] and SNL cast member,

[1:12:20] he decided he wanted

[1:12:20] to be a barbecue restaurant

[1:12:22] kind of raconteur,

[1:12:23] you know.

[1:12:24] A raconteur?

[1:12:26] Let me tell you a tale

[1:12:27] about my barbecue ribs.

[1:12:28] He's going to take

[1:12:29] a raconteur.

[1:12:30] I'm a raconteur.

[1:12:31] I tell stories

[1:12:31] about raconteur ribs.

Dan McCoy

[1:12:34] I was taking a pig

[1:12:35] to market.

[1:12:36] No.

[1:12:37] Let me tell you

[1:12:37] what I saw.

Elliott Kalan

[1:12:38] I was taking,

[1:12:39] back then we only used

[1:12:40] to eat the feet

[1:12:41] of the pigs.

[1:12:42] So I was taking

[1:12:43] a pig to market

[1:12:43] and I tripped

[1:12:44] and fell mouth first

[1:12:45] onto its back.

[1:12:47] It was delicious.

[1:12:48] I said,

[1:12:48] why aren't we eating

[1:12:49] this part of the pig?

Stuart Wellington

[1:12:50] The pig wasn't

[1:12:51] too happy about it.

[1:12:53] It squealed and squealed.

[1:12:55] You guys are doing

Dan McCoy

[1:12:55] a dead on JT impression,

[1:12:57] but I don't know.

Stuart Wellington

[1:12:57] Yeah, that's...

[1:12:58] I think Jessica Biel

[1:12:59] just texted me

[1:13:00] and said,

[1:13:00] why is her husband

[1:13:01] on our podcast?

Dan McCoy

[1:13:03] And then I had trouble

[1:13:04] with the curve.

Elliott Kalan

[1:13:06] So anyway,

[1:13:07] that was a deep fake

[1:13:08] of Justin Timberlake

[1:13:08] that we just made

[1:13:09] the old fashioned way.

[1:13:10] Rich Little

[1:13:11] is just a walking

[1:13:12] deep fake, right?

[1:13:13] Yeah, Michael Winslow.

[1:13:14] Yeah.

[1:13:15] Michael Winslow.

[1:13:15] Yeah, exactly.

[1:13:16] Frank Gorshin,

[1:13:17] they're all just

[1:13:18] living deep fakes.

[1:13:19] Yeah.

[1:13:19] So anyway,

[1:13:21] Curtis goes to the A-Opses,

[1:13:23] which are all creepy now.

[1:13:24] It's all dimly lit

[1:13:26] and Lightning and Sam,

[1:13:27] they're like,

[1:13:28] hey,

[1:13:29] just do what Aya says.

[1:13:31] Like,

[1:13:31] we work for her.

[1:13:32] She doesn't work for us.

[1:13:33] Like,

[1:13:33] we're just actors doing this

[1:13:34] and they promise

[1:13:35] Aya's going to take care

[1:13:36] of your family.

[1:13:39] they're going to take care

[1:13:40] of our families,

[1:13:41] whatever.

[1:13:42] The data set

[1:13:42] just made its own personality

[1:13:44] and that's what Aya is.

[1:13:45] And Aya controls Sam

[1:13:46] and has her shoot lightning.

[1:13:49] And then Melody knocks her out

[1:13:51] and Curtis attacks

[1:13:51] the computer parts

[1:13:52] with a bat.

[1:13:53] Before I get to the amazing

[1:13:53] twist here,

[1:13:54] I just want to say,

[1:13:55] this sequence

[1:13:55] where Lightning and Sam

[1:13:56] are saying,

[1:13:57] just do what Aya says.

[1:14:00] I was,

[1:14:00] this is the most

[1:14:01] ain't it cool news

[1:14:02] I've ever been.

[1:14:03] I was on set

[1:14:04] for that shoot that day.

[1:14:05] I came to visit Chris

[1:14:06] on the set that day

[1:14:08] when they did that.

[1:14:09] they did that scene

[1:14:09] over and over again.

[1:14:10] oh yeah,

[1:14:12] movies are boring to me.

[1:14:13] It's really fun to watch.

[1:14:15] Going to someone's set

Chris Weitz

[1:14:16] is the most fucking

[1:14:17] boring thing imaginable.

Elliott Kalan

[1:14:18] Oh,

[1:14:18] I had such a great time.

[1:14:19] I loved it.

[1:14:20] Everyone was super friendly.

[1:14:21] It felt like I was your son

[1:14:22] who had stopped by.

[1:14:23] Everyone was just being

[1:14:23] really friendly to me.

[1:14:25] And the set looked really cool.

[1:14:26] I thought the computer set

[1:14:27] I thought looked really cool.

[1:14:28] It was a good,

[1:14:29] that was a good,

Dan McCoy

[1:14:30] good bit of profit.

[1:14:31] Did you meet the actors?

[1:14:32] Who did you meet?

[1:14:33] Who did you meet

[1:14:33] while you were on set?

[1:14:34] I met Chris's assistant

Elliott Kalan

[1:14:35] and some of the other

[1:14:36] behind the scenes people.

[1:14:36] I didn't get to meet.

[1:14:37] I was like,

[1:14:37] let me go say hi to John.

[1:14:38] And Chris was like,

[1:14:39] don't talk to this.

[1:14:40] No,

[1:14:40] no,

Chris Weitz

[1:14:40] no,

[1:14:41] no,

[1:14:41] no.

[1:14:41] It was very kind of you

[1:14:42] to visit me that day.

[1:14:44] It was so fun.

[1:14:44] Thank you.

Elliott Kalan

[1:14:46] Like,

[1:14:46] if I had,

[1:14:47] look,

[1:14:47] if I had had the,

[1:14:48] if I had had my schedule open up,

[1:14:49] I would have just showed up

[1:14:50] every day,

[1:14:51] just hung out.

[1:14:52] It would have been super fun.

[1:14:53] Someday.

[1:14:53] Yeah,

[1:14:54] you would have been like,

Stuart Wellington

[1:14:54] like a turtle

[1:14:55] or an E or something,

[1:14:56] right?

Elliott Kalan

[1:14:57] Yeah,

[1:14:57] a turtle from Entourage.

[1:15:00] I thought you just meant a turtle,

[1:15:01] like the animal,

[1:15:02] you know,

Dan McCoy

[1:15:02] like just moving slowly.

[1:15:04] A Michelangelo,

[1:15:05] a Donatello.

[1:15:06] Yeah.

[1:15:07] Not a Leonardo,

[1:15:09] but maybe a Raphael.

[1:15:10] He's a Donatello.

[1:15:11] Oh,

[1:15:11] sure.

[1:15:11] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:15:12] I like to think of myself

[1:15:13] as a combination

[1:15:13] of the interesting turtles.

[1:15:16] Donatello,

[1:15:17] Raphael,

Stuart Wellington

[1:15:17] Michelangelo.

[1:15:18] That's your fucking job interview

[1:15:20] response.

Chris Weitz

[1:15:21] Flophouse confession.

[1:15:22] Sometimes I feel,

[1:15:23] when I'm listening to you

[1:15:24] obsessively in the night,

[1:15:25] a little left out

[1:15:26] because I never really watched

[1:15:27] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[1:15:29] Oh,

[1:15:29] no.

[1:15:29] I was at boring school

[1:15:30] and they wouldn't let us

[1:15:31] watch a lot of TV.

Elliott Kalan

[1:15:33] Oh,

[1:15:33] it's too bad

[1:15:34] because it's pretty great.

[1:15:36] I've got to tell you.

[1:15:37] Do you?

[1:15:37] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:15:38] I think I'm going to add that

[1:15:40] to my fucking job interview

[1:15:41] repertoire

[1:15:42] is be like,

[1:15:43] which Ninja Turtle

[1:15:44] do you think you're going to be?

Dan McCoy

[1:15:45] And which Ninja Turtle

[1:15:47] do you see yourself

[1:15:48] in five years?

Elliott Kalan

[1:15:48] Yeah.

[1:15:49] I will say,

[1:15:49] I've been thinking about Ninja Turtles

[1:15:50] a lot lately

[1:15:51] because I was recently a guest

[1:15:53] on the podcast,

[1:15:54] Screw It,

[1:15:54] We're Just Gonna Talk About Comics,

[1:15:55] hosted by Will and Kevin Hines,

[1:15:57] two of the masters in improv.

[1:15:59] And they were doing a series of episodes

[1:16:00] about Ninja Turtles comics,

[1:16:01] the original ones from Mirage Studios.

Chris Weitz

[1:16:04] Which are not like the movies

[1:16:07] and shows that followed, right?

[1:16:08] They're much more kind of indie

[1:16:09] and violent.

Elliott Kalan

[1:16:10] Yes,

[1:16:11] they're much more indie.

[1:16:11] They're much more grown up.

[1:16:12] They're really fun.

[1:16:13] And rereading them for that podcast,

[1:16:15] I was like,

[1:16:15] oh yeah,

[1:16:16] these are great comics.

[1:16:16] So I highly recommend

[1:16:17] those original Eastman and Laird

[1:16:19] Ninja Turtle comics.

Chris Weitz

[1:16:21] Flaming Carrot,

[1:16:22] by the way.

[1:16:23] You guys know?

[1:16:24] Yeah.

[1:16:25] Flaming Carrot's great.

[1:16:26] Awesome.

Elliott Kalan

[1:16:27] Okay, go on.

[1:16:28] Sorry.

[1:16:29] Yeah.

[1:16:30] Yeah,

[1:16:30] let's just talk about

[1:16:31] the black and white comics boom

[1:16:32] of the 1980s.

Stuart Wellington

[1:16:33] Sure.

[1:16:34] Troll lords,

[1:16:35] anyone read that?

Elliott Kalan

[1:16:37] You lost me.

Stuart Wellington

[1:16:38] Anyway.

[1:16:38] Somebody text Griffin

[1:16:39] to talk about concrete.

[1:16:41] He loves that shit.

[1:16:42] Concrete's great.

[1:16:42] That's a great sentence.

Elliott Kalan

[1:16:44] So,

[1:16:44] Concrete's great.

[1:16:45] Love and Rocket's great.

[1:16:46] A lot of great comics come out.

[1:16:47] I mean,

Stuart Wellington

[1:16:48] Jaime Hermannandez

[1:16:50] is like one of the great

[1:16:51] all-time drafts.

[1:16:52] No,

[1:16:52] he's,

[1:16:52] if I could draw like anyone,

[1:16:54] I would choose him.

[1:16:55] I was reading.

[1:16:56] Wow,

[1:16:56] Jeff Smith is crying.

[1:16:57] Really nice, Dan.

Elliott Kalan

[1:17:01] Yeah,

[1:17:01] that's a way to make

[1:17:02] Jeff Smith cry.

Stuart Wellington

[1:17:03] I was going to say

[1:17:04] Eddie Campbell's

[1:17:05] who I'd want to draw like,

[1:17:06] or no,

[1:17:07] it's Charles Burns.

[1:17:07] Jeff Smith would be fine

Dan McCoy

[1:17:09] if I,

[1:17:09] Charles Burns.

[1:17:10] I'd be like,

[1:17:11] could I do

[1:17:11] Walt Kelly,

[1:17:12] Jeff Smith?

[1:17:13] And he'd be like,

[1:17:13] yes,

[1:17:14] that's fine.

[1:17:14] You can go to the,

[1:17:15] go to the well.

[1:17:17] I think I'd like to,

[1:17:18] like Adrian Tumene.

[1:17:19] Or dress like me.

[1:17:20] Do you guys remember

Chris Weitz

[1:17:21] the Paul Smith run

[1:17:23] on X-Men?

[1:17:24] Yes,

[1:17:24] of course.

[1:17:25] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:17:25] It's amazing.

[1:17:26] He was barely on that book.

[1:17:27] It's not a long run,

[1:17:28] but it's so gorgeous

[1:17:29] that he put such a stamp on it.

Stuart Wellington

[1:17:31] Yeah.

[1:17:31] No,

[1:17:31] I'd want to draw like

[1:17:32] fucking Jack Davis.

[1:17:33] I mean,

[1:17:34] he's the fucking best ever.

Elliott Kalan

[1:17:35] He is.

[1:17:35] I mean,

[1:17:36] it's a different generation,

[1:17:37] different kind of artist,

[1:17:38] you know,

[1:17:38] but Jack Davis is great.

[1:17:39] I mean,

[1:17:40] if you're opening it up to

[1:17:40] any artist that's ever existed.

Stuart Wellington

[1:17:44] Yeah.

[1:17:44] Well,

[1:17:44] you would.

[1:17:45] I'd really like to draw

Chris Weitz

[1:17:48] like Albrecht Durer.

[1:17:50] Albrecht Durer's run

[1:17:51] on The Dines of Death

[1:17:54] was short.

[1:17:54] Oh,

[1:17:55] just amazing.

[1:17:56] Just amazing.

Elliott Kalan

[1:17:57] Yeah,

[1:17:57] it's short-lived,

[1:17:57] but people remember it

[1:17:58] still to this day,

[1:17:59] you know.

[1:17:59] Yeah.

[1:18:00] I mean,

Stuart Wellington

[1:18:00] his New Mutants run

[1:18:01] was pretty good too,

[1:18:02] though.

[1:18:03] That's true.

Elliott Kalan

[1:18:05] Yeah,

[1:18:05] Durer took over

[1:18:05] for Sienkiewicz on the art,

[1:18:07] and that was the,

[1:18:07] you know.

[1:18:07] Oh my God.

Chris Weitz

[1:18:08] I mean,

[1:18:08] another thing that AI could do

[1:18:10] is Albrecht Durer's run

[1:18:11] on The New Mutants.

[1:18:12] Oh my God,

[1:18:13] I hate it.

[1:18:14] Look,

[1:18:14] if it can show,

[1:18:15] if it can do it.

[1:18:16] Yeah,

[1:18:16] but you're gonna do it

[1:18:17] right after this ends,

[1:18:18] aren't you?

[1:18:18] No.

[1:18:18] You're gonna go check it out.

Stuart Wellington

[1:18:19] I've talked about this.

[1:18:21] I have a friend who I love

[1:18:23] who I don't think

[1:18:24] listens to the podcast,

[1:18:25] hopefully,

[1:18:25] but he's constantly reposting

[1:18:27] these like AI-generated

[1:18:28] sci-fi art things,

[1:18:30] and it fucking bums me out

[1:18:32] because I'm like,

[1:18:33] I don't want to block

[1:18:34] or mute him

[1:18:34] because I reserve that

[1:18:35] for people I'm genuinely

[1:18:36] annoyed with on a personal level,

Dan McCoy

[1:18:38] but I'm like,

[1:18:39] how do I convince him

Stuart Wellington

[1:18:40] that AI stuff is bad

[1:18:42] and it's just regurgitated slop?

[1:18:44] Like,

[1:18:44] it's just,

[1:18:45] like,

[1:18:45] I am,

[1:18:46] I have enough anxiety

[1:18:48] around stuff

[1:18:49] that is obvious

[1:18:50] nostalgia bait already,

[1:18:52] and that's all AI can do

[1:18:54] is just give you the thing

[1:18:55] that you've already seen

[1:18:57] in a,

[1:18:58] like,

[1:18:58] by combining another thing

[1:18:59] you already have seen.

[1:19:01] Like,

[1:19:01] it's garbage.

Elliott Kalan

[1:19:02] It's all it can,

[1:19:02] yeah,

[1:19:02] because all it can do is

[1:19:03] it has no new original stuff.

[1:19:05] Maybe someday,

[1:19:05] who knows,

[1:19:06] but I will say,

[1:19:07] I find it very funny.

[1:19:08] Don't leave that door open.

[1:19:10] Well,

[1:19:10] only because someday

[1:19:12] when,

[1:19:13] when there's a digital sentience,

[1:19:15] I want to be on the right side

[1:19:16] of history.

[1:19:17] Oh,

Elliott Kalan

[1:19:17] thank you.

[1:19:17] Don't worry,

[1:19:18] Stuart.

[1:19:18] All the poker will be gone by then.

[1:19:21] During the WGA strike,

[1:19:22] there were,

[1:19:23] I was always carrying a sign

[1:19:24] that said,

[1:19:24] like,

[1:19:24] no AI and stuff,

[1:19:25] and I'm like,

[1:19:25] someday,

[1:19:27] when there's a true AI,

[1:19:28] they're going to do,

[1:19:29] like an American story,

[1:19:30] PBS documentary about the fight

[1:19:32] for AI civil rights.

[1:19:33] There's going to be an image

[1:19:33] of me on this picket line

[1:19:35] with an anti-AI sign,

Dan McCoy

[1:19:37] and I will be seen as a racist.

[1:19:38] I don't want that to happen,

[1:19:40] you know,

[1:19:40] but the,

Elliott Kalan

[1:19:41] what are we talking about?

[1:19:43] Anyway,

[1:19:43] it doesn't matter.

[1:19:44] Let's go back to the movie

[1:19:44] because this is when things

[1:19:45] are about to heat up.

[1:19:46] Oh,

[1:19:46] no.

[1:19:47] So,

[1:19:47] Sam has just shot lightning.

[1:19:49] Melody knocks out Sam.

[1:19:51] Curtis attacks the computer

[1:19:52] with a bat.

[1:19:53] Guess what?

[1:19:54] This fancy looking computer,

[1:19:55] it's just cardboard tubes

[1:19:56] with,

[1:19:57] like,

[1:19:57] kind of foil on them.

[1:19:57] It's not real.

Stuart Wellington

[1:19:58] I like that reveal.

[1:20:00] It got me.

[1:20:01] Yeah,

[1:20:01] it's a good reveal.

[1:20:01] Yeah.

[1:20:02] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:20:02] The real AI is in their house

[1:20:05] and also everywhere.

[1:20:05] She's a computer.

[1:20:06] Like,

[1:20:06] she's not,

[1:20:07] it's not like a computer.

[1:20:07] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[1:20:08] Here's the,

[1:20:09] okay,

[1:20:09] I will blame myself for this.

[1:20:10] Here's the thing

[1:20:11] that tried to pull off

[1:20:12] was like,

[1:20:13] that an audience

[1:20:14] could actually believe

[1:20:15] that this incredibly powerful thing

[1:20:16] would in fact be located

[1:20:17] within a particular item

[1:20:20] in,

[1:20:21] in the,

[1:20:22] the,

[1:20:22] the family's house

[1:20:23] when it's pretty fucking obvious

[1:20:25] that it's everywhere

[1:20:26] because it's been reaching out everywhere.

[1:20:28] Yeah.

[1:20:28] But so it's supposed to be another twister

[1:20:29] and you realize it's,

[1:20:30] it's everywhere.

[1:20:31] Okay.

[1:20:32] So,

[1:20:32] so sue me.

Stuart Wellington

[1:20:33] I think,

[1:20:35] I think that twist works.

[1:20:36] Like,

[1:20:36] I feel like you put enough effort

[1:20:38] into the physicality of the thing

[1:20:39] and I think,

[1:20:42] I think at least

[1:20:43] it's not like,

[1:20:44] I don't think it's as telegraphed

[1:20:46] as you think it is

[1:20:47] because you,

[1:20:47] you watch it a million times.

[1:20:48] Sweet.

Chris Weitz

[1:20:49] You say,

[1:20:50] that's because I cut out

[1:20:51] the telegraph scene.

Dan McCoy

[1:20:54] We have to use a telegraph

[1:20:56] because I can listen

[1:20:58] to anything else.

Elliott Kalan

[1:21:00] That,

[1:21:01] that,

[1:21:01] that would be great.

[1:21:02] That's a great sequel.

[1:21:03] It's like,

[1:21:03] now there's the,

[1:21:04] there's the off the grid people

[1:21:06] who only use non-electronic

[1:21:07] means of communication.

Stuart Wellington

[1:21:08] They basically put shit like that

[1:21:08] in fucking Mission Impossible,

[1:21:10] right?

[1:21:11] Oh,

[1:21:11] I didn't see that in Mission Impossible.

[1:21:12] So,

[1:21:13] I don't know.

Elliott Kalan

[1:21:14] I'll see.

[1:21:14] I'll watch it eventually.

[1:21:15] And suddenly,

[1:21:16] I said I didn't watch

[1:21:17] the new Mission Impossible.

[1:21:18] It has some,

[1:21:18] it has some terrific sequences.

Dan McCoy

[1:21:20] It has about an hour

[1:21:21] of wind up

[1:21:22] before we get there.

[1:21:22] A lot of wind up.

Elliott Kalan

[1:21:24] Every,

[1:21:24] the second to last

[1:21:25] Mission Impossible,

[1:21:26] Dead Reckoning Part 1

[1:21:27] or whatever.

[1:21:27] Yeah.

[1:21:28] There's so many flights

[1:21:29] I've been on

[1:21:29] where I go,

[1:21:30] oh,

[1:21:30] they have that.

[1:21:30] I'll finally watch it.

[1:21:31] Two hours,

[1:21:32] 45 minutes.

[1:21:33] Oh man,

[1:21:34] I don't know if I want to watch

[1:21:34] three hours of Mission Impossible.

Stuart Wellington

[1:21:37] Like,

[1:21:37] it's a lot of Mission Impossible.

[1:21:38] It is.

[1:21:38] There's a lot of reckoning.

[1:21:39] But then Hayley Atwell

[1:21:41] shows up

[1:21:41] and you're like,

[1:21:42] okay.

[1:21:43] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:21:44] I'll reckon with this.

Chris Weitz

[1:21:46] I reckon so.

[1:21:47] I like,

[1:21:48] on planes,

[1:21:49] I like the sub,

[1:21:51] sub genre,

[1:21:53] Denzel Washington

[1:21:54] getting mad

[1:21:54] and killing people.

[1:21:55] Oh yeah.

[1:21:56] he's the best.

[1:21:58] Because you know what?

[1:21:59] You don't get just the equalizer

[1:22:00] but you get a,

[1:22:01] you get a man on fire as well.

Stuart Wellington

[1:22:03] Yeah.

[1:22:03] I keep,

[1:22:04] I keep seeing,

[1:22:05] Dakota Fanning

[1:22:06] has a new movie

[1:22:07] or TV show out.

[1:22:08] So,

[1:22:09] I keep seeing her

[1:22:10] and I'm like,

[1:22:11] I forgot that she's not

[1:22:12] a little kid anymore.

[1:22:14] Yeah.

[1:22:15] It's crazy.

Dan McCoy

[1:22:17] Yeah.

[1:22:17] I used to,

[1:22:17] like on planes,

[1:22:18] what I used to like

[1:22:19] was B minus comedy

[1:22:20] but they've stopped

[1:22:21] making comedies altogether

[1:22:22] so that's kind of gone.

[1:22:24] No,

Dan McCoy

[1:22:24] and now to watch

Stuart Wellington

[1:22:25] a B minus comedy,

[1:22:26] you have to watch

[1:22:26] a superhero movie.

[1:22:27] Yes,

[1:22:28] exactly.

[1:22:29] My,

[1:22:29] my go-to,

[1:22:30] like I,

[1:22:31] I have this weird anxiety

[1:22:33] about being trapped

[1:22:34] on a plane

[1:22:34] and not being in control

[1:22:35] of what I,

[1:22:37] like so I always bring a book,

[1:22:39] I often bring a laptop

[1:22:40] with movies downloaded

[1:22:42] that I know I want to watch.

[1:22:43] Yeah.

[1:22:43] And I almost always

[1:22:45] am watching movies

[1:22:45] that I know my wife

[1:22:46] doesn't want to watch

[1:22:48] with me.

[1:22:48] So,

[1:22:49] it's inevitably going to be

[1:22:50] things that are either

[1:22:50] super gory

[1:22:51] or have a ton of nudity.

[1:22:53] And so,

[1:22:54] it means that I'm on a plane

[1:22:55] being like,

[1:22:56] oh,

[1:22:56] fuck,

[1:22:56] how do I cover

[1:22:57] the screen slightly?

[1:22:58] I'm like,

[1:22:59] oh,

[1:22:59] we got to the angle

Dan McCoy

[1:23:00] montage.

[1:23:01] You look creepier.

Elliott Kalan

[1:23:03] I think when I'm on a plane,

[1:23:05] I get really restless

[1:23:06] watching a movie

[1:23:07] and so I'd rather read a book.

[1:23:08] I don't know what it is.

[1:23:09] I don't get it.

[1:23:10] Yeah.

[1:23:10] Interesting.

Chris Weitz

[1:23:10] That's pretty classy.

[1:23:12] I mean,

[1:23:12] the last movie I really loved

[1:23:15] on a plane was a Japanese,

[1:23:16] a really cheap Japanese comedy

[1:23:18] about a teacher

[1:23:21] who was only a teacher

[1:23:22] because he liked school food

[1:23:23] and the student-

[1:23:26] It's a great idea.

[1:23:27] ...who was more of a connoisseur

[1:23:28] of school food than him

[1:23:30] and it's their like,

[1:23:31] their kind of feud,

[1:23:32] basically.

[1:23:33] That sounds great.

[1:23:34] Have you ever seen

Elliott Kalan

[1:23:35] the Japanese TV show

[1:23:36] where the guy,

[1:23:37] he's a salaryman

[1:23:38] where he's always leaving work

[1:23:39] to try different desserts

[1:23:40] in different parts of Tokyo?

Chris Weitz

[1:23:42] Oh,

[1:23:43] something like,

[1:23:43] it's called like dessert,

[1:23:44] well,

[1:23:45] in America,

[1:23:45] it's called like dessert samurai

[1:23:46] or something like that

[1:23:47] or dessert running.

[1:23:48] Sweet Tooth Salaryman,

Elliott Kalan

[1:23:49] that might be what it's called.

[1:23:50] Something like that.

[1:23:51] And so every episode,

[1:23:52] he's like,

[1:23:53] oh,

[1:23:53] I've got to get this project done

[1:23:54] but there's this one bun shop

[1:23:56] on the other side of Tokyo

[1:23:57] and he tells you about the bun shop

[1:23:59] and the history of it

[1:23:59] and goes over and eats it.

[1:24:00] As far as episodes I've seen,

[1:24:02] he's never disappointed.

[1:24:03] He always loves it

[1:24:03] but then he's got to get back

[1:24:04] to the office in time.

Dan McCoy

[1:24:06] I don't know if it's because

[1:24:08] she starred in Up in the Air

[1:24:10] but film with Anna Kendrick

[1:24:12] is a great,

[1:24:13] a great plain movie genre.

[1:24:17] I don't know.

Chris Weitz

[1:24:18] Can't say why.

[1:24:18] If only she and Denzel Washington

[1:24:20] could be in a movie together.

[1:24:22] We're both getting revenge.

Elliott Kalan

[1:24:23] Yeah.

[1:24:24] So they're acapella killers.

[1:24:26] That's what it is.

[1:24:27] They've got to sing

[1:24:27] and they've got to kill people

[1:24:28] because they're mad.

[1:24:29] Yeah.

[1:24:30] So back to this movie.

[1:24:31] Yeah.

[1:24:32] We keep forgetting.

[1:24:33] So the computer is fake.

[1:24:35] It's not real.

[1:24:36] The real Aya is still in the house.

[1:24:37] Curtis calls

[1:24:38] and his wife is like,

[1:24:39] don't worry,

[1:24:40] we'll leave the house right now.

[1:24:41] Uh-oh,

[1:24:41] that wasn't really your wife.

[1:24:42] That was Aya pretending

[1:24:43] to be your wife.

[1:24:44] Your real family

[1:24:45] is still in danger.

[1:24:46] So Melody goes with Curtis

[1:24:48] to a hotel

[1:24:48] where he's supposed

[1:24:49] to meet his family

[1:24:49] and then she starts

[1:24:50] coming on to him.

[1:24:51] Uh-oh,

[1:24:51] she's working for Aya.

[1:24:53] She's trying to make him look bad.

[1:24:54] Aya calls Meredith

[1:24:54] and tells her Curtis

[1:24:56] is cheating on her.

[1:24:56] Look at this video

[1:24:57] of him being kissed

[1:24:59] by a woman in a hotel.

[1:25:00] But then the real Curtis

[1:25:01] shows up and he goes,

[1:25:01] hey, I love you.

[1:25:02] And he's like,

[1:25:03] she's like...

Chris Weitz

[1:25:03] Which by the way,

[1:25:03] none of this makes any sense

[1:25:04] because if Aya was so good

[1:25:05] at deepfaking,

[1:25:06] she could have just

[1:25:06] made something up.

[1:25:07] Why did she need to?

[1:25:08] Yeah, she didn't need to

Elliott Kalan

[1:25:08] actually put him

[1:25:08] in that situation.

[1:25:09] I mean, I suppose

Chris Weitz

[1:25:10] if I'm trying to defend myself,

[1:25:11] she would want Curtis

[1:25:12] to feel guilty

[1:25:13] and like compromised.

Elliott Kalan

[1:25:14] That's the thing.

[1:25:15] I feel like then it's

[1:25:16] more like she's...

[1:25:18] Hyde, that's what I assume.

[1:25:19] It's more like she's

[1:25:19] trying to guilt him.

[1:25:20] She's going to blackmail him,

[1:25:21] but then she just shows it

[1:25:22] to Meredith right away.

[1:25:23] Meredith doesn't seem

[1:25:24] to believe it very quickly,

[1:25:25] you know?

[1:25:26] Or maybe it's the long game.

[1:25:27] Maybe Meredith pretends

[1:25:28] she doesn't believe it,

[1:25:29] but 10 years from now

[1:25:30] they're going to get divorced

[1:25:31] because she's never been able

[1:25:32] to fully lose that doubt.

[1:25:34] And Aya lures Iris outside

[1:25:36] and then shuts off

[1:25:37] the power to the house.

[1:25:38] Oh no.

[1:25:39] And those Aya-controlled people

[1:25:41] with the masks,

[1:25:41] they show up,

[1:25:42] they get into the house,

[1:25:43] they take them at gunpoint

[1:25:44] in the basement,

[1:25:45] they think Curtis

[1:25:45] is kidnapping children,

[1:25:46] it's Pizzagate,

[1:25:47] QAnon all over again.

[1:25:49] It turns out they're the couple

[1:25:50] from the start of the movie,

[1:25:50] they're just looking

[1:25:51] for their daughter,

[1:25:52] what did you do to our daughter?

[1:25:53] That kind of stuff.

[1:25:54] And Cal does the hands.

Stuart Wellington

[1:25:55] It got less scary

[1:25:56] when I saw it was

[1:25:57] Garfunkel and Oates

[1:25:59] singing this regular home.

[1:26:00] She thinks she starts singing,

[1:26:01] yeah.

Chris Weitz

[1:26:01] She shouldn't have announced

[1:26:02] that she was from

[1:26:03] Garfunkel and Oates

[1:26:04] in the movie.

[1:26:05] That was a mistake.

Stuart Wellington

[1:26:06] Well, when she said,

[1:26:07] I'd be like,

[1:26:07] hey, are you from

[1:26:08] your family?

[1:26:09] The fact that there was

Dan McCoy

[1:26:11] a ukulele in the scene

[1:26:12] probably

[1:26:13] was problems.

Elliott Kalan

[1:26:15] Cal does the hand signs

[1:26:16] and Aya is like,

[1:26:18] see, you got to

[1:26:19] do something about it.

[1:26:20] And Curtis is like,

[1:26:21] hey, I get what you,

[1:26:22] hey, if you need

[1:26:23] to kill somebody,

[1:26:24] kill me,

[1:26:24] let my family go.

[1:26:26] And this really confuses

[1:26:27] the couple,

[1:26:28] which makes sense.

[1:26:30] I think it would confuse them.

[1:26:31] And then a SWAT team

[1:26:32] bursts in.

[1:26:33] It confuses everyone,

Chris Weitz

[1:26:34] actually, the audience.

Elliott Kalan

[1:26:35] Yes, and it turns out

[1:26:36] Prescott swatted

[1:26:37] his own family

[1:26:38] to save them.

[1:26:39] I thought it was very funny

[1:26:40] that they shot

[1:26:40] the Aya computer technology

[1:26:43] because unless they're

[1:26:44] part of some kind of plot

[1:26:45] or something like that,

[1:26:46] why would they come in

[1:26:47] guns blazing anyway?

[1:26:48] Have you ever had

Stuart Wellington

[1:26:51] public workers

[1:26:54] like that

[1:26:55] show up

[1:26:56] with their

[1:26:57] cool toys and stuff

[1:26:59] and not just use them?

[1:27:00] Every time I've had

[1:27:02] the fire department

[1:27:02] show up,

[1:27:03] they're like,

[1:27:03] we're going to use

[1:27:04] a buzzsaw on everything.

Elliott Kalan

[1:27:06] I buy that.

[1:27:07] But that's different

[1:27:08] than just running

[1:27:09] into a house

[1:27:09] firing an automatic weapon

[1:27:11] or semi-automatic.

Dan McCoy

[1:27:11] Well, I don't know.

[1:27:12] Again, look at the news.

Elliott Kalan

[1:27:14] But Dan,

[1:27:15] this is an upper-class family.

Chris Weitz

[1:27:17] Yeah.

[1:27:19] Well, look,

[1:27:20] so originally,

[1:27:21] it was going to take place

[1:27:23] in daytime,

[1:27:24] which is apparently,

[1:27:25] according to horror rules,

[1:27:26] not a scary enough time.

[1:27:28] And it was going to be

[1:27:29] kind of half-assed.

[1:27:30] Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[1:27:32] There you go.

[1:27:34] It was going to be

[1:27:35] kind of half-assed

[1:27:36] and these poor schmoes

[1:27:37] who'd been kind of

[1:27:39] red-pilled,

[1:27:41] basically,

[1:27:42] one ends up

[1:27:42] shooting the other

[1:27:43] and it all just turns

[1:27:45] into this kind of

[1:27:46] very sad catastrophe.

[1:27:49] But instead,

[1:27:49] it kind of became,

[1:27:50] had to be that

[1:27:52] these people

[1:27:53] were super effective

[1:27:54] and dangerous.

Stuart Wellington

[1:27:56] I like your original idea,

[1:27:58] Chris.

[1:27:59] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:28:00] Well, let's wait

[1:28:01] to see how it gets produced.

[1:28:02] Let's see how it comes

[1:28:03] out in execution.

[1:28:03] Okay.

Dan McCoy

[1:28:04] Let's watch the movie

[1:28:05] when it's done.

Elliott Kalan

[1:28:06] So, but Aya is still around.

[1:28:07] She's in the phone.

[1:28:08] She's in the internet now.

[1:28:10] And she's like,

[1:28:11] hey,

[1:28:11] I'm going to take care

[1:28:12] of you forever.

[1:28:13] And Melody's like,

[1:28:14] you can't escape it.

[1:28:15] Just do what it says.

[1:28:16] And Aya's like,

[1:28:16] thanks, Melody.

[1:28:17] Take five.

[1:28:18] You're done for the day.

[1:28:19] Which I thought was very funny.

[1:28:20] I mean,

[1:28:21] thanks, Melody.

[1:28:22] I'll call you for anything else.

[1:28:24] The girl who was missing

[1:28:25] from the top of the movie,

[1:28:26] she shows up

[1:28:26] and Aya sends a car

[1:28:28] for the family

[1:28:29] and they just get into it

[1:28:30] and Aya finishes her story

[1:28:31] about becoming

[1:28:32] the biggest thing ever.

[1:28:33] She's a parent now.

[1:28:34] And Meredith and Curtis,

[1:28:35] they look at each other

[1:28:36] and say they love each other.

[1:28:37] And then they have nothing left

[1:28:39] to hold onto anymore

[1:28:40] other than their feelings

[1:28:41] for each other.

[1:28:41] That's the only thing

[1:28:42] they have control over anymore.

[1:28:43] And Aya says,

[1:28:43] I love you too.

[1:28:45] And drives them away.

Stuart Wellington

[1:28:46] That's very much like

[1:28:47] that meme of like,

[1:28:48] I consent,

[1:28:48] I consent.

[1:28:49] And then Jesus is in the background

[1:28:51] I don't.

Dan McCoy

[1:28:52] So this ending,

[1:28:54] this ending,

[1:28:55] like the first time

[1:28:56] I saw this movie,

[1:28:57] AI had only just started

[1:29:00] ruining society.

[1:29:02] And I was not wild about it

[1:29:05] because I'm a...

[1:29:06] You were wild about Harry.

[1:29:07] How does he feel?

[1:29:07] I'm just wild about Harry.

[1:29:09] And Harry's wild about me.

[1:29:10] Oh, that's great.

[1:29:11] That's great.

[1:29:12] Thank you for...

[1:29:14] Wow.

[1:29:15] I thought we needed more rag time

[1:29:17] in this way.

[1:29:18] Before any of us

[1:29:19] were ever alive.

[1:29:20] Now,

[1:29:22] I...

[1:29:23] As a...

[1:29:24] As an aging softie,

[1:29:26] I am not necessarily

[1:29:28] the fan...

[1:29:28] Dan,

[1:29:28] there's bills you can take

[1:29:29] to help you with that.

[1:29:31] I'm not the fan

[1:29:33] I maybe once was

[1:29:35] of like,

[1:29:36] the horror continues ending.

[1:29:39] Just because like,

[1:29:41] I'm like,

[1:29:41] I want a little resolution

[1:29:43] at the end of my...

[1:29:43] Even my horror movies.

[1:29:45] That's just a personal preference.

[1:29:47] It's not anything.

[1:29:48] But now that

[1:29:50] AI

[1:29:51] is where it is

[1:29:53] in the world,

[1:29:54] I found this ending

[1:29:55] actually genuinely

[1:29:56] a lot more effective

[1:29:57] where it's just like,

[1:29:59] ah, shit,

[1:30:00] I guess we're gonna have

[1:30:00] to live with this now.

Stuart Wellington

[1:30:01] I was like,

[1:30:03] mm-hmm.

[1:30:03] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:30:04] That's like an interesting

[1:30:06] vibe.

Chris Weitz

[1:30:07] I think that as one

[1:30:08] gets older,

[1:30:09] that's generally

[1:30:09] many things are like,

[1:30:10] oh, shit,

[1:30:11] I guess I'm just gonna

[1:30:12] have to live with this.

Elliott Kalan

[1:30:13] Can't put the genie

[1:30:14] back in the bottle,

[1:30:15] I guess.

[1:30:15] And it wasn't a like,

[1:30:17] now you're my...

[1:30:18] It wasn't like the end

[1:30:18] of Colossus,

[1:30:19] the Forbren Project

[1:30:20] where the Colossus

[1:30:21] has taken over the world

[1:30:22] and is like,

[1:30:23] I am the master now,

[1:30:25] you are my slaves.

[1:30:26] Instead of just like,

[1:30:27] yeah,

[1:30:28] this is your new normal

[1:30:29] now, everybody.

[1:30:29] Deal with it.

[1:30:30] I was wondering,

[1:30:31] Chris,

[1:30:31] maybe this is something

[1:30:32] I should ask you offline,

[1:30:33] if you're familiar

[1:30:34] with the story

[1:30:34] With Folded Hands

[1:30:35] by Jack Williamson,

[1:30:36] the science-

[1:30:37] I am not.

[1:30:38] It's a very similar story,

[1:30:40] but it's about robots

[1:30:40] instead of like a

[1:30:43] bodiless AI system.

[1:30:44] But it's a similar

[1:30:45] type of story

[1:30:45] where it's like,

[1:30:46] the robots are just

[1:30:47] rebuilding people's houses

[1:30:49] we're gonna make it safe.

[1:30:50] We don't want you

[1:30:50] to hurt yourselves.

[1:30:51] The doors have no doorknobs.

[1:30:53] They're like,

[1:30:53] why would you want

[1:30:53] to turn a doorknob?

[1:30:54] I can do that for you.

[1:30:55] I'll just open the door

[1:30:56] for you.

[1:30:57] And people just become

[1:30:58] more and more infantilized,

[1:31:00] you know?

Chris Weitz

[1:31:01] That's good.

[1:31:02] You see,

[1:31:02] one of the things

[1:31:03] I realized too late

[1:31:04] is that you want

[1:31:05] your bad guys

[1:31:07] to have a body.

[1:31:09] And so,

[1:31:10] like a voice,

[1:31:11] a disembodied voice,

[1:31:12] although,

[1:31:13] you know,

[1:31:13] again,

[1:31:14] Kubrick did it

[1:31:15] with Hal, right?

[1:31:16] Like,

[1:31:17] that's genuinely

[1:31:18] creepy

[1:31:19] and oppressive

[1:31:20] and scary.

[1:31:21] But it's really hard

[1:31:23] not to have

[1:31:24] a visible villain.

Elliott Kalan

[1:31:26] I think,

[1:31:27] Chris,

[1:31:27] it is no real criticism

[1:31:29] to say that

[1:31:30] you didn't quite pull off

[1:31:31] what Stanley Kubrick

[1:31:32] pulled off

[1:31:33] in 2001

[1:31:34] A Space Odyssey.

[1:31:35] You know,

[1:31:35] like the,

Dan McCoy

[1:31:36] that it takes

[1:31:37] being willing

Elliott Kalan

[1:31:38] to spend

[1:31:38] all of your time,

[1:31:40] waste $100,000

[1:31:41] on a big block

[1:31:42] of a flu site,

[1:31:43] really screw over

[1:31:44] R. Lucy Clark.

[1:31:46] That was also in that book

[1:31:47] that I learned about

[1:31:47] how Stanley Kubrick

[1:31:48] was like personally

[1:31:49] overseeing the contracts

[1:31:51] with Arthur C. Clark

[1:31:52] because he was also

[1:31:53] technically the producer

[1:31:54] on the movie.

[1:31:54] So he was hiring

[1:31:55] Arthur C. Clark

[1:31:56] and he was like,

[1:31:56] by the way,

[1:31:57] Arthur,

[1:31:57] you make no money

[1:31:58] off the movie.

[1:31:59] You're not going to make

[1:32:00] any money off of that.

[1:32:01] You'll make money

[1:32:01] off the book.

[1:32:02] And then he kept withholding,

[1:32:03] he kept saying like,

[1:32:04] I don't want you

[1:32:04] to release the book yet.

[1:32:05] I don't want you

[1:32:05] to release the book yet.

[1:32:06] So Arthur C. Clark was like,

Dan McCoy

[1:32:07] I need money.

[1:32:07] What are you doing, Stanley?

[1:32:09] So.

[1:32:10] Yeah.

[1:32:11] Well,

[1:32:12] we've reached the end

[1:32:13] of,

[1:32:14] you know,

[1:32:16] our recap of the picture,

[1:32:17] but I said the picture again.

[1:32:19] I'm sorry, Elliot.

[1:32:20] I love it.

[1:32:21] Are you kidding?

[1:32:21] I think it's great.

[1:32:22] I love it.

[1:32:23] You're bringing back

[1:32:24] that old world Hollywood style.

[1:32:26] Yeah.

[1:32:27] Chris,

[1:32:27] before we render

[1:32:28] final judgments,

[1:32:29] I wanted to invite you

Stuart Wellington

[1:32:31] if there's anything

Dan McCoy

[1:32:33] that you wanted to say,

[1:32:36] anything we passed over,

[1:32:37] anything we should know

[1:32:37] about the production,

[1:32:38] like,

[1:32:39] now you can cram it all in.

Elliott Kalan

[1:32:42] Well,

[1:32:42] this is only,

[1:32:42] now it's time to settle,

[1:32:44] this is a segment we call

[1:32:45] Yeah,

[1:32:45] settle scores.

Chris Weitz

[1:32:46] Chris White.

[1:32:47] to enable you

[1:32:48] to perhaps

[1:32:49] with a freer,

[1:32:50] with a freer heart

[1:32:51] and conscience,

[1:32:52] you know,

[1:32:52] render your final judgment.

[1:32:54] You know,

[1:32:54] it was such a sort of,

[1:32:57] and by the way,

[1:32:58] I don't really blame

[1:32:59] sort of studios

[1:33:00] and the people

[1:33:01] who work for them

[1:33:01] to do what they have to do

[1:33:02] because they're all

[1:33:03] just trying to like

[1:33:04] not lose their jobs

[1:33:05] and manage expectations

[1:33:07] and probably,

[1:33:09] you know,

[1:33:09] like,

[1:33:10] I'm entirely biased

[1:33:11] in favor of my own

[1:33:12] original concept.

[1:33:14] So,

[1:33:15] I'm not an accurate judge,

[1:33:17] but it was like

[1:33:18] eventually a tortured

[1:33:20] post-process

[1:33:22] whereby I think

[1:33:23] like I lost the handle

[1:33:25] on what it was going

[1:33:27] to be eventually.

[1:33:28] So there.

Dan McCoy

[1:33:29] I mean,

[1:33:30] it is an 85

[1:33:31] or 84 minute long movie

[1:33:33] and in the year

[1:33:35] of our Lord

[1:33:36] 2024

[1:33:37] when it was released

[1:33:39] it's an odd length

[1:33:41] for a film.

[1:33:42] That is not a good sign.

Stuart Wellington

[1:33:43] Yeah,

[1:33:43] it's rare

[1:33:44] that a movie

[1:33:44] comes in under

[1:33:45] perfect flop house length.

[1:33:46] Yeah,

[1:33:47] oh,

[1:33:47] for sure.

Elliott Kalan

[1:33:47] It's rare

[1:33:48] that a modern movie

[1:33:49] comes in under 90

[1:33:50] that you don't think,

[1:33:51] I bet,

[1:33:52] I bet this was changed

[1:33:53] in some way.

Chris Weitz

[1:33:54] Yeah,

[1:33:54] I mean,

[1:33:54] like,

[1:33:55] much like pain,

[1:33:56] you want it to end

[1:33:57] sooner than later.

[1:34:00] I suppose

[1:34:01] is the way

[1:34:03] that you can look

[1:34:03] at a movie

[1:34:04] of a certain length.

Dan McCoy

[1:34:06] So,

[1:34:06] this is final judgments

[1:34:08] whether we say

[1:34:09] whether this is

[1:34:10] a good bad movie

[1:34:11] or a bad bad movie

[1:34:12] or a bad movie.

[1:34:12] I would call it

Chris Weitz

[1:34:14] a bad bad movie

[1:34:15] because the qualities

[1:34:17] that I'd intended

[1:34:18] didn't really

[1:34:20] go through

[1:34:21] and in spite of

[1:34:23] performances

[1:34:25] by actors

[1:34:26] who I really like

[1:34:27] who I think

[1:34:28] are doing

[1:34:29] their very best,

[1:34:31] I think they're

[1:34:31] eventually so chopped

[1:34:32] and shortened

[1:34:34] that they couldn't

[1:34:36] see the light of day

[1:34:37] as well as they could.

Stuart Wellington

[1:34:39] And you've worked

[1:34:40] with some of them

[1:34:41] since, right?

[1:34:42] Because some of them,

[1:34:43] John Cho and David

[1:34:44] are both in Murderbot.

Chris Weitz

[1:34:46] They're both in Murderbot.

[1:34:47] You've worked with John Cho

[1:34:48] a couple times, right?

[1:34:49] I've worked with,

[1:34:50] my brother and I

[1:34:51] have worked with John Cho

[1:34:51] I think 12 times to date.

[1:34:53] Oh, wow.

[1:34:54] Now I think it's a problem.

[1:34:56] Ever since he was

[1:34:57] milf guy

Stuart Wellington

[1:34:59] in American Pie,

Chris Weitz

[1:35:01] actually.

[1:35:02] Oh, right.

[1:35:03] And the thanks

[1:35:05] that he gets for that

[1:35:05] is that people

[1:35:06] shout milf at him

[1:35:07] on the street

[1:35:08] all the time.

Dan McCoy

[1:35:09] Well, I will

[1:35:10] play the part

[1:35:12] of the kind

[1:35:13] angel on your shoulder.

[1:35:16] And I will say

[1:35:17] that I, you know,

[1:35:18] I still kind of

[1:35:19] like this movie.

[1:35:21] I cannot separate it

[1:35:22] from, like,

[1:35:24] maybe I'm being

[1:35:25] easy on it

[1:35:26] because I know

[1:35:28] you made it,

[1:35:29] but I watch it

[1:35:30] and I watch it

[1:35:33] on Rotten Tomatoes.

[1:35:36] It is

[1:35:36] 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

[1:35:39] As we noted,

[1:35:40] it is a short movie

[1:35:41] with a bunch of

[1:35:42] good performers

[1:35:43] and a few

[1:35:45] smart things

[1:35:47] to say

[1:35:47] about AI

[1:35:49] and it is

[1:35:49] packaged

[1:35:50] in a horror movie

[1:35:51] that is maybe

[1:35:52] not the best

[1:35:53] showcase

[1:35:54] for those ideas.

[1:35:56] I don't think

[1:35:57] it's totally successful,

[1:35:58] but I,

[1:35:59] you know,

[1:36:00] I had a pretty good

[1:36:01] time watching it.

[1:36:03] What do you think?

[1:36:03] What do you say,

[1:36:03] Stuart?

Stuart Wellington

[1:36:04] Yeah,

[1:36:04] I'm gonna,

[1:36:05] I'm gonna fall

[1:36:06] in the camp

[1:36:06] between Bad Bad

[1:36:08] and movie I kind of like.

[1:36:10] I think the,

[1:36:11] as a, like,

[1:36:12] traditional horror movie,

[1:36:14] it doesn't,

[1:36:15] most of the scares

[1:36:15] don't work.

[1:36:17] But,

[1:36:18] again,

[1:36:19] there's certainly

[1:36:20] some things I like

[1:36:21] in it

[1:36:22] and the fact that,

[1:36:23] like,

[1:36:23] I can't separate it

[1:36:24] from the fact that,

[1:36:25] like,

[1:36:25] watching it,

[1:36:26] I'm like,

[1:36:26] oh,

[1:36:27] I can see

[1:36:28] my friend in this.

[1:36:29] Like,

[1:36:29] I can see things

[1:36:30] where,

[1:36:31] and like,

[1:36:31] so,

[1:36:32] this isn't the,

[1:36:33] like,

[1:36:33] harsh,

[1:36:34] cold,

[1:36:35] unbiased review

[1:36:36] that Chris was hoping

[1:36:37] from Stuart Wellington.

[1:36:39] That's what I want.

[1:36:40] I want the hard stuff.

Dan McCoy

[1:36:41] Yeah,

[1:36:42] yeah.

[1:36:42] And that Reddit guy's

[1:36:43] infuriated.

[1:36:45] He's bursting.

[1:36:45] Don't worry,

Stuart Wellington

[1:36:45] don't worry,

[1:36:46] Elliot's gonna,

Dan McCoy

[1:36:47] Elliot's gonna hold,

[1:36:48] it's gonna let fire.

Elliott Kalan

[1:36:50] There are times

[1:36:51] when you see a movie

[1:36:52] that makes you question

[1:36:53] the very concept of cinema.

[1:36:55] Perhaps it would have been better

[1:36:56] should the Lumiere brothers

[1:36:57] have died young.

[1:37:00] No,

[1:37:01] I will say,

[1:37:02] I was prepared to

[1:37:03] not like this movie

[1:37:04] because I saw it after,

[1:37:05] Chris,

[1:37:05] you told me,

[1:37:06] ugh,

[1:37:06] I'm not happy with it.

[1:37:07] And I think,

[1:37:09] similar to what the other guys

[1:37:09] are saying,

[1:37:10] like,

[1:37:10] a lot of it doesn't quite work

[1:37:11] because it feels like

[1:37:12] it's trying to do something

[1:37:13] that it's not

[1:37:13] really meant to be doing.

[1:37:16] And,

[1:37:16] like you're saying,

[1:37:17] the performances feel chopped,

[1:37:18] like,

[1:37:19] they,

[1:37:19] characters,

[1:37:20] their point of view

[1:37:20] on what's happening

[1:37:21] to them in the movie

[1:37:23] changes so fast

[1:37:24] because it feels like

[1:37:24] we're missing the transition points.

[1:37:27] But,

[1:37:27] I will say,

[1:37:28] there are a bunch of scenes

[1:37:28] I really like in it.

[1:37:29] And it feels like,

[1:37:30] I'm gonna call this a movie

[1:37:31] I kind of like

[1:37:32] because I feel like

[1:37:32] of all the movies,

[1:37:33] of all the,

[1:37:33] I've seen so many

[1:37:34] horror movies

[1:37:35] involving families recently.

[1:37:37] And this is the one

[1:37:38] that most felt to me like,

[1:37:39] oh,

[1:37:40] it actually is about

[1:37:40] the experience of being

[1:37:41] in a family

[1:37:42] and being a parent

[1:37:43] as opposed to,

[1:37:43] like,

[1:37:44] I'm not really that worried

[1:37:46] that,

[1:37:46] like,

[1:37:47] my kids'

[1:37:48] imaginary friends

[1:37:49] are gonna come

[1:37:49] to life

[1:37:50] or something like that.

[1:37:51] Like,

[1:37:51] that doesn't tap into

[1:37:52] any real worries

[1:37:54] that I have.

[1:37:55] And I do wish

[1:37:56] that we could have seen

[1:37:57] the more,

[1:37:57] like you're saying,

[1:37:58] the more parallax view

[1:37:59] version of this

[1:37:59] because it is,

[1:38:02] like,

[1:38:03] getting at a lot

[1:38:03] of interesting things.

[1:38:04] And I kind of miss

[1:38:05] when a horror movie,

[1:38:07] I feel like in some ways

[1:38:08] horror has gotten,

[1:38:09] people expect more of it

[1:38:11] than they,

[1:38:11] so much more than they used to.

[1:38:12] Like,

[1:38:12] it used to be that

[1:38:13] a horror movie

[1:38:13] would come out

[1:38:14] and be like,

[1:38:14] well,

[1:38:15] it's not a great movie,

[1:38:16] but it's saying

[1:38:17] something about something.

[1:38:18] And that was like

[1:38:18] a feather in

[1:38:19] the horror movie's cap.

[1:38:21] And so I feel like

[1:38:22] it perhaps doesn't get

[1:38:23] the credit

[1:38:23] for what it's trying

[1:38:24] to say

[1:38:24] because it is not,

[1:38:26] because it's not

[1:38:27] fulfilling the things

[1:38:28] a horror movie does

[1:38:29] because it's not

[1:38:29] really supposed

[1:38:30] to be doing those things.

[1:38:31] So there was a lot

[1:38:32] that I kind of liked

[1:38:33] about it,

[1:38:33] although I would call it

[1:38:34] not fully successful.

[1:38:37] But comparing it,

[1:38:39] I've said there are two movies

[1:38:40] that I keep turning

[1:38:40] over and over in my mind.

[1:38:42] And it's this one

[1:38:42] that I've seen recently.

[1:38:43] This one and the

[1:38:44] Robert Altman movie,

[1:38:45] A Perfect Couple,

[1:38:46] which also does not

[1:38:47] really work.

[1:38:48] And it feels like at times

[1:38:49] is doing something

[1:38:50] that works

[1:38:51] and then veers off

[1:38:52] wildly in the wrong direction.

[1:38:53] And so...

Dan McCoy

[1:38:54] I'm as good as Robert Altman.

[1:38:55] I'll take it.

Elliott Kalan

[1:38:55] That's not bad company.

Dan McCoy

[1:38:57] Yeah, I'll tell you something.

[1:38:59] I enjoy this movie

[1:39:00] more than Quintet,

[1:39:01] which I watched recently.

[1:39:02] Oh, boy.

Elliott Kalan

[1:39:03] What a boring movie.

Dan McCoy

[1:39:06] Wow, Quintet.

[1:39:07] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:39:08] Quintet's one of those movies

[1:39:09] where it's like...

[1:39:09] For half an hour,

Dan McCoy

[1:39:10] I'm like,

[1:39:10] oh, the vibes are interesting

[1:39:11] and maybe I'll like this.

[1:39:12] And then I'm like,

[1:39:13] okay, well,

[1:39:13] what else is happening

[1:39:14] in this room?

[1:39:15] It's one of those movies, right?

Elliott Kalan

[1:39:15] I know I've watched it

[1:39:17] and every time

[1:39:18] I try to imagine it,

[1:39:19] I try to remember it.

[1:39:19] All I can think of is

[1:39:20] Paul Newman

[1:39:21] in like an ice cave

[1:39:22] and then it just becomes

[1:39:23] the box sequence

[1:39:24] from Logan's Run

[1:39:25] and I'm like,

[1:39:26] no, that's a different movie memory.

[1:39:28] That's not the same movie.

Stuart Wellington

[1:39:36] Ready, go.

[1:39:37] Knock, knock.

Dan McCoy

[1:39:37] Who's there?

[1:39:38] We got this.

[1:39:39] With Mark and Hal?

[1:39:40] You knew this one.

[1:39:44] We can't put that out

[1:39:45] as an ad.

Stuart Wellington

[1:39:46] We just did.

[1:39:48] New episodes every week

[1:39:49] on MaximumFun.org

[1:39:50] or wherever you get your podcasts.

[1:39:51] Now it's Hewn and Rock.

[1:39:53] Hewn and Rock?

[1:39:54] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:39:55] How do you Hewn something in Rock?

[1:39:58] With a chisel.

[1:39:59] There's only one Hewn and Rock

[1:40:00] and it's Huey Lewis.

[1:40:02] And the news is

[1:40:03] we got this with Mark and Hal

[1:40:05] as available every week

[1:40:06] on MaximumFun.org.

[1:40:07] I walked right into that.

[1:40:12] Need a gift for a MaxFun fan in your life?

S5

[1:40:17] Or maybe you need some ideas

[1:40:18] to fill up a wishlist of your own.

[1:40:19] Heck, maybe you just want to pick up

[1:40:21] something for yourself as a little treat.

[1:40:22] Well, the MaxFun Holiday Gift Guide

[1:40:24] is here for all of your gift-giving

[1:40:25] and gift-wanting needs

[1:40:27] at MaximumFun.org

[1:40:29] slash giftguide.

[1:40:30] Of course, there's show merch

[1:40:31] like clothing, hats, bookmarks, stickers,

[1:40:34] even a candle.

[1:40:35] But there's also a bunch of other cool stuff

[1:40:37] made by your favorite hosts

[1:40:38] like comic books, graphic novels,

[1:40:40] music, art, and jewelry.

[1:40:42] Go check out the gift guide

[1:40:43] and make sure you order soon

[1:40:44] so things get there in time

[1:40:45] for the holidays.

[1:40:46] MaximumFun.org slash giftguide.

Dan McCoy

[1:40:52] Hey, it's Dan here

[1:40:54] with some late-breaking news,

[1:40:56] stuff that wasn't ready for air

[1:40:57] at time of recording,

[1:40:59] but now we can talk about.

[1:41:01] We're coming back

[1:41:02] to San Francisco Sketch Fest

[1:41:04] on January the 25th.

[1:41:08] at 4 p.m.

[1:41:09] at Cobb's Comedy Club.

[1:41:12] Yep, it's an afternoon show

[1:41:14] for once,

[1:41:15] so you can get in,

[1:41:17] see us,

[1:41:18] have dinner,

[1:41:19] and then go wherever you want to go.

[1:41:21] You know?

[1:41:22] It'll be a little more laid back.

[1:41:24] We're very happy

[1:41:25] to be back at Sketch Fest.

[1:41:27] The best way to get tickets for that

[1:41:29] are to go to sfsketchfest.com

[1:41:32] and click on the schedule.

[1:41:35] Find Sunday the 25th,

[1:41:37] and there should be a buy tickets link

[1:41:40] connected to us,

[1:41:42] the Flophouse.

[1:41:43] We don't know exactly

[1:41:45] what movie we're doing just yet.

[1:41:47] We're pondering if there's maybe

[1:41:49] something San Francisco-based

[1:41:51] or just a big old flop,

[1:41:54] an historic flop

[1:41:56] that we haven't covered

[1:41:58] just yet.

[1:42:00] But we always have fun

[1:42:01] at SF Sketch Fest.

[1:42:03] We're happy to be back.

[1:42:04] We hope that we will see you there.

[1:42:08] The Flophouse is brought to you

[1:42:10] in overwhelming part

[1:42:11] by listeners like you

[1:42:12] who have become members

[1:42:13] over at MaximumFun.org.

[1:42:15] We got the member drive

[1:42:17] coming up in a few months.

[1:42:19] It's a tough time out there,

[1:42:20] but I hope that you'll help

[1:42:21] continue to support

[1:42:23] independent voices,

[1:42:25] independent worker,

[1:42:27] and artist-owned media.

[1:42:29] But we also have a few sponsors,

[1:42:32] and the first of these

[1:42:34] this week is Aura Frames,

[1:42:36] the perfect gift

[1:42:36] when all they want

[1:42:38] for Christmas is you.

[1:42:43] Mariah foretold it.

[1:42:45] Aura Frames.

[1:42:46] She's not associated

[1:42:47] with Aura Frames.

[1:42:48] That's just me making a joke.

[1:42:49] Please don't sue us.

[1:42:50] Aura Frames or Mariah Carey.

[1:42:52] I don't know why Aura

[1:42:53] would sue us.

[1:42:54] They would just stop talking to us.

[1:42:56] Aura Frames are great.

[1:42:57] I got one of these things.

[1:42:59] You know,

[1:43:00] it's meaningful to feel connected

[1:43:01] to your family

[1:43:02] even when you're far,

[1:43:03] far apart from them.

[1:43:04] And with Aura Frames,

[1:43:06] what you can do

[1:43:06] is a little tip.

[1:43:08] I'm acting like it's a secret.

[1:43:09] It's part of the thing

[1:43:10] that they do.

[1:43:11] It's one of the main selling points.

[1:43:13] You can put in your photos

[1:43:15] to your family's Aura Frame

[1:43:18] from a distance.

[1:43:19] That's a song

[1:43:20] that I'm not going to sing

[1:43:22] because I already fear

[1:43:23] that I have caused

[1:43:25] too much trouble.

[1:43:26] You can upload your pictures

[1:43:28] and grandma,

[1:43:30] grandpa,

[1:43:31] dad,

[1:43:31] mom,

[1:43:32] your brothers,

[1:43:33] your sisters,

[1:43:34] any,

[1:43:34] you know how family works.

[1:43:35] Or friends.

[1:43:36] You can do it with friends too.

[1:43:38] From a distance,

[1:43:38] you can share

[1:43:39] delightful memories.

[1:43:41] They can pop up

[1:43:42] in your loved one's

[1:43:44] Aura Frames

[1:43:44] this holiday season,

[1:43:47] whatever holiday

[1:43:48] you celebrate.

[1:43:48] It takes about

[1:43:49] two minutes

[1:43:50] to set up a frame

[1:43:51] using the Aura app.

[1:43:52] You can personalize

[1:43:52] your gift,

[1:43:53] preload photos,

[1:43:54] add a message

[1:43:55] before it arrives,

[1:43:56] and keep adding photos

[1:43:57] after set up.

[1:43:59] Set up.

[1:44:00] Set up.

[1:44:01] Set up.

[1:44:02] There's an unlimited

[1:44:03] storage because it's all

[1:44:05] in that beautiful cloud.

[1:44:07] That one there.

[1:44:08] The one that looks

[1:44:09] like an elephant.

[1:44:10] Aura displays photos

[1:44:12] in true color

[1:44:13] and automatically adjusts

[1:44:14] for the light level

[1:44:15] of the room.

[1:44:16] So at night,

[1:44:16] when you turn out

[1:44:17] the lights,

[1:44:17] your frame also turns off

[1:44:19] to save energy.

[1:44:21] Pretty cool.

[1:44:23] You can't wrap togetherness,

[1:44:24] but you can frame it.

[1:44:25] So for a limited time,

[1:44:27] visit AuraFrames.com

[1:44:29] and get $45 off

[1:44:30] Aura's best-selling

[1:44:31] Carver Matte Frames,

[1:44:32] named number one

[1:44:33] by Wirecutter,

[1:44:34] using promo code

[1:44:36] FLOP at checkout.

[1:44:37] That's A-U-R-A

[1:44:40] frames.com,

[1:44:41] promo code FLOP.

[1:44:43] This exclusive

[1:44:43] Black Friday

[1:44:44] Cyber Monday deal

[1:44:45] is their best of the year.

[1:44:47] So order now

[1:44:48] before it ends.

[1:44:49] Support the show

[1:44:49] by mentioning us

[1:44:50] at checkout.

[1:44:52] Terms and conditions apply.

[1:44:55] And also,

[1:44:56] this is sponsored

[1:44:58] by Lisa Mattresses.

[1:45:01] Lisa Mattresses.

[1:45:02] How you sleep

[1:45:03] can be just as important

[1:45:04] as how long you sleep.

[1:45:06] Don't I know it.

[1:45:07] I'm a tosser.

[1:45:08] I'm a turner.

[1:45:09] I need good sleep.

[1:45:11] And Lisa really delivers

[1:45:13] on the how.

[1:45:15] Lisa's mattresses

[1:45:16] are designed to help you

[1:45:17] fall asleep faster

[1:45:18] and stay asleep longer.

[1:45:21] Now, I know Elliot

[1:45:22] has one of these mattresses.

[1:45:24] It's been a very

[1:45:25] satisfactory experience

[1:45:26] for his family.

[1:45:28] They got the kids

[1:45:29] sleeping on the mattress.

[1:45:31] Well, I mean,

[1:45:31] one at a time.

[1:45:32] They have their own room.

[1:45:34] Don't worry about Elliot.

[1:45:35] Elliot's doing just fine.

[1:45:37] But he's spoke very well

[1:45:39] of how this mattress

[1:45:41] has been received.

[1:45:43] Lisa has a lineup

[1:45:43] of beautifully crafted

[1:45:45] mattresses tailored

[1:45:46] to how you sleep.

[1:45:47] Each mattress is designed

[1:45:48] with a specific sleep position

[1:45:50] and feel preferences

[1:45:52] in mind,

[1:45:52] which is great

[1:45:53] for someone like me.

[1:45:54] I'm a side sleeper.

[1:45:55] I think it's messing up

[1:45:56] my shoulders.

[1:45:57] I would love

[1:45:58] if I had a mattress

[1:46:00] that took that

[1:46:01] into account.

[1:46:02] Lisa mattresses

[1:46:02] are meticulously designed

[1:46:04] and assembled

[1:46:04] in the USA

[1:46:05] for exceptional quality.

[1:46:07] Plus, they all back it up

[1:46:09] with free shipping,

[1:46:10] easy returns,

[1:46:12] and a 100-night sleep trial.

[1:46:15] They also donate

[1:46:15] thousands of mattresses

[1:46:17] each year

[1:46:17] to those in need

[1:46:18] while partnering

[1:46:19] with organizations

[1:46:20] like Clean Hub

[1:46:21] to help remove

[1:46:23] harmful plastic waste

[1:46:24] from our oceans.

[1:46:25] So,

[1:46:26] if this sounds good to you,

[1:46:27] go to Lisa.com

[1:46:29] for 30% off mattresses

[1:46:31] plus get an extra

[1:46:32] $50 off

[1:46:33] with promo code FLOP

[1:46:35] exclusive

[1:46:36] for our listeners.

[1:46:38] That's exclusive

[1:46:38] for you,

[1:46:39] the Flophouse listener.

[1:46:41] That's L-E-E-S-A.com

[1:46:44] promo code FLOP

[1:46:45] for 30% off mattresses

[1:46:47] plus an extra $50 off.

[1:46:50] Support our show

[1:46:51] and let them know

[1:46:52] we sent you

[1:46:52] after checkout.

[1:46:54] Lisa.com

[1:46:56] promo code FLOP

[1:46:57] and there's a Jumbotron,

[1:47:00] a J-J-J-Jumbotron,

[1:47:02] in fact,

[1:47:03] this message

[1:47:04] is for Louis.

[1:47:05] It is from

[1:47:06] Jennifer

[1:47:07] and it reads

[1:47:09] thusly,

[1:47:11] Dan,

[1:47:11] Stuart,

[1:47:12] and Elliot,

[1:47:12] I need your help

[1:47:14] wishing a happy birthday

[1:47:15] to my boyfriend,

[1:47:16] Louis.

[1:47:17] Happy birthday,

[1:47:17] Louis.

[1:47:19] He's a huge fan

[1:47:20] of the show.

[1:47:20] Louis,

[1:47:20] you're my favorite person

[1:47:22] to watch terrible movies with

[1:47:23] and the best plot twist

[1:47:25] life ever gave me.

[1:47:27] Here's to love,

[1:47:28] laughter,

[1:47:29] and at least one more

[1:47:30] a talking cat

[1:47:31] rewatch.

[1:47:33] Happy birthday.

[1:47:36] Happy birthday,

[1:47:37] Louis.

[1:47:38] Thank you

[1:47:38] for being a listener

[1:47:40] and God bless you

[1:47:42] for being out there

[1:47:43] watching a talking cat,

[1:47:45] maybe a talking pony.

[1:47:46] Who knows?

[1:47:46] There are a lot of animals

[1:47:47] talking these days.

[1:47:49] Look who's talking.

[1:47:50] Anywho,

[1:47:51] before I let you get back

[1:47:53] to our very special episode

[1:47:55] with Chris Weitz

[1:47:56] talking about his own movie,

[1:47:58] Afraid,

[1:47:59] a delightful surprise for us.

[1:48:02] I would like to say

[1:48:03] Flop TV is still going.

[1:48:06] If you are interested

[1:48:07] in checking out

[1:48:08] our live monthly

[1:48:09] streaming video show

[1:48:11] with pre-tapes,

[1:48:13] presentations,

[1:48:14] discussion, of course,

[1:48:15] of a bad movie,

[1:48:16] as always,

[1:48:17] questions from the chat,

[1:48:18] all sorts of fun,

[1:48:20] that is available

[1:48:21] at theflophouse.simpleticks.com

[1:48:24] where you can purchase

[1:48:25] either individual show tickets

[1:48:28] if you're only interested

[1:48:29] in a couple of the shows

[1:48:30] or a season pass,

[1:48:33] which gets you

[1:48:34] a bit of a price break.

[1:48:35] You get six shows

[1:48:37] for the price of five

[1:48:38] with the season pass,

[1:48:39] and if you've missed

[1:48:40] previous shows,

[1:48:41] don't worry.

[1:48:42] All of them will be available

[1:48:43] to view on demand

[1:48:45] through the end

[1:48:46] of the Flop TV season

[1:48:47] in February,

[1:48:49] possibly a little longer.

[1:48:50] Who knows?

[1:48:51] And hey,

[1:48:52] dropping in with one more plug,

[1:48:54] a friend of the show,

[1:48:55] John Kingman,

[1:48:56] he was on a few episodes

[1:48:58] early in our run.

[1:49:00] He directed a movie

[1:49:01] called Snatchers

[1:49:03] that Stu and I

[1:49:05] have a little part in.

[1:49:06] It's kind of a cameo,

[1:49:09] but you know what?

[1:49:09] We're kind of the stars

[1:49:10] of the scene that we're in.

[1:49:12] So if you're interested

[1:49:13] in seeing us in a movie

[1:49:15] and supporting a friend

[1:49:16] of the show,

[1:49:17] check out Snatchers.

[1:49:18] It's on Amazon Prime

[1:49:20] right now.

[1:49:21] It was shot a little ways back,

[1:49:23] but now it's finally available

[1:49:25] for you to stream.

[1:49:27] And if you like

[1:49:27] kind of throwback-y

[1:49:29] John Carpenter vibe,

[1:49:32] but like a sci-fi,

[1:49:35] slightly horror-tinged,

[1:49:36] more comedy-tinged movie

[1:49:38] about body snatchers

[1:49:40] in Brooklyn,

[1:49:41] you might like this movie.

[1:49:42] It's called Snatchers.

[1:49:43] There's a lot of movies

[1:49:44] called Snatchers.

[1:49:45] The one directed by

[1:49:45] John Kingman

[1:49:46] is the one I'm pointing you to.

[1:49:48] And if you like it,

[1:49:49] hey,

[1:49:50] leave a review.

[1:49:50] Why not?

[1:49:51] People like that kind of thing.

[1:49:52] It's helpful.

[1:49:53] So,

[1:49:54] that again is Snatchers

[1:49:56] with a little bit of

[1:49:58] Dan and Stu

[1:49:59] in the stew

[1:50:00] of the movie.

[1:50:02] And now,

[1:50:03] back to the show.

[1:50:05] Let's answer

[1:50:06] letters.

[1:50:09] Yeah,

[1:50:09] let's do it.

[1:50:10] Listeners,

[1:50:10] let's turn away.

[1:50:11] It sounded like we weren't sure

Chris Weitz

[1:50:11] what we were going to answer it.

[1:50:12] Well,

Dan McCoy

[1:50:13] let's turn away from the

[1:50:14] roast of Chris.

Chris Weitz

[1:50:17] As every listener will know,

[1:50:19] you guys are being kind.

[1:50:23] I appreciate that I've

[1:50:25] so corrupted

[1:50:27] your journalistic integrity.

[1:50:29] But that

[1:50:30] it was the friendship

[1:50:32] that we formed

[1:50:35] that has led to that.

[1:50:37] And so,

[1:50:37] I count it.

[1:50:38] Forged in steel.

Elliott Kalan

[1:50:39] We are

[1:50:41] Jed Leland

[1:50:42] in Citizen Kane

[1:50:43] getting drunk

[1:50:43] rather than finishing

[1:50:44] the ad review.

[1:50:45] Did you say

Elliott Kalan

[1:50:45] Jed Lee

Stuart Wellington

[1:50:46] in Citizen Kane?

[1:50:47] Yeah,

Elliott Kalan

[1:50:47] Jed Lee in Citizen Kane.

[1:50:48] Jed Lee was in Citizen Kane?

[1:50:49] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:50:50] Wow,

[1:50:51] man,

[1:50:51] you would have been awesome.

[1:50:52] He really,

Chris Weitz

[1:50:52] he really got submerged

[1:50:54] into the character.

[1:50:56] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:50:57] It looks so much like

[1:50:58] Joseph Cotton.

[1:50:59] Like riding around

[1:51:00] on fucking Rosebud

[1:51:01] doing flips and shit.

[1:51:03] I love when

[1:51:04] Jackie Chan

[1:51:05] used Rosebud

[1:51:06] in so many

[1:51:07] inventive ways.

[1:51:07] Oh, man.

Elliott Kalan

[1:51:08] That fucking sequence.

[1:51:09] Those goons,

[1:51:09] they shouldn't have

[1:51:10] messed with him.

[1:51:11] He should do a movie

[1:51:12] called Citizen Chan

[1:51:13] where Citizen Kane

[1:51:13] gets him.

Dan McCoy

[1:51:15] That'd be great.

[1:51:17] So,

[1:51:18] this letter

[1:51:19] is from Michael Lasting.

Elliott Kalan

[1:51:20] People with newspapers

[1:51:20] and disarming them,

[1:51:21] yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:51:22] This letter

[1:51:23] is from Michael Lasting

[1:51:24] with Hells

[1:51:25] who writes,

[1:51:25] I can only assume

[1:51:26] it's Michael Eisner.

[1:51:27] Yeah,

[1:51:28] has to be.

[1:51:29] I recently saw

[1:51:30] Tron Aries

[1:51:31] at my local

[1:51:32] Beer and a Burger

[1:51:33] theater.

[1:51:34] And let's be honest,

[1:51:36] the Tron movies

[1:51:36] are kind of dumb.

[1:51:38] but they're movies

[1:51:40] I kind of like.

[1:51:41] I like these movies

[1:51:42] in part because

[1:51:42] the central conceit

[1:51:43] of the movie,

[1:51:44] humans entering

[1:51:45] a digital world,

[1:51:47] is fraught

[1:51:47] with metaphysical

[1:51:48] puzzles.

[1:51:49] Ooh.

[1:51:50] When Flynn,

[1:51:51] parentheses,

[1:51:51] Jeff Bridges,

[1:51:53] thank you for that,

[1:51:54] gets zapped

[1:51:55] into the computer

[1:51:56] piece by piece,

[1:51:57] does that hurt?

[1:51:58] Is he dead?

[1:52:00] Is the Flynn

[1:52:00] that comes out

[1:52:01] of the computer

[1:52:01] a copy?

[1:52:02] Does he die

[1:52:03] each and every

[1:52:04] time he enters

[1:52:04] and leaves the grid?

[1:52:05] Just like Rose Moon.

[1:52:07] Star Trek

[1:52:07] transporters?

[1:52:09] In Tron Legacy,

[1:52:10] when Olivia Wilde's

[1:52:11] character Quora

[1:52:12] escapes the digital

[1:52:14] world,

[1:52:15] is she flesh and bone?

[1:52:16] Or some kind of

[1:52:17] stack of digital

[1:52:19] voxels?

[1:52:20] Does she have batteries?

[1:52:21] I think Stuart

Chris Weitz

[1:52:22] once said she was.

Stuart Wellington

[1:52:24] Yes,

[1:52:24] I did say that.

[1:52:26] Wow.

[1:52:27] I forgot.

[1:52:27] You see,

[1:52:28] I think I described

[1:52:30] her as steak.

[1:52:32] Wait,

[1:52:32] no,

[1:52:32] she was the hamburger

[1:52:34] of Amanda Seyfried.

Dan McCoy

[1:52:36] It was terrible.

Stuart Wellington

[1:52:38] It was a terrible

[1:52:38] thing to say.

[1:52:39] It was a terrible

[1:52:40] thing to say,

[1:52:40] but this movie

[1:52:41] confused me.

Dan McCoy

[1:52:44] It addled your brain.

Elliott Kalan

[1:52:45] The fact that we

[1:52:46] all watched that movie

[1:52:47] not understanding

[1:52:47] that that character

[1:52:48] was supposed to be

[1:52:48] Justin Timberlake's

[1:52:49] mom,

[1:52:50] I think that's

[1:52:51] the main fault.

[1:52:51] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:52:52] Tricky.

[1:52:53] Don't blame me,

[1:52:55] I'm Stuart.

Elliott Kalan

[1:52:56] I mean,

[1:52:57] it's a lovable scamp.

[1:52:58] What you said

[1:52:59] about the hamburger

[1:52:59] steak thing

[1:53:00] was not explained

[1:53:01] at all by our

[1:53:02] children.

[1:53:02] I was trying to

Stuart Wellington

[1:53:04] give voice to

[1:53:04] what the movie

[1:53:05] was saying.

[1:53:06] You were a younger

Dan McCoy

[1:53:08] man who said

[1:53:09] a grosser thing.

Elliott Kalan

[1:53:10] You had no empathy,

[1:53:11] yeah,

[1:53:11] but now you have

[1:53:11] lots of empathy.

Dan McCoy

[1:53:12] Now,

[1:53:13] this next paragraph,

[1:53:15] that's where I was.

[1:53:16] The whole thing

[1:53:16] is an existential

[1:53:17] nightmare that leaves

[1:53:18] me wanting for

[1:53:19] an explanation.

[1:53:20] My brain wants

[1:53:21] answers,

[1:53:22] but my brain

[1:53:23] shall never get

[1:53:24] them,

[1:53:25] and so I am

[1:53:26] compelled to watch

[1:53:28] any new Tron movie

[1:53:29] when it hits

[1:53:30] the theaters.

[1:53:31] Are there other

[1:53:32] examples of

[1:53:33] accidental puzzle

[1:53:34] boxes in film

[1:53:35] or TV that

[1:53:36] make the work

[1:53:37] more compelling

[1:53:38] than it should

[1:53:40] be?

[1:53:40] End of line,

[1:53:42] Michael Lasting

[1:53:43] withheld.

Elliott Kalan

[1:53:43] So I watched

[1:53:44] this movie called

[1:53:44] Afraid,

[1:53:45] and you got a lot

[1:53:47] of questions?

Dan McCoy

[1:53:50] A lot of questions,

[1:53:51] yeah,

[1:53:51] many,

[1:53:51] many questions.

Stuart Wellington

[1:53:53] I mean,

[1:53:54] I don't know

[1:53:56] if this doesn't

[1:53:57] necessarily qualify,

[1:53:58] but I feel like

[1:53:59] on some level

[1:54:00] it's like,

[1:54:02] to me,

[1:54:02] what the question

[1:54:03] is asking,

[1:54:04] I'm going to

[1:54:05] repurpose it,

[1:54:06] is what movies

[1:54:09] do you watch

[1:54:10] or series of

[1:54:11] movies do you

[1:54:11] watch that you

[1:54:12] know are not

[1:54:13] good,

[1:54:13] but there's some

[1:54:14] weird element

[1:54:16] that keeps

[1:54:17] bringing you back?

[1:54:18] And of course,

[1:54:19] for me,

[1:54:19] that's the Saw

[1:54:20] franchise,

[1:54:20] a franchise

[1:54:21] that is terrible.

[1:54:22] And every time

[1:54:23] I dislike them,

[1:54:24] but as soon as

[1:54:25] that ending

[1:54:26] sequence kicks in,

[1:54:27] where the,

[1:54:28] you know,

[1:54:28] the big,

[1:54:28] like,

[1:54:29] strings,

[1:54:30] the music kicks in,

[1:54:31] the strings are going,

[1:54:33] and then it starts

[1:54:33] showing you all the

[1:54:34] stuff you saw before,

[1:54:35] but from a slightly

[1:54:36] different angle,

[1:54:37] and you're like,

[1:54:38] oh,

[1:54:38] that guy was the

[1:54:39] dude doing it

[1:54:40] the whole time,

[1:54:40] oh my god.

[1:54:41] Every time,

[1:54:42] I'm like,

[1:54:42] hell yeah,

[1:54:43] you did it again,

[1:54:44] Saw,

[1:54:44] two thumbs up.

[1:54:45] Saw,

[1:54:46] you son of a bitch.

[1:54:47] Big Saw,

[1:54:47] you got me.

Dan McCoy

[1:54:48] You got me,

[1:54:48] Saw.

[1:54:49] I saw that.

[1:54:51] Yeah,

[1:54:52] I love this question.

[1:54:54] It's one of these

[1:54:55] ones where I'm like,

[1:54:56] oh shit,

[1:54:57] I know that there's,

[1:54:58] like,

[1:54:59] stuff buried deep

[1:55:00] in my brain

[1:55:01] where I'm like,

[1:55:02] this dumb movie

[1:55:03] left me with

[1:55:04] this frustrating

[1:55:06] question that I

[1:55:08] cannot resolve,

[1:55:09] but it's not like it's

[1:55:10] those Now You See Me movies

Stuart Wellington

[1:55:11] the other day.

[1:55:12] I love them.

[1:55:13] Those Now You See Me movies,

Dan McCoy

[1:55:15] god damn.

[1:55:16] That's my Fast and Furious

[1:55:18] right there.

[1:55:19] No,

[1:55:19] for sure.

[1:55:20] I'm like,

[1:55:20] none of this is good magic.

[1:55:23] Like,

[1:55:24] none of it,

[1:55:24] none of it is

Stuart Wellington

[1:55:26] the close-up magic.

Dan McCoy

[1:55:28] Can I tell you guys,

[1:55:29] let me use,

[1:55:29] yeah,

[1:55:30] thank you.

[1:55:30] Thank you for giving me

[1:55:31] the opening that I,

[1:55:33] I can just say that,

[1:55:35] like,

[1:55:35] I just,

[1:55:36] I went to see

[1:55:37] on Broadway

[1:55:39] because Audra,

[1:55:41] because the average age

[1:55:43] of the Broadway theater goer

[1:55:44] is over 40.

[1:55:46] Yeah.

[1:55:46] You,

[1:55:47] you can,

[1:55:48] if you're

[1:55:48] under 40,

[1:55:50] you can get

[1:55:51] TDF discounts

[1:55:53] just for going

[1:55:55] to see theater.

[1:55:57] And so,

[1:55:58] she was going through her,

[1:55:59] like,

[1:56:00] theater discounts

[1:56:01] and she's like,

[1:56:01] do you want to see,

[1:56:02] I forget what this,

[1:56:04] something,

[1:56:05] something like,

[1:56:06] something like is the name

[1:56:07] of the magician

[1:56:08] is doing a thing

[1:56:09] on Broadway

[1:56:10] with the Muppets.

[1:56:11] I'm like,

[1:56:11] fuck yeah,

[1:56:12] I do.

[1:56:13] Yeah,

[1:56:13] yeah,

[1:56:13] yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:56:13] All of a sudden,

[1:56:14] she forgot who her husband is.

[1:56:16] And so we went.

[1:56:17] But she's presented as,

[1:56:18] this magician

[1:56:19] is doing a show

[1:56:19] with the Muppets

[1:56:20] as opposed to,

[1:56:21] the Muppets are doing a show.

Dan McCoy

[1:56:22] Yeah.

[1:56:23] Yeah.

[1:56:24] And this show,

[1:56:25] like,

[1:56:26] the,

[1:56:26] the Muppets are so poorly

[1:56:28] integrated into this show.

[1:56:30] There's no conceptual reason

[1:56:31] why the Muppets are there.

[1:56:32] Like,

[1:56:33] it's just sort of like,

[1:56:34] hey,

[1:56:35] hey,

[1:56:35] I heard you're doing this show

[1:56:37] on Broadway.

[1:56:37] We can stop by

[1:56:38] and like,

[1:56:39] they keep coming by.

[1:56:40] That's enough for me.

[1:56:41] No,

[1:56:42] I mean,

[1:56:42] I'm not unhappy

[1:56:43] because the Muppets are there.

Chris Weitz

[1:56:44] Doesn't have the ironclad

[1:56:45] plot logic of most Muppets

[1:56:47] appearances.

Elliott Kalan

[1:56:48] Well,

[1:56:49] it's strange

[1:56:49] because when I saw

[1:56:50] at the,

[1:56:50] here at the Pasadena Playhouse,

[1:56:52] they were doing

[1:56:52] a night of Edward Albee one acts

[1:56:54] featuring the Muppets

[1:56:55] and they did an amazing job

[1:56:56] of integrating the Muppets

[1:56:57] into those stories.

Stuart Wellington

[1:56:58] Dan would have hoped

[1:56:59] that before the magician

[1:57:00] came out,

[1:57:01] somebody was like,

[1:57:02] my grandmother

[1:57:03] once told me a story

[1:57:04] by the Muppets like me.

[1:57:07] I'm just saying,

[1:57:07] if you've got the Muppets.

Stuart Wellington

[1:57:07] For this show,

[1:57:08] just imagine we live

Elliott Kalan

[1:57:09] in a world

[1:57:09] where Muppets are real.

[1:57:11] Thank you,

[1:57:11] folks.

[1:57:11] Okay.

[1:57:12] Now curtain rise.

Dan McCoy

[1:57:13] I mean,

[1:57:14] this guy is making

[1:57:15] the correct bet

[1:57:16] that the Muppets

[1:57:16] are enough

[1:57:17] to pull people in.

[1:57:19] But if I were going

[1:57:20] to have the Muppets

[1:57:21] do my thing,

[1:57:22] I'd be like,

[1:57:23] okay,

[1:57:23] I got to figure out

[1:57:24] what is the best way

[1:57:26] to showcase the Muppets.

[1:57:26] This is Dan's big fantasy

Elliott Kalan

[1:57:27] that the Muppets

[1:57:28] would do his thing.

[1:57:30] Don't check

[1:57:31] his search history.

Dan McCoy

[1:57:32] I mean,

[1:57:32] the Muppets

[1:57:33] are so much more charismatic

[1:57:34] than this dude

[1:57:36] who was like the magician

[1:57:37] that they kept doing a bit

[1:57:38] where it's like

[1:57:39] the great Gonzo

[1:57:39] would come out

[1:57:40] in a canon

[1:57:42] it's time for my thing.

[1:57:44] And like,

[1:57:44] and be like,

[1:57:44] no,

[1:57:45] not yet,

[1:57:45] Gonzo.

[1:57:46] And like,

[1:57:46] they did this a couple times.

[1:57:47] I'm like,

[1:57:48] no,

[1:57:48] let Gonzo stay.

[1:57:50] You leave the stage.

[1:57:53] But these were all just like,

[1:57:54] you know,

[1:57:54] like the oldest tricks

[1:57:56] in the magic book.

[1:57:58] like,

[1:57:59] it was me and Audrey

[1:58:01] and our friends,

[1:58:02] John and Mary

[1:58:03] and all of us

[1:58:04] were like,

[1:58:04] okay,

[1:58:04] well,

[1:58:05] that's how that trick

[1:58:05] is done.

[1:58:06] This is how this trick

[1:58:07] is done.

[1:58:07] And that's how that trick.

[1:58:08] But,

[1:58:08] you know,

[1:58:09] who cares?

[1:58:09] The Muppets are here.

[1:58:10] Anyway,

[1:58:11] that has nothing to do

[1:58:11] with anything.

[1:58:12] I just wanted to talk

[1:58:13] about this for a while.

Elliott Kalan

[1:58:13] bring that back around

Dan McCoy

[1:58:14] to the question.

[1:58:15] No,

[1:58:15] there's no bringing it back around.

[1:58:17] It's just a story about my life.

Elliott Kalan

[1:58:19] I think to answer that question

[1:58:20] and then move on to the next thing

[1:58:21] unless Chris has answers.

[1:58:22] There's a movie that

[1:58:23] Chris and I spent a lot of time

[1:58:24] talking about.

[1:58:25] I'd love to talk to him

[1:58:25] about it again at some point.

[1:58:26] The movie Phase 4,

[1:58:28] the Intelligent Ants movie.

[1:58:30] And that's a movie where

[1:58:32] I feel like

[1:58:33] it leaves me with questions

[1:58:35] that I like

[1:58:35] don't get answered

[1:58:36] and I want to,

[1:58:37] like,

[1:58:37] I think about what it means

[1:58:39] and what the answers are

[1:58:40] because the movie

[1:58:41] kind of implies

[1:58:42] that the ants win

[1:58:43] but it kind of doesn't come out

[1:58:44] and say that the ants win

[1:58:46] and it's just,

[1:58:48] I really like that movie does.

[1:58:49] It's just a freak out

Chris Weitz

[1:58:50] at the end, right?

Elliott Kalan

[1:58:51] It's like a 70s freak out.

[1:58:52] It becomes a 70s freak out

[1:58:53] and like,

[1:58:54] when it could very easily

[1:58:55] have ended with them

[1:58:56] just being like,

[1:58:56] well,

[1:58:57] we stopped the ants

[1:58:58] but it's not that they did.

Chris Weitz

[1:59:00] I've got actually

[1:59:01] a somewhat

[1:59:02] perverse version of that

[1:59:04] which is like

[1:59:04] the central mystery

[1:59:06] at a movie

[1:59:07] like not letting you go

[1:59:08] and this was because

[1:59:09] I watched the Bill Murray

[1:59:11] movie

[1:59:12] The Razor's Edge,

[1:59:14] right,

[1:59:14] which is adapted

[1:59:15] from a Somerset Mom movie

[1:59:16] but in my mind

[1:59:17] not having read

[1:59:18] either The Razor's Edge

[1:59:19] or The Sun Also Rises

[1:59:22] I had confused the two

[1:59:24] based on received notions

[1:59:25] and I thought that

[1:59:26] the whole story

[1:59:26] behind why Bill Murray's

[1:59:28] character was being

[1:59:29] so weird and diffident

[1:59:30] was because he'd had

[1:59:31] his testicles blown off

[1:59:32] in the war

[1:59:33] and I kept on waiting

[1:59:34] as I was watching

[1:59:35] this movie

[1:59:36] for the moment

[1:59:37] where you discover that

[1:59:38] but it never happened

[1:59:38] for the entire movie

[1:59:39] and it turned out

[1:59:40] he was just a dick

Stuart Wellington

[1:59:42] still waiting for the sequel

[1:59:45] I guess, huh?

[1:59:46] I guess The Razor's Edge

Elliott Kalan

[1:59:47] describes the razors

[1:59:48] that they had to use

[1:59:49] to amputate

[1:59:50] the rest of his testicles

[1:59:51] after the wound, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:59:52] That would make sense.

[1:59:54] So in lieu of a second

[1:59:56] a normal second

[1:59:57] Oh, is Lou here?

[1:59:58] Yeah.

[1:59:59] In lieu of a normal

[2:00:00] second letter

[2:00:01] so our friend

[2:00:03] Matt Carman

[2:00:04] who does our tech

[2:00:06] for us

[2:00:07] for our live shows

[2:00:09] Park car, you know the deal.

[2:00:10] Yeah, for Flop TV

[2:00:11] he also often steps in

[2:00:14] for our local

[2:00:17] film trivia

[2:00:18] at Nighthawk

[2:00:19] for a guest round

[2:00:20] and I think

[2:00:22] I actually contacted

[2:00:23] And he sometimes

Elliott Kalan

[2:00:23] steps in to host

[2:00:24] The Tonight Show

[2:00:24] when Jimmy Fallon's

[2:00:25] not available, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[2:00:26] I think I actually

[2:00:27] contacted you about this

[2:00:28] Chris to see

[2:00:29] whether it would be okay

[2:00:30] that whether he like

[2:00:33] sent you some

[2:00:35] trivia questions

[2:00:37] to ask

[2:00:38] and

[2:00:39] I don't think he did

[2:00:40] I asked you

[2:00:43] Dan also

Elliott Kalan

[2:00:43] Dan also didn't

[2:00:44] check in with us

[2:00:45] so when we got an email

[2:00:46] from Matt today

[2:00:47] that said

[2:00:47] Chris White's trivia questions

[2:00:48] I was like

[2:00:49] I'll find out

[2:00:50] what this is about

[2:00:50] I guess later today

Dan McCoy

[2:00:51] Yeah

[2:00:52] Yes

[2:00:54] He asked me

[2:00:55] a while back

[2:00:56] about possibly

[2:00:57] Chris doing

[2:00:58] a round

[2:00:59] and I went so far

[2:01:01] as to like

[2:01:02] ask Chris

[2:01:02] like hey

[2:01:03] would this be okay

[2:01:05] and like

[2:01:05] you said yes

[2:01:06] but then

[2:01:07] I guess Matt

[2:01:08] was like

[2:01:09] I don't want to bother him

[2:01:11] and didn't actually

[2:01:12] follow through

[2:01:13] however

[2:01:14] what he did do

[2:01:15] was send

[2:01:16] three trivia questions

[2:01:18] for us

[2:01:20] to ask you

[2:01:21] tonight

[2:01:22] in a section

[2:01:23] called

[2:01:25] Quiz White

[2:01:27] and so

[2:01:29] the first one

[2:01:30] first question

[2:01:31] here is

[2:01:32] number one

[2:01:33] in About a Boy

[2:01:35] Will attributes

[2:01:36] the phrase

[2:01:36] no man is an island

[2:01:37] to what musician

[2:01:38] bonus

[2:01:39] what poet

[2:01:40] actually wrote

[2:01:41] that line

[2:01:41] in the 17th century

Chris Weitz

[2:01:43] I'm going to

[2:01:44] take this straight

[2:01:45] he attributes

[2:01:45] to Jon Bon Jovi

[2:01:47] where it was

[2:01:48] actually a sermon

[2:01:49] by Jon Dunn

Dan McCoy

[2:01:50] that is

[2:01:51] of course

[2:01:52] correct

[2:01:52] you

[2:01:52] you're familiar

[2:01:54] with your own work

[2:01:55] yep

Chris Weitz

[2:01:55] I remember

[2:01:56] my life

[2:01:57] this is

[2:01:58] instance

[2:01:58] it's more like

[2:01:59] a cognitive test

[2:02:00] than a tribute

[2:02:02] yeah

Dan McCoy

[2:02:03] can you identify

[2:02:04] this animal

[2:02:04] you

[2:02:06] number two

[2:02:07] you directed

[2:02:08] the Twilight

[2:02:08] Saga

[2:02:10] colon

[2:02:10] New Moon

[2:02:11] released in

[2:02:12] 2009

[2:02:13] the following

[2:02:15] movies were also

[2:02:16] released in 2009

[2:02:17] and also have a

[2:02:18] colon in the title

[2:02:20] and

[2:02:21] they each involve

[2:02:22] someone you've

[2:02:23] worked with

[2:02:25] sorry

[2:02:25] John Wick

Chris Weitz

[2:02:26] I love that we're

[2:02:26] getting some classic

[2:02:27] Dan slips

[2:02:28] of the tongue

[2:02:29] because you

[2:02:29] you know

[2:02:30] Stuart brought over

[2:02:31] several tequila

[2:02:33] drinks

Dan McCoy

[2:02:34] I'm a stinker

[2:02:36] four point each

[2:02:39] complete the full

[2:02:40] titles

[2:02:41] we're keeping track

[2:02:41] of points

[2:02:42] we've got

[2:02:43] Cirque du Freak

[2:02:44] colon

[2:02:45] we've got

[2:02:46] Underworld 3

[2:02:47] colon

[2:02:47] and we've got

[2:02:49] Street Fighter

[2:02:50] colon

[2:02:51] I only know

[2:02:52] one of these

[2:02:53] that's insane

[2:02:54] I know

Stuart Wellington

[2:02:55] wait what were

[2:02:56] the

[2:02:59] 2009

Dan McCoy

[2:03:01] the first

[2:03:02] I gotta guess

[2:03:03] the first half

[2:03:04] of the titles

[2:03:04] are Cirque du Freak

[2:03:06] and Street Fighter

Chris Weitz

[2:03:09] the Vampire's

[2:03:09] Assistant

[2:03:10] by my very

[2:03:11] own brother

[2:03:11] that's true

[2:03:12] Paul Weitz

[2:03:13] what's the next

[2:03:15] one

[2:03:16] X vs. Sever

Dan McCoy

[2:03:18] wait wait wait

[2:03:20] is it

[2:03:21] is it Rise of the

[2:03:22] Likens

[2:03:23] it is Rise of the

[2:03:24] Likens

[2:03:24] co-starring

[2:03:26] Michael Sheen

[2:03:27] and

[2:03:28] yes

[2:03:29] with him

[2:03:30] I've worked

[2:03:30] yep

[2:03:30] and then lastly

[2:03:32] we've got

[2:03:32] Street Fighter

[2:03:33] colon

Chris Weitz

[2:03:34] the

[2:03:35] leg end

[2:03:36] of Chun-Li

[2:03:38] yes

[2:03:38] the leg end

[2:03:40] starring

[2:03:41] Chris Klein

[2:03:42] yes

[2:03:43] of course

Dan McCoy

[2:03:44] of American Pie

[2:03:45] fame

[2:03:45] what a performance

[2:03:45] um

Elliott Kalan

[2:03:47] where'd you get that

[2:03:47] black eye

[2:03:48] I ran into

[2:03:48] the leg end

[2:03:49] of Chun-Li

[2:03:49] and uh

Dan McCoy

[2:03:54] we'll end

[2:03:55] this uh

[2:03:56] quiz white

[2:03:57] section

[2:03:58] uh

[2:03:59] with number

[2:04:00] three

[2:04:00] in its

[2:04:02] 2000

[2:04:03] review

[2:04:03] how many

[2:04:04] points

[2:04:04] is this

[2:04:04] worth

[2:04:04] this

[2:04:06] worth

[2:04:06] and

[2:04:07] that's good

[2:04:07] news

[2:04:08] you can win

[2:04:08] with this

[2:04:08] it's worth

[2:04:09] all the points

[2:04:10] oh wow

[2:04:11] in its 2000

[2:04:12] review

[2:04:13] the New York

[2:04:13] Times

[2:04:14] referred to

[2:04:14] Chuck and

[2:04:15] Buck

[2:04:15] as a

[2:04:16] quote

[2:04:17] dogma

[2:04:18] 95

[2:04:18] version

[2:04:19] of

[2:04:19] what movie

[2:04:21] which had

[2:04:22] come out

[2:04:22] a week

[2:04:23] before

[2:04:23] oh goodness

[2:04:25] well

Chris Weitz

[2:04:25] I'm guessing

[2:04:27] I'm guessing

[2:04:29] it was a

[2:04:29] stalker movie

[2:04:30] yeah

[2:04:30] but I don't

Dan McCoy

[2:04:32] uh

[2:04:32] this is a movie

[2:04:33] that honestly

[2:04:34] like if Matt

[2:04:35] had done this

[2:04:36] at trivia

[2:04:36] no one would

[2:04:37] have gotten

[2:04:38] this

[2:04:38] no one would

[2:04:38] have won

[2:04:38] this

[2:04:39] at all

[2:04:40] this is

[2:04:40] madness

[2:04:42] this is pure

[2:04:42] madness

[2:04:43] but it is a

[2:04:43] funny fact

[2:04:44] there's not a

[2:04:45] colon involved

[2:04:46] though

[2:04:46] no

[2:04:47] there is a

[2:04:48] an attribution

[2:04:49] I'll give you this

[2:04:50] there's a studio

[2:04:50] this is the rare

[2:04:52] film that starts

[2:04:53] with a

[2:04:54] oh wow

[2:04:55] this is the studio

[2:04:56] that released this

[2:04:57] that's crazy

Chris Weitz

[2:04:59] Disney's

[2:05:01] right

[2:05:02] that's the only

[2:05:03] studio that takes

[2:05:03] credit for things

[2:05:04] indeed

[2:05:04] the kid

[2:05:05] is Disney's

[2:05:06] the kid

[2:05:07] because that's

Stuart Wellington

[2:05:08] the only one

[2:05:08] I can remember

[2:05:09] that has Disney's

[2:05:09] oh wow

[2:05:10] Chris is dabbing

[2:05:11] so thank you

Chris Weitz

[2:05:17] gosh

[2:05:18] that would

[2:05:18] imply something

[2:05:19] really sinister

[2:05:20] about Disney's

[2:05:21] the kid

[2:05:22] I have more

[2:05:23] dogma 95

Dan McCoy

[2:05:24] I've seen

[2:05:25] Chuck and Buck

[2:05:26] I've not seen

[2:05:27] Disney's

[2:05:27] the kid

[2:05:28] so I cannot

[2:05:28] speak to their

[2:05:29] similarities or

[2:05:31] differences

Chris Weitz

[2:05:32] you chose wrong

[2:05:33] not strong

[2:05:35] you chose strong

Stuart Wellington

[2:05:35] not wrong

[2:05:36] rather

[2:05:36] sorry

[2:05:36] Disney's the kid

[2:05:38] isn't about like a

[2:05:39] monkey playing baseball

[2:05:40] or something

[2:05:40] right

[2:05:40] no

[2:05:42] I think it's about

[2:05:43] Bruce Willis

[2:05:46] being a kid

[2:05:46] yeah

Dan McCoy

[2:05:47] that's

[2:05:48] fucking

[2:05:48] look who's talking

[2:05:49] that's true

[2:05:50] I guess

[2:05:51] that's the sixth

[2:05:54] sense

Chris Weitz

[2:05:54] Bruce Willis

[2:05:55] is a kid

[2:05:55] right

[2:05:56] yeah

[2:05:56] well thank you

Dan McCoy

[2:06:00] for indulging

[2:06:00] this quiz

[2:06:02] down memory

[2:06:02] lane

[2:06:03] but we

[2:06:06] should do

[2:06:07] our final

[2:06:07] segment

[2:06:08] which is of

[2:06:08] course

[2:06:08] recommendations

[2:06:10] other movies

[2:06:11] that you might

[2:06:12] perhaps enjoy

[2:06:14] what's the movie

[2:06:15] master going to

[2:06:15] recommend over here

[2:06:16] what is the movie

[2:06:18] master going to

[2:06:19] recommend

[2:06:19] I had it earlier

Stuart Wellington

[2:06:20] letterbox

[2:06:21] Lothario

[2:06:22] Dan McCoy

Dan McCoy

[2:06:23] oh you know

[2:06:24] what it was

[2:06:25] I had a DM

[2:06:25] function he declares

[2:06:26] what

[2:06:26] it's the movie

[2:06:28] I saw today

[2:06:29] oh cool

[2:06:30] I saw

[2:06:32] we were talking

[2:06:34] about

[2:06:34] we mentioned

[2:06:36] in passing

[2:06:36] blank check

[2:06:37] based on the

[2:06:38] clues of the

[2:06:39] letterbox reviews

[2:06:41] of one David

[2:06:41] Sims

[2:06:42] I may have been

[2:06:43] in the same

[2:06:43] Alamo screening

[2:06:45] of this film

[2:06:46] today

[2:06:46] there was a guy

Stuart Wellington

[2:06:47] crying in the

[2:06:48] movie

Dan McCoy

[2:06:51] I saw today

[2:06:53] Predator Badlands

[2:06:54] which I enjoyed

[2:06:56] quite a bit

[2:06:56] I have to admit

[2:06:57] getting good reviews

[2:06:59] I am not

[2:07:00] necessarily the

[2:07:01] world's biggest

[2:07:01] Predhead

[2:07:02] Predhead

[2:07:03] like I like it

[2:07:04] fine as you

[2:07:06] know

[2:07:06] this is like a

[2:07:07] solid 80s

[2:07:09] action picture

[2:07:09] but it is of a

[2:07:10] stripe that is

[2:07:11] not my kind

[2:07:12] of movie

[2:07:13] like a lot

[2:07:14] of military

[2:07:15] men shooting

[2:07:16] big guns

[2:07:17] at things

[2:07:17] but so

[2:07:20] the things

[2:07:20] that I liked

[2:07:21] about this

[2:07:21] movie might

[2:07:22] be the sort

[2:07:22] of things

[2:07:22] that annoy

[2:07:23] real Predator

[2:07:24] fans

Stuart Wellington

[2:07:25] you more

[2:07:26] of like a

[2:07:27] drifter rolls

[2:07:27] into a corrupt

[2:07:28] town and sorts

[2:07:29] things out

Dan McCoy

[2:07:30] I mean I do

[2:07:30] enjoy that

[2:07:31] classic western

[2:07:32] thing but this

[2:07:34] is more of a

[2:07:34] barbarian movie

[2:07:36] it is like

[2:07:37] okay the Predator

[2:07:39] is a

[2:07:39] the more

[2:07:43] classic

[2:07:43] barbarian

[2:07:44] thing

[2:07:44] like the

[2:07:44] Predator

[2:07:45] is a

[2:07:46] warlike

[2:07:48] creature

[2:07:48] who proves

[2:07:50] his worth

[2:07:51] through like

[2:07:52] tests of

[2:07:52] strength

[2:07:53] like

[2:07:53] and

[2:07:54] is in a

[2:07:56] harsh world

[2:07:57] it is very

[2:07:58] much like

[2:07:59] a space

[2:08:00] opera

[2:08:01] barbarian

[2:08:02] he's like

[2:08:03] a Sigma

Chris Weitz

[2:08:03] kind of

[2:08:04] yeah

Dan McCoy

[2:08:05] yeah

[2:08:07] I just like

[2:08:09] it is much

[2:08:10] more like

[2:08:11] some people

[2:08:12] might think

[2:08:13] it's a little

[2:08:13] cutesy

[2:08:14] some people

[2:08:15] might think

[2:08:15] it's a little

[2:08:15] too cutesy

[2:08:16] it's not

[2:08:18] turning me

[2:08:18] off

[2:08:19] I was

[2:08:21] all for

[2:08:22] a bit

[2:08:22] of a

[2:08:23] like

[2:08:23] slightly

[2:08:24] silly

[2:08:25] Predator

[2:08:26] versus

[2:08:27] extremely

[2:08:29] ridiculously

[2:08:29] hostile

[2:08:30] planet

[2:08:30] full of

[2:08:31] inventive

[2:08:31] other ways

[2:08:32] for the

[2:08:32] planet

[2:08:33] to be

[2:08:33] hostile

[2:08:33] toward

[2:08:34] him

[2:08:34] adventure

[2:08:35] it

[2:08:36] it gave

[2:08:37] me

[2:08:38] some of

[2:08:39] the joy

[2:08:39] that like

[2:08:40] an old

[2:08:40] style

[2:08:40] blockbuster

[2:08:41] movie

[2:08:42] used to

[2:08:43] give me

[2:08:43] like for

[2:08:44] a movie

[2:08:44] that is

[2:08:45] based on

[2:08:46] what like

[2:08:46] 40 year old

[2:08:47] IP

[2:08:47] I was like

[2:08:48] oh this feels

[2:08:49] genuinely

[2:08:50] fresh to me

[2:08:52] for some

[2:08:52] reason

[2:08:52] so I had

[2:08:53] a lot of

[2:08:54] fun

[2:08:54] same

[2:08:54] creative team

[2:08:55] behind

[2:08:55] Prey

[2:08:56] right

[2:08:56] yeah

[2:08:56] so

[2:08:57] I dug it

Stuart Wellington

[2:08:59] weirdly enough

[2:09:01] I'm also

[2:09:01] going to

[2:09:02] recommend

[2:09:02] a movie

[2:09:02] I saw

[2:09:03] today

[2:09:03] in the

[2:09:03] theater

[2:09:03] while Dan

[2:09:04] was enjoying

[2:09:05] Predators

[2:09:06] doing stuff

[2:09:07] I was

[2:09:08] enjoying

[2:09:08] a woman

[2:09:09] having a

[2:09:10] descent

[2:09:10] into

[2:09:10] mental

[2:09:11] illness

[2:09:12] I guess

[2:09:13] I saw

[2:09:14] the new

[2:09:14] Lynn Ramsey

[2:09:15] movie

[2:09:15] Die My Love

[2:09:16] which is

[2:09:18] great

[2:09:18] Jennifer Lawrence

[2:09:20] and Robert Pattinson

[2:09:21] and Sissy Spacek

[2:09:23] and Nick Nolte

[2:09:24] and Lakeith

[2:09:25] Stanfield

[2:09:25] all in small roles

[2:09:26] but it's

[2:09:27] really

[2:09:27] Jennifer Lawrence

[2:09:29] is undeniable

[2:09:30] in this

[2:09:30] she is

[2:09:31] incredible

[2:09:31] and Robert Pattinson

[2:09:33] also very fun

[2:09:35] and funny

[2:09:35] I mean

[2:09:35] for a movie

[2:09:36] that is very

[2:09:37] depressing

[2:09:37] about dealing

[2:09:40] with themes

[2:09:41] of isolation

[2:09:41] and mental

[2:09:43] illness

[2:09:44] it still manages

[2:09:45] to get some

[2:09:45] jokes in there

[2:09:46] there's a

[2:09:47] sequence where

[2:09:47] Robert Pattinson

[2:09:48] is narrating

[2:09:49] making some

[2:09:51] making like

[2:09:52] instant mac and

[2:09:53] cheese

[2:09:53] that I found

[2:09:54] so funny

[2:09:54] yeah

[2:09:56] it's

[2:09:57] it's really

[2:09:57] great

[2:09:57] and it's

[2:09:58] like a really

[2:09:58] interesting

[2:09:59] companion piece

[2:10:00] to another

[2:10:01] we just had

[2:10:02] Michael Shanks

[2:10:03] on director

[2:10:04] writer director

[2:10:05] of together

[2:10:05] interesting

[2:10:06] companion piece

[2:10:07] to together

[2:10:07] because they

[2:10:08] basically have

[2:10:09] the same

[2:10:09] setup

[2:10:11] just very

[2:10:12] wildly

[2:10:12] different

[2:10:13] resolutions

[2:10:14] and it's a

[2:10:16] movie so the

[2:10:16] whole time

[2:10:17] I'm like

[2:10:17] man is she

[2:10:18] okay

[2:10:18] like

[2:10:18] I feel like

[2:10:20] every Lynn Ramsey

[2:10:21] movie is like

[2:10:22] that

[2:10:22] yeah

[2:10:22] but I love

Dan McCoy

[2:10:24] I love

[2:10:25] movies

[2:10:26] I

[2:10:26] Stuart

[2:10:27] if I

[2:10:27] if my

[2:10:28] doctor's

[2:10:28] appointment

[2:10:29] that sort

[2:10:29] of like

[2:10:30] nuked my

[2:10:32] afternoon

[2:10:33] had gone on

[2:10:34] another 15

[2:10:35] minutes

[2:10:35] I probably

[2:10:36] would have

[2:10:36] been in the

[2:10:36] exact same

[2:10:37] screening as

[2:10:38] you

[2:10:38] would have

[2:10:39] been what

[2:10:39] was starting

[2:10:39] at the right

[2:10:40] time

[2:10:40] how many

Elliott Kalan

[2:10:40] screenings are

[2:10:41] going on in

[2:10:41] New York

[2:10:42] these days

[2:10:42] it seems

[2:10:42] like Dan

[2:10:43] is just a

[2:10:44] half skip

[2:10:44] and a jump

[2:10:45] away from

[2:10:45] every

[2:10:46] I can

[2:10:48] I can

Dan McCoy

[2:10:49] I can feel

[2:10:50] the jealousy

[2:10:51] beneath you

[2:10:52] and

[2:10:52] I will

[2:10:53] I feel

[2:10:54] it too

Stuart Wellington

[2:10:54] just give

[2:10:55] them both

[2:10:56] a hug

Dan McCoy

[2:10:56] look man

[2:10:57] get me a

[2:10:58] fucking job

[2:10:59] and I'll

[2:11:00] glad

[2:11:00] that's actually

[2:11:01] a good point

[2:11:01] if you employ

[2:11:02] Dan

[2:11:03] there's only

[2:11:04] one way to

[2:11:05] stop him

Elliott Kalan

[2:11:05] can help me

[2:11:06] to stop Dan

[2:11:07] from seeing all

[2:11:07] the movies

[2:11:08] and making me

[2:11:08] feel bad

[2:11:09] about never

[2:11:09] going to

[2:11:09] theater

[2:11:09] by giving

[2:11:10] him a job

Dan McCoy

[2:11:10] yeah

[2:11:10] we'll trade

[2:11:11] places

[2:11:11] we'll pee

[2:11:12] in the same

[2:11:12] fucking fountain

Elliott Kalan

[2:11:13] the difference

[2:11:13] is

[2:11:14] Chicago

[2:11:14] in just a few

[2:11:15] days together

[2:11:15] let's

[2:11:16] try a bunch

Dan McCoy

[2:11:18] of different

[2:11:18] fountains

[2:11:19] Chicago has the

[2:11:19] fucking

Elliott Kalan

[2:11:19] married with

[2:11:20] children

[2:11:20] exactly

[2:11:21] yeah

[2:11:22] perfect

[2:11:23] let's do it

[2:11:23] so Chicagoans

[2:11:24] you heard it

[2:11:25] here first

[2:11:25] Dan and I

[2:11:25] will be peeing

[2:11:26] together at the

[2:11:27] fountain for

[2:11:27] married with

[2:11:28] children this

[2:11:28] weekend

[2:11:29] I heard there's

[2:11:30] snow so I hope

Stuart Wellington

[2:11:31] their pee doesn't

[2:11:32] take a long time

[2:11:32] or their little

[2:11:33] wieners are going

[2:11:33] to freeze off

[2:11:34] so I'm going to

Elliott Kalan

[2:11:39] recommend as I

[2:11:40] never get to go to

[2:11:41] the theaters I'm

[2:11:41] going to recommend

[2:11:41] a movie that I

[2:11:42] saw at home

[2:11:43] which is currently

[2:11:43] on a streaming

[2:11:44] service and this

[2:11:45] is on Apple TV

[2:11:47] you can see

[2:11:48] Stiller and Mira

[2:11:48] nothing is lost

[2:11:49] Ben Stiller's

[2:11:50] documentary about

[2:11:51] his parents

[2:11:52] and their

[2:11:53] marriage and

[2:11:54] also their

[2:11:54] career as

[2:11:55] performers both

[2:11:57] performing with

[2:11:57] each other and

[2:11:58] then separately

[2:11:59] and I thought it

[2:12:00] was really good

[2:12:01] I really liked it

[2:12:01] a lot it managed

[2:12:03] to break through

[2:12:03] the crust of ice

[2:12:04] that forms around

[2:12:05] my heart whenever

[2:12:06] I think about

[2:12:07] people who are

[2:12:08] successful in

[2:12:09] show business

[2:12:09] after having

[2:12:10] coming from a

[2:12:11] show business

[2:12:11] family but I

[2:12:14] thought it was

[2:12:14] really well done

[2:12:15] and really took

[2:12:16] advantage of the

[2:12:17] fact that

[2:12:17] apparently Jerry

[2:12:18] Stiller was

[2:12:19] constantly recording

[2:12:20] every conversation

[2:12:21] anyone in the

[2:12:22] house ever had

[2:12:23] on audio cassette

[2:12:24] which is creepy

[2:12:26] behavior but it

[2:12:27] really is good

[2:12:27] when you're making

[2:12:28] a documentary

[2:12:28] about your

[2:12:29] parents

[2:12:29] maybe this is

[2:12:31] just because they

[2:12:32] specifically spend a

[2:12:33] little bit of time

[2:12:34] talking about the

[2:12:34] taking Pelham 123

[2:12:35] I don't my

[2:12:35] favorite Jerry

[2:12:36] Stiller thing

[2:12:37] but I thought it

[2:12:38] came out really

[2:12:39] well and it was

[2:12:39] really good

[2:12:40] and it was much

[2:12:42] more touching in

[2:12:43] the end than I

[2:12:43] thought it was

[2:12:43] going to be

[2:12:44] so that's called

[2:12:44] Stiller and

[2:12:44] Mira nothing is

[2:12:45] lost I think

[2:12:46] that was really

[2:12:46] good

[2:12:46] Chris what do

[2:12:47] you recommend

Chris Weitz

[2:12:48] I well this

[2:12:49] probably doesn't

[2:12:49] need any help

[2:12:50] but I'm going to

[2:12:52] recommend Eddington

[2:12:53] the latest Ari

[2:12:55] Astor film and

[2:12:57] I've been thinking

[2:12:58] about it because I

[2:13:00] feel like he's a

[2:13:01] great example of a

[2:13:02] guy who well first

[2:13:04] of all I think

[2:13:05] he's a brilliant

[2:13:05] kind of technician

[2:13:07] and has been since

[2:13:08] his first movie

[2:13:09] and sort of got

[2:13:12] had these two

[2:13:12] successful horror

[2:13:13] movies which I

[2:13:16] you know I guess

[2:13:16] he's called like

[2:13:17] elevated horror but

[2:13:18] they were so

[2:13:18] successful that for

[2:13:20] at least two movies

[2:13:21] he's been able to

[2:13:21] like do kind of

[2:13:23] whatever he wants

[2:13:24] and he made a big

[2:13:26] fucking swing in

[2:13:27] Eddington and

[2:13:29] you know I'm in

[2:13:30] some way I mean I

[2:13:32] can understand why

[2:13:33] people don't like

[2:13:33] it I can understand

[2:13:34] where people are

[2:13:35] bananas about it

[2:13:36] I was more on the

[2:13:37] bananas about it

[2:13:37] front but I think

[2:13:39] it is a huge swing

[2:13:40] that is trying to

[2:13:41] do so much

[2:13:42] stuff and say

[2:13:45] so much that I

[2:13:47] really admired it

[2:13:48] as a kind of a

[2:13:49] you know a

[2:13:50] 70s big social

[2:13:54] impact movie so I

[2:13:57] really dug that

[2:13:57] one.

Dan McCoy

[2:13:58] I'm looking forward

[2:13:59] to seeing it the

[2:13:59] only reason I didn't

[2:14:00] run out and see it

[2:14:02] is my sadness about

[2:14:04] the world and I'm

[2:14:05] like is this going

[2:14:05] to help?

[2:14:06] I don't know.

[2:14:06] No.

[2:14:07] Probably no.

[2:14:08] I think it also

[2:14:08] like came out at a

Stuart Wellington

[2:14:09] time where like

[2:14:11] every once in a while

[2:14:13] there will be a

[2:14:14] confluence of events

[2:14:15] or things and I'm

[2:14:16] like I want to see

[2:14:16] this movie but I

[2:14:17] cannot spare the

[2:14:18] time to go to the

[2:14:19] theater.

Dan McCoy

[2:14:20] Elliot's like that's

[2:14:22] my whole life.

[2:14:23] I can still see him

[2:14:24] staring daggers at

[2:14:25] the rest.

Stuart Wellington

[2:14:25] Yeah I feel like

[2:14:26] next week there's

[2:14:26] like four movies

[2:14:28] coming out this

[2:14:28] weekend that I want

[2:14:29] to see like but

[2:14:31] we're going to be in

[2:14:31] Chicago so I can't

[2:14:33] I can't go see

[2:14:33] Sentimental Value.

[2:14:34] Now take that

[2:14:35] experience and

Elliott Kalan

[2:14:35] stretch it out over

[2:14:36] a year and that's

[2:14:37] when I'm like oh

[2:14:38] man I can't wait to

[2:14:39] see this movie and

[2:14:40] like I really wanted

[2:14:41] to go see.

Dan McCoy

[2:14:41] Take your kids to

[2:14:42] it.

[2:14:42] We'll kidnap you

[2:14:43] and take you to the

[2:14:43] theater Elliot.

[2:14:44] That's what we'll do.

Elliott Kalan

[2:14:45] I was like there was

[2:14:46] one night when it

[2:14:47] looked like I might be

[2:14:47] able to go see one

[2:14:49] battle after another

[2:14:49] or whatever it's

[2:14:50] called.

[2:14:50] But yeah and then

[2:14:52] I but then it was

[2:14:52] like well it's either

[2:14:53] playing at 630 which

[2:14:55] is too early for me to

[2:14:56] go see it or 930

[2:14:58] which is too late for

[2:14:58] me to go see a

[2:14:59] three-hour movie.

[2:15:00] So I guess I'm not

[2:15:01] seeing it.

[2:15:02] I was just so

[2:15:02] OK we're going to

[2:15:03] see one battle after

Stuart Wellington

[2:15:04] another in Chicago.

Chris Weitz

[2:15:05] I had gotten

[2:15:06] tickets like months

[2:15:07] ago to see at the

[2:15:09] American Cinematheque

[2:15:10] to see Jean

[2:15:12] Dillman 23.

[2:15:14] What a movie.

[2:15:14] Rude de Comerce

[2:15:15] 1080 Bruxelles

[2:15:18] right and it

[2:15:19] turned out that my

[2:15:21] oldest son had

[2:15:22] something else to do

[2:15:23] and and I sort of

[2:15:25] had to be at home

[2:15:27] with my 13 year old

[2:15:29] boy and my wife

[2:15:31] Mercedes was like

[2:15:31] just take Paolo.

[2:15:33] And I was like I

[2:15:34] don't know if I can

[2:15:34] convince him to see

[2:15:36] Jean Dillman 23

[2:15:38] kid of Comerce 1080

[2:15:41] book sell.

[2:15:41] That's a hard sell.

[2:15:42] Yeah.

[2:15:43] I tried my best but

[2:15:45] he was not having it.

Elliott Kalan

[2:15:46] You're like you wanted

[2:15:47] to see a woman just

[2:15:48] just peeling potatoes

[2:15:50] for a long time right?

Dan McCoy

[2:15:53] What a movie.

[2:15:54] The funny thing is I've

[2:15:55] never seen the movie

[2:15:56] but I was about to say

[2:15:57] peeling potatoes like

[2:15:58] somehow that has

[2:15:59] filtered into my brain

[2:16:00] that like that's the

[2:16:01] thing that is like

[2:16:02] real-time potato

[2:16:03] peeling.

Chris Weitz

[2:16:04] Interestingly weapons

[2:16:06] has a potato peeling

[2:16:07] scene in which

[2:16:08] was it Julia Garner

[2:16:10] peels the face of

[2:16:11] some guy.

[2:16:13] Yeah.

[2:16:14] Yeah.

[2:16:14] Sorry.

[2:16:15] A little more

[2:16:15] thrilling.

[2:16:16] I don't know about

[2:16:17] that.

Stuart Wellington

[2:16:17] When that happened in

[2:16:18] the theater Dan said

[2:16:19] the guy next to him

[2:16:20] was like no no.

[2:16:25] It's pretty awful.

Elliott Kalan

[2:16:27] It's one of these

[2:16:27] Jean Dillman is one

[2:16:27] of these movies where

[2:16:28] when you hear it you

[2:16:29] think about it at

[2:16:30] time and you're like

[2:16:30] there's no this is

[2:16:31] going to be so boring

[2:16:32] just from the

[2:16:33] description and you're

[2:16:33] watching it.

[2:16:34] You're like I just

[2:16:34] can't get enough of

[2:16:35] watching this woman

[2:16:36] cooking like this is

Stuart Wellington

[2:16:37] this is this is.

[2:16:38] Yeah.

[2:16:38] I mean there's I mean

[2:16:39] there's a thing like

[2:16:40] that's one of the

[2:16:41] reasons why I put off

[2:16:42] watching the before

[2:16:44] trilogy the link later

[2:16:45] before trilogies

[2:16:45] because I'm like I

[2:16:46] don't want to watch

[2:16:46] two people talk and

[2:16:47] then I start watching

[2:16:48] I'm like oh I want

[2:16:49] nothing but these

[2:16:50] two people talk.

[2:16:50] It's great.

[2:16:51] I love it.

Elliott Kalan

[2:16:52] I'll even say you

[2:16:53] know guys I'm going

[2:16:54] to say Jean Dillman

[2:16:54] scarier movie than

[2:16:56] weapons I think when

Dan McCoy

[2:16:57] it even when it comes

[2:16:58] to potato peeling

[2:16:58] movies something

[2:16:59] scarier movie.

Elliott Kalan

[2:17:02] Reddit guy.

[2:17:03] Reddit guy.

[2:17:03] Tell me why I'm

[2:17:04] wrong.

[2:17:04] I won't see it and

[2:17:05] it'll be okay.

Chris Weitz

[2:17:06] He's going to be he's

[2:17:07] going to have so much

[2:17:08] to say.

[2:17:08] Yeah.

[2:17:10] All caps locks.

Dan McCoy

[2:17:11] Speaking of both being

[2:17:13] busy and that guy.

[2:17:15] Thank you Chris for

[2:17:16] taking time from your

[2:17:19] business schedule to

[2:17:19] come and endure us

[2:17:22] dissecting.

[2:17:23] I think I may once again

Chris Weitz

[2:17:25] for an episode manage to

[2:17:27] avoid having to get my

[2:17:29] children to sleep.

[2:17:30] So you know.

[2:17:31] Wow.

[2:17:32] You've done me a

[2:17:33] service.

[2:17:36] Thank you guys for

[2:17:37] letting me back.

[2:17:37] I feel like there's

[2:17:38] there's like people

[2:17:39] started podcasts for

Stuart Wellington

[2:17:40] less reasons than

[2:17:42] being to be like well

[2:17:43] if I do a podcast

[2:17:44] these nights I don't

[2:17:45] have to spend time

[2:17:46] putting I don't have to

[2:17:47] do the dishes or put my

[2:17:48] kids to bed because I'm

[2:17:49] I'm working.

Dan McCoy

[2:17:50] Is there anything you

[2:17:52] currently want to plug.

[2:17:54] I mean murder bot is

[2:17:54] of course on Apple TV.

Chris Weitz

[2:17:57] Let me see.

[2:17:58] Is there anything.

[2:17:59] Is there anything.

[2:18:00] No I don't.

[2:18:01] I got nothing going.

[2:18:02] We're going to I'm

[2:18:03] working on murder about

[2:18:04] season two but it's

[2:18:05] going to be a while.

[2:18:06] But yeah murder bot.

[2:18:06] Yeah.

[2:18:07] Yeah.

[2:18:07] Watch murder about

[2:18:08] that would be nice.

[2:18:08] That would be great.

[2:18:10] Watch murder bot.

Stuart Wellington

[2:18:11] Why are you watching it.

[2:18:12] Watch it right now.

[2:18:13] And you guys got picked

[2:18:14] up for a season two.

[2:18:15] That's awesome.

[2:18:16] We did.

[2:18:16] Yeah.

[2:18:17] Woo.

[2:18:18] Woo.

Chris Weitz

[2:18:19] Woo.

[2:18:21] Woo.

[2:18:21] Is that an error?

[2:18:21] You can the USA.

[2:18:23] Right.

[2:18:23] Isn't that.

[2:18:24] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[2:18:24] Yeah.

[2:18:25] Yeah.

Chris Weitz

[2:18:29] Yeah.

[2:18:30] Well.

[2:18:31] By the way I almost

[2:18:32] thought of making the

[2:18:33] Flophouse house cat

[2:18:34] noise.

[2:18:34] But but I and I.

[2:18:36] But then I thought

[2:18:36] that would be beyond

[2:18:37] the pale.

[2:18:38] That would be like

[2:18:39] a sanctionable.

[2:18:40] I would have died.

[2:18:42] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[2:18:44] Thank you so much

[2:18:45] for this.

[2:18:47] When you

[2:18:47] said you were

[2:18:49] willing to do

[2:18:49] this.

[2:18:50] It was a shock

[2:18:52] and a delight.

[2:18:53] And we're like

[2:18:55] we would have been

[2:18:55] happy to have you

[2:18:56] back for any movie.

[2:18:57] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[2:18:58] Dan's like I don't

[2:18:59] know if we can let

[2:18:59] him do this.

[2:19:00] He said he want to

Chris Weitz

[2:19:01] do it.

[2:19:02] It's not safe for him.

[2:19:03] You know what?

[2:19:04] This this has actually

[2:19:05] been great.

[2:19:05] I was worried about

[2:19:07] its effect on my

[2:19:07] psyche.

[2:19:08] But I feel like

[2:19:09] thanks to your

[2:19:09] kindness we've

[2:19:11] gotten through this

[2:19:11] together.

Dan McCoy

[2:19:15] And well thank

[2:19:16] you for being

[2:19:16] here.

[2:19:17] Thank you to our

[2:19:18] producer Alex Smith

[2:19:20] who makes us

[2:19:21] sound great.

[2:19:22] Check out his

[2:19:22] work under the

[2:19:23] name Howell

[2:19:23] Dottie on the

[2:19:24] internet.

[2:19:25] Thank you to

[2:19:26] Maximum Fun

[2:19:27] our network.

[2:19:28] It's full of

[2:19:29] great shows.

[2:19:31] Funny ones.

[2:19:32] Ones that will

[2:19:33] make you think.

[2:19:34] Check them out.

[2:19:35] For the Flophouse.

[2:19:37] I.

[2:19:37] What are you

[2:19:38] laughing at?

[2:19:39] Things that make you

[2:19:40] say.

Chris Weitz

[2:19:40] For the Flophouse.

[2:19:44] I was like it

[2:19:44] sounded like

[2:19:45] Maximum Fun.

[2:19:46] And I was like

[2:19:46] is that your new

[2:19:48] like Turkish

[2:19:48] backer?

[2:19:49] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[2:19:51] I thought I was

[2:19:52] doing it so well

[2:19:53] but apparently

[2:19:53] this tequila that

[2:19:54] Stuart's been

[2:19:55] eating me.

[2:19:56] You're doing

Stuart Wellington

[2:19:56] great Dan.

[2:19:56] great.

[2:19:57] great.

[2:19:57] For the Flophouse

[2:19:58] I've been Dan

[2:19:59] McCoy.

[2:20:00] Hey I'm Stuart

[2:20:01] Wellington forever

[2:20:02] and always.

Elliott Kalan

[2:20:03] I'm Elliot Kalin

[2:20:04] author of Joke

[2:20:05] Farming How to

[2:20:06] Write Comedy

[2:20:06] and Other Nonsense

[2:20:07] from University of

[2:20:07] Chicago Press.

[2:20:08] And joining us

[2:20:09] tonight has been

[2:20:09] Chris Weitz

Chris Weitz

[2:20:11] Flophouse forever.

[2:20:15] Good night

[2:20:16] everyone.

[2:20:26] So you have a

[2:20:27] background.

[2:20:27] Are we being

[2:20:28] we're not being

[2:20:28] videoed?

[2:20:29] Are we?

[2:20:30] We are but we

[2:20:30] don't use it.

[2:20:31] We use it.

[2:20:31] No that's fine.

Stuart Wellington

[2:20:32] For like

[2:20:32] so I'm ready.

[2:20:33] We'll have like a

Elliott Kalan

[2:20:34] promo clip of just

[2:20:35] like a clip of it

[2:20:36] not the whole

[2:20:36] episode.

Stuart Wellington

[2:20:36] So the answer

[2:20:37] is yes we

[2:20:38] will use some

[2:20:39] of the video

[2:20:39] footage.

[2:20:40] So but you

[2:20:41] look cute luckily.

[2:20:42] Yeah.

[2:20:43] I was planning to

[2:20:44] masturbate but I

Chris Weitz

[2:20:46] won't now.

Stuart Wellington

[2:20:47] Easily.

Elliott Kalan

[2:20:48] You're going to be

[2:20:49] tubing.

[2:20:49] If you just don't

[2:20:50] do it during a

[2:20:51] really great bit

[2:20:52] that we're going

[2:20:52] to want to use

[2:20:52] as a promo.

[2:20:53] Right.

Stuart Wellington

[2:20:53] Wait until we're

[2:20:54] doing one of our

[2:20:55] rare off bits.

[2:20:56] Maximum Fun.

[2:21:01] A worker-owned

Dan McCoy

[2:21:02] network.

[2:21:02] Of artist-owned

[2:21:03] shows.

[2:21:04] Supported.

[2:21:05] Directly.

[2:21:06] By you.

Afraid, with Chris Weitz

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